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Old Ironsides
(1926)

This historical drama, directed by James Cruze, stars Charles Farrell and Esther Ralston, with Wallace Beery, George Bancroft, Johnnie Walker, Charles H. Mailes, Eddie Fetherston, George Godfrey, Guy Oliver, Fred Kohler, Nick de Ruiz, Effie Ellsler and Mitchell Lewis.

Kino Classics
2018 Blu-ray Disc edition

Old Ironsides (1926), color-toned black & white, 114 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K23126, UPC 7-38329-23126-2.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at 35.2 Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 2.0 Mbps audio bit rate (music) and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 2.0 Mbps audio bit rate (commentary); English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 10 chapter stops; 12-page insert booklet; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 30 October 2018.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a 2K high-definition scan from 35mm film materials preserved by the Library of Congress. The results are excellent, with the original sepia-toning faithfully reproduced from the source print. There is a very light amount of dust and speckling, a slight amount of frame movement (depending on the current reel), and nearly no other flaws to distract viewers.

The film is accompanied by the New York premiere music score arranged by J.S. Zamecnik and Hugo Riesenfeld, adapted and performed on piano by Rodney Sauer.

Supplementary material includes audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan (during the first 42 minutes of the film), and a booklet essay by film historian Peter Labuza. We have a minor bone to pick regarding the commentary by Roan: Paramount’s Magnascope process was not a widescreen process (as compared to Fox’s Grandeur 70mm widescreen 2.00:1 process of the late 1920s) but merely a specialty projection lens that substantially enlarged the 1.33:1 picture during selected sequences in the film.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Kino Classics
2018 DVD edition

Old Ironsides (1926), color-toned black & white, 114 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; 12-page insert booklet; standard DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 30 October 2018.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been mastered from a 2K high-definition scan from 35mm film materials preserved by the Library of Congress.

The film is accompanied by the New York premiere music score arranged by J.S. Zamecnik and Hugo Riesenfeld, adapted and performed on piano by Rodney Sauer.

Supplementary material includes audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan (during the first 42 minutes of the film), and a booklet essay by film historian Peter Labuza.

This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.