Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Poil de Carotte
(1925)
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This feature comedy-drama, directed by Julien Duvivier, stars Henry Krauss and André Heuzé, with Charlotte Barbier-Krauss, Fabien Haziza, Renée Jean, Lydia Zaréna, Suzanne Talba, Yvette Langlais and Nora Sylvère.
Duvivier remade the film in a sound version released as Poil de Carotte (1932).
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 Flicker Alley
2022 Blu-ray Disc edition
Cinema of Discovery: Julien Duvivier in the 1920s (1925-1930), black & white, 857 minutes total, not rated, including Carrot Top [Poil de Carotte] (1925), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 123 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0077, UPC 6-17311-68779-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc (five BDs in the set); 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 19.8 Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 5.1 surround sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate, and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 448 Kbps audio bit rate; French language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 10 chapter stops; 44-page insert booklet; two standard multidisc BD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $79.95.
Release date: 4 January 2022.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 9 / additional content: 9 / overall: 9.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from the 2019 high-definition digital restoration of the film produced by Lobster Films, Paris, with the support and collaboration of the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de L’image animée). The source material included a 35mm nitrate negative of the German release version held by La Cinémathèque française, comflated with two damaged 35mm archival nitrate film prints of the French release version held by La Cinémathèque de Toulouse and Départemente de la Charente. The color-tinting in the French prints were guides for the digital tinting of the scans and the original intertitles were digitally reconstructed referencing the Charente print. The visual results are generally excellent. Some print damage was irreparable due to advancing nitrate decomposition, some might have been eliminated such as minor emulsion scrapes, and some, such as long film base scratches and exposure fluctuations, have been minimized as much as current software allows. A pleasant viewing experience.
The film is accompanied by an excellent music score composed and performed on piano by Antonio Coppola.
Supplemental material includes introductions to eight of the films by historian Serge Bromberg; appreciations of all nine films with film critic Hubert Niogret and historian Patrick Brion, including Poil de Carotte (9 minutes); an appreciation of Ladies’ Paradise (Au bonheur des dames) by director Patrice Leconte; restoration demonstrations on five of the films by restoration technicians Chrystel Bonne and Colin Ruffin; a featurette on scoring The Divine Voyage by classical ensemble L’Octuor de France and composer Antonio Coppola; image galleries featuring rare production stills and promotional images; and a 44-page insert booklet featuring introductory remarks by Christian Duvivier, son of Julien Duvivier, essay notes by film historian Serge Bromberg, along with full credits on each film, and many rare photographs.
Note the significantly longer running time compared to earlier home video editions. This is our enthusiastically recommended home video edition of the film.
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This
Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .
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 Arte Editions
2008 DVD edition
Poil de Carotte (1925), black & white, 108 minutes, not rated.
Arte Editions,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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; French language intertitles, optional English and German subtitles; 4 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 5 March 2008.
Country of origin: France
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This French DVD edition has been mastered from the 2005 photochemical restoration of the film conducted by Lobster Films, Paris, from the 35mm nitrate B-negative held by La Cinémathèque française.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Gabriel Thibaudeau and performed by l’Octuor de France.
Supplemental material includes an introduction to the film by Serge Bromberg (4 minutes); a featurette on the music score with Gabriel Thibaudeau (8 minutes); an excerpt from Jacques Feyder’s Visages d’enfants (1925) (6 minutes); and a collection of promotional trailers for other silent films released by Arte Editions (13 minutes).
This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film for European collectors.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Arte Editions
2009 DVD edition
Poil de Carotte (1925), black & white, 108 minutes, not rated.
Arte Editions, distributed by Facets Video,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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; French language intertitles, optional English subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $39.99.
Release date: 24 February 2009.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from the 2005 photochemical restoration of the film conducted by Lobster Films, Paris, from the 35mm nitrate B-negative held by La Cinémathèque française.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Gabriel Thibaudeau and performed by l’Octuor de France.
This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film for North American collectors.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other FRENCH FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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