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Recreation
(1914)

This collection of the Keystone Film Company short comedies that feature Charles Chaplin is the result of a multiyear cooperative restoration program between the British Film Institute, the Cineteca di Bologna, and Lobster Films, Paris, in cooperation with Association Chaplin.

Some of the restoration footage has never been seen on home video before as the source prints utilized for previously-released DVD, laserdisc and VHS videotape editions were often incomplete.

Flicker Alley
2010 DVD edition

Chaplin at Keystone (1914), black & white, 590 minutes total, not rated, including Recreation (1914), black & white, 6 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0018,
UPC 6-17311-67579-9, ISBN 1-893967-57-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 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 subtitles; no chapter stops (within the film); four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $79.95.
Release date: 26 October 2010.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been mastered from a duplicate 8mm preservation reduction negative held by Film Preservation Associates, with inserts from an extremely fragmentary 35mm nitrate positive held by the British Film Institute. The results are very poor as the 16mm source material is quite blurry.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Antonio Coppola.

Supplemental material includes Charlie et sa Belle [Charlie’s White Elephant] (1916); Inside the Keystone Project (2010) documenting the Chaplin Project (10 minutes); Silent Traces: The Keystone Locations (2010) with John Bengtson, author of Silent Traces (12 minutes); and a stills gallery.

Overall, the improvement in quality over previous home video editions is so great that you’ll toss your other Keystone Chaplin discs when you see this collection. Highly recommended!

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .

Delta Entertainment
2003 DVD edition

The Essential Charlie Chaplin Collection (1914), black & white, 77 minutes total, not rated, including Recreation (1914), black & white, 6 minutes, not rated.

Delta Entertainment, 82 455, UPC 0-18111-24559-3.
One single-sided, single-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 24 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.99.
Release date: 18 March 2003.
Country of origin: USA

This budget DVD edition follows the suit of other Chaplin collections: put as few films onto as many discs as possible, regardless of print quality and sell them as cheap as possible. And don’t expect them to be mastered from anything but subpar 16mm and 8mm reduction prints.

Don’t consider buying this collection for the Chaplin Mutual films. The Mutual films have all been released on DVD home video in far superior editions transferred from 35mm prints. Cobra Entertainment (successor to Delta) rereleased remaining stock of this disc onto the market in 2010.

DELTA ENTERTAINMENT has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .