Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Romola
(1924)
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Following the success of The White Sister (1923), the Inspiration Pictures company and director Henry King again teamed Lillian Gish with Ronald Colman for this period drama of love, jealousy and political corruption, shot on location in Italy, that also features William Powell as the villain. |
 Grapevine Video
2015 DVD edition
Romola (1924), black & white, 106 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 18 September 2015.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been digitally remastered by Grapevine Video for a higher-quality home video product.
The film is likely to be accompanied by the same compilation of preexisting orchestral recordings as Grapevine’s earlier edition noted below.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2005 DVD edition
Romola (1924), black & white, 106 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 4.5 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95 (reduced to $14.95).
Release date: September 2005.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 0 / overall: 4.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a fair to good 16mm reduction print. Some sections of the source print are quite dark, making reading some of the intertitles and following the film’s action rough going for the viewer. The print is contrasty in itself and the video transfer has been adjusted to grey down the image highlights in an attempt to hold detail, resulting in its generally dark picture. However, we have never viewed a 35mm print of this film and this DVD represents the best-looking edition of the three we have seen on home video (which apparently isn’t saying much). Collectors may benefit from increasing the brightness settings on their television monitor when viewing this disc.
The film is accompanied by preexisting recordings from a variety of sources, roughly edited together into a serviceable music score.
Far from an ideal edition, this disc will have to do until a better edition can be mastered from the print held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .
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 The Film Detective
2016 DVD edition
Romola (1924), black & white, 120 minutes, not rated.
The Film Detective,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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; standard DVD keepcase; $9.99.
Release date: 20 September 2016.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been transferred from a 16mm reduction print.
The presentation likely features a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Alpha Video
2019 DVD edition
Romola (1924), black & white, 105 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8234D, UPC 0-89218-82349-6.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 18 June 2019.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been transferred from a 16mm reduction print.
The presentation likely features a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Classic Video Streams
2009 DVD edition
The Actors: Rare Films of Lillian Gish, Volume 3 (1919-1924), black & white, 140 minutes total, not rated, including Romola (1924), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Classic Video Streams,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; slimline DVD keepcase; $16.99.
Release date: 28 December 2009.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been transferred from a 16mm reduction print.
The presentation likely features a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 eMoviez
200? DVD edition
Romola (1924), black & white, 118 minutes, not rated.
eMoviez, no catalog number, no UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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; standard DVD keepcase; $19.99.
Release date: 200?
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on theater pipe organ.
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EMOVIEZ no longer sells home video products and this item is . . .
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Other silent era LILLIAN GISH films available on home video.
Other silent era HENRY KING films available on home video.
Other silent era WILLIAM POWELL films available on home video.
Other silent era RONALD COLMAN films available on home video.
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Lillian Gish filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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