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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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and the Silent Era Company.
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Safety Last
(1923)

The Criterion Collection
2013 Blu-ray Disc edition

Safety Last (1923), black & white, 74 minutes, not rated, with Take a Chance (1918), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, Young Mr. Jazz (1919), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, His Royal Slyness (1919), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated, and Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989), color and black & white, 108 minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, CC2267BD, collection number 662,
UPC 7-15515-10651-1, ISBN 978-1-60465-730-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc, 1.37:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Mbps audio bit rate, uncompressed LPCM 48 kHz stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 18 June 2013.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc edition features a 2K high-definition scan from an archival 35mm nitrate print from the Harold Lloyd collection, accompanied by the familiar orchestral music score composed by Carl Davis for the Photoplay Productions video presentation of the iconic Safety Last. An alternate music score features Gaylord Carter on theatre pipe organ. The scan has been digitaly cleaned and stabilized. The results are fantastic.

The disc is supplemented with the Photoplay Productions documentary Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989).

This is the best edition of the film available on home video and it is highly recommended.

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.

The Criterion Collection
2013 DVD edition

Criterion Collection, CC2268D, collection number 662,
UPC 7-15515-10661-0, ISBN 978-1-60465-731-9.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD discs, 1.37:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 18 June 2013.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition features a 2K high-definition scan from an archival 35mm nitrate print from the Harold Lloyd collection, accompanied by the familiar orchestral music score composed by Carl Davis for the Photoplay Productions video presentation of the iconic Safety Last. An alternate music score features Gaylord Carter on theatre pipe organ. The scan has been digitaly cleaned and stabilized. The results are fantastic.

The disc is supplemented with the Photoplay Productions documentary Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius (1989).

This is the best edition of the film available on DVD home video and is highly recommended.

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

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

New Line Home Entertainment
2005 DVD edition

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, Volume 1 (1919-1936), black & white, color-toned black & white and color-tinted black & white, 420 minutes total, not rated, including Safety Last (1923), color-toned black & white, 73 minutes, not rated.

New Line Home Entertainment,
N8446, UPC 7-94043-84462-1, ISBN 0-7806-5289-4.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), and one dual-sided, dual-layered (side A)/single-layered (side B), Region 1 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 1.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, English and Spanish language subtitles; closed captions; 17 chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 15 November 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Our first look at this DVD edition was a pleasant surprise when we were greeted with the familiar orchestral music score composed by Carl Davis for the Photoplay Productions video presentation of the iconic Safety Last, long out-of-print on VHS. The 35mm print utilized for the slightly color-toned video transfer is excellent, easily making this the best available edition of the film available on home video.

We still recommend this DVD home video edition of Safety Last, if you can find it. If not, consider one of the Criterion editions noted above.

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

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

Alpha Video
2019 DVD edition

Safety Last (1923), black & white, 72 minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8299D, UPC 0-89218-82999-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 10 December 2019.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R collection has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The films are likely to be accompanied by a soundtrack of preexisting recordings.

We have not yet viewed this film in this home video edition.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Unidentified Japanese
200? DVD edition

Safety Last (1923), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Unidentified home video company, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered?, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono? sound, English? language intertitles, foreign language subtitles?, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 200?.
Country of origin: Japan

This unknown DVD edition of Harold Lloyd’s best-known comedy showed up for sale on eBay. We do not know the gauge of the film print utilized for the video transfer.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .