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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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The Sawmill
(1922)

This comedy short, directed by Larry Semon, stars Larry Semon and Dorothy Dwan, with Oliver Hardy.

Kino Classics
2024 Blu-ray edition

Vitagraph Comedies (1907-1922), black & white, 565 minutes total, not rated, including The Sawmill (1922), black & white, 26 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K26603, UPC 7-38329-26603-5.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Discs (three 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard three-disc BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 14 May 2024.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc collection has been mastered from archival film elements.

The films are accompanied by music scores compiled, composed and performed by Esin Aydingoz, Caterina Maddalena Barbieri, Camila Cortina Bello, Teil Buck, Linda Chase, Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez, Renée T. Coulombe, Annette Johnson, Chris Lock, Liz Magnes, Karen Majewicz, Ben Model, Shane Prediville, Dana Reason, Chris Rorrer with Daniel Mandrychenko, Don Ross, José María Serralde Ruiz, Andrew Earle Simpson, Dylan Talisien, Peter Valsamis, Gonca Feride Varol, Violin Noir, and Qingye Wu.

Supplemental material includes audio commentaries by film historian Anthony Slide; and interviews with curator Rob Stone, archivists Lynanne Schweighofer and Geo. Willeman, and film historian Rob Farr (24 minutes total).

This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .

Kino on Video
2005 DVD edition

The Oliver Hardy Collection (1921-1927), black & white, 181 minutes total, not rated, including The Sawmill (1921), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K433, UPC 7-38329-04332-2.
One single-sided, dual-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 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 13 September 2005.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been mastered from A very-good 16mm reduction print.

The disc was produced with the assistance of Lobster Films, Paris.

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

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

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

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

Grapevine Video
2005 DVD edition

Larry Semon Shorts, Volume One (1918-1927), black & white, 114 minutes total, not rated, including The Sawmill (1922), black & white, ? 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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 2005.
Country of origin: USA

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

The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

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

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

Grapevine Video
2005 DVD edition

Lorna Doone (1922), black & white, 79 minutes, not rated, with The Sawmill (1922), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10043-7.
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, PCM 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $12.95 (raised to $14.95).
Release date: August 2005.
Country of origin: USA

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

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

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

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

Alpha Video
2005 DVD edition

Early Silent Classics of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Volume 1 (1922-1926), black & white, 101 minutes total, not rated, including The Sawmill (1922), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 4679D, UPC 0-89218-46799-7.
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 subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 22 February 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 5 / additional content: 0 / overall: 5.

This DVD-R edition has been transferred from a good but tightly-cropped (apparently) 8mm reduction print that features blurry and very-contrasty image details. The image is so tightly cropped in this too-fast video transfer that heads often disappear into the overscan cropping area of most televisions. This is the hardest-to-watch film on the disc.

The film is accompanied by a series of piano recordings of Scott Joplin songs (if memory serves and has correctly identified the recordings) by Joshua Rifkin.

Not recommended.

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