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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
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The
White Sister

(1923)

 

Produced by Inspiration Pictures — the company headed by actor Richard Barthelmess, director Henry King and executive Charles Duell — The White Sister was shot in Italy to capture the beauty of the story’s homeland. The film stars Lillian Gish and Ronald Colman.

coverWarner Archive Collection
2011 DVD edition

The White Sister (1923), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 135 minutes, not rated, with The White Sister (1933), black & white, 105 minutes, not rated.

Warner Home Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-83316-31165-3.
One single-sided, dual-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), 7.8 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops (1923 version); and 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), 7.6 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, no chapter stops (1933 version); standard DVD keepcase; $24.95 (reduced to $17.99).
Release date: 11 January 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This DVD-R edition has been prepared from a very-good 35mm archival print as originally presented on the Turner Classic Movies network. The source print is not close to perfect, with a noticable and sometimes distracting amount of speckling, some dust, scuffing and scrapes, scratches and other print flaws. Compared to other home video editions, this disc is an absolute delight.

The film is accompanied by a fine orchestral music score composed by Garth Neustadler.

What a welcome relief it is that we have finally have a decent home video edition of this film and, by far, it is our recommended edition of The White Sister.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD+R / DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Purchase supports Silent Era.
coverGrapevine Video
2006 DVD edition

The White Sister (1923), black & white, 143 minutes, not rated.

Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10239-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 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 8-bit 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 18 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95 (reduced to $14.95).
Release date: December 2006.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 5 / additional content: 0 / overall: 5.

This DVD-R edition, touted as being the complete 10-reel version (that is, the complete general release version of the film edited from its premiere length of 13 reels), has been transferred from a good but contrasty 16mm reduction print. Image shadow details are lost in deep, choking blacks, but highlight details (if still existing in the source print) remain.

The film can be hard to watch at times as all but the brightest picture details in interior shots are lost in subterranean shadows. Small exposure fluctuations throughout the film slowly flicker the sparce middle greytones. At least, the windowboxed, natural-speed video transfer will present on all monitors all of the picture information in the closely-cropped 16mm print.

The production is presented with a serviceable compiled music score of preexisting orchestral recordings, edited to accompany the film’s action.

Not the best home video option for hopeful collectors but, still, a marginal improvement over the crappy VHS editions of the 1980s and early 1990s.

 
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 . . .
coverSunrise Silents
2006 DVD edition

The White Sister (1923), color-tinted black & white, 108 minutes, not rated, with Mystery of the Double Cross (1917) [episode 5: “The Life Current”], color-tinted black & white, 24 minutes, not rated, Kid’s Auto Race (1914), color-tinted black & white, 5 minutes, not rated, The Great Cheese Robbery (1920), color-tinted black & white, 3 minutes, not rated.

Sunrise Silents,
TWSL-N (NTSC) and TWSL-P (PAL), no UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC or PAL DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 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 8-bit 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $23.95.
Release date: 1 February 2006.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 6 / additional content: 6 / overall: 5.

This DVD-R edition of The White Sister from Sunrise Silents reveals a faster-than-natural-speed windowboxed video transfer from a very-good 16mm reduction print. However, the source print is cropped more so on the left side than elsewhere. Image details are soft, the print is contrasty, with plugged-up shadows and featureless highlights, and there are small exposure fluctuations throughout. While the intertitles are readable, some facial features are hard to discern.

The disc features musical accompaniment performed on a MIDI-based synthesizer.

Also on this disc is Charles Chaplin’s second film, transferred from a good 16mm reduction print, a Krazy Kat cartoon, transferred from a very-good 16mm reduction print, a glass-slide gallery (25 images), the fifth episode of the serial Mystery of the Double Cross (1917), transferred from a good 16mm reduction print, a Lillian Gish photo gallery (32 images), and a trailer for What Price Glory (1926), transferred from a good 16mm reduction print.

We were happy to trash our old hard-to-watch VHS edition of The White Sister for this new DVD-R edition, but we look forward to an improved home video release of this film.

 
SUNRISE SILENTS has discontinued business and this edition is . . .
coverReel Classic DVD
2014 DVD edition

The White Sister (1923), black & white, 132 minutes, not rated.

Reel Classic DVD, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
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 mono? sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 2014.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD-R edition has likely been transferred from a 16mm reduction print.

The presentation features a music score composed and performed by Stuart Oderman.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
coverAlpha Video
2019 DVD edition

The White Sister (1923), black & white, 143 minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8230D, UPC 0-89218-82309-0.
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 8-bit 2.0 mono? sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 21 May 2019.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.

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

 
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
coverClassic Video Streams
2009 DVD edition

The Actors: Rare Films of Lillian Gish, Volume 1 (1923),
black & white, 143 minutes total, not rated, including The White Sister (1923), black & white, 143 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 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, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; slimline DVD keepcase; $16.99.
Release date: 28 December 2009.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD-R edition has likely been transferred from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.

The presentation likely features a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Other silent era LILLIAN GISH films available on home video.

Other silent era RONALD COLMAN films available on home video.

Lillian Gish filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
 
 
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