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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Carmen
[Gypsy Blood]
(1918)
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This early drama from director Ernst Lubitsch features Pola Negri as Carmen with support from Harry Liedtke, Leopold von Ledebur, Grete Diercks and Magnus Stifter.
Negri makes a saucy and engaging Carmen, and fares well against other cinematic Carmens of the silent era.
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 Kino Classics
2024 Blu-ray Disc edition
Carmen (1918), color-tinted black & white, 91 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K26695, UPC 7-38329-26695-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 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 26.6 Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 8 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 9 July 2024.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 9 / additional content: 7 / overall: 8.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered at 4K high-resolution from a restoration print overseen by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung prepared from two incomplete 35mm preservation prints (one excellent and one very-good) and 35mm nitrate print fragments. No digital stabilization and, apparently, no digital clean-up has been performed on the HD scan as a significant amount of dust, speckling, schmutz, emulsion scuffing and scrapes, frame jitters, exposure fluctuations, visible splices, and other print flaws remain. Much of the digital integration of footage from the source prints is well-matched, with only a slight change in image quality left to indicate where this has been done.
The film is accompanied by a pleasant music score composed by Tobias Schwenke, based in part on themes by Bizet, as performed by the orchestral ensemble Kontraste.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary by film historian Anthony Slide; and a featurette on the film’s restoration in German with permanent English subtitles (5 minutes).
This disc is a considerable improvement over other home video releases and is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This
Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2006 DVD edition
Gypsy Blood [Carmen] (1918) [1921 USA release version], black & white and color-toned black & white, 80 minutes, not rated, with The Vagabond (1916), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10241-7.
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 5.0 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 subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95 (reduced to $14.95).
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 4.
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This DVD-R edition has been transferred from a good to very-good 8mm reduction print of the edited version prepared for release in the United States in 1921, which features English language intertitles. The source print is, as is to be expected, soft of image detail, contrasty with blasted-out highlights, with some speckling and dust, and a higher than usual amount of schmutz at the edges of the frame early in the film. The picture is jittery throughout. The video master has been transferred at slightly faster than natural speed.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack of abruptly edited together prerecorded orchestral (including excerpts from the Bizet Carmen) and Spanish-style guitar music recordings in glorious low-fidelity.
Supplemental material is limited to the inclusion of The Vagabond (1916) from a very-good 16mm reduction print as rereleased by the Van Beuren Company in the 1950s with sound effects and music composed by Winston Sharples.
To be sure this isn’t an ideal edition of the film, with its OK visual quality and edited American source print, but it is likely the best of the available home video editions of the 1921 American release version.
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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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 TeleVista
2009 DVD edition
Gypsy Blood [Carmen] (1918) [1921 USA release version], black & white, 65 minutes, not rated.
TeleVista, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
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 ? 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; $19.95.
Release date: 9 June 2009.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print. Note the short running time.
Don’t expect much. Given our past experience with TeleVista product, we would be very surprised if this edition looked better than the Grapevine Video edition noted above.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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Other silent era ERNST LUBITSCH films available on home video.
Other silent era POLA NEGRI films available on home video.
Other GERMAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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