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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Black Oxen
(1923)
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This scarce feature film directed by Frank Lloyd stars Corinne Griffith, Conway Tearle and a young Clara Bow.
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 Prowlin’ Productions
2006 DVD edition
A Double Dose of . . . Clara Bow, Volume 9, color-toned black & white, 143 minutes total, not rated, with Black Oxen (1923), color-toned black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, and Down to the Sea in Ships (1925), color-toned black & white, 95 minutes, not rated.
Prowlin’ Productions, no catalog number, UPC 1-74135-72018-0.
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), 2.4 Mbps average video bit rate, 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate, LPCM 48 kHz 1.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good 16mm reduction print, but the disc has been mastered from a VHS videotape copy of the original video transfer. The results are clearer than other low-budget discs but is still quite dark in its shadow areas of the picture.
The film is likely accompanied by a music score compiled from preexisting recordings.
This edition is out-of-print and may be difficult to find. We hope that it will soon be moot after a quality home video edition is released.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .
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 Alpha Video
2015 DVD edition
Black Oxen (1923), black & white, 57 minutes, not rated, with My Lady of Whims (1925), black & white, 44 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7699D, UPC 0-89218-76999-2
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), 3.0 Mbps average video bit rate, 384 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; no chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 1 September 2015.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print that is reasonably even toned but a bit blurry.
The film is likely accompanied by a music score 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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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Buyers’ Gallery Video
2004 DVD edition
Black Oxen (1923), black & white, 60 minutes, not rated.
Buyers’ Gallery Video, no catalog number, no 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, PCM 2.0 stereo? sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase?; $12.99.
Release date: 2004.
Country of origin: Canada
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This DVD-R edition from eBay retailer Buyers’ Gallery Video has been mastered been an incomplete (likely 16mm) print, ending at the dinner party sequence.
The George Eastman Museum film archive has preserved the film from a 35mm fine-grain positive struck from the original camera negative.
As with all cheapy editions, we advise waiting.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .
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Other silent era CORINNE GRIFFITH films available on home video.
Other silent era CLARA BOW films available on home video.
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