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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The
Covered Wagon
(1923)
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Who can explain what makes a film great and what keeps a film from being great? Sometimes a film has a huge reputation simply because the film’s producers mounted it as an epic. The Covered Wagon (1923) is both an epic and an average film. Epic in its mounting, the film was largely shot on-location in Utah and Nevada, with as many as 3000 extras and what appears to be at least 100 or more Conestoga wagons. Yet when the film plays out its story of pioneer hardships, power struggles and love triangles, The Covered Wagon is not much more than a large-scale Western programmer. That being said, The Covered Wagon was a very successful film in 1923, and led to other big-budget Westerns such as John Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924).
The film remains a pleasing diversion today, in large part due to the performances of character actors Alan Hale, Ernest Torrance and Tully Marshall. Male lead J. Warren Kerrigan makes a slightly ridiculous-looking hero, with his paunchy stomach and overdone (even for 1923) eye and brow makeup, but he does his job on-screen and can be overlooked for other cast members. Kerrigan’s former costar Lois Wilson turns in a journeyman performance in a role originally intended for Mary Miles Minter. Director James Cruze reaches the pinnacle of his career with this daunting and financially-successful project, taking care of the large picture while paying attention to little details.
— Carl Bennett
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 Kino Classics
2018 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Covered Wagon (1923), black & white, 98 minutes, not rated, with The Pie-Covered Wagon (1932), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K22864, UPC 7-38329-22864-4.
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 34.8 Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps audio bit rate (music) and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps audio bit rate (commentary); English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 10 chapter stops; 12-page insert booklet; standard BD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 20 February 2018.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition features a new high-definition transfer from a very-good to excellent 35mm restoration print. The image is detailed with a well-balanced range of greytones, and displays a light amount of dust and speckling, emulsion scrapes, exposure variations, and other light flaws, with some frame jitters and splice jumps. None of it is substantial enough to distract the viewer. The film has not looked this good on home video before.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on a historic Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ by Gaylord Carter. The performance, originally recorded to accompany Paramount’s 1990s VHS and laserdisc home video editions of the film, is a welcome retention here.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan; a booklet essay by film scholar Matt Hauske; and The Pie-Covered Wagon (1932) a one-reel Educational Films spoof featuring Shirley Temple among The Baby Stars.
This 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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 Kino Classics
2018 DVD edition
The Covered Wagon (1923), black & white, 98 minutes, not rated, with The Pie-Covered Wagon (1932), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K22863, UPC 7-38329-22863-5.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; 12-page insert booklet; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 20 February 2018.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition features a new high-definition transfer from a very-good to excellent 35mm restoration print.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on a historic Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ by Gaylord Carter. The performance, originally recorded to accompany Paramount’s 1990s VHS and laserdisc home video editions of the film, is a welcome retention here.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan; a booklet essay by film scholar Matt Hauske; and The Pie-Covered Wagon (1932) a one-reel Educational Films spoof featuring Shirley Temple among The Baby Stars.
This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Grapevine Video
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Covered Wagon (1923), black & white, 97 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc
(BD-R BDMV); 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 foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 29 June 2023.
Country of origin: USA
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This BD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print of the film.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music sources.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 BD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This
Region 0 BD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2023 DVD edition
The Covered Wagon (1923), black & white, 97 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 6-60845-44947-3.
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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $12.99.
Release date: 29 June 2023.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print of the film.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music sources.
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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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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2020 DVD edition
The Covered Wagon (1923), black & white, 98 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8203D, UPC 0-89218-82039-6.
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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 12 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
The film may be accompanied by a soundtrack 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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Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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