Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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For Luck
(1917)
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This short drama, directed by Evgenii Bauer, features Nikolai Radin, Lidiya Koreneva, Taisiia Borman, Lev Kuleshov, Emochka Bauera, N. Dennitsyna and Aleksandr Kheruvimov.
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 The Milestone Cinematheque
2009 DVD edition
Early Russian Cinema, Volume 10, The End of an Era (1917), black & white, 72 minutes total, not rated, including To Happiness [Za schastem, also known as For Luck] (1917), black & white, 41 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film & Video, Mile019D, UPC 7-84148-00193-7.
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 4.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, permanent English language subtitles; chapter stops; slimline DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 1 February 2009
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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Originally produced for home video by the British Film Institute in 1991 and released in the USA on VHS videotape by Milestone Film & Video in 1992, this ten-volume (nine-disc) collection of prerevolutionary Russian film productions is now available on NTSC DVD-R discs. The older video transfer looks very-good on high-definition systems capable of progressive scan upscaling. The 35mm source material shows a substantial amount of dust, speckling, emulsion scuffing and chipping, schmutz, moderate frame jitters, and other print flaws. including the occasional appearance of an “X” in the middle of a frame (which may indicate the intended placement of intertitles, but we’re just guessing, as intertitles already appear throughout the film).
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Neil Brand.
This remains our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Loving the Classics
2025 DVD edition
Za schastem [For Luck] (1917), black & white, 41 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics,
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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, permanent? English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 8 March 2025
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print or copied from the Milestone edition noted above.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other EVGENII BAUER films available on home video.
Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other SHORT DRAMA FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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