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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Hotel Imperial
(1927)
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This war drama, directed by Mauritz Stiller, stars Pola Negri and James Hall, with George Siegmann, Max Davidson, Michael Vavitch, Otto Fries and Nicholas Soussanin.
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 Grapevine Video
2006 DVD edition
Hotel Imperial (1927), black & white, 77 minutes, not rated,
with Just in Time (1981), black & white, 18 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10006-2.
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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 5 / additional content: 5 / overall: 5.
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This DVD-R edition has been prepared from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print that shows a significant amount of dust, speckling, exposure fluctuations, emulsion scuffing, and other print flaws. The analog video transfer loses some image details in the picture’s highlights and all but totally closes up shadow details. Upscaling on high-definition equipment may have a hard time eliminating all evidence of the disc’s coarsely interlaced picture, with the effect seen clearly in the intertitles and on diagonal picture elements.
The film is presented with a soundtrack compiled from preexisting low-fidelity orchestral music recordings.
Supplementary material includes a Snooky the Humanzee comedy short.
For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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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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 Alpha Video
2024 DVD edition
Hotel Imperial (1927), black & white, 76 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8604D, UPC 0-89218-86049-1.
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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $8.98.
Release date: 28 May 2024.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a reduction print.
The film is 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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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
Hotel Imperial (1927), black & white, 67 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; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 201?
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
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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 Classic Video Streams
2010 DVD edition
The Actors: Rare Films of Pola Negri, Volume 2 (1925-1927), black & white, 154 minutes total, not rated, including A Woman of the World (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with Hotel Imperial (1927), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Classic Video Streams,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-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 subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 9 March 2010.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a music score compiled from preexisting recordings
Not at all recommended.
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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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Other silent era POLA NEGRI films available on home video.
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