Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
A Society
Sensation
(1918) |
Carmel Myers turns in a charmingly unaffected performance in A Society Sensation and, for her brief screen time in the abbreviated version, ZaSu Pitts is brilliantly meek as Mary, with her subtlely-rendered mannerisms that turn to comedy when she faints.
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 Flicker Alley
2007 DVD edition
Valentino: Rediscovering an Icon of Silent Film (1918-1922), color and black & white, 226 minutes total, not rated, including A Society Sensation (1918), color-toned black & white, 24 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0004,
ISBN 1-893967-32-8, UPC 6-17311-67329-0.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.5 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 4 chapter stops; 12-page insert booklet; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; $39.98.
Release date: 11 September 2007.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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The release of this two-disc DVD collection of Rudolph Valentino material is both a happy and sad occasion. Sad, for the unhappy survival condition and incomplete state of surviving prints of these films; happy, for the opportunity to view them in any state whatsoever.
For A Society Sensation (1918) the film is presented in an excellent windowboxed video transfer from the surviving abbreviated 1924 two-reel rerelease version in a 35mm print, which is very-good but, in places, worn. The print shows a moderate amount of frame jitters, sections of pronounced and persistent filmbase scratches, dust, faint early decomposition, speckling and light emulsion damage that can be distracting for the viewer.
The film is accompanied by a theatre pipe organ score performed by Bob Mitchell.
Supplementary material includes a 12-page insert booklet featuring an essay by Emily W. Leider.
The DVD’s high video bit rate ensures that, despite how rough the source prints are, the disc will render the best-possible image, even on high-definition television monitors. We highly recommend this disc set.
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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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 Passport Video
2009 DVD edition
The Rudolph Valentino Collection: 5 Fabulous Films (1918-1925), black & white, 420 minutes total, not rated, including A Society Sensation (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Passport Video,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs; 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 foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; double-wide three-disc DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 11 August 2009.
Country of origin: USA
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This three-disc DVD collection of Rudolph Valentino films may have been mastered from 16mm reduction prints. All of the films in the collection have previously appeared on DVD in high-quality editions.
The film is likely to be accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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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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Other RUDOLPH VALENTINO films available on home video.
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