Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Suspense (1913)

The short thriller Suspense (1913), directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley, features impressive shots that were uncommon in 1913 to tell its concurrent timeline tale, a la Griffith, of a tramp breaking into a home while a wife is frantically relaying to her husband via telephone his progression into the house. As noted by Kevin Brownlow, the triptych shot used to show concurrent action had been developed earlier in Denmark, but the film also features a number of striking high-angle, point-of-view and mirror shots to indicate first and third-person perspectives.

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a high-resolution scan of an archival British release print held by the British Film Institute National Archive. The print is marked by a moderate amount of dust, speckling, schmutz, emulsion scrapes and other flaws. In general, viewing is pleasing with the exception of the persistent frame jitters which could have been eased by digital stabilization (which we maintain is not a bad thing).

The film is accompanied by a fine music score composed by Skylar Nam and performed by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra. The music is appropriate to the film’s narrative.

Supplementary material for this film includes a Lois Weber featurette with contributions by Shelley Stamp and Anthony Slide (9 minutes).

This is our recommended home video edition of the film (although there is room for a digitally restored edition).

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This dual-format Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition has been mastered from archival 35mm print elements. The source print is flawed by a moderate amount of dust, speckling, schmutz, emulsion scrapes and other issues. Compared to the Kino Lorber edition noted above, the image is more stable but the picture is just slightly of lower quality. (Should we hazard a guess, perhaps the transfer from the 2005 Unseen Cinema collection noted below was dusted off for use here.)

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Frederick Hodges. The music does seem to lapse into a parody of silent thrillers (upon hearing, we begin looking for that damsel tied to the railroad tracks and here comes the train).

The collection’s supplementary material includes audio commentary for The Blot by author and professor Shelley Stamp; and a booklet essay by film historian and Women Film Pioneers Project Manager Kate Saccone.

While this film has appeared in other home video editions, the appeal of this collection will be the retrospective context of the collection and the updated, high-definition video transfers. A highly recommended collection.

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The films are accompanied by music scores by Renee Clark Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov and others.

This will likely be the best DVD home video editions of many of these films. A companion volume containing three feature films and a fragment of a fourth was also released under the title The Intrigue.

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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This DVD edition has been transferred from a very-good 35mm print from Film Preservation Associates. The source material is flawed by a moderate amount of dust, speckling, schmutz, emulsion scrapes, exposure fluctuations, and other print flaws. Compared to the Blu-ray Disc editions noted above, this DVD picture is a bit murky and soft.

The film is accompanied by a passable music score performed by Eric Beheim on synthesizers.

Notes on the films have been written by Dominic Angerame, Aram Boyajian, Kevin Brownlow, William Butler, Terry Cannon, Harold Casselton, David Curtis, Susan Delson, Douglas Dreishpoon, Deke Dusinberre, R. Bruce Elder, Bradley Eros, Walker Evans, Gregory Jay Galligan, Robert A. Haller, Jan-Christopher Horak, Rogger Horrocks, Lewis Jacobs, David James, Lawrence Jordan, Paul D. Lehrman, Jeanne Liotta, Janis Londraville, Scott MacDonald, Bruce Posner, Stephanie Przybylek, Karan Sheldon, David Shepard, Paul C. Spehr, Cecile Starr, Marguerite Tazelaar and Jennifer Wild. The discs include still picture galleries of more than 250 rare production and filmmakers photos.

The collection is sponsored by Anthology Film Archives, and Deutsches Filmmuseum. Unseen Cinema is made possible in part by Cineric Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, and Film Preservation Associates, with additional sponsorships by The British Film Institute, George Eastman Museum, The Library of Congress, and The Museum of Modern Art.

Acceptable viewing, despite the foregoing, and the choice of which edition noted here will be best for you depends on which boxset collection you want to acquire.

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Other silent era LOIS WEBER films available on home video.

Other CRIME FILMS of the silent era available on home video.