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 Toll Gate
(1920)
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This William S. Hart western costars Anna Q. Nilsson, Joseph Singleton, Jack Richardson and Master Richard Headrick.
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 Film Preservation Associates
1999 DVD edition
The Toll Gate (1920), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 73 minutes, not rated, with His Bitter Pill (1916), black & white, 20 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID4728DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-47282-0.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 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 6.4 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 subtitles; 11 chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $24.99.
Release date: 20 April 1999.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 5 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.
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This early DVD edition of The Toll Gate has been mastered from what appears to be a very-good 16mm reduction print duplicated from source material that is moderately scuffed, scratched and speckled. The older full-frame natural-speed video transfer is OK, but the color-tinting is a bit darker than it should be, resulting at time in eyestrain.
The film is accompanied by a sometimes annoying music score performed on synthesizers by Eric Beheim.
His Bitter Pill has been mastered from very-good 16mm reduction print materials.
The film could benefit from a new video transfer from 35mm film materials — and nix the music, please!
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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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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Sinister Cinema
2006? DVD edition
The Toll Gate (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Sinister Cinema, W328, no 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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $11.95 (reduced to $8.95).
Release date: 2006?
Country of origin: USA
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This budget DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a music score pieced together from preexisting recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Sunrise Silents
2004 DVD edition
The Toll Gate (1920), color-toned black & white, 75 minutes, not rated.
Sunrise Silents,
TGWH-N (NTSC) and TGWH-P (PAL), no UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC or PAL 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; $20.95.
Release date: 2004.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition was likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on MIDI synthesizer.
If you own a copy of this disc please consider loaning it to us to review for documentation purposes. We pay postage both ways.
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SUNRISE SILENTS has discontinued business and this edition is . . .
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Other WILLIAM S. HART films available on home video.
Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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William S. Hart filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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