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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The Virginian
(1923)
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This western comedy-drama, directed by Tom Forman, stars Kenneth Harlan and Florence Vidor, with support from villain Russell Simpson, Pat O’Malley, Raymond Hatton and Milton Ross.
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 Grapevine Video
2017 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Virginian (1923), black & white, 79 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video,
no catalog number, UPC 6-60845-44858-2.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at 29.8 Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: May 2017.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 0 / overall: 6.
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This Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition has been mastered at high-resolution from a very-good 16mm reduction print that was duplicated from source material that was in active nitrate decomposition in sections. The print itself has a fair amount of dust and speckling, vertical scratches, scuffing, splices, schmutz, fibers on the negative, and other print flaws.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by David Knudtson.
For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available directly from . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2017 DVD edition
The Virginian (1923), black & white, 79 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, 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; $16.95.
Release date: May 2017.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed by David Knudtson.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2011 DVD edition
The Virginian (1923), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6634D, UPC 0-89218-66349-8.
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 6.2 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 27 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 3 / additional content: 0 / overall: 3.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a fair 8mm reduction print with a very persistent vertical scratch. Whether it’s the print or the video transfer, the picture is cocked counter-clockwise about three degrees — enough to be distracting.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings of uneven quality.
Yet another poor release from Alpha Video.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 Sinister Cinema
2012 DVD edition
The Virginian (1923), black & white, 70 minutes, not rated.
Sinister Cinema, W485, 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: 19 October 2012.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from an 8mm reduction print.
The film is likely to be accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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