Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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An Auto Nut
(1919)
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This short comedy stars Sid Smith, Paul Parrott and Vernon Dent, with Smith as an innocent automobile fanatic who is cheated by crooked lawyer Parrott. Dent is his dim-witted assistant who poses as a doctor. A slight, silly comedy.
— Carl Bennett
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 Grapevine Video
2003 DVD edition
Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1919), color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 52 minutes, not rated, with An Auto Nut (1919), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10037-6.
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; no chapter stops (within the film); standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 2003.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 5 / additional content: 6 / overall: 5.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print of the 1924 rerelease version of the film. The slightly faster than natural speed video transfer is a bit contrasty, with lost highlight detail and deep shadows.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack lifted from an LP record, crackles and all.
An OK, watchable, edition and, for now, our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2010 DVD edition
Snub Pollard Showtime (1919-1942), black & white, 58 minutes total, not rated, including An Auto Nut (1919), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6466D, UPC 0-89218-64669-9.
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 6.8 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; no chapter stops (within the film); standard DVD keepcase; $6.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 30 November 2010.
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 of the 1924 rerelease version from Blackhawk Films that is watchable but is compromised a bit by the low-resolution of the reduction print and the analog video transfer itself. It should be no surprise that dust, speckling, schmutz, and other print flaws are present.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting vintage jazz music recordings.
For more information about the other films this collection, see our Snub Pollard Showtime on home video page.
Supplemental material includes a Snub Pollard sound comedy short.
Not recommended but OK.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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