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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Beau Brummel
(1924)
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John Barrymore stars in this Warner Brothers historical drama, directed by Harry Beaumont, featuring Mary Astor, Carmel Myers and Alec B. Francis.
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 Warner Archive Collection
2009 DVD edition
Beau Brummel (1924), black & white, 127 minutes, not rated.
Warner Home Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-83316-16770-0.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame and windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.8 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; 13 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95 (reduced to $12.99).
Release date: 16 June 2009.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 0 / overall: 7.
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This DVD-R edition has been transferred from a very-good 35mm print that features a broad range of greytones and good image detail. There are many examples of dust, speckling and schmutz, with some image instability, emulsion scuffing and chipping, fine vertical scratches, and other print flaws. The main credits and intertitles have been slightly windowboxed for viewing on old CRT-based televisions that performed overscan cropping on all edges of the picture. High-definition systems capable of resolution upscaling will not be able to hide all examples of coarse standard definition interlacing. Quick lateral movements reveal interlacing artifacts inherent in older DVD discs.
The film is accompanied by a fine but anonymous modern orchestral music score.
For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film, but it is overdue for a digitally remastered home video edition.
This review was updated in 2026.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
WARNER HOME VIDEO through . . .
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 Alpha Video
2019 DVD edition
Beau Brummel (1924), black & white, 80 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8249D, UPC 0-89218-82499-8.
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 ? 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; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 23 July 2019.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 TeleVista
2007 DVD edition
Beau Brummel (1924), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
TeleVista, no catalog number, UPC 0-29502-88605-9.
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 ? 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; $14.95.
Release date: 25 September 2007.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
Don’t expect much, other TeleVista products have been disappointing at best. Compare the running time of this disc to the Warner Archive edition above. That should tell you something.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available from
TELEVISTA through . . .
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Other silent era JOHN BARRYMORE films available on home video.
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