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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Café Elektric
(1927)
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This feature drama, directed by Gustav Ucicky, stars Willi Forst and Marlene Dietrich, with Fritz Alberti, Anny Coty, Igo Sym, Vera Salvotti, Nina Vanna, Wilhelm Völcker and Albert von Kersten.
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 Hoanzl Edition Der Standard
2008 DVD edition
Café Elektric (1927), black & white, 91 minutes, not rated.
Hoanzl, 105, UPC 9-783902-618702, unknown ISBN number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 PAL 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; longbox DVD keepcase; €9.99.
Release date: 3 October 2008.
Country of origin: Austria
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This PAL DVD edition has likely been mastered from an archival 35mm print (although possibly incomplete).
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Gerhard Gruber.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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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This Region 0 PAL DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
Café Elektric (1927), black & white, 80 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics, no catalog number, 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99 (raised to $15.49).
Release date: 201?.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
Note that this company apparently has a history of pirating other home video editions or pirating television network recordings to produce their products. Be aware that purchasing pirated home video editions does not benefit the original edition producers nor the composers whose music is often pirated as well.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Silent Gems Collection
2018 DVD edition
Café Elektric (1927), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises, 187, 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; slimline CD jewelcase; $34.99 (raised again to $44.99).
Release date: 2018.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been lifted from a copy of the Hoanzl DVD edition noted above. The publisher-provided still frame above indicates visual quality. It is likely that throughout the presentation a faint “SHF-E” watermark appears in the lower right-hand corner of the picture to discourage pirating; as this edition was likely pirated from some other home video edition or from some Internet streaming source, we find this to be ludicrous.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
We vehemently criticize this publisher for their overpriced offerings that give the consumer as little value as possible.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available through . . .
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Other AUSTRIAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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