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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Down Home
(1926)
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This feature drama, directed by Irvin V. Willat, stars Leatrice Joy and James Barrows, with Edward Hearn, Aggie Herring, Edward Nolan, William Robert Daly, Sidney A. Franklin, Bert Hadley and Frank Braidwood.
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 Alpha Video
2018 DVD edition
The Clinging Vine (1926), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with Down Home (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8058D, UPC 0-89218-80589-8.
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: 17 April 2018.
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.
Somewhat reluctantly, we recommend this home video edition of the film.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 Loving the Classics
2025 DVD edition
Down Home (1920), black & white, 70 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; $24.99 (reduced to $15.49).
Release date: 4 July 2025.
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.
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
2016 DVD edition
Down Home (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises, 61, 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.
Release date: 2016.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 35mm print or a very-good quality 16mm reduction print (possibly from a VHS videotape duplicate) as can be surmised by the publisher-provided still frame above. 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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