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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The Girl Who
Stayed at Home
(1919)
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This rarely-seen film directed by D.W. Griffith stars Carol Dempster and Richard Barthelmess in this World War I romantic drama.
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 Grapevine Video
2012 DVD edition
The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919), black & white, 69 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10475-8.
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 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 13 January 2012.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 5 / additional content: 0 / overall: 5.
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This DVD-R edition of the rare D.W. Griffith film has been mastered from a very-good 16mm reduction print that sports reasonable image details. Dust, speckling, schmutz, long vertical scratches, and other print flaws are present.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed (anonymously) on piano that reasonably fits the mood of the film.
This disc is a slightly better-looking presentation than the one listed below and, for now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
This review was updated in 2025.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2020 DVD edition
The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919), black & white, 69 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8306D, UPC 0-89218-83069-2.
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 4.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 30 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 14 January 2020.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 4 / additional content: 0 / overall: 4.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from what appears to be a 16mm reduction print. There are some slight compression artifacts to be seen but the picture quality is not horrible. There is perhaps more speckling than dust present in the picture, with faint vertical scratches, some schmutz, and other print flaws there but in moderation.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting orchestral music recordings of varying audio quality.
Given the slightly (very slight to some eyes) lower-quality picture and the cheap soundtrack of this edition, we recommend the Grapevine Video edition noted above.
This review was updated in 2026.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 Loving the Classics
202? DVD edition
The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919), black & white, 60 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: 202?.
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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Other silent era D.W. GRIFFITH films available on home video.
Other silent era RICHARD BARTHELMESS films available on home video.
Other WORLD WAR I FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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