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 Manhattan
Cowboy
(1928)
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This silent western feature, directed by the prolific J.P. McGowan, stars Bob Custer and Mary Maybery, with Lafe McKee, Slim Whitaker, John Lowell, Lynn Sanderson, Mack V. Wright, Cliff Lyons and Dorothy Vernon.
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 Grapevine Video
2009 DVD edition
The Manhattan Cowboy (1928), black & white, 54 minutes, not rated, with The Code of the West (1929), black & white, 53 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10199-7.
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 4.0 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; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: May 2009.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 3 / additional content: 4 / overall: 4.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a very-good but dark 16mm reduction print duplicated from a 35mm print that was active in some nitrate decomposition. The image is reasonably detailed, with significant dust, speckling, fine scratches, emulsion scuffing, and other print flaws remaining in the picture.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting low-fidelity music recordings.
For notes on the accompanying feature, see our The Code of the West on home video page.
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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 Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
The Manhattan Cowboy (1928), black & white, 54 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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Other silent era J.P. McGOWAN films available on home video.
Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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