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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Meyer from
Berlin
(1919)
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Ernst Lubitsch directed and stars in this delightful full-length comedy that features Ethel Orff, Heinz Landsmann, Trude Troll and Ossi Oswalda.
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 Kino Classics
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Oyster Princess (1919), black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, with Meyer from Berlin (1919), color-tinted black & white, and black & white, 51 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K26298, UPC 7-38329-26298-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at 38.6 Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps average audio bit rate; Dutch language intertitles, optional English language subtitles: 5 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 13 June 2023.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 8 / overall: 7.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from the 35mm restoration print prepared by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, and reveals an excellent HD scan from a very-good to maybe excellent Dutch 35mm source print held by the Eye Film Instituut Nederland. The Dutch intertitles have been translated for English subtitles from German censorship records. No digital stabilization or clean-up has been performed as the source print is significantly marked with dust, speckling, schmutz, emulsion chipping, small processing blooms, and other print flaws. The picture image would fare better had some digital work been done.
The film is presented with a music score composed and performed on theatre pipe organ by Brett Miller.
Supplemental material includes the main presentation of The Oyster Princess (1919); and audio commentary for both films by author Joseph McBride.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc is available directly from . . .
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 Loving the Classics
2026 DVD edition
Meyer from Berlin (1919), black & white, 58 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; German language intertitles, optional? English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99 (raised to $15.49).
Release date: 7 January 2026.
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 ERNST LUBITSCH films available on home video.
Other GERMAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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