Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright ÂĐ 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Old and New
(1929)
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This Soviet drama, written and directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein and Grigori Alexandrov, features Marfa Lapkina, M. Ivanin, Vasili Buzenkov, Chukamaryev, Nejnikov and G. Matvei.
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 Flicker Alley
2011 DVD edition
Landmarks of Early Soviet Film (1924-1930), black & white, 595 minutes total, not rated, including Old and New (1929), black & white, 120 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0022, UPC 6-17311-67639-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 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 5.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 22 chapter stops; 28-page insert booklet; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 20 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 6 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good archival 35mm print, with sparce dust and speckling, and only a few distracting print flaws such as emulsion scuffing and fine scratches.
The film is accompanied by a pleasing music score arranged by Robert Israel and performed by a small orchestral ensemble.
Supplemental material includes a 28-page insert booklet with short essays and notes on the films by Maxim Pozdorovkin and Ana Olenina.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film. The collection is now out-of-print.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Films-sans-frontiÃĻres
2006 DVD edition
LâIntÃĐgrale des films de S.M. Eisenstein (1923-1944), black & white, 784 minutes total, not rated, including Old and New [The General Line] (1929), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Films-sans-frontiÃĻres,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Four single-sided?, dual-layered?, Region 2 PAL DVD discs; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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; Russian language intertitles, optional French and English language subtitles, chapter stops; four standard DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; €90,00.
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: France
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We have not viewed this PAL DVD edition, but have received reports that the visual quality ranges from very-good to excellent.
This edition features a music score by Edmund Meisel.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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This Region 0 PAL DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Rare Films and More
2026 DVD edition
Old and New [The General Line] (1929), black & white, 121 minutes, not rated.
Rare Films and More, 480, 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; Russian language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $13.99.
Release date: February 2026.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from files pirated from an Internet streaming site or from another companyâs home video edition.
The film is likely accompanied by a music score pirated from another companyâs home video edition or a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
Note that this company apparently has a history of pirating other home video editions or pirating files from Internet streaming sites 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 SERGEI EISENSTEIN films available on home video.
Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other silent film music scores by ROBERT ISRAEL available on home video.
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