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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A Sammy
in Siberia
(1919)
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This Harold Lloyd comedy follows a Russian theme, with Harold an American coming to the rescue of Russian maiden Bebe Daniels. Snub Pollard leads the Russian gang.
We love Haroldâs reaction after taking a drink of vodka.
Previously thought to be lost, the film has been substantially reconstructed from two incomplete 35mm positives and a 16mm reduction positive.
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 Unknown Video
2004 DVD edition
The Unseen Silents (1918-1923), black & white, 58 minutes total, not rated, including A Sammy in Siberia (1919), black & white, 8 minutes, not rated.
Unknown Video, no catalog number, unknown 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; standard DVD keepcase; $18.95.
Release date: 22 November 2004.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition of the surviving footage from A Sammy in Siberia (1919) has been mastered from a very-good, slightly incomplete 35mm print. The DVD appears to have been mastered from a copy of Unknown Videoâs 1999 VHS videotape release of The Unseen Silents collection. The source print may have had foreign language intertitles as all of the intertitles here are reset in English on a crude video-based system. There is one substantial videotape glitch early in the film.
The presentation features a low-fidelity electric organ musical accompaniment performed by Bob Vaughn.
Also included in this collection is the surviving footage of Mabel Normand in Suzanna (1923), and the surviving footage of a William S. Hart western with Lon Chaney as the villain.
Out-of-print and extremely hard to find.
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UNKNOWN VIDEO has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .
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 Passport Video
DVD edition
Smiles and Spectacles: A Harold Lloyd Treasury (1917-1947), black & white, 600 minutes total, not rated, including A Sammy in Siberia (1919), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated.
Passport Video, DVD-5160, UPC 0-25493-51609-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (five 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 3.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; no chapter stops (within the film); four-page insert booklet; double-wide five-disc DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 13 February 2007.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 5 / additional content: 5 / overall: 5.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a conflation of fair to good 16mm reduction prints. Dust, speckling, exposure fluctuations, and other print flaws are present in the picture. The original titles have been replaced by new video-based main titles and intertitles. A âSmiles & Spectacles: A Harold Lloyd Treasuryâ digital watermark appears in the lower-right corner of the picture throughout.
The film is presented with a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings of Scott Joplin rags performed on piano.
For information about other films in this collection, see our Smiles and Spectacles: A Harold Lloyd Treasury on home video page.
Not great and not recommended.
This review was updated in 2026.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other silent era HAROLD LLOYD films available on home video.
Other silent era BEBE DANIELS films on home video.
Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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