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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Smithy
(1924)
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This Stan Laurel comedy features James Finlayson, William Gillespie, Glenn Tryon, Sammy Brooks, Ena Gregory, Jack Gavin and George Rowe.
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 Kino International
2008 DVD edition
The Stan Laurel Collection, Volume 2 (1918-1926), black & white, 355 minutes total, not rated, including Smithy (1924), black & white, 24 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K616, UPC 7-38329-06162-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (two DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 3 June 2008.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from an archival print.
The film is presented with a music score performed on piano by Neil Brand.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .
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 All Day Entertainment
2006 DVD edition
American Slapstick (1914-1929), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 279 minutes total, not rated, including Smithy (1924), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated.
All Day Entertainment, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ADE3581DVD, UPC 0-14381-35812-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (three DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 7.2 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; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; double-wide three-disc DVD keepcase; $39.99.
Release date: 21 November 2006.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 7 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is presented with a music score composed and performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by Ben Model.
For information about other films in this collection, see our American Slapstick on home video page.
Supplemental material includes a short film from the 1960s featuring clips from silent films (5 minutes); and a PDF copy of The Charlie Chaplin Book (1916).
Thie review was updated in 2026.
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ALL DAY ENTERTAINMENT has discontinued disc sales
and this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is . . .
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 Reel Classic DVD
2004 DVD edition
A Festival of Silent Comedy, Volume 1 (1914-1929), black & white, 109 minutes total, not rated, including Smithy (1924), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated.
Reel Classic DVD, no catalog number, UPC 7-62184-87612-2.
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 ? 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; no chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 2004.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Ben Model.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
REEL CLASSIC DVD through . . .
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 Looser Than Loose
202? DVD edition
The Larger World of Laurel and Hardy, Volume 13 (1915-1933), black & white, ? minutes total, not rated, including Smithy (1924), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Looser Than Loose Loose Vintage Entertainment,
no catalog number, no UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc (three 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 ? 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 three-disc DVD keepcase; $27.99.
Release date: 202?.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a VHS videotape.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
For information about other films in this collection, see our The Larger World of Laurel and Hardy, Volume 13 on home video page.
Note that some international customers have experienced long delays in the shipping of their orders and are being charged very high unannounced shipping costs.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2005 DVD edition
Early Silent Classics of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Volume 3 (1924-1943), black & white, 85 minutes total, not rated, including Smithy (1924), black & white, 21 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 4681D, UPC 0-89218-46819-2.
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 5.4 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 320 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; no chapter stops (within the film); standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 22 February 2005.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 3 / additional content: 3 / overall: 3.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a VHS videotape copy of a fair 8mm reduction print. Dust, speckling, schmutz, frame jitters, emulsion chipping, and other print flaws are present. Groupings of faint horizontal lines run through the highlights of the picture throughout.
The film is accompanied by a music score anonymously performed on electric organ that has been lifted from the soundtrack of the VHS videotape.
For information about other films in this collection, see our Early Silent Classics of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Volume 3 on home video page.
Not recommended.
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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 Passport Video
2006 DVD edition
The Laurel or Hardy Collection (1917-1927), black & white, 560 minutes total, not rated, including Smithy (1924) [abridged], black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.
Passport International Productions,
DVD-5380, UPC 0-25493-53809-0.
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 4.0 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; chapter stops; 4-page insert pamphlet; double-wide five-disc DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 21 February 2006.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 3 / additional content: 3 / overall: 3.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from collector film elements that include 8mm and 16mm reduction prints. The majority of these video transfers are presented from low-quality analog videotape, with some displaying the ghosting to the right of bright objects in the picture that is characteristic of analog videotape. Some of these editions of the films are outright terrible. The films are all presented with a digital “The Laurel OR Hardy Collection” watermark in the lower right corner of the picture; this is to discourage video pirates (which is ironic given the low quality of many of these transfers).
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
Supplemental material includes a video introduction by archivist Rob Stone; and a 4-page insert pamphlet with brief notes and film listings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other silent era STAN LAUREL films available on home video.
Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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