Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
|
So This is
Paris
(1926)
|
This brilliant Warner Bros. comedy, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, stars Monte Blue and Patsy Ruth Miller, with André Beranger, Lilyan Tashman, Dot Farley and Myrna Loy.
|
 Grapevine Video
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition
So This is Paris (1926), black & white, 67 minutes, not rated, with Hubby’s Quiet Little Game (1926), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video,
no catalog number, UPC 6-60845-45043-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV); 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 29.8 Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 mono sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 10 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: May 2023.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 5 / additional content: 5 / overall: 7.
|
|
This BD-R edition has been mastered at high-resolution from an archival 35mm print. The picture image is detailed and the greyscale range broad. It appears that no digital clean-up or picture stabilization has been performed. There is a moderate amount of dust, speckling, frame jitters, processing flaws, mild exposure fluctuations, and other minor print flaws remaining in the scan. After years of watching Grapevine releases from subpar 16mm reduction prints, it is a pleasure to see one of their discs deliver this kind of picture quality.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting low-fidelity monaural music sources. We had hoped that Grapevine was finished with this type of accompaniment, but here we are. For an otherwise fine disc, we regret to say that this music constitutes a big demerit.
Supplemental material is limited to a Billy Bevan comedy short, Hubby’s Quiet Little Game (1926),
This is the only complete home video edition of the film we know of. This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
|
|
|
This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available directly from . . .
|
|
|
 Grapevine Video
2023 DVD edition
So This is Paris (1926), black & white, 67 minutes, not rated, with Hubby’s Quiet Little Game (1926), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine 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; $19.95.
Release date: May 2023.
Country of origin: USA
|
|
This DVD-R edition has been mastered from an archival 35mm print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music sources.
Supplemental material is limited to a Billy Bevan comedy short, Hubby’s Quiet Little Game (1926),
Sight unseen, this is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.
|
|
|
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
|
|
|
 Silent Gems Collection
2022 DVD edition
So This is Paris (1926), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises, 234, 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; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; slimline CD jewelcase; $42.99 (raised to $44.99).
Release date: 2022.
Country of origin: USA
|
This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print (as might be surmised from the publisher-provided still frame above). It is likely that throughout the presentation a faint “SHF-E” watermark appears in the lower right-hand corner of the picture to discourage pirating; as this edition was likely pirated from some other home video edition or from some Internet streaming source, we find this to be ludicrous.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
We vehemently criticize this publisher for their overpriced offerings that give the consumer as little value as possible. Truly, would you pay $45.00 for what you see above?
|
|
|
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available through . . .
|
|
|
|
Other silent era ERNST LUBITSCH films available on home video.
|
