Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Ben Blair
(1916)
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This Western feature, written by Julia Crawford Ivers and directed by William Desmond Taylor, stars Dustin Farnum and Winifred Kingston, with Herbert Standing, Lamar Johnstone, Virginia Foltz and Frank A. Bonn.
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 Kino Classics
2020 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Intrigue (1916), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, with The Majesty of the Law (1915) [reel 4 only], color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white and black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, A Son of Erin (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 56 minutes, not rated, and Ben Blair (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 64 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K24449, UPC 7-38329-24449-1.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC 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 24.0 Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 17 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from 35mm archival film materials that are generally excellent except for sections of footage marred by advanced nitrate decomposition.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Andrew Earle Simpson.
The generous supplemental material includes audio commentary by Anthony Slide, two feature films and a reel of a third, The Majesty of the Law (1915).
This companion release to Kino Lorber’s 2018 six-disc boxset Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is highly recommended.
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This
Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .
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 Kino Classics
2020 DVD edition
The Intrigue (1916), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, including The Majesty of the Law (1915) [reel 4 only], color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white and black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, A Son of Erin (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 56 minutes, not rated, and Ben Blair (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 64 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K24448, UPC 7-38329-24448-4.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD 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; 8 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 17 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from archival film materials of varying quality from good to excellent.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Ben Model.
The generous supplemental material includes audio commentary by Anthony Slide, two feature films and a reel of a third, The Majesty of the Law (1915).
This companion release to Kino Lorber’s 2018 six-disc boxset Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is highly recommended as the best available DVD home video edition of the film.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .
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 Loving the Classics
2025 DVD edition
Ben Blair (1916), black & white, 50 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics,
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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 8 March 2025
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.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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