Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Ben Hur
(1907)
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This first film adaptation of the well-known novel by General Lew Wallace was the first American film production challenged in court for its being an unauthorized adaptation of a copyrighted work. Producer Kalem Company, Incorporated, had not secured permission to film the novel and was successfully sued by the Wallace estate in 1911 for copyright infringement.
Regardless what you might read elsewhere, William S. Hart does not appear in this film. He had previously appeared as Messala in the Broadway stage play adaptation.
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 Grapevine Video
2010 DVD edition
Spartacus (1913), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, with Ben Hur (1907), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10390-2.
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; 4 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 2 April 2010.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition appears to have been mastered from an 8mm reduction print. Sections of the print are dark and the resolution is low enough to make discerning picture details difficult.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on MIDI synthesizer.
For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
Ben Hur (1907), black & white, 15 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: 201?
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 EARLY FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA available on home video.
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