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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Shoulder
Arms
(1918)
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This collection contains the last of Charles Chaplin’s short films, made under his First National contract.
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 CBS/Fox Home Video
2000 DVD edition
Charles Chaplin: A First National Collection (1918-1923), black & white, 206 minutes total, not rated, including Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, 45 minutes, not rated.
CBS/Fox Home Video, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID9177CUDVD, UPC 0-14381-91772-7.
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 4.6 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 1.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 11 chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $29.99.
Release date: 8 February 2000.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD collection has been mastered from archival 35mm print materials. It appears that the masters from the 1993 Chaplin: A Legacy of Laughter laserdisc series have been utilized for this and other year 2000 Chaplin DVD releases.
The films are accompanied by music scores supervised by Chaplin from the soundtracks of his approved rerelease prints.
Supplemental material includes Chaplin’s noncommercial short film Nice and Friendly (1922); rejected footage from Shoulder Arms; and footage of General Leonard Wood’s visit to the set of Shoulder Arms.
This disc is now contractually out-of-print to make way for another Chaplin family-authorized compilation of these films. This edition is still available as a previously-owned item but the costs asked are usually outrageous.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Alpha Video
2018 DVD edition
Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with His Trysting Place (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Sunnyside (1919), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and A Day’s Pleasure (1919), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8065D, UPC 0-89218-80659-8.
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; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 17 April 2018.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
Supplemental material includes three Charles Chaplin short comedies.
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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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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. 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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 Delta Entertainment
2003 DVD edition
The Essential Charlie Chaplin Collection (1917-1918), black & white, ? minutes total, not rated, including The Adventurer (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Triple Trouble (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Bond (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Delta Entertainment, 82 462, UPC 0-18111-24629-3.
One single-sided, single-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 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.99.
Release date: 18 March 2003.
Country of origin: USA
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This budget DVD edition follows the suit of other Chaplin collections: put as few films onto as many discs as possible, regardless of print quality and sell them as cheap as possible. And don’t expect them to be mastered from anything but subpar 16mm and 8mm reduction prints.
Don’t consider buying this collection for the Chaplin Mutual films. The Mutual films have all been released on DVD home video in far superior editions transferred from 35mm prints. Cobra Entertainment (successor to Delta) rereleased remaining stock of this disc onto the market in 2010.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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DELTA ENTERTAINMENT has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .
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Other silent era CHARLES CHAPLIN films available on home video.
Other silent era JACKIE COOGAN films available on home video.
Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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Charles Chaplin filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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