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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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The
Scarlet Car

(1917)

 

This early role for Lon Chaney features him as a bank teller who unwillingly becomes involved in an embezzlement scheme. The film, directed by Joseph de Grasse, features Franklyn Farnum, Edith Johnson, Sam de Grasse, Howard Crampton and Al Filson.

coverUndercrank Productions
2022 Blu-ray Disc edition

Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces, Volume 2 (1914-1917), black & white, 160 minutes total, not rated,
including The Scarlet Car (1917), color-toned black & white, 61 minutes, not rated.

Undercrank Productions,
no catalog number, UPC 7-45808-09974-9.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (two BD-R BDMV discs in the set); 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 32.0 Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $29.98.
Release date: 2 August 2022.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 8.

This BD-R edition has been mastered from an archival 35mm nitrate print held by the Library of Congress film archive (reel two of the nitrate print has decomposed and a 35mm fine-grain preservation negative was scanned for this edition). The print is incomplete, with portions lost to splices. Some short sections of the source material have been double-printed to allow a sense of what the original footage was to convey. Overall, the bulk of the nitrate in intact and quite detailed in image quality. The duplicate negative is only of very-good quality and serves the purpose as stand-in for footage lost to decomposition.

The film is presented with a music score composed and performed on digital keyboards by edition producer Jon Mirsalis.

We enthusiastically recommend this BD-R Blu-ray Disc disc as the best-looking home video edition of this film that is available.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 BD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports the Silent Era website.
coverUndercrank Productions
2022 DVD edition

Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces, Volume 2 (1914-1917), black & white, 160 minutes total, not rated,
including The Scarlet Car (1917), color-toned black & white, 62 minutes, not rated.

Undercrank Productions,
no catalog number, UPC 7-45808-09975-6.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R discs (two discs 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 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; $24.98.
Release date: 2 August 2022.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD-R edition has been mastered from surviving archival 35mm print materials held by the Library of Congress film archive.

The film is presented with a music score composed and performed on digital keyboards by edition producer Jon Mirsalis.

We recommend this disc, sight unseen, as the best available DVD home video edition of the film.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
coverGrapevine Video
2006 DVD edition

The Scarlet Car (1917), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 51 minutes, not rated,
with The Fireman (1916), black & white, 21 minutes, not rated.

Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10003-1.
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 foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 4

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print (of what appears to be the early Library of Congress preservation print) that is quite dark in places. Some highlight details are blasted-out to a featureless blur. The standard amount of dust and speckling remains in the natural-speed analog video transfer.

The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

We recoommend the Undercrank Productions editions noted above over this older independent home video edition.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
coverClassic Video Streams
2009 DVD edition

The Actors: Rare Films of Lon Chaney, Sr. (1917-1919), black & white, 121 minutes total, not rated,
including The Scarlet Car (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Classic Video Streams,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 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 2.0 mono sound; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; slimline DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 31 August 2009.
Country of origin: USA
This DVD-R edition of two early Lon Chaney feature films, both with Chaney in supporting roles, has likely been mastered from 16mm reduction prints.

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack of preexisting recordings.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Other silent era LON CHANEY films available on home video.

Other CRIME FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

 
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