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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The Affairs of
Anatol
(1921)
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This Cecil B. DeMille film features Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson, Wanda Hawley, Agnes Ayres and Bebe Daniels. Another in a series of DeMille’s ‘the grass is always greener’ films, and one where the apparent message is that women are the weaker sex.
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 Film Preservation Associates
2000 DVD edition
The Affairs of Anatol (1921), color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white and black & white, 117 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID9225DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-92252-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 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 4.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 16 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.99.
Release date: 26 September 2000.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 0 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm film elements that are partially hand-tinted and partially chemically color-tinted.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed by Brian Benison.
Given the length of the film, which has been crammed into a single-layered DVD, it is not surprising that there are no supplemental features. While not marked as such, this is a Region 1 disc.
This is currently our recommended edition of the film — until a new, higher-quality edition is produced.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Passport Video
2007 DVD edition
The Cecil B. DeMille Classics Collection (1914-1926), black & white, 1622 minutes total, not rated,
including The Affairs of Anatol (1921), black & white, 117 minutes, not rated.
Passport Video, DVD-5090, UPC 0-25493-50900-0.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (five DVDs 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 ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 13 chapter stops; five-disc DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 12 June 2007.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 5.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print, which is clear enough to reasonable viewing but is still closed up in its shadow details. The disc mastering is the usual low-resolution squeeze to fit three feature-length films on one DVD, with the result that the picture is a little rough on large HD televisions. Compression artifacts will be easy to spot with educated eyes, especially in Agnes Ayres’ splashing water. Also, the narrative intertitles have been reset in a script digital typeface over a short loop of blank filmstock with many speckles to make them look contemporary to the film. Likely an attempt to discourage piracy (ha!), but totally unnecessary.
The film is accompanied by a score of canned orchestral music from a variety of audio sources, some of the selections are quite sappy.
This edition is not recommended, but passible if you’re on a tight collecting budget.
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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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 Passport Video
2007 DVD edition
The Gloria Swanson Collection: 10 Fabulous Films (1915-1931) black & white, 675 minutes total, not rated,
including The Affairs of Anatol (1921), black & white, 117 minutes, not rated.
Passport Video, DVD-5151, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (five DVDs 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 ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; no chapter stops; double-wide five-disc DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 13 February 2007.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 5.
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This budget DVD edition has been mastered from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print, and this presentation of The Affairs of Anatol is identical to the Cecil B. DeMille Classics Collection noted above. Identifying logomarks are likely superimposed over a lower corner of the picture to discourage video transfer piracy.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from dopey preexisting recordings. Annoying, at best.
This edition is now out-of-print. Well, it's not much of a loss.
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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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Other silent era GLORIA SWANSON films available on home video.
Other silent era CECIL B. DeMILLE films available on home video.
Other WALLACE REID films available on home video.
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