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 Avenging
Conscience
(1914)
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Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” and his poem “Annabelle Lee,” this early feature film from D.W. Griffith stars Henry B. Walthall as the young man who seeks to escape his domineering uncle (Spottiswoode Aitken) by murder. He and his lover (Blanche Sweet) are then tortured by Poesque entities, nightmares and guilt.
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 Kino International
2008 DVD edition
The Avenging Conscience (1914), black & white, 84 minutes, not rated,
with Edgar Allan Poe (1909), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K642, UPC 7-38329-06422-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD 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), 4.5 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 18 November 2008.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 5 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition of this early feature film from D.W. Griffith has been mastered in high-definition from a very-good 35mm print in the Raymond Rohauer film collection. The picture is reasonably sharp and balanced in its greytones but there is some print wear in the form of scuffing and scratches, and the video transfer could have used some digital stabilization to get rid of the picture jitters.
The film is presented with a piano music score performed by Martin Marks.
The disc is supplemented with an early Griffith split-reel with Edgar Allan Poe as its protagonist, and notes on the score to The Avenging Conscience by Martin Marks.
This is our recommended edition of the film.
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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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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Grapevine Video
2011 DVD edition
The Avenging Conscience (1914), black & white, 88 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no 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 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: June 2011.
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 recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other silent era D.W. GRIFFITH films available on home video.
Other silent era BLANCHE SWEET films available on home video.
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