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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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Male and
Female
(1919)
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Directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan, Lila Lee, Raymond Hatton and Theodore Roberts, this comedy-drama explores class division and male-female interaction.
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 Film Preservation Associates
1999 DVD edition
Male and Female (1919), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 115 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID5667DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-56672-7 .
One single-sided, dual-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), 4.6 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 23 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.99.
Release date: 17 August 1999.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 0 / overall: 7.
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This early DVD edition of Male and Female, produced for laserdisc and VHS videotape home video release in 1997 by David Shepard, has been mastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print held by the George Eastman Museum. The print and the video transfer are reasonably detailed and display a broad range of greytones. Even on today’s viewing equipment, which is capable of upscaling the older 480i standard video signal to 4K HD monitors, the disc still looks pretty good. While there is the expected crosshatched patterns and other artifacts of early DVD video compression along with the slightly blurry image details that are the result of the standard resolution of the video transfer, the results remain quite watchable today.
The film is accompanied by a music score (with sound effects) performed on keyboards by Sydney Jill Lehman.
While the film deserves an updated high-definition transfer, this disc is still recommended until a Blu-ray Disc edition is released.
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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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 Alpha Video
2014 DVD edition
Male and Female (1919), black & white, 57 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7292D, UPC 0-89218-72929-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 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 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $6.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 2014.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a very-good 16mm reduction print that features a broad greyscale range. The black & white image has a slightly blue tinge to it but not so much that it can be considered a color-toned picture.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack comprised of preexisting recordings.
Note that the running time for this edition is approximately half that of other home video editions. The source print may have been for a 1920s rerelease of the film, with the length edited to approximately five reels. This edition was quickly replaced by the Alpha Video edition noted below and this disc is no longer available.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .
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 Alpha Video
2015 DVD edition
Male and Female (1919), black & white, 116 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7587D, UPC 0-89218-75879-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 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 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $8.98.
Release date: 24 February 2015.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has replaced the previous Alpha Video edition noted above, and now features the full-length version of the film.
The film is likely accompanied by a compiled soundtrack of preexisting musical recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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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 Male and Female (1919), black & white, 115 minutes, not rated.
Passport Video, DVD-5090, UPC 0-25493-50900-0.
Five single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 3.0 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 mono sound, 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
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This budget DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good 16mm reduction print.
The films are accompanied by canned music from a variety of audio sources.
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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 Male and Female (1919), black & white, 115 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 •
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This budget DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good 16mm reduction print, and this presentation of Male and Female is identical to Passport Video’s Cecil B. DeMille Classics Collection noted above.
Identifying logomarks are superimposed over the lower right 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 support Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase support 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.
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