Silent Era : Home Video Reviews

Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > Orphans of the Storm

Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

Orphans of
the Storm
(1921)

This historical drama, directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish, is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.

Kino on Video
2002 DVD edition

Orphans of the Storm (1921), black & white, 150 minutes, not rated,
with Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest (1908), black & white, 5 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K269, UPC 7-38329-02692-9.
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), 4.0 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, 16 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 10 December 2002.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 6/ additional content: 5 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition, produced for video by David Shepard, has been mastered from a 35mm print of very-good to excellent quality.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed for the film by Louis Gottschalk and William Frederick Peters, arranged and performed on synthsizers by Brian Benison.

This edition includes a number of disc supplements, including an introduction by Orson Welles filmed in the early 1970s, Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest (1908) starring D.W. Griffith, documentary footage taken at Griffith’s funeral, a radio eulogy for Griffith by Erich von Stroheim, plus “The Story of David Wark Griffith,” a biography published in Photoplay magazine in 1916.

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

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .

Film Preservation Associates
1998 DVD edition

Orphans of the Storm (1921), color-toned black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID4676DSDVD, UPC 1-14381-46762-8.
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), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 30 chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $29.99.
Release date: 22 December 1998.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 6/ additional content: 0 / overall: 5.

This early DVD edition was prepared from an analog video transfer of a 16mm reduction print, produced by David Shepard for the Image Entertainment VHS videotape and laserdisc editions of the 1990s.

The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score presented in stereo sound.

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

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Alpha Video
2003 DVD edition

Orphans of the Storm (1921), color-toned black & white, 118 minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 4163D, UPC 0-89218-41639-1.
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 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $6.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 10 June 2003.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 5 / additional content: 0 / overall: 5.

Surprisingly, the video transfer for this DVD edition has been made (at sound speed, unfortunately) from a very-good color-toned 16mm reduction print. Allowing for its inevitable soft image detail, the greyscale range of the print is generally broad, with only a few burnt-out highlights and plugged shadows. It is, at least, a watchable edition of the film.

The musical accompaniment is a cobbled-together orchestral score that is serviceable at best.

Altogether, this is a good edition — a rarity in the realm of the budget disc.

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

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Delta Entertainment
2004 DVD edition

Orphans of the Storm (1921), black & white, 150 minutes, not rated.

Delta Entertainment, 82 342, UPC 0-18111-23429-0.
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), ? 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; $6.99.
Release date: 24 February 2004.
Country of origin: USA

We have not viewed this DVD edition, which may be mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.

Until we have the opportunity to do so, we cannot recommend this edition.

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