From the opening frames of Kino’s DVD edition, we were a bit dismayed. In direct comparison to Kino International’s 1989 laserdisc edition of the film, the type of the restoration introduction is coarse and broken as it slightly jitters about, and the image framing is a bit tighter in the opening titles — noticibly on the bottom of the picture. However, when we actually got to the film itself, we were wowed. Not only is the framing slightly more revealing, the video transfer itself is a tremendous improvement over the laserdisc — the former best-available home video edition of the film. The transfer is of high enough quality that, in reevaluating the disc on high-definition equipment, we have elected to raise our original rating of the video quality of this DVD, which renders a detailed, filmlike image with smooth greyscale transitions on HD systems with signal upscaling.
The source material for the video transfer is, of course, the 1985 Kino International restoration version, as prepared by Dennis Doros. The 35mm print is quite clean, only slightly marked with speckling, dust, scratches and other flaws. The DVD transfer features a broad range of greytones and the image detail is far smoother on this new DVD than on the laserdisc, which was contrasty and coarse to a point that we might have assumed that the film had survived in no better quality than was presented there. The DVD edition reveals far more image detail in the film’s shadows, which makes watching and visually deciphering the images in the film far easier for the viewer. The framing is noticibly more open now, with more attention to images and intertitles that were ackwardly cropped in the laserdisc edition. The overall result is a far more pleasant viewing experience. One that respectfully reveals the beauty in the images that von Stroheim directed and that were photographed chiefly by Paul Ivano and Gordon Pollack.
The musical accompaniment is the 1931 music score by Adolf Tandler, here clearly reproduced in 2.0 mono digital sound.
The disc’s supplementary materials include intelligent and informative full-length audio commentary by historian Richard Koszarski, 18 minutes of previously unavailable outtake footage (which almost looks as good as the film itself and gives us slateboard clues as to who shot which scenes), a still photo gallery, Gloria Swanson’s 1932 release ending, a brief section of production documents, a videotape introduction and afterword by Gloria Swanson, original scenario exerpts, a written recollection of the film by Erich von Stroheim, audio interview selections featuring Paul Ivano, William Margulies, Allan Dwan and Billy Wilder, a 1952 Orient-Express television performance by von Stroheim, and a section of von Stroheim footage from Merry-Go-Round (1923).
Owners of the Kino laserdisc edition can purchase this new DVD edition with confidence, knowing that they are upgrading their collections. Enthusiasts that are new to the film can experience the best-available edition of Queen Kelly in this DVD. We highly recommend this disc.
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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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