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Tillie’s Punctured
Romance
(1914)

Keystone Film Corporation produced what is reputed to be the world’s first feature-length comedy motion picture in 1914 with Tillie’s Punctured Romance, starring Marie Dressler, Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand.

The film was a combination of stage-play adaptation and Keystone slapstick, with more punches and slaps thrown perhaps than in any other silent comedy.

Tillie, a simple farm girl, is enticed to run away to the city with her father’s money by Charlie, a city slicker con man. In the city, Tillie’s money is taken by Charlie until he reads of her impending inheritance of her uncle’s three-million dollar estate.

— Carl Bennett

Flicker Alley
2010 DVD edition

Chaplin at Keystone (1914),
black & white, 590 minutes total, not rated,
including Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0018,
UPC 6-17311-67579-9, ISBN 1-893967-57-3.
Four 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), ? 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; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $79.95.
Release date: 26 October 2010.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This quality DVD edition has been mastered from the 35mm restoration positive of the 2004 cooperative restoration project between the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the British Film Institute, with additional digital restoration by Lobster Films, Paris. Conflated from incomplete prints held by world film archives, the resulting restoration print is good to excellent (mostly excellent), with numerous examples of frames missing from the very-good to excellent 35mm key source print now restored from other prints. On monitors that display the entire picture content on the DVD, edge to edge, the restored footage can often be spotted by differing framelines at the edges of the picture and a slight to significant difference in image quality. A spectacular job was performed by the UCLA restoration staff of digitally matching the geometry of the differing prints to minimize the potentially jarring transition from one print to another, to achieve as seamless (as possible) a presentation of the film’s total surviving footage.

The film is accompanied by an original music score performed by Ken Winokur (of The Alloy Orchestra) with the Tillie’s Nightmare, a five musician ensemble.

Now viewable with nearly all of its original footage, we highly recommend this presentation as the best available edition of Tillie’s Punctured Romance on home video.

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

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

Film Preservation Associates
1999 DVD edition

Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 72 minutes, not rated,
with Mabel’s Married Life (1914), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID4670DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-46702-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.19:1 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 8-bit 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 24 chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $24.99.
Release date: 24 August 1999.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.

This early DVD edition appears to have been mastered from a conflation of 35mm and 16mm reduction print materials.

The films are accompanied by music scores performed by Gaylord Carter and John Muri.

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

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

Laserlight Digital
1999 DVD edition

Charlie Chaplin Marathon (1914-1917),
black & white, 133 minutes total, not rated,
including Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 75 minutes, not rated.

Laserlight Digital, 82 028, UPC 0-18111-99883-3.
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), 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, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.95.
Release date: 12 October 1999.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 4.

For this early DVD edition, LaserLight utilized a very contrasty 16mm reduction print prepared by RAS Films in the 1960s. The reduction print was prepared from at least two different source materials, and features three different typefaces for the intertitles.

Highlights are blasted out much of the time and shadow detail lost in this substandard 16mm print. The transfer itself seems to have been adequately done and runs at the original camera speed of approximately 15-16 frames per second (FPS). What greytones remain in the image are grainy (the fault of the print) and are replete with compression artifacts (very difficult not to get with grainy, low-quality prints). The cropping of the picture image is tight (probably, again, the fault of the print), with heads sometimes cropped off at the top and proportionately more of the picture lost at the left. The film is a strain to watch much of the time. The print also features a soundtrack with hokey music and sound effects, and with a persistent narration of the story.

This edition is not worth the less-than-ten-dollars it can be had for.

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
2002 DVD edition

Charlie Chaplin Marathon (1914-1917),
black & white, 133 minutes total, not rated
including Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 75 minutes, not rated.

Delta Entertainment, 82 365, UPC 0-18111-23659-1.
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), 3.0 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.95.
Release date: 5 February 2002.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 4.

This low-budget DVD edition is nothing more than a 2002 Delta Entertainment repackaging of the remaining, unsold stock of the 1999 Laserlight edition. Since the only thing new about this Delta edition is its cardboard slipcover, its content is the exactly same as the Laserlight edition reviewed above.

This one isn’t recommended either.

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.

Koch Vision
2000 DVD edition

Chaplin: Early Masterpieces (1914),
black & white, ? minutes total, not rated,
including Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Koch Vision, KOC-DV-6301, UPC 7-41952-63019-7.
Three single-sided, single-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), ? 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; three standard DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $19.98.
Release date: 19 December 2000.
Country of origin: USA

The Keystone film Tillie’s Punctured Romance was included in this budget-priced multidisc DVD set.

We have no indication as to the quality of this edition of the film, and cannot recommend it at this time.

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.

Grapevine Video
2014 DVD edition

Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 71 minutes, not rated,
with Tillie Wakes Up (1917), black & white, 47 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; $16.95.
Release date: 10 July 2014.
Country of origin: USA

This remastered DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

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

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .

Grapevine Video
2012 DVD edition

Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 42 minutes, not rated,
with Tillie Wakes Up (1917), black & white, 47 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 pixel) 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: 14 April 2012.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The film is likely accompanied by prerecorded music.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .

Front Row Features
200? DVD edition

Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated,
with A Burlesque on Carmen (1916), black & white, 89 minutes, not rated.

Front Row Features, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
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 mono sound?, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 200?.
Country of origin: USA

We have not seen this DVD edition. This budget edition will show up on eBay and in grocery stores, so be wary of its likely low-quality that would be consistent with other releases by this company.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .

Front Row Entertainment
2002 DVD edition

Charlie Chaplin Collectors Classics (1914-1925) black & white, 272 minutes total, not rated,
Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated,
with The Gold Rush (1925), black & white, 89 minutes, not rated, The Immigrant (1917), black & white, 26 minutes, not rated, and A Burlesque on Carmen (1916), black & white, 89 minutes, not rated.

Front Row Entertainment,
unknown catalog number, UPC 0-82554-37152-2.
Two single-sided, single-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), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 5.1 surround sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 2002.
Country of origin: USA

Where do these budget discs come from? This budget DVD edition of two features and two short Chaplin films are sourced from the same company as the Front Row edition noted above.

Don’t count on the quality of the film prints being very high.

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

Other silent era CHARLES CHAPLIN films available on home video.

Other MABEL NORMAND films available on home video.

Other KEYSTONE comedy films available on home video.

Charles Chaplin filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List