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Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
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The Valley of
Silent Men
(1922)
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This northwoods drama, directed by Frank Borzage, features Alma Rubens, Lew Cody and Joseph King. The film, based on a James Oliver Curwood novel, enfolds with Royal Canadian Mountie Jim Kent (Cody) on the trail of a fur thief who nearly mortally wounds him in the pursuit. Stumbling on a remote cabin, Kent finds his friend Jacques Radisson (J.W. Johnston) over the murdered body of the cabin’s owner, strangled with a long lock of woman’s hair. Mountie Buck O’Connor (King) tracks down the wounded Kent and returns both men to the mountie post.
Expected to die in the coming hours, Kent confesses to the murder to keep Radisson safe. Meanwhile, mysterious Marette (Rubens) arrives to warn Inspector Kedsty (George Nash), the post’s commander, of an impending threat upon his life.
Kent gradually recovers from his wound and is joined by Marette in pursuit of the truth of the whole mysterious situation. The two fall in love and, with another murder by strangulation threatening Kent’s credibility, are followed by O’Connor down river and over a perilous glacier toward the answers they all seek.
Borzage’s direction lifts this above-average tale that could have easily fallen into the mundane as do most Northwoods dramas. The couple’s trek over the snowy glacier is truly tense.
A high point of the production is the location cinematography; the views of the Rockies taken near Banff, Alberta, Canada, are magnificent.
— Carl Bennett
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 Undercrank Productions
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition
Back Pay (1922), color-tinted black & white, and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 82 minutes, not rated,
with The Valley of Silent Men (1922), color-tinted black & white, and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 56 minutes, not rated.
Undercrank Productions,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) 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 BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 1 March 2023.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from the digital reconstruction prepared at 4K high-definition from a 35mm fine-grain safety print struck from the surviving 35mm camera negative held by The Library of Congress.
The film is accompanied by a virtual theatre organ music score composed and performed by Andrew Earle Simpson.
Supplementary material includes the featurette “A Turning Point: Borzage at Cosmopolitan” that briefly covers Borzage’s career and both films in this edition (11 minutes). The film itself is presented with optional “film fact” subtitles that present information that might normally be imparted in audio commentary.
This is, no doubt, the best home video edition of the film we know of and it is recommended.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Undercrank Productions
2023 DVD edition
Back Pay (1922), color-tinted black & white, and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 82 minutes, not rated,
with The Valley of Silent Men (1922), color-tinted black & white, and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 56 minutes, not rated.
Undercrank Productions, no catalog number, UPC 7-45808-09978-7.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 8.4 Mbps average video bit rate, 320 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 1 March 2023.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from the digital reconstruction prepared at 4K high-definition from a 35mm fine-grain safety print struck from the surviving 35mm camera negative held by The Library of Congress. The source print is moderately scuffed in places, with some speckling, dust, occasional emusion chipping, print flaws, sprocket damage, decomposition and warping to be seen. No digital dust-busting or image stabilization and repair has been performed on the natural-speed HD scan. The image quality is, nonetheless, very-good to excellent. Missing footage is bridged with still frames, photographs and expositional intertitles.
The film is accompanied by a virtual theatre organ music score composed and performed by the edition’s producer, Andrew Earle Simpson. The music is a pleasing and always appropriate complement to the film’s action.
Supplementary material includes the featurette “A Turning Point: Borzage at Cosmopolitan” that briefly covers Borzage’s career and both films in this edition (11 minutes). The film itself is presented with optional “film fact” subtitles that present information that might normally be imparted in audio commentary.
For our review of the other Borzage feature included in this edition, see our Back Pay on home video page.
This is the best DVD home video edition of the film we know of and it is recommended.
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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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