Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
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The Doll
(1919)
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Ossi Oswalda stars in this stylized comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch that features support by Herman Thimig, Viktor Janson, Marga Köhler and Max Kronert.
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 Kino Classics
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Doll (1919), color-tinted black & white, 68 minutes, not rated, with I Don’t Want to Be a Man (1918), black & white, 45 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K26362, UPC 7-38329-26362-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at 39.2 Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps audio bit rate (music) and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate (commentary); German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 4 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 15 August 2023.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 8.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from the digital restoration prepared by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung from the only surviving 35mm nitrate print materials. The results here are very-good, with some slight contrastiness in some shots. Dust, speckling, schmutz, scratches and other minor print flaws remain.
The film is presented with a music score composed and performed on piano by Meg Morley.
Supplementary material includes audio commentary by author and Lubitsch historian Joseph McBride.
It should be no surprise that this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Kino International
2007 DVD edition
The Doll (1919), color-toned and color-tinted black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, with Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin (2006), color and color-toned black & white, 109 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K560, UPC 7-38329-05602-5.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 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 5.4 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 4 December 2007.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from the 35mm photochemical restoration print prepared by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Germany. This DVD has been mastered in such a way that the interlaced picture cannot be fully upscaled on to remove visual evidence of the interlacing. This is not terribily evident and would not have shown up on standard CRT-based screens of 2007, but now sticks out to sharp-eyed viewers on today’s HD equipment.
The film is presented with a pleasing music score composed and performed on piano by Jon C. Mirsalis.
Supplmentary material includes the documentary Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin; and a Lubitsch filmography.
This remains our recommended DVD home video of the film.
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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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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Eureka Entertainment
2010 DVD edition
Lubitsch in Berlin (1919-1921), black & white, color-toned black & white, and color and black & white, 581 minutes total, BBFC Classification PG, including The Doll (1919), color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, BBFC Classification PG.
Eureka Entartainment,
unknown catalog number (MoC95), unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc (six DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; six slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; £49.99.
Release date: 25 January 2010.
Country of origin: England
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This PAL DVD edition has been mastered from the same 35mm restoration materials prepared by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung as for the 2007 Kino International edition noted above.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on concertina by Bernard Wrigley.
Among the supplemental material is a short essay on the film by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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Other silent era ERNST LUBITSCH films available on home video.
Other GERMAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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