Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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The Greatest
Question
(1919)
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This feature drama, directed by D.W. Griffith, stars Lillian Gish and Robert Harron, with Ralph Graves, George Fawcett, Eugenie Besserer, George O. Nicholls, Josephine Crowell and Tom Wilson.
Lillian is again a little girl terrorized by mean adults. What worked in Broken Blossoms (1919) will work again, right?
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 Grapevine Video
2013 DVD edition
The Greatest Question (1919), color-toned black & white, 76 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10592-0.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 6.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 448 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 21 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: 18 July 2013.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 6 / additional content: 0 / overall: 5.
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This DVD-R edition has been transferred from a very-good 16mm reduction print, which shows moderate dust and speckling, print tears, and other print flaws.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on a theatre pipe organ by Blaine Gale. The performance is OK but not as well recorded as other scores Gale has provided for Grapevine.
This is our recommended edition of the film, with reasonable visual quality and the custom music score being the main attractions.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2024 DVD edition
The Greatest Question (1919), black & white, 80 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8614D, UPC 0-89218-86149-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $8.98.
Release date: 25 June 2024.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Classic Video Streams
2009 DVD edition
The Actors: Rare Films of Lillian Gish, Volume 3 (1919-1924), black & white, 140 minutes total, not rated, including The Greatest Question (1919), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Classic Video Streams,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; slimline DVD keepcase; $16.99.
Release date: 28 December 2009.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been transferred from a 16mm reduction print.
The presentation likely features a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Other silent era D.W. GRIFFITH films available on home video.
Other silent era LILLIAN GISH films available on home video.
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Lillian Gish filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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