Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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His First Flame
(1927)
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This early Harry Langdon feature comedy, was cowritten by Frank Capra during his days at the Mack Sennett studios.
Thought for many years to be lost, a nearly complete restoration print has been assembled from a number of incomplete surviving prints.
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 All Day Entertainment
2007 DVD edition
The Harry Langdon Collection: Lost and Found (1924-1942), black & white, 624 minutes total, not rated, including His First Flame (1927), black & white, 45 minutes, not rated.
All Day Entertainment, distributed by Facets Multimedia,
DV95365, UPC 7-36899-11362-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 9 chapter stops; two plastic DVD trays with hinged disc holders in casebook; $39.95.
Release date: 26 December 2007.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD collection of Harry Langdon short films (and a feature) has been mastered from generally very-good 35mm prints from a variety of archival and private collection sources.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on digital piano by Franklin Stover.
Optional audio commentary by film historian David Kalat is provided.
Although out-of-print, this remains our recommended home video edition of the film.
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ALL DAY ENTERTAINMENT has discontinued disc sales
and this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2006 DVD edition
His First Flame (1927), black & white, 48 minutes, not rated, with Picking Peaches (1924), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10208-0.
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 ? 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; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95 (reduced to $14.95).
Release date: August 2006.
Country of origin: USA
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We are certain that this DVD-R edition has been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials, and likely features a canned music score to accompany the films.
This edition also includes Langdon’s first film.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2017 DVD edition
His First Flame (1927), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with Remember When? (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7995D, UPC 0-89218-79959-3.
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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 26 September 2017.
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 recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 A2ZCDS
2005 DVD edition
His First Flame (1927), black & white, 52 minutes, not rated.
A2ZCDS, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-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 ? 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; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 3 October 2005.
Country of origin: USA
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It is unknown whether this edition has been transferred from a 35mm or 16mm film print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other silent era HARRY LANGDON films available on home video.
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