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A Son of Erin
(1916)

This drama, written and directed by Julia Crawford Ivers, stars Dustin Farnum and Winifred Kingston, with Tom Bates, Jack Livingston, Wilfred McDonald, Wallace Pyke and Lee Willard.

Kino Classics
2020 Blu-ray Disc edition

The Intrigue (1916), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, with The Majesty of the Law (1915) [reel 4 only], color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white and black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, A Son of Erin (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 56 minutes, not rated, and Ben Blair (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 64 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K24449, UPC 7-38329-24449-1.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC 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 24.0 Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 8 chapter stops; 8-page insert booklet; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 17 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from archival 35mm film materials held by the Library of Congress that range from good to excellent, with some footage compromised by distracting mottled nitrate decomposition that runs throughout the presentation and emulsion chipping. The source material is missing reel four, which is bridged by intertitles and still photographs to convey the story. Some footage is finely detailed and may have utilized an incomplete camera negative, other footage comes from duplicate film materials that is noticibly softer in image details.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Eunice Martins.

The generous supplemental material includes audio commentary by Anthony Slide, two feature films and a reel of a third, The Majesty of the Law (1915), accompanied on piano by Makia Matsumura; and an 8-page insert booklet with notes written by film historian Alice Miller. For our notes on the other films collected into this edition, see our Ben Blair on home video and The Intrigue on home video pages.

While some viewers will find it tough going trying to remain engaged in the story through the decomposition, this companion release to Kino Lorber’s 2018 six-disc boxset Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is recommended.

This review was updated in 2025.

This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .

Kino Classics
2020 DVD edition

Kino Lorber, K24448, UPC 7-38329-24448-4.
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 ? 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; 8 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 17 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been mastered from archival film materials of varying quality from good to excellent.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Ben Model.

The generous supplemental material includes audio commentary by Anthony Slide, two feature films and a reel of a third, The Majesty of the Law (1915).

This DVD companion release to Kino Lorber’s 2018 six-disc boxset Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is recommended.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD disc edition is available directly from . . .