Customer Reviews

Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide

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The problem with any DVD catalog is that it ages quickly, with new releases coming out all of the time. However, for the fan of the silents and early talkies, this is a one of a kind find. The author has listed many films, both the well known and obscure, listed a synopsis and some interesting background information on the film, stars, and directors, and even included reproductions of old movie posters. Best of all, the author tells you where you can find these films on DVD, and the quality of the reproduction. The manufacturers are not limited to just the major studios, Kino, and Criterion. He also includes such vendors as Grapevine Video, which has been selling silents for over thirty years. In the back is listed those online vendors that the author considers to be reputable, which is very good information.

Now for my minor complaints. The author will have articles for films that, at the time this catalog was printed, have no DVD release at all. For example, he goes into great detail about Borzage's "Bad Girl", which is a great film, even though at the end of the article he mentions - correctly at the time - that there is no DVD release. However, even though the author says that vintagefilmbuff is a reliable DVD vendor, he doesn't mention any of the DVD's of the silent/early talkie era that this company has available. vintagefilmbuff has many of the early Paramount talkies on DVD-R at pretty good quality. For example, 1929's "The Virginian" is available from vintagefilmbuff.

There are other films that deserved mention that were omitted, such as 1929's "It's A Great Life" and "Lights of New York", the first all-talking picture. However, I still recommend it as a buyer's guide and just an all-around interesting read to those of us fascinated with the films of this much ignored era in Hollywood history.

A few years ago, finding a silent movie on DVD was akin to discovering the philosopher's stone: Next to impossible! Now, however, over 500 silents are available. True, a great number of these are either collections of shorts or duplicates of titles already available. Nonetheless, in the space of a few years, silent films and early talking features are no longer a rarity. They can be obtained! This handbook not only provides a general survey of many of the feature films currently on offer, but also cast and credit details, plus, most importantly, the DVD distributor and the technical quality of his product.

In other words, this is a book that will save DVD buyers and collectors money -- not to mention the disappointment of finding a DVD "treasure", paying out good money for it, and then discovering the quality was so poor, the movie was virtually unwatchable.

As with my other movie books, such as those in the "Hollywood Classics" series like Hollywood's Classic Comedies featuring Slapstick, Romance, Music, Glamour or Screwball Fun! and SCIENCE-FICTION & FANTASY CINEMA: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural or GREAT HOLLYWOOD WESTERNS: Classic Pictures, Must-See Movies and 'B' Films, I have gone to a great deal of trouble not just to feature the familiar titles we all know, but to search out the more obscure movies that yet offer equally fabulous entertainment. Three of the many discoveries in this book, for example, are "No Man's Law" (1927), guaranteed to shock the most experienced viewer out of his socks; "The Notorious Lady" (also 1927), masterfully directed by King Baggot, a gem of silent cinema; and "Hotel Imperial" (also 1927), an absolutely stunning experience, directed by the great Mauritz Stiller. And the really good news is that all three of these wonderful movies are available on DVD in absolutely beautiful copies.

This book provides an invaluable guide not only to the movies you want to see like "Safety Last" and "Thief of Bagdad" and "Phantom of the Opera" (with details as to which of the available versions are of the finest quality and/or offer the most fascinating bonus items), but those you ought to see if, like me, you watch movies principally for entertainment.

This book is not indexed, nor is there a table of contents. The films are arranged alphabetically by title, and that's it. There is no way to search for actors, movies of a specific genre, or anything else other than title. To me, this greatly diminishes the value of this as a reference. Also, it is not available as a Kindle book. At least if it was available on the Kindle, one could utilize the Kindle's search feature to look for actors, directors, studios, release dates, etc..