Product Details

• Actors: Walter McGrail, Snub Pollard, Bebe Daniels, Harold Lloyd, Lon Chaney
• Directors: F. Richard Jones
• Format: Silent, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Unknown Video
• DVD Release Date: November 22, 2004
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006PWM6Y
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,581 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only for fans and collectors, January 12, 2006

By 

Barbara (Burkowsky) Underwood (Tumut, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Suzanna (DVD)

Unknown Video has been doing a great job of releasing rare silent films that are not easily available anywhere else, and this DVD is a case in point. There are actually three rarely-seen silent films on this DVD - at least, what is currently left of them! The featured film, "Suzanna" (1922) starring popular comedienne Mabel Normand is missing several reels and on this DVD is about 35 minutes in length, but with excellent explanatory notes by Unknown Video, the viewer is able to follow the entire story. The other two items of surviving footage are of "Riddle Gawne" starring the silent era's greatest Western star, William S Hart, and "A Sammy in Siberia" - an almost complete one-reeler starring the great comedian, Harold Lloyd, along with Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard. Both of these last only around 15 minutes; "Riddle Gawne" (1918) being essentially lost apart from these excerpts which Unknown Video has put together with more explanatory notes to help fill the gaps. Lon Chaney also makes a very brief appearance, and no doubt "Riddle Gawne" was another great Hart Western, especially with Lon Chaney in a supporting role, but if the film hasn't survived intact anywhere, then fans will be glad to see at least these few excerpts.

"Suzanna" flows along fairly smoothly for the most part, and Mabel is delightful, as always, in her role as a playful peasant girl in early Spanish California who is not good enough to marry a wealthy man's son. Although a light romantic comedy, the story is still quite interesting and satisfying to watch, even though some crucial scenes are missing and Unknown Video's notes fill the gaps. As a bonus, there is a slide show with a nice jazzy musical score of around 80 posters advertising silent films - many of them as rare and unseen as the films on this DVD. Picture quality of these 3 excerpts/surviving footage is overall quite good, and musical accompaniment is the usual Unknown Video's electric organ by Bob Vaughn. For fans of Mabel, Hart and Lloyd this DVD will be a treat.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh my darlin', February 1, 2007

By 

Frank Leonidas - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suzanna (DVD)

I got exactly what I paid for when I purchased this item: a chance to see the only surviving footage of Lon Chaney's 1918 western with cowboy star William S. Hart, the lost film Riddle Gawne. It's only about a reel's worth of footage (approximately 10 minutes) but it was in good condition and was a little longer than clips I have seen of this before on various Lon Chaney tributes and documentaries. The musical accompaniment was quite good too. It may seem a little silly to some people to buy an entire DVD for 10 minutes worth of footage (and I admit that I haven't even watched the other footage on the DVD which includes several short films and the main attraction featuring Mabel Normand) but for a Lon Chaney fan -- this is priceless. It even came with a small Mabel Normand magnet which is now proudly displayed on my kitchen fridge! Highly recommended for Lon Chaney completists.