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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The
King of Kings
(1927)
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Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical epic (one of many) stars H.B. Warner with Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence, Josef Schildkraut, James Neill, Robert Edeson, Jacqueline Logan, Rudolph Schildkraut, Sam de Grasse, William Boyd, George Siegmann and a host of other recognizable faces, and features spectacular Technicolor sequences.
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 Flicker Alley
2025 Blu-ray Disc edition
The King of Kings (1927) [roadshow version], black & white and color, 161 minutes, not rated, and The King of Kings (1928) [general release version], black & white and color, 115 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0088, UPC 6-17311-00889-4.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Discs; 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate (roadshow version), LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate (roadshow version), and LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate (general release version); English language intertitles, optional English language SDH subtitles; chapter stops; insert booklet; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 15 April 2025.
Country of origin: USA
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This two-disc Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from two complete versions of the film: the 1927 roadshow version and the 1928 general release version.
The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score by Robert Israel (roadshow version), with the general release version accompanied by its original Hugo Riesenfeld music score and a theatre pipe organ score composed and performed by Christian Elliott.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary for the roadshow version by Marc Wanamaker; the featurette “The Making of The King of Kings,” including behind-the-scenes footage with commentary by Marc Wanamaker; the featurette “Two Versions for One Film,” examining the differences between both included versions of the film; the featurette “Negative A / Negative B” exploring the processes that led to multiple negatives of the film; featurettes on the Technicolor process and the hand-coloring process employed for sequences of the film; the promotional cartoon short, Pathé Week on Broadway (1927), that officially announces the release of The King of Kings; silent footage of the German premiere of the film; image galleries; and an insert booklet including an essay on the production by Robert S. Birchard, with notes on the restoration and alternate versions by Serge Bromberg.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This
Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .
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 The Criterion Collection
2004 DVD edition
The King of Kings (1927) [roadshow version], black & white and color, 155 minutes, not rated, and The King of Kings (1931) [rerelease version], black & white and color, 112 minutes, not rated.
The Criterion Collection, KIN190 (collection number 266),
UPC 0-37429-18732-6, ISBN 0-78002-799-X.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs; 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 6.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate, and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 27 chapter stops (1927 version) and 23 chapter stops (1931 version); two-disc DVD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 7 December 2004.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition, which is a definite improvement over the Criterion/Voyager laserdisc of the 1990s (which was prepared from a Killiam Collection print), contains two complete versions of the film: the 155-minute 1927 roadshow version and the 112-minute 1931 rerelease version. Despite being an early DVD release, the results still look very-good on a high-resolution system capable of line-doubling this interlaced NTSC disc.
Accompanying both versions of the films are new music scores by Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original mono Hugo Riesenfeld score for the 1931 rerelease.
This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Alpha Video
2024 DVD edition
King of Kings (1927), black & white, 112 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8619D, UPC 0-89218-86199-3.
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; $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 accompanied by the general release soundtrack featuring music compiled by Hugo Riesenfeld.
This is not a recommended home video edition of the film.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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Other silent era CECIL B. DeMILLE films available on home video.
Other RELIGIOUS FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other TECHNICOLOR FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other silent film music scores by ROBERT ISRAEL available on home video.
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