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 the
Kongo
(1929)
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This late silent era serial from the poverty row studio Mascot Pictures Corporation stars Jacqueline Logan and Walter Miller, with support from Richard Tucker, Boris Karloff, Larry Steers, Harry Todd, Richard Neill and Lafe McKee. Originally released to theaters in a silent version and in a part-talkie sound-on-disc synchronized sound version, this serial represents the earliest surviving sound film featuring Karloff, the first sound serial, and the earliest surviving Mascot production.
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 Dr. Film
2024 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition
The King of the Kongo (1929) [sound serial version], black & white, 211 minutes, not rated.
Dr. Film, no catalog number, UPC 6-58632-54238-4.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; and 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 soundtrack, no subtitles; chapter stops; insert booklet; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $35.00.
Release date: 2024.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition has been mastered from 4K high-resolution scans of 35mm nitrate positives and incomplete 35mm nitrate negatives held by the Library of Congress, with missing footage inserts from 16mm reduction prints. This is a major restoration, many years in the making, conflating footage from five different sets of source prints matched with sound discs from private collections.
The serial predominantly features the original sound-on-disc synchronized soundtrack, discs provided by Ron Hutchinson and three other private collectors (six soundtrack discs are still missing). Audio for reels missing their original discs has been reconstructed with actors working from the original script compared to careful examination of the footage by lipreaders to approximate the missing sound sections.
Supplemental material includes two audio commentaries by film historian Ed Hulse (chapters 1-7), Sara Karloff and Eric Grayson (chapter 8) and film historian Kelly Robinson (chapters 9-10), and on the restoration by edition producer Eric Grayson, Greg Dunn, Thad Komorowski, Bruce Lee and Glory-June Greiff; and an insert booklet.
This is our recommended home video edition of the sound version of the serial.
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This
Region 0 Blu-ray Disc / NTSC DVD edition is available
directly from . . .
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 Dr. Film
2024 DVD edition
The King of the Kongo (1929) [silent serial version], black & white, 60 minutes, not rated.
Dr. Film, no 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; $15.00.
Release date: 2024.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from incomplete print materials of the original silent version of the serial.
The serial is accompanied by a music score composed and performed by Adam Swanson.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary by edition producer Eric Grayson; and a featurette demonstration of the restoration of the sound version of the serial noted above.
This is our recommended home video edition of the silent version of the serial.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2019 DVD edition
The King of the Kongo (1929) [feature version], black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with The Woman in Grey (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and The Last Man (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8229D, UPC 0-89218-82299-4.
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 to $8.98).
Release date: 21 May 2019.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a surviving print of the abridged feature film version. The presentation may be incomplete as indicated by the offering of two other program items.
The film may be accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings, as it is unlikely that the original soundtrack discs were available for synchronization.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
The King of the Kongo (1929), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
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; $14.99.
Release date: 201?
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print. It is not known whether this is a mute presentation of the sound version of the serial or the abridged feature film version.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other SERIAL FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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