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
Matrimaniac
(1916)
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This feature comedy, directed by Paul Powell, stars Douglas Fairbanks and Constance Talmadge, with Wilbur Higby, Clyde Hopkins, Fred Warren, Winifred Westover and Monte Blue.
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 Flicker Alley
2008 DVD edition
Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer (1916-1921), color-toned black & white, color-tinted black & white, color-tinted and color-toned black & white and black & white, 760 minutes total, not rated, including The Matrimaniac (1916), black & white, 46 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0011,
UPC 6-17311-67359-7, ISBN: 1-8939-6735-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (five DVDs in the set); 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 8.2 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 9 chapter stops; 32-page insert booklet; five slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $89.95.
Release date: 2 December 2008.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a 35mm duplicate negative copied circa 1960 from a (likely incomplete) good 28mm reduction print. The source material displays a higher than usual amount of dust, speckling, schmutz, emulsion chipping and scuffing, frame jitters, mild warping, sprocket damage, fine vertical scratches, fine hairs in the negative frame, sprocket jumps, and other print flaws. The passable video transfer runs a bit too fast for a natural pace but looks better than some of the other transfers in the set.
The film is accompanied by a musical score composed and performed on piano by Philip Carli.
Supplemental material includes a 32-page booklet with film notes by Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta; production stills and pressbook reproductions; an audio essay for A Modern Musketeer by Vance and Maietta; and a reproduction of Fairbanks’ first film contract. This boxset collection won an award at Il Cinema Ritrovato in 2009 for excellence.
For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2015 DVD edition
The Matrimaniac (1916), black & white, 46 minutes, not rated, with The Missing Millionaire (1917), black & white, 28 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 6-60845-44718-9.
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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, permanent? English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95.
Release date: April 2015.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a (likely incomplete) 16mm reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed by David Knudtson.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2019 DVD edition
The Mollycoddle (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with The Matrimaniac (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8200D, UPC 0-89218-82009-9.
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 mono 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: 12 March 2019.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a (likely incomplete) 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
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 from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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Other silent era DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS films available on DVD home video.
Other silent era CONSTANCE TALMADGE films available on home video.
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Douglas Fairbanks filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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