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
Cheerful Fraud
(1926)
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This crime comedy, directed by William A. Seiter, stars Reginald Denny and Gertrude Olmstead, with Otis Harlan, Emily Fitzroy, Charles Gerrard and Gertrude Astor.
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 Alpha Video
2015 DVD edition
The Cheerful Fraud (1926), black & white, 59 minutes, not rated, with Sunny Side Up (1926), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7685D, UPC 0-89218-76859-9.
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 3.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 4 August 2015.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 3 / additional content: 4 / overall: 3.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered at standard-resolution from an 8mm reduction print. As should be expected, there is an above-average amount of dust and speckling, with a number of splices, a sprinkling of print schmutz and mild frame jitters. Watchable but a test of patience, to be sure.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music sources.
Far from a great presentation but, for now, this is our 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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 Loving the Classics
201? DVD edition
The Cheerful Fraud (1926), black & white, 70 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; $19.99.
Release date: 201?
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
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 silent era REGINALD DENNY films available on home video.
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