Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

L’Argent (1928)

This drama, directed by Marcel L’Herbier, stars Brigitte Helm and Marie Glory, with Yvette Guilbert, Pierre Alcover, Alfred Abel, Henry Victor, Pierre Juvenet, Antonin Artaud, Jules Berry and Raymond Rouleau.

The film is accompanied by two optional music scores: one by Olivier Massot, performed by The National Orchestra of Lyon under the direction of Timothy Brock, and one compiled and arranged by Rodney Sauer and performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Both options are excellent and worth independent viewings.

Supplemental material includes the short film Prométhée, — banquier (1921) directed by Marcel L’Herbier; and a newly restored version of Autour de l'argent (1928), a 1928 documentary by Jean Dréville, with audio commentary by Dréville recorded in 1971 and two optional music scores, one with classical music and one by modern musicians Tempsion (39 minutes); a featurette on the 1971 and 2019 restorations of Autour de l'argent with Serge Bromberg, in French with optional English subtitles (5 minutes); a photo gallery (28 images); and a 24-page insert booklet with articles written by Mireille Beaulieu.

This is our recommended North American home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is accompanied by two optional music scores: one by Olivier Massot, performed by The National Orchestra of Lyon under the direction of Timothy Brock, and one compiled and arranged by Rodney Sauer and performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

Supplemental material includes the short film Prométhée, — banquier (1921) directed by Marcel L’Herbier; and a newly restored version of Autour de l'argent (1928), a 1928 documentary by Jean Dréville, with audio commentary by Dréville recorded in 1971 and two optional music scores, one with classical music and one by modern musicians Tempsion (39 minutes); a featurette on the 1971 and 2019 restorations of Autour de l'argent with Serge Bromberg (5 minutes); a photo gallery (28 images); and a 24-page booklet with articles written by Mireille Beaulieu.

As this is the originating release of the 2018 restoration version of the film and therefore identical in quality to the Flicker Alley edition noted above, (even sight unseen) this is our recommended European home video edition of the film. North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc and/or a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

France: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.fr. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This British Region 2 PAL DVD edition has been mastered from a fine-grain 35mm print struck from the original camera negative. The being the case, we are still a tiny bit disappointed in the picture quality of this edition. Whether intended or not, the video transfer shows faint signs of edge sharpening in addition to the image’s slightly smeary picture details. A very light amount of speckling, dust and emulsion scrapes remain but is far from distracting.

The film is accompanied by a music score improved and performed on piano by Jean-François Zygel, with added sound effects.

Supplemental material includes an introduction to the film by Jean-François Zygel, in French with English subtitles (3 minutes); About L’Argent, a 1928 documentary of the film’s production, in French with optional English subtitles (40 minutes); a documentary Marcel L’Herbiier: Poet of the Silent Art, including a brief archive tour and an interview with L’Herbier, in French with optional English subtitles (54 minutes); footage of Brigitte Helm’s arrival in Paris, presented silent (1 minute); a compilation of screen tests for the film, presented silent (17 minutes); a featurette on the accompaniment of silent films with Jean-François Zygel, in French with optional English subtitles (7 minutes); a demonstration of L’Herbier’s intended use of two 78rpm grammophone sound effects records into the presentation of the stock exchange scene (4 minutes); and a generously illustrated 80-page insert booklet with articles by Richard Abel, a 1968 print interview with L’Herbier, and excerpts from critical evaluations of the film.

The sheer amount of supplemental information makes this edition highly prized and it remains a recommended DVD home video edition of the film. However, on sheer visual quality alone, we recommend the Lobster Films DVD edition noted above to collectors of DVD exclusively. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The film is accompanied by a music score improved and performed on piano by Jean-François Zygel, with added sound effects.

Supplemental material includes an introduction by Jean-François Zygel (3 minutes); other films by director Marcel l’Herbier; and a 1928 documentary of the production of the film by Jean Dréville (40 minutes); and a featurette on the accompaniment of silent films with Jean-François Zygel (7 minutes).

The disc was awarded the Best ‘Lost Silent’ DVD by Il Cinema Ritrovato.

North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

France: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.fr. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

The film is accompanied by a music score which has, presumably, been lifted from the French disc.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .