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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Wall Street Blues
(1924)
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This short comedy, directed by Del Lord, stars Billy Bevan and Sid Smith, with Andy Clyde, Natalie Kingston, Barbara Pierce, John J. Richardson, Vernon Dent and Edgar Kennedy. Of note are the animated sections of the film by Pinto Colvig.
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 D&D Productions
2024 Blu-ray Disc edition
Billy Bevan: Silent Comedian (1917-1931), black & white, and color-toned black & white, 320 minutes total, not rated, including Wall Street Blues (1924), black & white, 18 minutes, not rated.
D&D Productions,
no catalog number, UPC 7-45808-09991-6.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV) (two BDs in the set); 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 18.2 Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase [Kickstarter issue], and standard two-disc BD keepcase [retail issue]; £29.95.
Release date: 1 October 2024.
Country of origin: England
Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 6.
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This Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition has been conflated from two good to very-good 16mm reduction prints, with standard-definition inserts, to present a nearly-complete version of the film (only a second or two of footage that appears in other prints is missing here: e.g. the end of the shot where a dog is sucked into Billy’s vacuum cleaner). One of the source prints may have been struck from the export negative (with the other possibly from the domestic negative) as some footage appears to be shot from an alternate angle from that viewed in other prints.
The film is accompanied by a music score arranged and performed on piano by Ethan Uslan.
Supplemental material includes the featurette “Renovating Billy,” detailing the restoration work performed on the films (6 minutes); the featurette “Jane & Bob: Memories of Grandpa” (13 minutes); and a collection of videos utilized in the producers’ Kickstarter campaign (entertaining in their own right). A 12-page insert booklet was provided to Kickstarter supporters exclusively, containing a Bevan biography by Brent Walker and notes on the films by Dave Wyatt.
For brief review notes on the other films in this collection, see our Billy Bevan: Silent Comedian on home video page.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available through . . .
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 Alpha Video
2012 DVD edition
Forgotten Funnymen: Billy Bevan, Volume 1 (1924-1928), black & white, 83 minutes total, not rated, including Wall Street Blues (1924), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6754D, UPC 0-89218-67549-1.
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 6.6 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; 5 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 17 April 2012.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 3 / additional content: 0 / overall: 4.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good but incomplete 16mm reduction print that is fairly worn in places, with significant dust, speckling, emulsion scuffing, and other print flaws. Some videotape glitches are present.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings that actually detracts from the presentation.
For brief review notes on the other films in this collection, see our Forgotten Funnymen: Billy Bevan on home video page.
We don’t recommend this home video edition.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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