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A Bear, a Boy
and a Dog
[Saturday Off]
(1920)

This two-reel drama, directed by Bert Van Tuyle and Nell Shipman, features Sunny Howard (Shipman’s son), Margaret Mann and Nell Shipman, with Brownie the bear and Laddie the dog.

Kino Classics
2025 Blu-ray Disc edition

Wonder Dogs!: Canine Stars of the Silent Era (1898-1928), black & white, 477 minutes total, not rated, including A Bear, a Boy, and a Dog [Saturday Off] (1921), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K27007, UPC 7-38329-27007-0.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Discs; 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; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 20 May 2025.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from archival film elements held by the Library of Congress.

The films are accompanied by music scores composed and performed by Mohamed Araki, Esin Aydingoz, Adam Banks and Griffin Barbieri, Ali Tolga Demirtas, Anabel Gil Diaz, Allison Beth Fitzgerald, Caroline Gao, Nika Ko, Carolyn Koch, Mathilde Koechlin, Anthony Laurie, Connor McKay, Danielle Painter, Josh Phillips, Jaasmaan Singh, Shane Prendiville, Dana Reason, Chris Rorrer, Jeff Schwartz, Andrew Earle Simpson, María Fernanda García Solar and Lorena Ruiz Trejo, and Peter Valsamis.

Supplemental material includes audio commentaries by Anthony Slide; interviews with curators/archivists Lynanne Schweighofer and George Willeman; and an interview with composer Andrew Earle Simpson.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .

Idaho Film Collection
2006 DVD edition

The Nell Shipman Collection, Volume 2: The Short Films (1918-1920), black & white and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, ? minutes total, not rated, including A Bear, a Boy and a Dog [Saturday Off] (1920), black & white, 29 minutes, not rated.

Boise State University, no catalog number,
UPC 9-780932-12944-4, ISBN 0-9321-2944-7.
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 4.5 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; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 1 November 2006.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 4 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition of A Bear, a Boy and a Dog (1920), also known as Saturday Off, updates Boise State University’s previous offering that was available on VHS. While it has been remastered for DVD release, this edition appears to utilize the same videotape masters prepared for the Boise State VHS release from 1992, as is evidenced by the right-hand ghosting of sharply constrasting picture elements such as intertitle letters, which is characteristic of analog videotape. The source print is the only known 35mm copy of the film.

The film is accompanied by a music score performed on piano by Craig Purdy.

Also included is an introduction by Nell’s granddaughter Nina Shipman and Gary Lacher, the Oregon collector who recovered the only known nitrate print of A Bear, a Boy and a Dog, the 1921 rerelease version of Saturday Off (1920).

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .