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 Mender
of Nets
(1912)
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This one-reel drama, directed by D.W. Griffith, stars Mary Pickford and Charles West, with Marguerite Marsh, W. Chrystie Miller, Dell Henderson, Frank Opperman and Mabel Normand.
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 The Milestone Collection
1999 DVD edition
Sparrows (1926), black & white, 107 minutes, not rated, with The Mender of Nets (1912), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film & Video, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID5958MLSDVD, UPC 0-14381-59582-6.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.5 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; no chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $29.99.
Release date: 5 October 1999.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 4 / additional content: 7 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition of the Biograph one-reeler The Mender of Nets (1912), directed by D.W. Griffith, looks as though it has been mastered from an older video transfer, probably those utilized for the 1990 Image laserdisc The Griffith Biographs. The appearance of the films on DVD (both being slightly soft of image detail and a little flat, with greyish highlights) is virtually identical to the laserdisc.
For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises
2017 DVD edition
Mary Pickford Rare Shorts II (1912-1913), black & white, 123 minutes total, not rated, including The Mender of Nets (1912), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.
Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises, 158, 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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; slimline CD jewelcase; $34.99 (raised again to $44.99).
Release date: 2017.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print (as might be surmised from the publisher-provided still frame above).
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 through . . .
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Other silent era D.W. GRIFFITH films available on home video.
Other silent era MARY PICKFORD films available on home video.
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Mary Pickford filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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