Unboxing the Silents: Four Blurays from Grapevine

Unboxing the Silents by Movies Silently

Today, we are going to be taking a peek at a newcomer to the HD market: Grapevine Video. Grapevine is a longtime supplier of rare silent films and they have been in business since the days of VHS. They started offering Blurays last year and the current crop of new releases are all available on Blu for the first time.

Since I have had readers ask about the quality of Grapevine’s presentations in the past, I thought you might enjoy a little preview of these Blurays so that you can judge for yourselves. I’ve cropped out the pillarboxes but am otherwise presenting the screencaps as-is. (By the way, all of these titles are also available on DVD.)

Miss Lulu Bett (1921)

I was particularly excited about this title as Miss Lulu Bett is one of my favorite silent films (you can read my review here) and the high quality Image release that I own is presently out of print. The Image disc features tinting while the Grapevine release is black and white. Here are some sample images:

All in all, I would say that this is an excellent way to watch a silent drama classic. Plus, Milton Sills in HD! Whoohoo! Oh and the music is an organ score by David Knudtson.

You can order copies of the film here.

The Cowboy and the Flapper (1924)

My compliments to the people in the marketing department. Now THAT is a title. William Fairbanks (no relation to either Doug) stars as the cowboy, while Dorothy Revier (who did act opposite Doug in The Iron Mask) plays the flapper.

Samples of the film:

As you can see, this is a pretty darn attractive Bluray, especially considering that it isn’t a famous title from a major studio. Like Miss Lulu Bett, it features a score from David Knudtson.

You can order a copy here.

The Thrill Seekers (1927)

This title has been released on home video before but this is the first time it has been available on Bluray. James F. Fulton, Ruth Clifford and veteran villain Robert McKim star in this Jazz Age adventure.

The samples:

This film is a bit softer and darker than the other two titles but quite watchable. The score seems to have been compiled from pre-existing recordings.

You can order a copy here.

The Street (1927, Die Straße)

This film is directed by Karl Grune and has nothing to do with Dream Street, The Joyless Street or Quality Street. It’s a German production with all the expected darkness of a Weimar picture. This is the American release of the film and I am not sure what was cut, if anything. (But if I know my silent era censors, likely quite a bit was lopped off.)

Samples:

As you can see the image is quite soft and dark. The film is accompanied by a synth score from Christopher Congdon.

You can order a copy here.

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17 Comments

      1. peytonsclassics

        That’s the reason why I want to be a film preservationist/archivist. There’s always some gems in the vaults!

  3. Matthew Walls

    I do appreciate Grapevine making otherwise unavailable titles accessible. I am usually okay with their picture quality but not so much so for the musical accompaniments. You mention The Who/what. Can you provide any thoughts on the quality of the music for each? Thanks

    1. Fritzi Kramer

      Musical taste varies so much that I really hesitate to make judgement calls. While image quality is pretty cut and dried (the picture is either fuzzy or it isn’t) music is in the ears of the listener, as it were. Unless I am gushing, I make a point of not commenting on music in unboxing posts unless it is either a) truly and unambiguously awful (the Tiger Lillies and Variete, for example) or b) unfairly maligned in my opinion (Air’s score to A Trip to the Moon). These releases are pretty much par for the Grapevine course in musical accompaniment. Whether or not that’s a bad thing is up to the individual viewer.

  4. Birgit

    This sounds so delightful! It’s like Christmas again:) The German film is probably censored since Germany, in the 1920’s especially in Berlin, was quite the red hot town of anything goes.

  5. Dwight Davis

    I had bought The Phantom Honeymoon (1919) on Blu-Ray from Grapevine. Nice to know that they have other films on Blu-Ray.Miss Lulu Bett looks interesting.

  7. Emma L

    The picture quality in these films is stunning. I hope Grapevine continues to churn out more great films like these. It would also be wonderful of they’d release some films that have never-before been available on home media.

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