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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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The Four
Feathers
(1929)

This late silent film adaptation of the A.E.W. Mason classic novel, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper and Lothar Mendes, stars Richard Arlen, Fay Wray and William Powell, with Clive Brook, Theodore von Eltz and George Fawcett.

We’re glad that Arlen didn’t wear a moustache all the time.

Vintage Film Buff
2007 DVD edition

The Four Feathers (1929), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.

Vintage Film Buff, no catalog number, no 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 5.2 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; no chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $20.00.
Release date: 2007.
Country of origin: USA •

Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 0 / overall: 3.

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good 16mm reduction print but the video transfer is quite dark and makes viewing the image and reading intertitles a challenge most of the time.

The film is accompanied by the film’s original Movietone synchronized music and sound effects soundtrack.

Not a great presentation but this is the best home video edition of the film we have viewed. There are a small number of DVD-Rs available from individuals on the grey home video market.

VINTAGE FILM BUFF has discontinued business
and this edition is . . .