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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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Battling Butler
(1926)

Buster Keaton’s boxing film is not as well known as his other features but is just as funny. It is a pleasure to see a comic master at work.

Kino Classics
2011 Blu-ray Disc edition

Go West (1925), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated, with Battling Butler (1926), color-toned black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K791, UPC 7-38329-07912-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 10 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase in cardboard slipcase; $34.95.
Release date: 27 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-Ray Disc edition, produced for home video by Bret Wood, has been mastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print.

The film is accompanied by a music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel.

This is our recommended edition of Battling Butler on home video.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Masters of Cinema
2020 Blu-ray Disc edition

Our Hospitality (1923), black & white, 76 minutes, BBFC Certification U, and Hospitality (1923) [alternate version], black & white, 55 minutes, BBFC Certification U, Go West (1925), black & white, 68 minutes, BBFC Certification U, and College (1927), black & white, 66 minutes, BBFC Certification U, What! No Spinach? (1926), black & white, 19 minutes, BBFC Certification U, with The Railrodder (1965), color, 24 minutes, BBFC Certification U, and Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965), color, 55 minutes, BBFC Certification U.

Eureka Entertainment, EKA70374 (MoC 221-223), unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region B Blu-ray Disc (three 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; 60-page insert booklet; standard three-disc BD keepcase; £20.99.
Release date: 30 March 2020.
Country of origin: England

This Region B Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a 4K restoration from an archival 35mm print.

The film is accompanied by a music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel.

Supplementary material includes audio commentary on The Navigator by historians Robert Arkus and Yair Solan; audio commentary on Seven Chances by historians Joel Goss and Bruce Lawton; video essay on all three films by David Cairns; a featurette on the making of The Navigator and Keaton’s fascination with boats as sources of comedy by historian Bruce Lawton; audio interviews with Buster Keaton and Irwin Allen from 1945 (6 minutes), with Buster Keaton and Arthur Friedman from 1956 (32 minutes), with Buster Keaton and Robert Franklin from 1958 (56 minutes), with Buster Keaton and Herbert Feinstein from 1960 (48 minutes), and with Buster Keaton and Studs Terkel from 1960 (38 minutes): a Harry Sweet short comedy from 1926 (19 minutes); and a 60-page insert booklet with articles on the three films, historical writings, and photographs.

Sight unseen, this is our recommended European home video edition of the film. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

Kino Classics
2011 DVD edition

Go West (1925), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated, with Battling Butler (1926), color-toned black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 10 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 27 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition, produced for home video by Bret Wood, has been mastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print.

The film is accompanied by a music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Kino on Video
1999 DVD edition

Battling Butler (1926), black & white, 71 minutes, not rated, with The Haunted House (1921), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, and The Frozen North (1922), black & white, 17 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K128DVD, UPC 7-38329-01282-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 13 chapter stops; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase [retail], and in slimline DVD keepcase [boxset]); $29.99 (reduced to $24.95).
Release date: 26 October 1999.
Country of origin: USA

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

This early DVD edition had been prepared from the 1995 analog video master produced for home video by David Shepard, which was previously released by Kino International on laserdisc and VHS videotape. The slightly windowboxed, natural-speed video transfer will appear full-frame on most televisions with a bit of the black frame showing on the left side of the picture. The older video transfer is softer of image detail than in today’s digital transfers. The very-good 35mm source material itself is a bit compromised by some print wear, dust, speckling and other minor defects.

The film is accompanied by an ensemble music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel that gives way to a theatre organ music score for the main bout denouement.

The DVD also includes The Haunted House (1921) and The Frozen North (1922).