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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A Throw of Dice
(1929)
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Adapted from the Sanskrit epic poem The Mahabharata, A Throw of Dice is the tale of King Sohat (Himansu Rai) and King Rajit (Charu Roy) of neighboring kingdoms, who share a passion for life, gambling, and love for the beautiful Sunita (Seeta Devi). After a tiger attacks Rajit, Sunita focuses her attention on nursing the handsome king back to health, then agrees to become his bride. The jealous Sohat then challenges Rajit to a game of chance, with the high stakes of his freedom, his bride and even his life.
An epic production touting 10,000 extras, 1000 horses, and legions of elephants, A Throw of Dice is a prime example of German film director Franz Osten’s fascination and respect for the culture and literature of India.
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 Kino International
2008 DVD edition
A Throw of Dice (1929), black & white, 74 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K567, UPC 7-38329-05672-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 1 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 5.1 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 15 July 2008.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 9 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This American DVD edition features the 35mm restoration version from the British Film Institute.
The film is accompanied by a new orchestral score by Nitin Sawhney, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Supplemental materials include an interview with composer Sawhney (35 minutes), and a stills gallery (31 images).
This is our recommended home video edition for American collectors.
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This Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .
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 British Film Institute
2007 DVD edition
A Throw of Dice (1929), black & white, 74 minutes, BBFC Classification U.
BFI Video Publishing,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; £19.99.
Release date: 29 October 2007.
Country of origin: United Kingdom
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This original home video DVD edition of Franz Osten’s A Throw of Dice has been mastered from the British Film Institute’s restoration.
The film is accompanied by a new orchestral score by Nitin Sawhney, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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This Region 2 PAL DVD edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alive
2007 DVD edition
A Throw of Dice (1929), black & white, 76 minutes, not rated.
Alive DVD, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; €22,99.
Release date: 7 December 2007.
Country of origin: Germany
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This German language DVD edition of the British Film Institute restoration of A Throw of Dice features a new orchestral score by Nitin Sawhney.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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 Loving the Classics
2025 DVD edition
A Throw of Dice (1929), black & white, 74 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics,
no catalog number, 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 10 March 2025
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
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 directly from . . .
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