Blackmail (1929, Alfred Hitchcock) from Kino Lorber (issues..)

[kishiro]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Is the silent version correct and does it contain the same shots anywhere? Could it be used as a reference?

Yes, the silent version has correct image proportions, but has different framing and an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (early sound films used some of the film area for it's optical audio-track, hence many of them are in the 1.19:1/1.20:1 aspect ratio. except Warner Bros.' Vitaphones sound films which used LPs for sound.)

See the first post in this thread. You can use the wheel of the paddy-wagon as a visual guide. Most of the shots are the same in both the silent and audio-versions.

The image area (within the black bars), after you have corrected/cropped, should be about 1300 x 1080 pixels (1.20:1).

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Is the silent version correct and does it contain the same shots anywhere? Could it be used as a reference?

The silent version is the correct aspect ratio - 1.33:1.

The "talkie" version should be 1.20:1, because in that period of about a year or so, they cropped a portion of the image on films in order to accommodate the soundtrack.

Yes, there are matching frames, but they will never completely match. You can see examples of all the various versions in the Beaver review here:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film6/blu-r...il_blu-ray.htm

KL's reason for including two different versions of the "talkie" remains a mystery. The primary 1.33 version on disc 1 was always presumably intended to be stretched to fill the frame, though why there was a perceived demand among silent film fans for something like this is beyond me. The "bonus" version on disc 2 was clearly intended to be the OAR 1.20:1 and is labeled as such, it was quite obviously just a technical error that left it 1.12:1. Unfortunately KL is of the opinion that the error does not exist, and that the 1.12:1 version is, in fact, 1.20:1. They have made this abundantly clear.

The BFI restored silent version is the real reason to buy the disc anyway, and it looks glorious. The "talkie" version is not restored, so old DVDs of it are a workable alternative.

[KMR]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

The BFI restored silent version is the real reason to buy the disc anyway, and it looks glorious. The "talkie" version is not restored, so old DVDs of it are a workable alternative.

It's a shame that the sound version isn't restored and presented with the correct pixel geometry, since I find that version to be superior. The addition of audible dialog (and concomitant omission of intertitles) greatly enhances both the humor and the suspense. It seems more "Hitchcockian" to me.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by KMR

It's a shame that the sound version isn't restored and presented with the correct pixel geometry, since I find that version to be superior. The addition of audible dialog (and concomitant omission of intertitles) greatly enhances both the humor and the suspense. It seems more "Hitchcockian" to me.

The BFI limited themselves to restoring the silents, because they were most at risk of being lost. Also, undoubtedly, because it was difficult enough to raise money to restore those. This is especially true because the BFI doesn't own any of those Hitchcock 9 films, they're all owned by either Studiocanal or ITV, so the BFI was restoring them purely as a public service. That's why it literally took years for them to reach BD after they were restored, and they only trickled out, in various markets, with one not even released at all yet. I still find it odd that most of them only have American releases, when it was a British effort to restore them.

[GeoffOliver]

I kinda liked the silent version better, aside from the very memorable scene of Anny Ondra walking in a daze down the street, and also the "knife" scene's genius early use of sound.

[profholt82]

They included this short sound test from the pre-production in the extras, and I loved it. I was able to find the clip on youtube. I think it's hilarious that one of the first movie sound recordings in history was Hitch making a "that's what she said" joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z8m...ature=youtu.be

[WaverBoy]

I find the original silent version to be significantly superior to the rejiggered talkie version. If I could have one of the versions restored, that would be the one. Extremely glad that’s the one we got.