Unboxing the Silents: “Beggars of Life” with Louise Brooks on Bluray 

, a 1928 drama starring Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen and Wallace Beery and directed by William Wellman, has been making the festival rounds but this is you chance to own it. I’ll be going through the contents of this disc and showcasing what it has to offer.

A huge thanks to Kino Lorber for providing me with an early review copy.

will be available on DVD and Bluray from Kino on August 22, 2017. Please note that older public domain DVD releases DO NOT feature restored footage and will not be of the same image quality. The Bluray is region A.

This edition features 35mm elements preserved by the George Eastman House. The film looks good, Arlen looks good and, despite being saddled with one of the most ridiculous bonnets in film history, Brooks looks good.

As always, I have cropped the pillarboxes but have not otherwise altered the screencaps in any way.

The score is by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and uses selections from the film’s original cue sheet.

The film includes commentary tracks from William Wellman, Jr. and Louise Brooks Society founder Thomas Gladysz. (Gladysz has also published a companion book to the film.) We also get a booklet with an essay on

As with Kino’s previous Brooks Bluray, Beggars comes with reversible cover art, so that’s pretty fun.

Availability: The film will be released on DVD and Bluray on August 22, 2017. You can learn more and pre-order here.

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8 Replies to “Unboxing the Silents: “Beggars of Life” with Louise Brooks on Bluray”

We’ve ordered two: the second one a gift for a cousin who’s always been head over heels for lovely Louise!

Perfect present for them! This thing is beautiful.

Louise is simply gorgeous. Wonder how she got on with Wallace Beery, no-one else seemed to, not even his wife Gloria Swanson.

I am looking forward to this release, major improvement over the previous editions. This has been a great year for silent films so far. Zaza, Marion Davies’ restorations and coming up to round up this year, Old Ironsides, and The Covered Wagon just to name a few. Great news for us silent film lovers.

Yes, I don’t think we’ve had a year this good for improved/all-new editions in a long, long time.

Fans of Louise Brooks and this film may be interested to know I have just authored a new book, “Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film”, which goes beyond my commentary to detail everything I could find out about this classic film. And what’s more, the book features more than 50 images, many of them rare. The book is available through amazon.com, B&N, and select independent bookstores.

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Seek and ye shall find! (Silent films, that is.)

was an epic production in every sense of the word and its success rocketed Marion Davies to the upper echelons of movie stardom. Only available as a smeary VHS for years, this pristine Bluray/DVD combo pack is a revelation.

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Movies Silently recommends Fandor for the best silent film streaming. Watch quality versions of silents like Judex and the long-lost 1916 Sherlock Holmes. (Available in the USA and Canada)

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