Silent Era : Home Video Reviews

Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > The Making of Broncho Billy

Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

The Making of
Broncho Billy
(1913)

Unknown Video
2004 DVD edition

Hoodoo Ann (1916), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated, with The Making of Broncho Billy (1913), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated.

Unknown Video, 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 4.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 3 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $18.95.
Release date: 22 November 2004.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 5 / additional content: 6 / overall: 5.

This DVD-R edition of The Making of Broncho Billy has been mastered from an analog video transfer of a good 16mm reduction print. The quality of the full-frame standard-definition video transfer is passable.

The presentation, originally prepared for videotape release in 1999, features custom musical accompaniment performed on a small electric organ by Bob Vaughn.

This edition is OK, but we suspect that there will be a better one at some point in the future.

UNKNOWN VIDEO has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .

Alpha Video
2013 DVD edition

Ace of Cactus Range (1924), black & white, 67 minutes, not rated, with The Making of Broncho Billy (1913), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7113D, UPC 0-89218-71139-7.
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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 30 July 2013.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The film is likely accompanied by a compiled music score of preexisting recordings.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .