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Livingstone
(1925)

This vanity independent production was written and directed by star M.A. Wetherell focusing on the life and accomplishments of David Livingstone in unexplored Africa.

Grapevine Video
2003 DVD edition

Livingstone (1925), black & white, 70 minutes, not rated, with Crossing the Great Sagrada (1924), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.

Grapevine 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 6.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95 (reduced to $12.95).
Release date: 2003.
Country of origin: USA •

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

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good 16mm reduction print that is quite worn and contrasty the majority of the time. Shadows are closed up, sometimes making facial details impossible to discern, and the print has a higher-than-usual amount of dust, speckling, schmutz, splices, processing flaws, exposure fluctuations, emulsion scrapes, frame jitters, scuffing, vertical scratches and signs of beginning nitrate decomposition.

The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from low-fidelity preexisting recordings. We could have easily done without the inclusion of “Amazing Grace” played on bagpipes.

A just OK presentation that could be improved with better source materials and better production standards.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .