Crime And Punishment And Alpha Video

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:55 am

I just bought the Alpha Home Entertainment version of "Crime And Punishment" (1920). Although I am quite used to bad transfers, this one was the worse. The picture was murky and the title cards were cut off at the ends and could not be read, even when I shrunk the screen. Not to mention the character's missing heads. I bought it because it was directed by Robert Wiene and was filmed in the same German expressionistic style as "Dr Caligari".

To be fair, I have watched many silents from Alpha, and some of them were not bad at all. In fact, I've seen some pretty good transfers from them, so I am not trashing their product. But this one was pretty bad.

Has anybody seen a cleaned-up, scored version of this film? Does it play any better in a restored version?

Danny

R Michael Pyle · Post by **R Michael Pyle** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:59 am

I just watched that about a month ago, and I must tell you, I watched for about thirty-five to forty minutes, then turned it off, and I haven't been back. The transfer is so bad it's pathetic. Even if you think you'll get blood poisoning if you don't watch it, DON'T! It's just not worth it...

And, no, I don't know of any better transfer that's available to purchase - anywhere...