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The Fall of the
Romanov Dynasty
(1927)

This Soviet documentary was directed by Esfir Shub. The film features footage of V.I. Lenin, King George V, Emperor Franz Josef, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Aleksandr Kerensky, Raymond Poincaré, Nikolai Chkheidze, V.V. Shulgin, and a host of others.

Flicker Alley
2011 DVD edition

Landmarks of Early Soviet Film (1924-1930), black & white, 595 minutes total, not rated, including The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927), black & white, 87 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0022, UPC 6-17311-67639-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 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 5.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 17 chapter stops; 28-page insert booklet; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 20 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA

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

This DVD edition has been mastered from an analog video transfer, with video-based English language intertitles, of an archival 16mm reduction print. Image detail is soft and sometimes contrasty, with a persistent amount of dust and speckling, processing flaws, frame jitters, exposure fluctuations, schmutz, and other print issues.

The film is accompanied by a music score compiled and performed on digital piano by Alexander Rannie.

Supplemental material includes a 28-page insert booklet with short essays and notes on the films by Maxim Pozdorovkin and Ana Olenina.

While the picture quality is not great, this is our recommended home video edition of the film. The collection is now out-of-print.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .