Academy Award-winning director Frank Borzage is perhaps best known today for his silent film masterpieces 7th HEAVEN (1927) and STREET ANGEL (1928) starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. But Borzage had a substantial silent era career directing a string of dramatic hits in the 1920s, none of which have been available for fans.

FRANK BORZAGE: 1922 SILENTS presents two important films Borzage made for Cosmopolitan Productions – BACK PAY and THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN. These two rare features are presented here in new 2K digital scans from 35mm archival preservations by the Library of Congress, and new musical scores have been created for them by Andrew Earle Simpson.

BACK PAY is the tale of Hester Bevins (Seena Owen), a restless small-town girl who leaves town and boyfriend Jerry (Matt Moore) behind for luxury in the big city. But that luxury comes at a terrible cost.

THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN is an adventure story of the far North, shot on location in Canada. Following a series of bizarre and identical murders, suspicion falls on the mysterious Marette Radisson (Alma Rubens). Or is the man who loves her – Corporal James Kent of the Mounties (Lew Cody) – the killer?

For thoughts on Frank Borzage: 1922 Silent Film Double Feature (Back Pay/The Valley Of Silent Men), please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

Back Pay and The Valley Of Silent Men make their MOD Blu-Ray debut thanks to Undercrank Productions with an admirable restoration effort. Back Pay is presented courtesy of a new 2K digital scan of the Library of Congress’ 35mm materials, while The Valley of Silent Men arrives via a new 4K scan of the Library of Congress’ 35mm preservation materials. Both films are given their own unique disc to allow more room to breathe and flourish. With both of these films clocking in at over 100 years old, most audiences should be bowled over by the quality here, but as you may expect there are some deficiencies that cannot be ironed out.

While these two films largely reflect a similar level of quality, there are certain elements that will be pointed out that are unique. The gorgeous color-tinted photography shines in high definition with consistent natural grain intact when dealing with the original material. There is a surprising amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and within the setting thanks to the enhanced resolution. Black levels present with some decent depth with no major occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts.

Back Pay holds up as the more consistent of the two films with more of the original elements intact and in good quality. The contrast is really well defined with not much in the way of flicker or large swaths of damage to the print, especially compared to some films of this age I have seen. There are stray vertical lines that make a quick appearance without ruining the overall aesthetic of the film. The Valley of Silent Men is likewise really pleasing on these fronts, but it does exhibit more outright damage and reconstructions of missing scenes from the novel, reviews, and existing stills. While not ideal, if this is the only way to get this work out in some form, we are glad to have it. Outside of a small stretch of pretty significant damage, this presentation is a very pleasant watch. Undercrank Productions has put some incredible work into preserving these otherwise lost films.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray set presents these films with a Dolby Digital 2.0 lossy audio track that sounds quite lovely. Like the majority of silent films, these are graced with an original score. New piano and theatre organ scores composed and performed by silent film musician Andrew Earle Simpson are spritely and inviting throughout. The music is the only element to contend with in this track, and it comes through with impeccable fidelity with no clipping or age related wear and tear. Silent film fans should be thrilled with the sound quality of the tracks, as these compositions seem to accompany the thematic elements well. A lossless audio track could have possibly enhanced things a bit further, but these tracks do not seem held back too much.

Special Features

Borzage at Cosmopolitan: A great 11-minute featurette which details the early career of Frank Borzage with a focus on his work at Cosmopolitan studios. There is some great information that has never been explored as thoroughly on other releases from the director, so fans will definitely not want to skip over this.

Film Fact Subtitles: Each film gives the option to watch “pop-up video” style with really interesting bits of trivia littered throughout the viewing experience.

Final Thoughts

Back Pay and The Valley Of Silent Men are not absolute creative high points in the career of Frank Borzage, but they hold up as very rewarding and interesting work from the legendary filmmaker. If nothing else, you get a sense of how nimble the filmmaker could be when it comes to moving between genres and styles of filmmaking. Undercrank Productions has released a Blu-Ray with an outstanding A/V presentation and some great supplemental features. If you are a Borzage fan looking to round out your collection of titles that never seemed destined to get a proper release, this release will be a dream come true. Recommended

Frank Borzage: 1922 Silent Film Double Feature (Back Pay/The Valley Of Silent Men) is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Undercrank Productions has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.