Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.5

Sparrows Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 23, 2021

The vagaries of licensing deals may help to account for the fact that this new release of Sparrows actually comes from VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual, though its design and even its provenance through both the Mary Pickford Foundation and The Library of Congress would seem to make it part of a series which Flicker Alley put out several years ago (in fact, some Pickford releases our database has listed as coming from Flicker Alley show as VCI product on Amazon). That background may help to account for what is rather luxe packaging for a VCI release, including a nicely done insert booklet, and with an overall "look" (down to an including the silkscreened disc labels, fonts and the like) that is distinctly Flicker Alley-esque. Fortunately, though, that similarity also includes a generally fine looking transfer and encode (there are some issues with audio which I discuss in the audio section).

Sparrows doesn't look like it was ever put out by Flicker Alley, but it did receive a prior release on Blu-ray as part of Rags & Riches: The Mary Pickford Collection from Milestone, way back in 2012. Michael Reuben's plot recap is included in the review accessible via that link, and the screenshots from his review also provide a good comparison starting point for interested viewers. This VCI release does not have the same supplements as the Milestone release.

Sparrows Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sparrows is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. This includes some text at the end that basically parrots the provenance of the master that Michael included in his review, which is offered in a somewhat different form in VCI's insert booklet:

Sparrows has been restored from an original tinted nitrate release print, which would have been screened in theaters in 1926, as well as a duplication negative that was created in 1965. The Library of Congress combined the best parts of those two film elements. The photochemical team used director William Beaudine's continuity papers to make the reconstructed Sparrows look as close as possible to its original release. Additional laboratory work was performed by Colorlab.

The Mary Pickford Foundation worked closely with Roundabout Entertainment, Inc. to scan the preservation elements in 4K, and to complete all digital work, addressing many imperfections to ensure that Sparrows is presented at its finest. From photochemical to digital, great efforts have been made to ensure that audiences today can enjoy it in all its original splendor.

Judging solely by screenshots, this release looks somewhat darker than the Milestone release. That may deprive the image of some levels of shadow definition in the heavily tinted scenes in particular (compare screenshot 2 of this review with screenshot 2 of Michael's), but which arguably may add to the perception of grain, especially in the more traditional black and white scenes (contrast screenshot 6 of this review with screenshot 27 of Michael's). There is abundant damage, including a lot of nicks, scratches, emulsion bubbles, warping and stretching and the typical bugaboos one sees in older silent films, but there is also really appealing general detail on display throughout, especially in some of the close-ups in the non-tinted material. My score is 3.75.

Sparrows Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

If it's one step forward for VCI in terms of the video presentation on this disc, it's arguably one step backward, and a pretty odd step at that, in terms of the audio presentation. Longtime readers of my reviews know I tend to chafe at only lossy audio being offered on Blu-ray discs, and while there are indeed only Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks offering a new score by the Graves Brothers, that's not the biggest problem. The Graves' score features what sounds like a music box, which is perhaps being achieved via a celesta or glockenspiel, but which encounters a really strange anomaly in the 2.0 version that I frankly find kind of hard to describe. Suffice it to say that only part of any given tone is audible, and there is crackling and other distortion in evidence as well. What is so bizarre about this is that, to my ears, anyway, the actual orchestral music sounds noticeably hotter and fuller on the stereo track than on the somewhat diffused sounding surround track. The music box cues on the surround track sound completely fine. I guess it's possible I got a defective disc of some kind, but this seems like such a specific (and inexplicable) issue that I have a hunch it may part of some wonky audio encoding.

Sparrows Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Sparrows Original Trailer (HD; 1:51)


• Angel Outtakes (HD; 2:41)


• Fanchon the Cricket Trailer (HD; 1:52)


• Little Annie Rooney Trailer (HD; 1:34)


• Sparrows Trailer (HD; 00:50)

Additionally, a nicely designed insert booklet offers technical data, writing and stills.

Sparrows Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sparrows is still devastating despite certain melodramatic aspects that may strike modern eyes as a bit on the hyperbolic side. There's an appealing naturalness to the performances of the kids in the film, and Pickford of course makes for a plucky and indomitable heroine. Based solely on screenshots, this looks somewhat darker than the Milestone release linked to above, but also may offer a better, more organic, accounting of grain. There is still abundant damage on display, despite whatever restoration gauntlet was undertaken, and so expectations should be set accordingly. There's also a rather peculiar anomaly with regard to the Dolby Digital 2.0 track, as outlined above in the audio section of the review. Otherwise, though, Sparrows comes Recommended.