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Dream of a
Rarebit Fiend
(1906)

This early Edison comedy, directed by Edwin S. Porter, was based on the popular Winsor McCay comic strip of the same name and inspired by the French short Rêve à la lune (1905). The film presents a character that first gorges himself on his evening meal, including alcohol and the famous cheese, then attempts to get a good night’s sleep. Of course, as in the comics, he is troubled by unsettling visions and bad dreams.

Film Preservation Associates /
Anthology Film Archives
2005 DVD edition

Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film (1894-1947), black & white, color-toned black & white and color, 1127 minutes total, not rated, including Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906), color-toned black & white, 8 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates with Anthology Film Archives, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID0592DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-05922-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (seven 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 5.0 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; no chapter stops (within the film); seven slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard box; $99.99.
Release date: 18 October 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 6 / additional content: 8 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition has been mastered from fair print materials held by Film Preservation Associates that appears to be a 16mm reduction print that is color-toned but significantly-speckled in places.

The presentation is accompanied by a contemporary Edison music cylinder that was suggested by the company as appropriate for theatrical sound synchronization with the film.

Supplemental material includes notes on the films written by Dominic Angerame, Aram Boyajian, Kevin Brownlow, William Butler, Terry Cannon, Harold Casselton, David Curtis, Susan Delson, Douglas Dreishpoon, Deke Dusinberre, R. Bruce Elder, Bradley Eros, Walker Evans, Gregory Jay Galligan, Robert A. Haller, Jan-Christopher Horak, Rogger Horrocks, Lewis Jacobs, David James, Lawrence Jordan, Paul D. Lehrman, Jeanne Liotta, Janis Londraville, Scott MacDonald, Bruce Posner, Stephanie Przybylek, Karan Sheldon, David Shepard, Paul C. Spehr, Cecile Starr, Marguerite Tazelaar and Jennifer Wild; and still picture galleries of more than 250 rare production and filmmakers photos.

One of the few times we would prefer a 16mm print to 35mm, this presentation is slightly favored due to the color-toning and the contemporary music as our recommended home video edition of the film.

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

Kino on Video
2002 DVD edition

The Movies Begin (1894-1913), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 414 minutes total, not rated, including Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906), black & white, 5 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K236A-E, UPC 7-38329-02362-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (five DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.4 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; chapter stops; five standard DVD keepcases in cardboard box; $99.95.
Release date: 19 February 2002.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition appears to have been mastered from a fair 35mm print that is, however, quite rough with dust, speckling, scratches, frame instability, sprocket damage to the image area, processing flaws, emulsion scuffing, and other significant print flaws. The source print is also missing a considerable amount of footage as this presentation is approximately three minutes shorter than the Unseen Cinema edition noted above.

The film is presented with music accompaniment performed on piano by Neil Brand. A brief audio commentary is given at the beginning of the film by Barry Salt.

Note: an error in the disc’s mastering results in the DVD player being stopped at the end of the film when How It Feels to Be Run Over is individually selected from either the Hepworth Films menu or the Text menu. The disc continues to run through the program if the viewer chooses to view all of the films.

We can’t really recommend this edition although other films in the collection fare much better.

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

Kino on Video
2005 DVD edition

Edison: The Invention of the Movies (1891-1918),
black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 14 hours total (approximate), not rated, including Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906), black & white, 6 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K383, UPC 7-38329-03832-8.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 4.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; four plastic DVD trays on cardboard wraparound in cardboard slipcase; $99.95 (reduced to $59.95).
Release date: 22 February 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 6 / additional content: 8 / overall: 6.

Easily the worst-looking DVD edition of this film we have viewed, this presentation has been mastered from a fair 35mm print held by the Museum of Modern Art that is quite compromised by dust, speckling, schmutz, processing flaws, emulsion scuffing, and other significant print flaws. The greyscale range is fair with some highlight details blasted out to white. Not really what you would want to see.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano and synthesizer by Ben Model.

Supplementary material includes introductions and commentaries by noted Edison film historian Charles Musser, Steven Higgins and Eileen Bowser of MoMA, Patrick Loughney of the Library of Congress and the George Eastman Museum, Richard Koszarski of Rutgers University, Paul Israel of the Edison papers collection, among others.

We can’t really recommend this edition either although other films in the collection fare much better. However, please note that currently this is the only edition of the film that is still in print.

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