NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Criterion bring the beloved Harold Lloyd's The Kid Brother to Blu-ray in a new 'New 4K digital restoration'. It may be the best looking Silent Era film I've seen on Blu-ray - I think it is even crisper than City Girl. Harold Lloyd owned many of the nitrate negatives to his own films and preserved them in a vault specifically for preservation conditions. This 1080P is a fabulous presentation. Yes, there are some light speckles and surface scratches but the source was kept in such protective condition that the resulting 4K-restored image, on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a max'ed out bitrate, is nothing short of breathtaking. There is depth and beautiful consistent grain texture and the HD supports impress contrast. A brilliant presentation! 

There is the option of an alternate archival organ score performed by Gaylord Carter from the default Carl Davis score - both in linear PCM 2.0 channel (24-bit) and they are surprisingly robust with clear crisp notes and even some depth. There are the original intertitles (see sample) on this Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Criterion add a boatload of supplements for this Blu-ray release. Firstly is a group audio commentary from 2005 featuring filmmaker and Harold Lloyd archivist Richard Correll, film historian Annette D’Agostino Lloyd, and Harold Lloyd’s granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd - lots of fun as they are all enjoying the heck out of the film. Suzanne Lloyd is particularly impressive with the depth of her knowledge and they also reference the meticulous storage of the film elements. It was originally on New Line Home Entertainment's on 2005 DVD release. Harold’s Leading Ladies is a new 1/2 hour conversation between author Cari Beauchamp and Suzanne Lloyd. They discuss the three actresses who costarred with Lloyd in the course of his career: Bebe Daniels, Mildred Davis, and Jobyna Ralston. It was recorded by Criterion in October 2018. Anatomy of a Gag: Monkeyshoes is a new 9-minutes video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns. It was created in 2018 and examines Harold Lloyd's unique approach to gags in silent comedy and The Kid Brother specifically. There is a Behind-the-scenes stills gallery curated by Harold Lloyd archivist Richard Simonton Jr. . It is short but provides a candid look at the production of The Kid Brother, along with stills from some film outtakes. Close to Home, a new 1/4 hour video essay on the film’s shooting locations by location historian and author John Bengtson discusses the Los Angeles locations used in the filming of The Kid Brother, employing historical research and geographic features to identify specific details. There is a 16-minute Dutch public television interview. In it, Lloyd gives a tour of his estate and discusses his work and the development of his "Glasses Character." There is a 2005 featurette about Greenacres, Lloyd’s estate, hosted by Suzanne Lloyd. It runs 1/4 hour and provides a tour of the estate. Criterion include two restored rare early Lloyd shorts: Over the Fence (1917), the first "Glasses Character" film, and That's Him (1918). Lloyd lost many of his early films in a fire, and these have been restored from the best existing elements—a 9.5 mm print and a 28 mm print, respectively—and are accompanied by new scores performed by Mark Herman on a historic Wurlitzer theater pipe organ owned by film and television composer Nathan Barr. Also included are a discussion about these early film formats by Dino Everett, archivist at the University of Southern California's Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive, and a video tour of the Wurlitzer organ led by Barr and Herman. These shorts include Preserving Harold running 11-minutes and a 20-minute new tour of the Wurlitzer organ with composer Nathan Barr and organist Mark Herman. The package has liner notes with an essay by critic Carrie Rickey.

This is often considered Harold Lloyd's best film. The Kid Brother is magnificent and Criterion's 4K restored transfer is pristine. The Blu-ray has a ton of supplements including a commentary. Silent Era fans, Harold Lloyd fans and cinema fans in general should be ecstatic. Our highest recommendation!

Gary Tooze