Pride of the Bowery

One of a handful of East Side Kids movies that have fallen out of copyright, Pride Of The Bowery has gotten a just-about-decent if somewhat uneven transfer (especially in the sound department). The details in the faces tend to disappear in the close-ups, and there's little except white with a few lines in one scene in a doctor's clinic, both signs that too much light was pumped through the print; and there are frames missing in various spots, and dark vertical lines through much of the source print -- astonishingly, about 38 minutes into the disc, the close-ups get crisp and detailed, and make one long for the rest of the movie to look at good as those shots. There are only four chapters, which is rather pathetic considering how chock full of plot the 61-minute feature is. Still, the disc is watchable and for under $9 list, this is a decent bargain, at least until a better source comes along. There are a few digital artifacts to be seen and a major sound drop-out at 59 minutes in, but otherwise Alpha's Pride Of The Bowery is passable for the price.