I just received three videotapes from Foothill Video. Thanks to all who
responded to my question about the quality of their tapes.  Here is my
experience:
 
All three tapes are of slightly below the quality one would expect for the
types of films I ordered (Intolerance, Salt of the Earth and the Bicycle
Thief).  All three are watchable, but the quality is not best available for
any of the three. (I've seen better prints/dubs of all three.) The image
looks more like it has suffered from generations of video dubbing rather
than from a bad original print.  My advice would be that if you just want
to watch the movie and you can't rent it locally, then Foothill is a good
option ($7.95 per tape for most U.S. films and $14.95 for foreign), but if
you want a good archival copy or have a use that requires the best available
image, you should probably look for a tape elsewhere and expect to pay twice
to four times as much.
 
The address for Foothill Video is:  P.O. Box 547
                                    Tujunga, CA 91043
                                    (Phone: 818-353-8591)
I'd be curious about the experiences of others who order from Foothill. They
do have a large collection of foreign and silent films and I'm thinking of
ordering more, so I'd like to know with regard to specific titles which of
their prints/dubs may be of especially high or low quality.