The Pride and the Passion (1957) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

The link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[Robin9]

Twilight Time have warned us about this transfer which they passed on.

I like The Pride And The Passion so I'll have another look at the DVD to see if even a sub-standard Blu-ray is preferable.

The Pride And The Passion is the film which turned Sophia Loren from a small time Italian movie actress into an international star. For that she had to thank cinematographer Franz Planer as much as Stanley Kramer.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I just watched the DVD for the first time about a month ago. I wasn't impressed with the quality - the large format settings are probably one of the film's greatest attributes, but they're lost on that old non-anamorphic DVD. I'm hopeful that this will at the least be a step up from that.

 

[davidmatychuk]

This will be Olive's seventh Cary Grant movie on Blu-Ray which will be superior to any previous version on disc, or anywhere else to my knowledge. For the seventh time, SOLD. Thank you, Olive.

 

[Thomas T]

The Pride And The Passion is the film which turned Sophia Loren from a small time Italian movie actress into an international star. For that she had to thank cinematographer Fanz Planer as much as Stanley Kramer.

I'm going to have to take issue with two remarks, Robin. Loren was hardly a "small time Italian movie actress". She was a major Italian movie actress who played leading roles, not a starlet. She had already had several films released in the U.S. You have to remember that one could become an international star without ever working in Hollywood. Brigitte Bardot for example never worked in Hollywood and she was one of the biggest stars in the world. If you're talking about turning Loren in a star in America as opposed to international, surely it was her first American film Boy On A Dolphin (1957) that did it. She got plenty of publicity and the image of her fresh out of the water on the boat is an iconic shot. I stand to be corrected but I believe Pride And The Passion lost money.

 

[Robin9]

I'm going to have to take issue with two remarks, Robin. Loren was hardly a "small time Italian movie actress". She was a major Italian movie actress who played leading roles, not a starlet. She had already had several films released in the U.S. You have to remember that one could become an international star without ever working in Hollywood. Brigitte Bardot for example never worked in Hollywood and she was one of the biggest stars in the world. If you're talking about turning Loren in a star in America as opposed to international, surely it was her first American film Boy On A Dolphin (1957) that did it. She got plenty of publicity and the image of her fresh out of the water on the boat is an iconic shot. I stand to be corrected but I believe Pride And The Passion lost money.

"Small time" may, just may, be an over-statement. Before 1957 Sophia Loren was a "coming" actress in Italy, starring in low budget films but often second billed after stars like Silvana Mangano in more ambitious movies. Outside Italy she counted for very little at the box-office.

I note that both Boy On A Dolphin and The Pride And The Passion came out in 1957. For some reason I have always believed The Pride And The Passion came first, but that may be incorrect. I'll re-read Jean Negulesco's autobiography to be sure.

I don't know how successful these two films were but I suspect Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra pulled in more people than Alan Ladd and Clifton Webb.

 

[Douglas R]

I was lucky enough to see THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION when it was first released and thought it fabulous. I love the film and music score and never understand why it still receives so many poor reviews. According to Wiki it was one of the top box office films for 1957 but lost money due to the high production costs.

One of the UK TV channels showed a HD broadcast of the film a few years ago and the picture quality was poor and cropped. I hope Olive's version looks better than that but regardless, I'll have to buy it anyway.

 

[Robin9]

I was lucky enough to see THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION when it was first released and thought it fabulous. I love the film and music score and never understand why it still receives so many poor reviews. According to Wiki it was one of the top box office films for 1957 but lost money due to the high production costs.

One of the UK TV channels showed a HD broadcast of the film a few years ago and the picture quality was poor and cropped. I hope Olive's version looks better than that but regardless, I'll have to buy it anyway.

I saw it when it was first released too. I was just a boy! I imagine you were too.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Very dull film considering the talents involved. Not an original comment but the star is indeed the cannon!

The best news for me is that another VistaVision title is being released. I hope the VV qualities are evident on the blu-ray.

 

[haineshisway]

This will not be from the VistaVision negative or anything near it.

 

[Thomas T]

I note that both Boy On A Dolphin and The Pride And The Passion came out in 1957. For some reason I have always believed The Pride And The Passion came first, but that may be incorrect.

I don't know how successful these two films were but I suspect Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra pulled in more people than Alan Ladd and Clifton Webb.

I know it's hard to believe but Clifton Webb was a very popular star in the 1950s and one of Fox's busiest contract players. He was usually was often top billed (in the 1953 Titanic, he was even billed over Barbara Stanwyck) and Ladd's career still had some juice. Sinatra on the other hand, while popular, was often relegated to third billing as in Guys And Dolls and High Society. The Pride And The Passion's budget was extremely high for its day and if Wikipedia is to be believed, it lost around $2 million dollars.

For the record, Boy On A Dolphin was released in April 1957 and Pride And The Passion was released in July 1957, just 3 months apart so they both probably contributed to her standing in the U.S. market.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The press release on Ron's August Olive releases thread said this will include English subtitles, which I think will be a first for a Cary Grant Olive release. I'm very happy about that!

 

[Stephen PI]

One of the UK TV channels showed a HD broadcast of the film a few years ago and the picture quality was poor and cropped. I hope Olive's version looks better than that but regardless, I'll have to buy it anyway.

The screen grab below is from an HD broadcast from several years ago:



Assuming it is from the same transfer as the blu ray, I have selected this frame which displays the theatrical cue mark (end reel 1AB) in the top right corner. You should be able to see the complete circular cue clear from the top and the side. As you can see, the image is zoomed in considerably.

 

[Robin9]

I know it's hard to believe but Clifton Webb was a very popular star in the 1950s and one of Fox's busiest contract players. He was usually was often top billed (in the 1953 Titanic, he was even billed over Barbara Stanwyck) and Ladd's career still had some juice. Sinatra on the other hand, while popular, was often relegated to third billing as in Guys And Dolls and High Society. The Pride And The Passion's budget was extremely high for its day and if Wikipedia is to be believed, it lost around $2 million dollars.

For the record, Boy On A Dolphin was released in April 1957 and Pride And The Passion was released in July 1957, just 3 months apart so they both probably contributed to her standing in the U.S. market.

Yes, on reflection I'd say they both established her as an international star.

Clifton Webb, you may be surprised to hear, is one of my favorite film stars, alongside Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne and Fred MacMurray. A superb talent, his range was much wider than many people recognise. For example, he's really good in The Man Who Never Was. In the 1950s, Frank Sinatra revived a wonderful old Cole Porter song called At Long Last Love. The person who introduced that song on Broadway was Clifton Webb!

The reason Frank Sinatra took third billing in High Society was because he was playing the James Stewart part. He was glad to have that role because he had just walked out of Carousel, a tactic which in those days brought on a Hollywood blacklisting. His agents must have moved really fast to secure that role in High Society for him!

 

[Robin9]

Very dull film considering the talents involved. Not an original comment but the star is indeed the cannon!

I sampled the DVD the other day and did not find the film dull. I intended just to check the quality for a few minutes but the film held my attention completely. If I had had the time, I would have watched the entire film.

The DVD is non-anamorphic but, to my surprise, works well when zoomed. Normally I find "zooming" a DVD damages the picture quality. If this new Blu-ray disc is seriously below standard, I'll stick with my DVD.

 

[Dee Zee]

Twilight Time said they passed on this film because the transfer offered was the wrong aspect ratio. So, even though I love the film, I will wait for reviews of the blu before buying.

 

[Capnvid]

"The Pride And The Passion" has arrived! No, it's not VistaVision. The titles are not sharp and the film does not have the diamond like sharpness, brilliance and pop that make large negative restorations so special. The "Spartacus" restoration spoiled us all for most epic movie Blu redoes. The color is way better than the letterboxed DVD and the church celebration, where "The Gun" is repaired, has some dazzling color interplay. Even from whatever source they used, the film is better looking than most of us has seen it.

I love the movie because it is a giant adventure filmed mainly on location with thousands of Spaniards who later helped Samuel Bronstain in his brief reign as King of the Epics. C.S. Forrestor, who wrote "The Gun," asked Cary Grant to play the lead in the adaption of his novel. Grant looks terrific and is in better shape than any of the extras or scenery. He was a real circus performer jock. As a young star, he used to be able to do back flips in formal clothes and land on his feet. Frank Sinatra, who referred to the knife fight location as "Windmill Ville," is a magnetic actor who takes action scene chances on the locations he upped and left supposedly when Sophia Loren fell for Grant rather than him. You won't blame Cary for falling for her, particularly after her flamingo dance. Sophia Loren makes the giant "Gun" worth dragging around and I would be in the long line for the morning shower her character used.

It's a lot of fun and the big scenes with real crowds make you feel as young as we were when we saw it on "Sunday Night at the Movies."

 

[Mark-P]

"The Pride And The Passion" has arrived! No, it's not VistaVision. The titles are not sharp and the film does not have the diamond like sharpness, brilliance and pop that make large negative restorations so special. The "Spartacus" restoration spoiled us all for most epic movie Blu redoes. The color is way better than the letterboxed DVD and the church celebration, where "The Gun" is repaired, has some dazzling color interplay. Even from whatever source they used, the film is better looking than most of us has seen it.

I love the movie because it is a giant adventure filmed mainly on location with thousands of Spaniards who later helped Samuel Bronstain in his brief reign as King of the Epics. C.S. Forrestor, who wrote "The Gun," asked Cary Grant to play the lead in the adaption of his novel. Grant looks terrific and is in better shape than any of the extras or scenery. He was a real circus performer jock. As a young star, he used to be able to do back flips in formal clothes and land on his feet. Frank Sinatra, who referred to the knife fight location as "Windmill Ville," is a magnetic actor who takes action scene chances on the locations he upped and left supposedly when Sophia Loren fell for Grant rather than him. You won't blame Cary for falling for her, particularly after her flamingo dance. Sophia Loren makes the giant "Gun" worth dragging around and I would be in the long line for the morning shower her character used.

It's a lot of fun and the big scenes with real crowds make you feel as young as we were when we saw it on "Sunday Night at the Movies."

May I ask what aspect ratio the Blu-ray is in? (Since according to Twilight Time it is the incorrect aspect ratio)

 

[Josh Steinberg]

"The Pride And The Passion" has arrived! No, it's not VistaVision. The titles are not sharp and the film does not have the diamond like sharpness, brilliance and pop that make large negative restorations so special. The "Spartacus" restoration spoiled us all for most epic movie Blu redoes. The color is way better than the letterboxed DVD and the church celebration, where "The Gun" is repaired, has some dazzling color interplay. Even from whatever source they used, the film is better looking than most of us has seen it.

I love the movie because it is a giant adventure filmed mainly on location with thousands of Spaniards who later helped Samuel Bronstain in his brief reign as King of the Epics. C.S. Forrestor, who wrote "The Gun," asked Cary Grant to play the lead in the adaption of his novel. Grant looks terrific and is in better shape than any of the extras or scenery. He was a real circus performer jock. As a young star, he used to be able to do back flips in formal clothes and land on his feet. Frank Sinatra, who referred to the knife fight location as "Windmill Ville," is a magnetic actor who takes action scene chances on the locations he upped and left supposedly when Sophia Loren fell for Grant rather than him. You won't blame Cary for falling for her, particularly after her flamingo dance. Sophia Loren makes the giant "Gun" worth dragging around and I would be in the long line for the morning shower her character used.

It's a lot of fun and the big scenes with real crowds make you feel as young as we were when we saw it on "Sunday Night at the Movies."

Burt, thanks for these wonderful insights - both about the quality of the disc and the movie itself. I wasn't necessarily the biggest fan of the movie (which I've only recently seen on DVD) but am looking forward to giving this new Blu-ray a chance and will keep your thoughts in mind when I do.

I've been participating on a Cary Grant themed thread lately, and we talked a little about Pride and the Passion earlier in the year (before the Blu-ray was announced). If you've got any interest in adding your two cents on Pride and the Passion (or any other of Grant's films), your thoughts would be very welcome:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/com...ilmography-watching-all-of-his-movies.347637/

 

[davidmatychuk]

From the very fine Greenbriar Picture Shows blog:

http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.ca/2013/12/grant-sinatra-and-loren-as-cannon-fodder.html