A few words about...™ North by Northwest -- in Blu-ray

Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, generally considered to be the master's greatest chase / thriller finds its heritage in his mid to late 1930s UK productions such as The 39 Steps and Young and Innocent.  The basis of these films concern someone wrongly accused of a crime, who must survive those who want him dead while staying away from the long arm of the law that is constantly moving in on him.

For its 50th Anniversary Blu-ray release WB has gone back to the basics and totally restored the film, beginning with its problematic original negative.

But this is where things get interesting.

I had once spoken with someone who was purportedly Ned Price, and apparently responsible for the work on The Searchers.  Now when I reached out once again, I was told that he was unknown at the studio, and "had never worked there."  Not giving up, I made a call to the Warner entity called MPI, and was strangely connected to someone in props.  Going through a full search of the studio divisions, I finally found someone who suggested that I was possibly seeking MTI, the developer of digital repair tools, also in California.

Late yesterday I was finally able to get some information which at least tends to separate the sizzle of high end digital restoration from the truth of the matter.  Here are the facts as I've now learned them, and they lead me to disbelieve that there is any digital restoration work that has occurred.  Through sources both here, and in Europe, I've been able to put together what seem to be the actual facts of the matter.

The original VistaVision negative was shipped to Germany in the fall of 2007.  Reports from those who received it, confirm that the film stock was too faded to be representative of the film.  The elements were delivered to a group of nuns living somewhere nearby Mummelsee in the Black Forest.  Here the delicate film elements were carefully unwound and treated with a secret formula created specifically for the purpose by Benedictine monks.

It was this elixir that was used to regenerate the faded color layers, scene by scene, and in different proportions of chemicals.  By the spring of 2009, the material was ready to be returned, and before going to the studio, spent several weeks at a monastery in an undisclosed location somewhere in Northern California, before making its way back to WB.

Once returned to the studio, the film was handled as new.  Color correction was handled normally, as it would be for a new production.  To bring things full circle, not an hour after screening the new Blu-ray, I received a call from a Ted Rice, who also strangely purportedly works in restoration at WB, but who denied that the film elements ever left Los Angeles, and averred that the studio brought in new and special equipment to scan the film elements at 16k resolution.

The bottom line is simple, be it Ned Price or Ted Rice -- it's all part of the same alphabet soup -- the final product looks and sounds superb on Blu-ray.  There is minimal grain, as befits not only VistaVision, but negative that has spend some time in Benedictine DOM.  Sharpness varies, as it did in 1959, as quite a bit of diffusion was used in production, yielding a beautifully rendered, fully velvety image.  Audio is uncompressed.

With thanks to our friends in Germany, North by Northwest is once again available for prime viewing here back in the States.

North by Northwest from WB is Very Highly Recommended, and a film not to be missed.

RAH


 

But...but, you can't leave it like that Robert; where is Ned Price and what have they done with him?

I'm not certain, but there were mentions of trains and the word of hunting mountain lions in the Scottish Highlands.

 film elements delivered to a group of nuns and treated with a secret formula specially created for the purpose by Benedictine monks. Methinks Mr. Harris' pen (or keyboard) has taken on a life of its own.

I hear them lions is fiercest round Brigadoon.

Are you sure those were Nuns in the Black Forrest?  Are you sure the film elements weren't actually delivered to Helena Marcus and her minions at the Tanz Academy? 

Vincent

Hahaha...  Fun read fer sho'r.  Can't wait to see the next installment on that little tale  -- and oh yeah, can't wait to see this one on Blu either!

Thanks, RAH.

_Man_

I'm sorry.  I CANNOT support a release that has outsourced such vital work to German nuns, when there are perfectly capable American nuns hit hard by this recesssion.

RAH: Thanks for the review! This is great news for Hitchcock fans. What other Hitchcock films does WB own that might see similar treatment on blu in the future?

Strangers on a Train
Dial M for Murder
Foreign Correspondent
Suspicion
The Wrong Man
Stage Fright
I Confess
Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Good one Robert!

Thanks Craig. Well, Strangers and Dial M are certainly worthy and are well recognized as classics, if not on the level of NNW. I personally don't like Suspicion because the script. I doubt that one has much chance of making it to blu. I love Stage Fright, and would love to see it on blu, but that's rather wishful thinking, most likely. Mr. and Mrs. is a dog, I'm afraid. The others are interesting films that have never been considered strong properties commercially, but I'd sure like to seem em on blu anyway.

Looks like they really took the crown jewel out with NNW.

I guess Universal owns most of the others? How have they been on blu-ray releases?

Foreign Correspondent is excellent, but Warner just decided to not renew their license for it from Castle Hill. Because Criterion has picked up the formerly Warner licensed Castle Hill property Stagecoach, rumors for a Criterion Foreign Correspondent have been circling the internet, with no real substance to back it up.

Dial M for Murder and Strangers on a Train seem the only likely candidates for a Warner Blu-ray release for the time being, as nice DVD special editions were already made.

As far as I can tell, the US distribution rights are currently as follows (BD releases that are most likely to arrive first, IMO, are bold):

Warner

Dial M for Murder
I Confess
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
North by Northwest (already on its way, obviously)
Stage Fright
Strangers on a Train
Suspicion
The Wrong Man

Castle Hill (distribution deal just ended with Warner)

Foreign Correspondent

Universal

The Birds
Family Plot
Frenzy
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Marnie
Psycho
Rear Window
Rope
Saboteur
Shadow of a Doubt
Topaz
Torn Curtain
The Trouble with Harry
Vertigo

(Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo recently got release pending placeholders on blu-ray.com, which is pretty good about finding out future streeting titles. Those 3 make the most sense for Universal to test the waters.)

Fox

Lifeboat
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Notorious
The Paradine Case
Rebecca
Sabotage
Spellbound
Young and Innocent

(Unfortunately, Fox has yet to indicate any interest in releasing these on Blu)

Paramount

To Catch a Thief

Other

From what I can tell, most of the other Hitchcock filmography is public domain in the US. The notable films remaining are:

Blackmail
The Lady Vanishes
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The 39 Steps

Criterion has released The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps, including a nice re-release of the former just a couple years ago. Most people expect them to get around to them eventually.

Blackmail has never had a good DVD release in the US. Someone has the opportunity to do this one right by releasing both the silent and sound versions.

Same story for The Man Who Knew Too Much.

That reminds me of my favourite line of dialogue from Psycho:

DVDBeaver has screen caps:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare5/northbynorthwest.htm

Extremely stoked to get North By Northwest on BluRay.

Only disappointment is that there is no new commentary. The current commentary with Ernest Lehman leaves a little bit to be desired. This hardly tempers my enthusiasm, though.

BLACKMAIL was brought out as a wonderful Criterion ld: it had a terrific commentary by scriptwriter Charles Bennett and a clip of Hitchcock with earphones listening to Anny Ondra's voice double (Joan Barry?) in a booth recording dialogue.  I'd love Criterion to issue it on dvd.  Also maybe Criterion could do something with UNDER CAPRICORN, which Image brought out on dvd (Does Janus own it?)

These titles, and many others, may or may not currently be in the public domain, as things may change.  Suggest you google the Golan Decision.

RAH

Thanks RAH for the entertaining read and good news, but boo for tempting me to read legal decisions at 1:30 in the morning.  It's not good for my mental health.  Brandon thanks for the info. 

Notorious
The Paradine Case
Rebecca
Spellbound

The above films were made by Selznick International which are owned by ABC (Disney) and licensed to MGM who has a DVD distribution agreement with Fox.  I don't think we will ever see the light of day on Blu-ray for these films.  Disney, MGM, & Fox are running away from catalog films as fast as they can.

Can't wait to pick up North By Northwest on Blu-ray.  I was not going too, but I felt sorry for those nuns working so hard on the this, that I will have to break down to offer some support, maybe they start working on Mad Mad Mad Mad World now.

Fox and MGM have released some quality Blu-ray catalog titles, so the future isn't completely bleak there. Look at the upcoming Mel Brooks set, for example.

Criterion did release these titles in standard DVD then MGM/Fox put them out again as standard.  I think one of the most frustrating aspects about MGM/Fox titles is that neither company licenses there material to another company as Universal and Paramount does.  The MGM problems have been discussed over and over on other threads.  Fox is has just given up catalog titles.  I doubt the Hitchcock films will see the light of Blu-ray.  Even when they revert back to ABC/Disney, Disney has not released many Blu-ray catalog titles except for the Classic animation. 

The Mel Brooks Collectionn this year along with The Robe and Diary of Anne Frank does not tell me that Fox is working hard on Blu-ray catalog titles.  South Pacific arrived this year also, but there is no hint of Sound Of Music or The King and I which would both be stunning in Blu-ray.  There is a rumor for The Agony and The Ecstasy and Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines to be Blu-ray by the end of the year, but there is no announcement.  If you think Lifeboat is on Fox's radar for Blu-ray then I think you are mistaken.  The same can be said for the Selznick films that are controlled by MGM, after all there are still a dozen Bond films to be released along with the Clint Eastwood westerns and there is no movement on any of those titles.

Okay, time to put myself out there again....

People often make fun of me when asked what my all-time
favorite films are.  My top 10 list contains strictly films from
the 70s - 90s.  

You see, as a kid, I was often found at my local movie
theater.  Thing was, I was watching films of my generation.
You would never catch me in front of the TV watching anything
remotely classic unless it involved The Marx Brothers, The
Bowery Boys or The Wizard of Oz.

In my 20s, when VHS was the reigning format, I really tried
to remedy the problem by immersing myself in classic titles.
That didn't work. I just couldn't sit through dirty B&W films
that were presented in pan and scan -- although I didn't realize
at the time that was the problem.

By my mid 30s, DVD was king and studios were
starting to release huge waves of classics to the format.  
Thanks to this new high resolution format the studios were
finally giving these classics the respect they deserve. Titles
were meticulously cleaned and presented in their proper aspect
ratio.  It was during that time I was one of the primary reviewers
of this forum so I was getting handfuls of big classic titles
every week to review.  You can imagine the brand new world
which had just been opened up to me.  Finally, I found myself
enjoying classic film through wonderful restorations.

And, yes, there is a point to all of this.  Hang on.

I never liked Alfred Hitchcock.  He was a big bore.  Thought
the same of his films.  Could never finish one without falling 
asleep.  It literally took me years until his works appeared on 
DVD that I even attempted to look at them again.  And you 
know what?  I became a fan.  

This evening, as I watched NORTH BY NORTHWEST on 
Blu-ray, I was awestruck on several levels.  Firstly, the sheer
scope of this film for its time and the brilliance of its Director,
Alfred Hitchock.  To be able to translate the film's complex
storytelling with all its twists through intelligently angled camera
shots and editing is just incredible. For its day, the film's finale
upon Mount Rushmore had to be as thrilling for those audiences
as the best action sequences we watch today.

Just as amazing is the Blu-ray transfer this film has received.
I sat through the film's 136 minutes mesmerized by the quality
of the print.  Narely a scratch or piece of dirt to be seen anywhere --
nothing to hide the beauty of Technicolor that really shines here.

All the colors in this film look very natural.  Nothing is overdone.
There is a scene about 3/4 of the film that takes place in Eve
Kendall's (Eva Marie Saint) hotel room after Roger Thornhill
(Cary Grant) returns from his cornfield debacle.  She is wearing
a dark dress covered with red roses with a matching red necklace.
Watching that scene you can't take your eyes off of her ensemble.
For me, it was the perfect example of how this high definition format
enables colors to beautifully permeate the scene.

Now 50 years later, that final sequence atop Mount Rushmore
is still a sight to behold.  I don't need to go into the extras to find
out that it was a staged mockup, but it's startling to watch and 
think that it's not the real monument.  The effects work on that
film is so damn impressive that I lost consciousness of the 
film-making process and was on the edge of my seat.  

The only problem this Blu-ray presents for the film itself is
that you can better see the effects work done on the film --
particularly the backscreen material and its rough outer
edge.  Even as good as the Mount Rushmore stuff looks
you can point out little things that were superimposed in
post production.  A lot of this you would never have noticed
on a VHS or DVD print, but it's a testament to the clarity of
this transfer.

Warner has given us a lot of superb Blu-ray releases this

fourth quarter.  GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD

OF OZ may be the headliners for certain, but this is the
transfer that most people will be talking about for a long time.   

 

NxNW is one of my favorite Hitchcock films.  The DVD looked stunning in its day.  Now I can't wait to see it in high definition.

- Steve

I'm not sure if the story behind this Blu-ray is that dramatic (though I guess it could be). What I heard is that Warner scanned the original elements at 8K and carried out the digital restoration work in 4K; basically what they did for Wizard of Oz. Except here it should probably make more of a difference.

Personally I hope other Hitchcock films are released on Blu-ray slowly after careful work to ensure they are presented in the best possible way.

I remember that the first lot of Universal Hitchcock DVDs released in Australia were very poorly presented. In fact some of the 1960s films, The Birds, Topaz, Torn Curtain, Marnie were presented in pan and scan! Even the original R1 DVD of Vertigo was non-anamorphic.

Obviously Universal were just desperate to get the films out on DVD ASAP because they knew they would sell.  I hope the same doesn't happen for Blu-ray. I wouldn't mind if they were released at a much slower schedule rather than rushing them all out into a Blu-ray box for the sake of it.

That's just not true. Fox has licensed several titles to Criterion (including Kagemusha on DVD and BD), and MGM is in talks with Criterion (with rumors of The Killing, Paths of Glory, and The Sweet Smell of Success being quite abundant).

Watched the first 40 minutes last night. Looked great. I can't imagine a better looking version of it on BD. Nuns and monks aside, did WB untra-rez the separation masters for this?


On another note, it was nice to see someone in the encoding department take the time to make a pop-up menu graphic that fits the visual design of the film. I know it's trivial, but it's nice.

-Reagan

Quote:
Hmmm.  I suggest that if any Alfred Hitchcock movies are in the public domain AT ALL we need to create an official HTF release of such films on BluRay!  Who's with me?