A Few Words About A few words about...™ Indiscreet -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Stanley Donen's 1958 Indiscreet is one of my favorite films, and may possibly hold the top spot for a romantic comedy. The story and dialogue are just that good. "599 people in a room does look untidy." What a great idea to bring together Alicia Huberman and Devlin a dozen years later, and make them the centerpiece of the brilliant Kind Sir, as written by Norman Krasna. The original roles on Broadway were handled by Charles Boyer and Mary Martin. But Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, are perfect. More than perfect, actually. The photography by Freddie Young has been gorgeous. It's now very nice. It used to be smooth, glossy and colorful, with perfect shadow detail, and rich blacks with differentiation of fabrics. The color is still basically with us, except that flesh tones are occasionally just a bit off. Blacks are pure black, with no hint of the fabric that makes up the color, and with little detail to those fabrics. I'm presuming that sep masters were used to create the image, and it looks generally nice, but never quite correct. My initial annoyance was the removal of the original Warner Bros. logo. Why not give credit where credit is due. This was not a Paramount production. Just wrong. In the end, I still love the film, warts and all, including the heavier than normal grain structure. Indiscreet is one of those films that needs to be seen by modern audiences, to allow them to understand how great a classic entertainment with quality actors can be. Image - 3.75 Audio - 3.5 Recommended. RAH

 

[Douglas R]

Wonderful film and absolutely one of my all-time favourites. The Blu-ray may not be perfect but it looks spectacular compared to my UK DVD. I saw a couple of reviews of the BD which were very dismissive of the film. Unfortunately I suspect that modern audiences neither understand nor care for this type of sophisticated, elegant entertainment. More's the pity.

 

[Robin9]

I've never seen Indiscreet on a big screen in an a theater but only on television, so I don't know what it should look like. I was expecting it to have rich colors and sharp focus and I was surprised and disappointed by this BRD. Is Indiscreet supposed to look like this, soft and milky? I too enjoy the film but feel strongly that it relies heavily on Cary Grant. Apart from David Niven, I can't think of any other 1950s movie star who could have made this film work. Mind you, I can well believe Charles Boyer was excellent on stage. One other thing struck me about Indiscreet. The music score is credited to Richard Bennett who, apart from providing the vapid title music, seems to have contributed very little. Most of the music in the film is variations on James Van Heusen's splendid melody for the theme song which we don't hear sung. We had to wait until Sinatra included it in his A Man Alone album, several years later.

 

[Robert Harris]

I've never seen Indiscreet on a big screen in an a theater but only on television, so I don't know what it should look like. I was expecting it to have rich colors and sharp focus and I was surprised and disappointed by this BRD. Is Indiscreet supposed to look like this, soft and milky? I too enjoy the film but feel strongly that it relies heavily on Cary Grant. Apart from David Niven, I can't think of any other 1950s movie star who could have made this film work. Mind you, I can well believe Charles Boyer was excellent on stage.

A bit soft is proper. Shot with a bit of filtration. I did not see it as milky. Merely too heavy on blacks and contrast. RAH

 

[Robin9]

A bit soft is proper. Shot with a bit of filtration. I did not see it as milky. Merely too heavy on blacks and contrast. RAH

Thank you.

 

[Trentrunner]

Notorious : Indiscreet = Pretty Woman : Runaway Bride