A Few Words About A few words about...™ - only angels have wings -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Any true cinephile knows that 1939 was a major year for motion pictures. And everyone knows about Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.

But one of those films that makes the date special is Howard Hawks' magnificent -Only Angels Have Wings.

Cary Grant and Jean Arthur head a cast which includes other heavyweights, Thomas Mitchell, a 20 year-old Rita Hayworth, in her first really major role and Richard Barthelmess (in one of his last).

Cinematography is by the great Joseph Walker, and the score (what there is of a score) is by Dimitri Tiomkin.

The screenplay is from Jules Furthman.

With bravura flying sequences, both practical (by Paul Mantz) as well as with models, OAHW is a film that beautifully stands the test of time, and a film that I've personally been personally waiting on Blu-ray.

And now that it's here, I couldn't be more pleased with what has been delivered.

Sourced primarily from the original nitrate negative, it has the overall textures of a heavily silver-laden Dupont print.

Blacks fly off the screen, while shadow detail remains transparent.

Grain structure is totally original.

As be begin to close out the releases of 2014, it appears that Columbia is at the top of the heap for quality catalog releases. They just do everything right.

With three magnificent black & white offerings in quick succession, It Happened One Night via Criterion, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington via Sony, and now -Only Angels Have Wings from TCM, Columbia's true understanding and appreciation of what film should look like is very obvious.

Right alongside in quality are several of the Warner Archive releases. But it's difficult to beat something like the reconstruction of elements that it took to bring Mr. Smith to the fore. The other major Blu-ray for the year must be the magnificent 30fps roadshow of Oklahoma! from Fox.

OAHW is a film that belongs in the library of any serious lover of the cinema. For those who have never experienced it, I'm jealous of that first viewing to come.

As a major extra, there's a wonderful discussion between two of the top tech people in the industry. A half hour chat between Ben Burtt and Craig Barron discussing the way that audio and special effects are used in the film.

A bit difficult to locate, the film seems to be currently available only via the TCM shop for $25. The tech discussion alone is worth the price of admission.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

A perfect Blu-ray

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

Wow! "A perfect Blu-ray". Only Angels Have Wings is one of my all-time favorite movies and I would have bought this disc anyway but with RAH's recommendation, I'm more determined than ever.

I watched this the other day and then have sampled it again on a new BD player. IMO, the video and audio presentations are top notch.

This is one of the films I was brought up on. It's been an age since I last saw it, but I can still remember that flat voice droning over the radio, calling Baranca...calling Baranca... Does anyone know if it's locked to region A?

Robert , your statements make this almost impossible not to get, makes one wonder what else Mr. Crisp and Sony have in-store for 2015, , just this month alone has been amazing, with It Happened and Mr. Smith, how I wish the other studios would put the same effort forward, as physical media will be here for some time, contrary to the nay sayers.

dana martin said:

Robert , your statements make this almost impossible not to get, makes one wonder what else Mr. Crisp and Sony have in-store for 2015, , just this month alone has been amazing, with It Happened and Mr. Smith, how I wish the other studios would put the same effort forward, as physical media will be here for some time, contrary to the nay sayers.

Click to expand...

Dana,

I watched this the other day and the BD is remarkable. OAHW was one of my grail-list movies, and I had actually given up hope of seeing it on BD. You will NOT be disappointed.

dana martin said:

Robert , your statements make this almost impossible not to get, makes one wonder what else Mr. Crisp and Sony have in-store for 2015, , just this month alone has been amazing, with It Happened and Mr. Smith, how I wish the other studios would put the same effort forward, as physical media will be here for some time, contrary to the nay sayers.

Click to expand...

The driving force behind this is the conversion of studio libraries to DCP now that 35mm is essentially obsolete for most theatrical exhibition. Studios are slowly converting their libraries to digital and taking the opportunity to restore them using the digital tools that weren't available just a few years ago. Pretty much every blu-ray catalogue release from Sony this year ( including the titles licensed to Criterion ) is concurrent with the availability of a DCP version for theatrical bookings. Same with many of the Twilight Time releases such as this week' s Funny Lady.

Rob W said:

The driving force behind this is the conversion of studio libraries to DCP now that 35mm is essentially obsolete for most theatrical exhibition. Studios are slowly converting their libraries to digital and taking the opportunity to restore them using the digital tools that weren't available just a few years ago. Pretty much every blu-ray catalogue release from Sony this year ( including the titles licensed to Criterion ) is concurrent with the availability of a DCP version for theatrical bookings. Same with many of the Twilight Time releases such as this week' s Funny Lady.

Click to expand...

It's great if Sony is indeed making DCP's of all of their films that hit Blu-ray, but they would be a happy exception if that's true. The vast majority of catalog titles available in DCP from other studios is quite anemic.

I work on programming for a classic film festival in Hollywood every year (Cinecon) and the majority of the titles we run are on 35mm. If a 35mm print isn't available, then in just about every case, no DCP exists either. A couple of the studios I've dealt with have very few DCP's for "classic" titles. One studio has only around a dozen for their pre-1980 films. You're OK if you want CASABLANCA, but forget it if you want a title that's not as famous.

DVD's were used for theatrical presentations at some recent UCLA Archive screenings, because prints were no longer available and no DCP's have been made. And these were for well known Spencer Tracy MGM pictures. Definitely not an ideal situation.

What a shame it's impossible to buy if you live in Australia .. or anywhere else outside of one country only!

Eastmancolor said:

It's great if Sony is indeed making DCP's of all of their films that hit Blu-ray, but they would be a happy exception if that's true. The vast majority of catalog titles available in DCP from other studios is quite anemic. I work on programming for a classic film festival in Hollywood every year (Cinecon) and the majority of the titles we run are on 35mm. If a 35mm print isn't available, then in just about every case, no DCP exists either. A couple of the studios I've dealt with have very few DCP's for "classic" titles. One studio has only around a dozen for their pre-1980 films. You're OK if you want CASABLANCA, but forget it if you want a title that's not as famous. DVD's were used for theatrical presentations at some recent UCLA Archive screenings, because prints were no longer available and no DCP's have been made. And these were for well known Spencer Tracy MGM pictures. Definitely not an ideal situation.

Click to expand...

While not ideal, many things changed very quickly. DCPs are making headway. The expense to create these is high, and they should only be done if they're done properly, ie from best surviving elements via 4k scans.At a cost of $50,000 to a million plus per title, this will take time.RAH

AnthonyClarke said:

What a shame it's impossible to buy if you live in Australia .. or anywhere else outside of one country only!

Click to expand...

Then let's hope Sony will get it out in Europe and Australia in time, maybe next year.
And hopefully with the tech discussion..., but they're not Paramount, so there's a chance.

I hope that The Talk of the Town is next.

AshJW said:

Then let's hope Sony will get it out in Europe and Australia in time, maybe next year.
And hopefully with the tech discussion..., but they're not Paramount, so there's a chance.

Click to expand...

I suppose that depends on if a company will license it from Sony. Hopefully Eureka or Arrow might put it out in the UK.

Billy Batson said:

I suppose that depends on if a company will license it from Sony. Hopefully Eureka or Arrow might put it out in the UK.

Click to expand...

According to Amazon Italy, the Italian Blu-ray disc of Major Dundee is a Sony product; i. e. not licensed to an outside party.

LeoA said:

I hope that The Talk of the Town is next.

Click to expand...

Yes sir! I love that film and I would be delighted to have it on Blu-ray.

This simply won't happen. There is no distribution or licensing arm through Australasia for these new Sony 4k restorations. Unlike parts of Europe where licensing can and will happen.

These two titles will eventually be available from both Movies Unlimited and - possibly - Amazon by March 2015.

I concur with RAH about the Hawks, the grain resolution is absolutely flawless, again like Sony's It Happened One night a lot of this looks like pristine nitrate. Considering this is a film shot from darkness TO light the rendition of image through fog, smoke, shadow and the elements with some of the cinema's greatest backlighting for groups shots is just magnificently rendered. I thought the old Sony Classics DVD was good but this is new ballgame, and I am guessing Only Angels will be doing the Film Festival and prestige revivial circuit through 2015 in 4k DCP, like Lady from Shanghai last year.

I am also pleased to say the TCM end of the authoring and disc pressing process for both these titles is now cleaned up, after the two flawed releases of Lady from Shanghai last year (the latter was perfectly color timed and graded but was then pressed with level Black pushed to "Full" range rather than the usual "Legal" range for BD, requiring some brightness adjustments from home viewers on our monitors. I have spoken to someone behind the scenes who confirmed that TCM now has their protocols in place to ensure highest possible quality for their BD line. On that score Remember the Night from Universal is also a superb transfer of a masterpiece, albeit from a slightly less stellar element, but represents wonderful work from Universal.

AshJW said:

Then let's hope Sony will get it out in Europe and Australia in time, maybe next year.
And hopefully with the tech discussion..., but they're not Paramount, so there's a chance.

Click to expand...

david hare said:

I am also pleased to say the TCM end of the authoring and disc pressing process for both these titles is now cleaned up, after the two flawed releases of Lady from Shanghai last year (the latter was perfectly color timed and graded but was then pressed with level Black pushed to "Full" range rather than the usual "Legal" range for BD, requiring some brightness adjustments from home viewers on our monitors. I have spoken to someone behind the scenes who confirmed that TCM now has their protocols in place to ensure highest possible quality for their BD line. On that score Remember the Night from Universal is also a superb transfer of a masterpiece, albeit from a slightly less stellar element, but represents wonderful work from Universal.

Click to expand...

I remember being the first one to bring this up at Blu-ray.com. I faced quite the opposition even from one individual who is a reviewer for another website as well on the forums that Lady was intended to be that dark. Took a while before few others started noticing this as well.

I'm glad TCM cleaned that up. This is an excellent film and disc and I'm glad it's starting to get some attention.

At least one can "fix" the darkness problem on the second BD iteration of Lady by simply turning up your "brightness" control approx. 20%. Then you can see all the excellent fine grading and authoring that was done for the BD Master, at least before TCM pressed it with the wrong settings.

Sorry, asked in the other thread if Robert had covered this one and after a second search here it is. I kind of thought he would talk about this one. I don't know how I missed this post or how I ended up forgetting that this disc was out but after reading Robert's comments about it I am now thrilled I have this on the way.


Again for anybody, like me, that missed this it is on sale at TCM Shop right now for $14.99...so go get it!

I'm alarmed to see this title still hasn't shown up at either MU or amazon. These TCM releases are virtually unobtainable for non statesiders (not just Australians , or indeed other southern Pacific nations Anthony...)
I was kinda hoping the Mill Creek arrangement might prevail with more of theses wonderful Sony 4Ks, post TCM release.