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

[Robert Harris]

One doesn't have to listen too closely to hear the strains of Ben-Hur, which would come four years later, in Miklos Rozsa's beautiful score for Vincente Minnelli's 1956 Lust for Life.

Produced in what were still the early days of tri-pack color negative, a decision was made, possibly by Mr. Minnelli, as he notes it in his autobiography, to shoot in AnscoColor.

Apparently using every last roll and short end extant at the time.  Ansco (Agfa) wasn't a bad stock.  It just wasn't the norm, and threw a large wrench into what was becoming a standardization of processing, duplicating, and printing the early Eastman Color 5248.

What one can see, as differentiating one stock from the other, is an ability to handle blacks and some colors differently, and possibly better.  That was the intent of the filmmaker, against the wishes of his cinematographer Freddie Young, who would have preferred to massage Eastman a bit to get closer to the filmmaker's wishes.

Lust for Life was a huge production for M-G-M in 1956.  It was one of the studio's halo films for the year, and as such it had a very special attribute.  A featurette.  Something that would not become the norm for marketing for another decade.  Van Gogh: Darkness into Light is new to the Blu-ray.

it's very special featurette, hosted by Dore Schary, then head of production for the studio.

Lust for Life was a big deal.  Produced by John Houseman, and starring Kirk Douglas (as Vincent Van Gogh), Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown and Everett Sloane, it stands the test of time as a magnificent production for the era.

How does the Blu-ray look and sound?

In a word, magnificent.  Throw in perfect as a second word.

Defined by a new 4k scan from the original negative, the data has been beautifully colored, with grain remaining.  Great blacks, shadow detail.  Dark sequences stand out as well as those in sunlight.  The audio is stereo, befitting its CinemaScope imagery.

Lust for Life is a great film biography, brought to us with perfection by Warner Bros.  Currently, it's a bargain at under $14 on Amazon.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[Panavision70]

Rozsa? Spartacus? If anything the music reminds me of Judah Ben-Hur's trudge through the desert.


You are right. The disc is wonderful and the film magnificent.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Mr. Harris, I've never seen this film before but just placed my order based on your glowing recommendation. And my appreciation for Vincente Minnelli may have helped a little, too.

 

[Robert Harris]

Rozsa? Spartacus? If anything the music reminds me of Judah Ben-Hur's trudge through the desert.


You are right. The disc is wonderful and the film magnificent.

Right you are. Long day, and mixing my metaphors and other things. Same location. Wrong century. I also have Tiomkin on the brain.


RAH

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

BBC2 showed it in HD last weekend and it's on the tv's drive awaiting the right moment. But having seen the first fifteen or so minutes it seemed to dive steeply down the hill of self immolation the moment Kirk Douglas said his first line in a strong Brooklyn accent.


Yes, it looks & sounds terrific but ..... that accent seems to clash so horribly. I'll try again soon.

 

[John Hermes]

BBC2 showed it in HD last weekend and it's on the tv's drive awaiting the right moment. But having seen the first fifteen or so minutes it seemed to dive steeply down the hill of self immolation the moment Kirk Douglas said his first line in a strong Brooklyn accent.


Yes, it looks & sounds terrific but ..... that accent seems to clash so horribly. I'll try again soon.

Kirk Douglas never seemed to me to have a "strong Brooklyn accent" even in his earliest films. Maybe it's just his American sound doesn't seem right to you for this film. He was born and raised in Amsterdam, NY, about 180 miles north of Brooklyn. Now if Tony Curtis were to play Van Gogh......

 

[Paul Rossen]

Right you are. Long day, and mixing my metaphors and other things. Same location. Wrong century. I also have Tiomkin on the brain.


RAH

I'm sure that one thing that Rozsa and Tiomkin would agree on was that Alex North's Spartacus is a masterpiece.

 

[Alan Tully]

I don't think it matters about Kirk Douglas' accent, he has the power & intensity to play the part, & of course the charisma that made him a big Hollywood star. I saw it again on BBC last weekend, & like I said before, I think the colour is perfect, not too cold, not too yellow, just right. Warner seem to have some great colourists working for them. I originally thought it could be a wee bit sharper, but when I saw it again I don't know what I was worried about, it's a mid-fifties cinemascope film, it's never going to be razor sharp. Warner won't be releasing this in the UK, but it's cheap to import.

 

[Robert Harris]

I don't think it matters about Kirk Douglas' accent, he has the power & intensity to play the part, & of course the charisma that made him a big Hollywood star. I saw it again on BBC last weekend, & like I said before, I think the colour is perfect, not too cold, not too yellow, just right. Warner seem to have some great colourists working for them. I originally thought it could be a wee bit sharper, but when I saw it again I don't know what I was worried about, it's a mid-fifties cinemascope film, it's never going to be razor sharp. Warner won't be releasing this in the UK, but it's cheap to import.

Warner (MPI) has some superb colorists!


RAH

 

[Mark-P]

Also this is the first time the film is released in the correct aspect ratio on video: 2.55:1.

 

[Paul Rossen]

Right you are. Long day, and mixing my metaphors and other things. Same location. Wrong century. I also have Tiomkin on the brain.


RAH

Could it possibly be that you're working on films scored by Rozsa and Tiomkin? El Cid ? Duel in the Sun?

 

[notmicro]

Could it possibly be that you're working on films scored by Rozsa and Tiomkin? El Cid ? Duel in the Sun?

Fully-restored release of Lust In The Dust please please please (I assume that the original Technicolor separation negs are long gone)


El Cid was released on Blu in the UK several years go - it looks pretty good - filmed in Technirama!

 

[john a hunter]

El Cid was released on Blu in the UK several years go - it looks pretty good - filmed in Technirama!

Not really. Pretty poor PQ .

It's probably one of the finest if not the finest historical epic ever made and badly needs an upgrade.

And a great Miklos score to boot!

 

[Mark-W]

Like Andrew stated, reviews like this tempt me to purchase films I would otherwise completely pass on.


Thanks (I think) Mr. Harris.

One doesn't have to listen too closely to hear the strains of Ben-Hur, which would come four years later, in Miklos Rozsa's beautiful score for Vincente Minnelli's 1956 Lust for Life.


Produced in what were still the early days of tri-pack color negative, a decision was made, possibly by Mr. Minnelli, as he notes it in his autobiography, to shoot in AnscoColor.


Apparently using every last roll and short end extant at the time. Ansco (Agfa) wasn't a bad stock. It just wasn't the norm, and threw a large wrench into what was becoming a standardization of processing, duplicating, and printing the early Eastman Color 5248.


What one can see, as differentiating one stock from the other, is an ability to handle blacks and some colors differently, and possibly better. That was the intent of the filmmaker, against the wishes of his cinematographer Freddie Young, who would have preferred to massage Eastman a bit to get closer to the filmmaker's wishes.


Lust for Life was a huge production for M-G-M in 1956. It was one of the studio's halo films for the year, and as such it had a very special attribute. A featurette. Something that would not become the norm for marketing for another decade. Van Gogh: Darkness into Light is new to the Blu-ray.


it's very special featurette, hosted by Dore Schary, then head of production for the studio.


Lust for Life was a big deal. Produced by John Houseman, and starring Kirk Douglas (as Vincent Van Gogh), Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown and Everett Sloane, it stands the test of time as a magnificent production for the era.


How does the Blu-ray look and sound?


In a word, magnificent. Throw in perfect as a second word.


Defined by a new 4k scan from the original negative, the data has been beautifully colored, with grain remaining. Great blacks, shadow detail. Dark sequences stand out as well as those in sunlight. The audio is stereo, befitting its CinemaScope imagery.


Lust for Life is a great film biography, brought to us with perfection by Warner Bros. Currently, it's a bargain at under $14 on Amazon.


Image - 5


Audio - 5


Pass / Fail - Pass


Very Highly Recommended


RAH

Rozsa? Spartacus? If anything the music reminds me of Judah Ben-Hur's trudge through the desert.


You are right. The disc is wonderful and the film magnificent.

 

[Douglas R]

I saw it again on BBC last weekend, & like I said before, I think the colour is perfect, not too cold, not too yellow, just right. Warner seem to have some great colourists working for them. I originally thought it could be a wee bit sharper, but when I saw it again I don't know what I was worried about, it's a mid-fifties cinemascope film, it's never going to be razor sharp. Warner won't be releasing this in the UK, but it's cheap to import.

In the other thread I said i was disappointed by the BBC HD broadcast so I find it hard to believe that it's the same master as the Blu-ray. In fact, looking at DVDBeaver's screen caps I see that the framing of the BBC version is exactly the same as that of the DVD. It did not have the extra picture information at left and right which is on the Blu-ray. In any case, I have the disc on order so will look forward to a comparison.

 

[Alan Tully]

In the other thread I said i was disappointed by the BBC HD broadcast so I find it hard to believe that it's the same master as the Blu-ray. In fact, looking at DVDBeaver's screen caps I see that the framing of the BBC version is exactly the same as that of the DVD. It did not have the extra picture information at left and right which is on the Blu-ray. In any case, I have the disc on order so will look forward to a comparison.

Yup, looking at the Beaver caps (that look great) I was surprised how much extra picture there was on the Blu. The BBC is a bit of a mystery, it was HD & the picture was pristine, & I understand that there was a fare bit if dirt on the DVD. Oh well, I love getting great looking Blu-rays of fifties cinemascope films, esp. at a very reasonable price like this is.

 

[David_B_K]

Kirk Douglas never seemed to me to have a "strong Brooklyn accent" even in his earliest films. Maybe it's just his American sound doesn't seem right to you for this film. He was born and raised in Amsterdam, NY, about 180 miles north of Brooklyn. Now if Tony Curtis were to play Van Gogh......

I have never felt that Kirk Douglas had any sort of accent. He's one of those people who speaks a neutral sort of American English that does not betray the speaker's origins. The cast of Lust for Life is sort of a hodge-podge of accents. I assumed that they were trying to make Douglas and Anthony Quinn stand out as rougher and less genteel characters than those played by the other actors (James Donald, Henry Daniell, Nial McGinnis, et al).

 

[Dr Griffin]

I've seen the DVD and I like the film. I will be getting this. Thank you for the informative review.

 

[davidmatychuk]

The vintage "Darkness Into Light" featurette was a real treat.

 

[battlebeast]

I've never seen LUST FOR LIFE, so I think I'll pick this one up. I know Quinn won the Oscsr for something like 9 min screen time, so I'm interested in seeing his performance.