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- Robert Harris
Tay Garnett's 1946 M-G-M take on James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice, goes about as far as a steamy noir could in 1946, but it still works today.
The new Blu-ray from Warner Bros. is a gorgeous thing to behold.
While the original DVD was based upon problematic elements, the Blu-ray is new from the ground up.
Presumed lost in the Eastman House fire c. 1978, along with a myriad of other M-G-M properties, the original negative was located during a post 1997 inventory. While the Technicolor productions were dealt with during the Turner days, with preservation continually on-going, it was not until the library moved to Warner, that the entire black & white library received a re-evaluation and re-inventory. And it was during that period that some titles, earlier thought lost, were located in Rochester.
Postman was one of those films.
A new wet-gate fine grain master was produced, and it is that element, which is virtually transparent to the original, that has been used as the basis of this new Blu-ray.
You can visit Ken McAlinden's fine review here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/325502/the-postman-always-rings-twice-1946-blu-ray-review
for more details about the production.
The image harvest is a stellar affair, with original grain in evidence, as well as a number of field enlargements, similar to what was performed for Mockingbird, when taken footage wasn't enough to fill editorial needs. These dupes have a decidedly different look, but are as they were in 1946. The only change that I'm able to find is a beautiful rendering and balancing of the built-in duped printer functions, which have lost their normal "pop," as dissolves hit the screen, and have become far more transparent. This is a good thing.
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a beautifully rendered Blu-ray, which very nicely reproduces the original look of this important film.
Only negative for me are the window-boxed main titles, for which I'll deduct half a point.
Image - 4
Audio - 4.5
Highly Recommended.
RAH
Image
The new Blu-ray from Warner Bros. is a gorgeous thing to behold.
While the original DVD was based upon problematic elements, the Blu-ray is new from the ground up.
Presumed lost in the Eastman House fire c. 1978, along with a myriad of other M-G-M properties, the original negative was located during a post 1997 inventory. While the Technicolor productions were dealt with during the Turner days, with preservation continually on-going, it was not until the library moved to Warner, that the entire black & white library received a re-evaluation and re-inventory. And it was during that period that some titles, earlier thought lost, were located in Rochester.
Postman was one of those films.
A new wet-gate fine grain master was produced, and it is that element, which is virtually transparent to the original, that has been used as the basis of this new Blu-ray.
You can visit Ken McAlinden's fine review here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/325502/the-postman-always-rings-twice-1946-blu-ray-review
for more details about the production.
The image harvest is a stellar affair, with original grain in evidence, as well as a number of field enlargements, similar to what was performed for Mockingbird, when taken footage wasn't enough to fill editorial needs. These dupes have a decidedly different look, but are as they were in 1946. The only change that I'm able to find is a beautiful rendering and balancing of the built-in duped printer functions, which have lost their normal "pop," as dissolves hit the screen, and have become far more transparent. This is a good thing.
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a beautifully rendered Blu-ray, which very nicely reproduces the original look of this important film.
Only negative for me are the window-boxed main titles, for which I'll deduct half a point.
Image - 4
Audio - 4.5
Highly Recommended.
RAH
Image
