Press Release Criterion Press Release: Summertime (1955) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

​

With this sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing, director David Lean left behind the British soundstage to capture in radiant Technicolor the sun-splashed glory of Venice at the height of summer. In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn embodies the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her deep-seated insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city’s canals and piazzas. Lean’s personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance.

FILM INFO​

• United States
• 1955
• 100 minutes
• Color
• 1.37:1
• English
• Spine #22
  
  

  SPECIAL FEATURES​

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with film historian Melanie Williams
  • Interview with director David Lean from 1963
  • Audio excerpts of a 1988 interview with cinematographer Jack Hildyard
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek
  New cover by Lauren Tamaki
  
  July 12, 2022

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases

 

[Thomas T]

View attachment 134514
​

With this sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing, director David Lean left behind the British soundstage to capture in radiant Technicolor the sun-splashed glory of Venice at the height of summer. In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn embodies the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her deep-seated insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city’s canals and piazzas. Lean’s personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance.

FILM INFO​

• United States
• 1955
• 100 minutes
• Color
• 1.37:1
• English
• Spine #22
  
  

  SPECIAL FEATURES​

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with film historian Melanie Williams
  • Interview with director David Lean from 1963
  • Audio excerpts of a 1988 interview with cinematographer Jack Hildyard
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek
  New cover by Lauren Tamaki
  
  July 12, 2022

And about time! Still, I'm disappointed in the 1.37 aspect ratio. Surely in 1955, it would have been 1.66 at least.

 

[Robert Crawford]

And about time! Still, I'm disappointed in the 1.37 aspect ratio. Surely in 1955, it would have been 1.66 at least.

I don’t get it either?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Composed for 1.85:1

 

[Bob Furmanek]

 

[Thomas T]

Composed for 1.85:1


View attachment 134527 View attachment 134530 View attachment 134528

So what could Criterion's justification for the 1.37 be? They were the pioneers of assuring films were shown in their correct aspect ratio during the laser disc era. I suppose the discs are already authored and it's too late to correct this but who knows .....

 

[Robert Crawford]

So what could Criterion's justification for the 1.37 be? They were the pioneers of assuring films were shown in their correct aspect ratio during the laser disc era. I suppose the discs are already authored and it's too late to correct this but who knows .....

I don’t get it as the DVD was criticized for the same thing.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

About ten years ago, we ran an archival 35mm Technicolor print in widescreen and it looked great. There's no reason to present this film in open-matte, it's clearly not the intended ratio.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

They have a few other films they’ve insisted should be 1.37:1 when available evidence suggests otherwise. And like many other distributors of MGM masters, they’ve been perfectly happy to parrot the line that some films were 1.66:1 even when it’s plainly clear that no theaters were showing films in that ratio at the time of their release. With Criterion as well as pretty much everyone else, sometimes you just gotta scratch your head, accept that they will not revise their thinking on the title in question, and set your purchasing decisions and expectations accordingly.

Who owns Summertime? Did Criterion finance this new master or are they merely distributing what was made available to them? The “why” of it all is probably within the answers to those questions.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

About ten years ago, we ran an archival 35mm Technicolor print in widescreen and it looked great. There's no reason to present this film in open-matte, it's clearly not the intended ratio.

I think I remember that show...

 

[Bob Furmanek]

It's not often that you have both pre and post-production primary documents.

This one's a no-brainer!

 

[Garysb]

There is also a Japanese blu ray import of the film at Amazon that is listed as 1:33.

The version currently on HBOMAX is likewise 1:33 .

Seems the only way this film has been available for home viewing.

 

[jayembee]

I don’t get it as the DVD was criticized for the same thing.

And the LD before that.

 

[jayembee]

So what could Criterion's justification for the 1.37 be? They were the pioneers of assuring films were shown in their correct aspect ratio during the laser disc era. I suppose the discs are already authored and it's too late to correct this but who knows .....

Well, they did compromise on a few titles back in the LD era. In addition to Summertime, others I can recall were oddly released in 1.33:1 were A Hard Day's Night and Help!, Tunes of Glory and The Horse's Mouth, Vengeance Is Mine, Darling, and Carrie (yes, the DePalma film, not the William Wyler).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well, they did compromise on a few titles back in the LD era. In addition to Summertime, others I can recall were oddly released in 1.33:1 were A Hard Day's Night and Help!, Tunes of Glory and The Horse's Mouth, Vengeance Is Mine, Darling, and Carrie (yes, the DePalma film, not the William Wyler).

There shouldn’t be such compromises in 2022!

 

[PMF]

So what could Criterion's justification for the 1.37 be? They were the pioneers of assuring films were shown in their correct aspect ratio during the laser disc era. I suppose the discs are already authored and it's too late to correct this but who knows .....

Well, maybe Kino Lorber could fix that later with a 4K/UHD edition.

 

[jayembee]

There shouldn’t be such compromises in 2022!

I agree. I wasn't defending their decision, just pointing out that they released more titles in the wrong AR than people think.

 

[RobertMG]

View attachment 134514
​

With this sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing, director David Lean left behind the British soundstage to capture in radiant Technicolor the sun-splashed glory of Venice at the height of summer. In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn embodies the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her deep-seated insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city’s canals and piazzas. Lean’s personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance.

FILM INFO​

• United States
• 1955
• 100 minutes
• Color
• 1.37:1
• English
• Spine #22
  
  

  SPECIAL FEATURES​

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with film historian Melanie Williams
  • Interview with director David Lean from 1963
  • Audio excerpts of a 1988 interview with cinematographer Jack Hildyard
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek
  New cover by Lauren Tamaki
  
  July 12, 2022

The film that ruined her health, she did not just fall in the Venice canal she went under. Basically falling into a HUGE sewer ---- do not know if it was in the script or an unhappy accident

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I was greatly disappointed to read that aspect ratio since that's the thorn in my side about their DVD of the film that I own and have always zoomed when I've shown it to get rid of all that headroom.