The best pre-1960s transfers? (1 Viewer)

[Niko Nykanen]

"North By Northwest", that one beats many releases released today!!

 

[Joseph Goodman]

What, no mention of MGM's gorgeous new disc of "The Vikings"?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

PORTRAIT OF JENNIE and THE GARDEN OF ALLAH are two stunning transfers from Anchor Bay, both restored by Scott MacQueen(he does the audio commentaries on the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA DVD's). ALLAH in particular looks spectacular, probably the most gorgeous Technicolor transfer available on DVD. And the majority of the rest of the titles mentioned by others are great too.

 

[PhilipG]

What, no mention of MGM's gorgeous new disc of "The Vikings"?

If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have.
On the other hand, for a film shot on 70mm, I feel there's room for improvement if MGM wants to do a SE sometime in the future.

 

[Joseph Goodman]

On the other hand, for a film shot on 70mm,

It was not shot on 70mm, and I've not read any references to 70mm blow-ups being shown. It was film in Technirama, which is basically Vistavision (horizontal 35mm like a still camera) with a 1.5x anamorphic squeeze. Many Technirama films were blown-up to 70mm later on, like "Sleeping Beauty" and "Spartacus". And how, exactly, can the transfer be improved?

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Aside from those already listed:
Love in the Afternoon
Bruce

 

[PhilipG]

And how, exactly, can the transfer be improved

If it was 70mm, then grain can be slightly reduced, detail can be slightly increased, and the slight horizontal edge enhancement can be removed. Admittedly it's pretty close to perfect now, but I won't say it's 100% great.