As we close the door on 2024, we finish off a terrific year of catalog titles on 4K UHD with Warner Archive’s dazzling new release of THE SEARCHERS (119 mins., 1956), the John Wayne classic that remains an undisputed hallmark in the filmography of The Duke along with director John Ford.
Fans have long been clamoring for a new restoration of the movie’s VistaVision frame and Warner’s 4K package delivers the goods, sporting a high degree of precision in its detail and sound. In fact, Warner’s previous Blu-Ray was an early-format, antiquated presentation sporting a low bit-rate VC-1 encode and lossy Dolby Digital audio – attributes primed for the upgrade Warner Archive gives us here. Working from a new scan of the OCN, “The Searchers,” with its lyrical cinematography by Winton C. Hoch, offers warmer colors through its tasteful implementation of HDR10, along with satisfying 1.85 framing and a DTS MA mono track that should offer some mild dynamic benefits over the previous Dolby Digital container, better presenting Max Steiner’s memorable score. With the disc having been authored by Fidelity in Motion, the house that produces most of Arrow’s great looking releases, “The Searchers” has been treated with the upmost care here by Warner Archive, and the presentation is as outstanding as any catalog release of this past year. In fact, it may be my favorite altogether, with clarity so striking the movie achieves, especially in its outdoor sequences, an almost three-dimensional appearance (it’s a restoration Blu-Ray owners can also find in a similarly remastered BD both included here and also available separately).
The disc looks and sounds sensational, all the better to enhance Ford’s classic adaptation of Alan Le May’s 1954 novel (scripted by Frank S. Nugent), one which – as has long been discussed – doesn’t always portray Wayne’s protagonist in the most sympathetic light as his Ethan Edwards hunts for his Indian-captured niece (Natalie Wood). A grandly realized production offering many of its participants working at the height of their talents, “The Searchers” routinely, and deservedly, ranks among the greatest westerns of all-time.
Supplements carried over from previous editions include an informative commentary track from filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and a dynamite, 30-minute “An Appreciation” featurette with directors Martin Scorsese, John Milius (who produced Paul Schrader’s reworking of the film’s premise for his “Hardcore”), and Curtis Hanson, all of whom discuss the picture’s legacy as a film classic. In addition, the 1998 “A Turning of the Earth” documentary from Nick Redman and various Warner Bros. “Behind The Scenes” TV segments (hosted by Gig Young) have been reprieved from previous releases, culminating in a “must” purchase for aficionados of this all-time masterpiece.
Meanwhile, 4K UHD can also take less than classic titles and make them much more palatable, enhancing even a problematic movie’s strengths and make it more appealing. Case in point is LEGENDS OF THE FALL (133 mins., 1994, R; Sony), director Edward Zwick’s beautifully mounted soap opera, doomed by a silly story but lifted by a strong cast and superior production values.
This adaptation of Jim Harrison’s novella by writers Susan Shilliday and Bill Wittliff (“The Black Stallion,” “Lonesome Dove”) follows a family’s rise and fall in turn of the century Montana, specifically Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, and Henry Thomas as the sons of a retired cavalry colonel (Anthony Hopkins), with Julia Ormond at the center of their affections. John Toll’s marvelous cinematography rightly copped an Oscar, James Horner’s sweeping score swells with emotion, but there’s something hollow about the film’s story that makes this a cornball epic that gets more outlandish as it progresses, culminating in a head-scratching, unintentionally humorous final fade-out.
Nevertheless, between Horner’s grand score and the lush cinematography, there’s new reason to revisit “Legends of the Fall” thanks to Sony’s new 4K UHD (1.85) presentation. Dolby Vision HDR enhances the scope of the movie’s visuals while Dolby Atmos sound rechannels the original 5.1 audio (also included) for further immersion. Extra features include commentary from Zwick and Pitt; another commentary with John Toll and production designer Lilly Kilvert; deleted scenes; the trailer; and production design and original Making Of featurettes.
Sony has also dipped into the Golden Age well for a 4K UHD of the screwball comedy classic THE TALK OF THE TOWN (118 mins., 1942). This George Stevens production offers a triangle of Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman in a delectable concoction from writers Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman, with Grant paying an innocent arsonist who, while hiding out in friend Arthur’s home, attempts to convince her tenant Colman – also a Supreme Court candidate! — of his innocence. Madcap comedy and romantic entanglements spice up this Best Picture nominee, a zesty Columbia release beautifully restored here in a 4K UHD from Sony. The HDR10 (1.37) B&W transfer offers high grain and detail, with a commentary from author Marilyn Ann Moss and a featurette also included along with a Digital HD code.
Warner Archive New Releases
The sensational singing duo of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy produced a slew of projects at MGM, including a movie that holds massive historical significance. SWEETHEARTS (101 mins., 1938) offers a fun Dorothy Parker/Alan Campbell script and some appealing songs – but it’s the fact that the film marked the first MGM production to be shot in Technicolor that firmly entrenched the picture in Hollywood history.
The movie itself has been less discussed over the years, but it’s a solid, polished production all the way around, with Eddy and MacDonald fitting comfortably into their roles of a married Broadway couple who face domestic strife once they attempt to parlay their success to Hollywood. Ray Bolger and Frank Morgan co-star with the entire picture shot under the sure-handed direction of veteran W.S. Van Dyke.
Warner Archive’s gloriously restored 4K transfer (1.37) sings with warm color and detail on Blu-Ray, with the disc enhanced by extras including two classic cartoons, excerpts from the Technicolor short “Pirate Party on Catalina Island,” a radio broadcast of “Sweethearts” from the Screen Guild Theater (1946), and pre-recording, audio-only session material.
Warner Archive produced a welcome array of TV on Blu-Ray releases in 2024, and finishes the year with another that’s perfectly suited for western buffs in particular.
A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH (863 mons., 1965-66) stars Robert Horton as the title character: a swift-on-his-feet gunslinger who’s nursed back to health after being left to die…but unable to remember his full identity. The series follows Horton after he’s revived by a local woman (Beverly Garland) and hits the saddle, trying to remember who he is, and running into an array of familiar faces from the era – Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, Ed Asner, Bruce Dern, Cloris Leachman, George Kennedy, Frank Gorshin and Martin Landau among them – which adds the real entertainment to a fairly formulaic series that’ll be best appreciated by genre fans.
Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray presentation, if nothing else, can be appreciated by anyone: the new 4K scans of the OCN (1.33 B&W) are top flight in terms of clarity for a show of this vintage, with the entire series presented in its original uncut form for the first time in decades.
New from Kino Lorber
ON THE ROAD WITH BOB HOPE AND BING CROSBY Blu-Ray (Kino Lorber): Entertaining audiences before, during and after WWII, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope’s “Road” pictures have been collected on home video many times in the past. For Blu-Ray enthusiasts, however, none of the first four films – produced by Paramount but owned for decades by Universal – ever made the leap to high-definition until 2019, thanks to Kino Lorber. Issued as part of their beloved Studio Classics line, the comic adventures of Hope, Crosby and Dorothy Lamour remain viewer favorites, and have now been collected in anthology form for the first time in the format.
The series kicked off with the decent, if somewhat middling, ROAD TO SINGAPORE (85 mins., 1940), with Crosby hoping to avoid marriage by setting off for the isle of Kaigoon with pal Hope at his side. He meets and falls for a dancer (Lamour) with a domineering fiancée (Anthony Quinn) in this first concoction that laid the groundwork for a flurry of increasingly silly – and more satisfying – sequels. With American troops heading for Africa, Crosby and Hope did the same in ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (91 mins., 1941) before the ROAD TO MOROCCO (82 mins., 1942) offered an even daffier confection complimented by the series’ best songs from Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, including Crosby’s standard “Moonlight Becomes You.” After taking a hiatus for the rest of the War, ROAD TO UTOPIA (90 mins., 1945) followed three years later with our duo essaying Vaudeville comics who head to Alaska hoping for gold, and instead mine laughs and more pleasant Van Heusen-Burke songs – plus pithy commentary from Robert Benchley in pre-“Mystery Science Theater” mode.
As John Landis states in one of his “Trailers From Hell” commentaries, there’s silly racist/misogynistic elements bandied about, especially in the first two pictures – that is, if you’re looking to take the material seriously. Clearly, though, nothing in these pictures is meant to be, as the light mood and engaging interplay between the group always keeps the action light and moving straight along.
These individual Blu-Rays are licensed from Universal and carry over extras from their older DVDs (featurettes, trailers) while adding commentaries on “Morocco” (historian Jack Theakston) and “Utopia” (Greg Ford and Will Friedwald). The 1080p (1.37) B&W transfers are AVC encoded and offer fine grain with no overt digital noise reduction on-hand. This results in a crisp and detailed image, though there are nicks, scratches and lines that pop up occasionally in the source elements from time to time. All four come highly recommended for classic comedy buffs.
Kino Lorber had already released the Hope/Crosby-controlled, Paramount-released sequels that followed “Utopia” – ROAD TO RIO (100 mins., 1947) and ROAD TO BALI (91 mins., 1952) – on Blu-Ray in 2017, and those discs are reprieved here; both of these were licensed through Fremantle and offer perfectly serviceable HD masters (1.37 B&W) with a commentary on “Bali” with Michael Schlesinger and Mark Evanier.
Capping the set is Kino’s recent release of the series’ belated final entry, THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (91 mins., 1962), which is generally looked down upon as being an inferior footnote to the comic heights scaled by its much earlier predecessors.
With that being said, “The Road to Hong Kong” is still good for a few laughs, with Crosby’s Harry Turner and Hope’s Chester Babcock trying to sell a “do-it-yourself space kit” in Calcutta when Chester loses his memory. An Indian doctor (a funny Peter Sellers cameo) informs the duo that the only way for Chester to regain his lost memories is to head to Tibet – therein setting in motion a madcap adventure wherein the boys unknowingly cross paths with a secretive spy organization and one of its alluring female members (Joan Collins).
With Dorothy Lamour reappearing in an extended cameo, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank’s film updates the “Road” formula to accommodate the trappings of a ‘60s spy film. In that regard, the picture was prescient of the Bond craze that would soon take hold of the world in “Dr. No,” which UA would release just a few months later. Backed by cameos from Sellers and Robert Morley, this is a good-natured if scattershot comedy presented in the same MGM master (1.66) that was first released on Blu-Ray back in 2015 by Olive. It holds up pretty well here, while a welcome commentary by Michael Schlesinger and Stan Taffel adds historical insight into the movie’s production.
Each film is contained in its own plastic case, all housed in an exclusive, attractive slipcover.
Also New & Noteworthy
SEINFELD: The Complete Series Blu-Ray (1989-98; Sony): The long-running NBC sitcom needs little introduction, having presided over the top of the ratings charts both in its original network run as well as syndication, where it remains a staple in local TV markets all across the country.
“Seinfeld” was remastered for high definition some time ago but now makes its way to Blu-Ray in 4K mastered presentations that are formatted in 1.78 (not the original 1.33), with all nine seasons included in Sony’s box-set, each season contained in its own individual case. The presentation is straight forward with healthy bit-rates and 5.1 DTS MA soundtracks, all enhancing one’s enjoyment of the series that wasn’t “about anything” but providing memorably written characters and the peerless ensemble of Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards and Julia Luis-Dreyfus, along with some memorable guest stars who popped up during the near-decade long run of the show.
Sony’s 24-disc box also includes audio commentaries, a deleted scene, alternate versions of selected episodes, bloopers, and “Inside Looks.” Note a 4K UHD of the series is also available with HDR10 enhancement and the episodes in their original 1.33 aspect ratios.
CONCLAVE Blu-Ray (120 mins., 2024, PG; Universal): Director Edward Berger’s follow-up to his take on “All Quiet on the Western Front” is a superbly well-acted yet fundamentally flawed adaptation of Robert Harris’ novel, scripted by Speter Straughan, about the behind-the-curtain intrigue and politics surrounding the election of a new pope. Ralph Fiennes is excellent as the “traditional” Cardinal at the heart of the matter, with Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rosselini lending strong support; it’s the story that’s the problem, from an unconvincing look “backstage” at the Vatican to an ending so improbable it nearly defies belief, and is more intent on scoring political points than providing a satisfying, convincing ending to this picture. Universal’s Blu-Ray (2.39) includes 7.1 TrueHD audio, a featurette, commentary, the trailer, and a Digital HD code.
THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS! The Complete Series DVD (68 hours, 2001-17; Paramount): Popular, long-running Nickelodeon series hits DVD with all 172 episodes included in a large clamshell case. This goofy series features the adventures of young Timmy Turner and fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda, engaging in assorted storylines and having a great deal of manic fun throughout all of the series’ 16 year run. Paramount’s DVDs are 4:3 for seasons 1-8 (2.0) with Seasons 9 and 10 in 16:9 (5.1) and “Wishology” also on tap for series fans.
NEXT TIME: The first discs of 2024! Until then, don’t forget to drop in on the official Aisle Seat Message Boards and direct any emails to our email address. Cheers everyone, with warm wishes for a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all.