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yes the reason people were looking forward to it is because it's not the same version as what's on Kino's disc. And the 4ks in the restoration dont mean much if the only surviving source is a print from the 70s!

Hmm, Criterion has used crummy commentaries by Richard Schickel, Leonard Maltin, Drew Casper etc., but they didn't port over what is supposed a much superior commentary by Todd McCarthy for this release. That's queer.

Really? What release ported a drew commentary?

The Asphalt Jungle.

Randall Maysin wrote:Hmm, Criterion has used crummy commentaries by Richard Schickel, Leonard Maltin, Drew Casper etc., but they didn't port over what is supposed a much superior commentary by Todd McCarthy for this release. That's queer.

I've had the Cary Grant box forever and never even knew this commentary existed! I looove McCarthy's book on Hawks, will have to check this out

I agree McCarthy's Hawks book is great. Anybody know if there's a place online to find his HGF commentary?

Is the commentary that good? Huh, guess I'll hold on to my DVD.

Is anyone else kind-of flabbergasted at the price of this one?

For two full-length films this is pretty standard operating procedure.

Mmmm, sometimes, and sometimes not

domino harvey wrote:Mmmm, sometimes, and sometimes not

Pretty much. Grey Gardens is advertised as a double bill but still has a MSRP of $39.95 for instance. The Killers 2-movies set also has this MSRP. What's interesting however is that the UK release is currently priced as any other 1-movie / 1-disc UK Criterion release (currently £17.99 on Amazon).

How many hours of extras are included here, including the bonus film?

Using Beaver's runtimes, it's just over six hours (3 and a half without the three radio adaptations).

Criterion must've heard the earlier complaints about The Front Page - so they put up this extract from the restoration video included on the disc. This make makes a rather clear case of the importance of the domestic version. They called the Library of Congress version &the bootlegs derived from it the worst version - as it has the most careless editing, etc. Its essentially a completely different version of the film - as every take, edit, etc is different - although keeping the same script. Interesting that they mention that a UK release was made as well - which they thought Milestone ranked in preference above the general European (LoC) version (I'm guessing it doesn't exist anymore though).

So I'd suggest those who've previously seen or dismissed The Front Page to give it another try - as this is finally the release Milestone intended.

The HIS GIRL FRIDAY transfer seems rather dated. Rosalind Russel's hat flickers with moire patterns, which is rare for a BD. The Front Page transfer is much better in that regard.

Funnily enough, I preferred the early film, mainly because the supporting cast is much better. Edward Everett Horton is one of the unsung great clowns of cinema!

Orlac wrote:The HIS GIRL FRIDAY transfer seems rather dated. Rosalind Russel's hat flickers with moire patterns, which is rare for a BD. The Front Page transfer is much better in that regard.

That's disappointing. Is this actually the same transfer used for Sony's DVD (albeit with new restoration work and an HD encode)?

Haven't seen the DVD, so can't comment for sure.

It could be, it's harder to gauge because more restoration work has been done and it does look a lot better than the DVD. It's not awful, and I'd still say it looks okay, but it's definitely older. And it's not just the mild shimmers but grain can look a bit, I don't know, clumpy as well.

The Front Page looks like a better transfer but the image isn't very sharp, which appears to be more of a source problem.

Ah well. I was under the impression the OCN for His Girl Friday was in Sony's possession, in which case a fresh 4k transfer would have been amazing to see, but obviously not what we have here.

That sounds a bit surprising coming from Sony. All the Sony masters get a fresh going over from Grover Crisp before they get passed on. Chris, would you say this is the weakest Sony/Criterion title so far?

No, Gilda (which was also an older one) for me is the weakest so far.

Sorry, I need a semitone graph before I can judge the value of anything

The subtitles miss portions of the dialogue. Nothing that would impair a hearing impaired viewer, but a little distracting if they happen to be on and you want to catch everything being said.

It was the same on the old Sony DVD (though I can't confirm they're the same subtitles), but I never found it obtrusive. I actually think I've turned on the subtitles most of the times I've watched this film, just to make it easier to follow.

The worst subtitle vs dialogue discrepancy I've ever seen was on the DVD for A Streetcar Named Desire. I can't remember exact passages, but I think they cut out anything idiomatic and dropped whole clauses in places.