170 Trouble in Paradise

[hearthesilence]

My initial impression was probably colored by the fact that I hadn't seen many pre-code films and knew about the era primarily through history books, but at the time, I recall thinking that there wasn't much of a window for this picture. Coming 5 years after the first wave of sound films - when many technical issues were worked out so that visual compositions didn't have to be rigid and lifeless to accommodate sound recording - and right before "the code" came into play, it was (and still remains) a marvel to behold. Everything from the pacing, the timing and the dialogue (not to mention the endless flirtations) holds up beautifully.

I've given up on a BD upgrade, but I sold off my Criterion DVD and upgraded to the MoC DVD not long after it was released. The differences were posted here ages ago, but the MoC DVD is a remarkable improvement. MoC passed on a BD release because they didn't believe the change in PQ was significant enough to draw in consumers - it's a creamy and grainy image, so I can see what they mean, but fortunately it does up-res to HD quite well, at least on my Oppo.

[Finch]

Ernst Lubitsch’s famed touch is on exquisite display in this sexy pre-Code jewel, glittering with witty innuendo and elegant comic invention. It’s love at first swindle when high-society thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) and pickpocket Lily Vautier (Miriam Hopkins) cross paths amid the canals of Venice while attempting to con each other—and then it’s off to Paris, where the pair meet their match in their latest mark, the très chic Madame Colet (Kay Francis), whose fabulous fortune is exceeded only by her powers of seduction. With its delightfully risqué dialogue, swoonworthy couture, and high deco style, Trouble in Paradise is a pinnacle of comic-romantic sophistication that fizzes like the finest champagne.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation
One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Audio commentary featuring Scott Eyman, biographer of director Ernst Lubitsch
Introduction by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
New video essay by critic David Cairns
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

New cover by Simone Massoni

[rockysds]

Sort of a bummer this upgrade doesn't seem to keep Das fidele Gefängnis (The Merry Jail). Otherwise wonderful news.

[domino harvey]

Good catch. Now have to keep both on my shelf

[Finch]

You could get a scanavo keepcase holding three discs and put the DVD alongside the 4K and BD.

[ryannichols7]

I was so excited they actually added on an extra to a DVD -> 4K upgrade, was moreso excited it's coming courtesy of David Cairns, but then realized The Merry Jail is gone. rough

[swo17]

What if the new "video essay" is Cairns acting out The Merry Jail?

[Michael Kerpan]

I just want a good release of Lubitsch's best (though freer) adaptation of Fledermaus -- So, This Is Paris.

[Peacock]

How times change. It feels like only yesterday MoC were saying they couldn’t release this on Blu due to the source material not being strong enough. And now here we are some time later getting it in 4K. Fantastic news! And a real surprise.

[rrenault]

How times change. It feels like only yesterday MoC were saying they couldn’t release this on Blu due to the source material not being strong enough. And now here we are some time later getting it in 4K. Fantastic news! And a real surprise.

I reckon it'll be a situation similar to Hawks' Scarface or Rules of the Game where the 4K proves to be overkill based on the source material, although the blu-ray could end up with a dogshit encode making the UHD essential regardless.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Just watched this one for the first time tonight and I have nothing but great things to say about it, easily Lubitsch’s best and most delightful work with an all-timer comedy script, wonderful performances (especially from Edward Everett Horton, who gives what is possibly the funniest performance in a Lubitsch film) and paired with Lubitsch’s masterful direction that remains consistently playful throughout. If anyone is having any doubts about getting this, dismiss them and buy the 4K immediately as I just did right now!

[Drucker]

How times change. It feels like only yesterday MoC were saying they couldn’t release this on Blu due to the source material not being strong enough. And now here we are some time later getting it in 4K. Fantastic news! And a real surprise.

Wasn't yesterday over a decade ago?

Just checked the disc. Indeed, 2012.

[vertigo]

Which Hollywood 30's movie would I like to live in?
This one.

[MichaelB]

How times change. It feels like only yesterday MoC were saying they couldn’t release this on Blu due to the source material not being strong enough. And now here we are some time later getting it in 4K. Fantastic news! And a real surprise.

I suspect they meant that the high-definition master that was available back then wasn't strong enough—they wouldn't have had access to 35mm vault materials, and they most likely wouldn't have been able to afford to do anything with them even if they had. And of course that was back in the days when Blu-rays were a fair bit more expensive to manufacture on a per-item basis (Second Run took years to embrace the format for that reason), so if the image quality wasn't noticeably better than a DVD, it would have been a false economy.

[Peacock]

Oh I wasn’t criticising MoC. I just meant it’s nice to know that disappointing news can end up having a happy ending in this game, a few years down the line.

[vertigo]

When you know genuine entitled people, and I know a couple, it's very funny when you meet the fake nobles, because society is full of scammers.