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Posted: **Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:24 pm**

Adrian Martin has confirmed to one of our members that BFI will be upgrading Where the Sidewalk Ends and the release will include a most welcome commentary by Martin

Posted: **Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:29 pm**

Nice! I wonder if they'll also upgrade the other Premingers in that old Film Noir Classics box (Fallen Angel and Whirlpool).

Posted: **Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:39 pm**

Worth noting that this is one of the Fox Noir titles to actually receive a commentary by someone who knows what they're doing, Eddie Muller, so you should still hold onto your R1 copy. An upgrade of Whirlpool would not necessitate holding onto the Fox release in tandem (Unless you really want to hear Schickel opine that Preminger isn't a very good director over and over as his masterpiece plays under it). I'm excited for this, though, as I think Martin is up there with Kalat as our best commentary providers

Posted: **Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:16 am**

September 28 release

Includes Fallen Angel, Whirlpool, and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

• Commentaries on all three films by critic Adrian Martin
• The Guardian Lecture: Otto Preminger interviewed by Joan Bakewell (audio only)
• Original trailers

Posted: **Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:11 am**

Whirlpool on Blu-ray AND with a Martin commentary? Thank you world!

Posted: **Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:46 am**

Please note that two of the Martin commentaries are ported from Australian releases, only Where the Sidewalk Ends is new.

Posted: **Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:49 am**

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:55 am**

Here is the BFI's answer about the masters used for the Preminger set : Fallen Angel, Whirlpool, and Where the Sidewalk Ends have been scanned at 2k and delivered in High Definition.
So no 4K Fox restorations it seems.

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 12:55 pm**

So would this mean a replication of the infelicities that David notes on the old BFI dvds or is there hope of something better? I have the Fox dvds, which I recall as pretty good (haven't looked at them in a while), and was hoping the BFIs would go these Premingers one better. (And the answer to my question will probably be, "Well, it all depends...")

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 2:33 pm**

Another question is whether DVD Beaver will get a review up for us in time to cancel preorders if needed. Sometimes Gary's reviews go up a couple weeks before street date, other times no such advance notice. Blu-ray.com reviews rarely go up early as far as I've noticed.

I preordered the set because I can't foresee Fox releasing these films themselves, and even if eventual Twilight Time releases may prove superior, three separate TT releases would cost me about double what the BFI set did, so I couldn't justify that. And there's no guarantee of that even happening.

I don't understand what David meant about the "severe cropping" on the 2004 BFI discs. I never saw or compared them myself, but the Beaver comparisons don't show any such loss of image.

Posted: **Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:41 am**

I guess the next question to ask is whether the BFI performed the remastering themselves or if Fox were involved. For the record, all 3 of these titles are available to hire for home video distribution at Hollywood Classics from Fox, and Where the Sidewalk Ends is listed as 4K.

Personally I doubt there's anything to worry about and that these transfers will represent the best the BFI and Fox have to offer. I imagine the claim that WtSE is 2K is simply a mistake.

Posted: **Sat Aug 22, 2015 7:07 am**

Special features

All films in High Definition
Original theatrical trailers
Audio commentaries for Fallen Angel, Whirlpool and Where the Sidewalk Ends by film scholar and critic Adrian Martin
The Guardian Lecture: Otto Preminger interviewed by Joan Bakewell (1972, 80 mins, audio with stills): the director talks about his life in film in this discussion with the English journalist
Illustrated booklet with essays by Edward Buscombe and full film credits

USA | 1945-50 | black and white | English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles | 291 minutes | 2 x BD25, 1 x BD50 | 1080p | 24fps | Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 | PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit) | Cert 12 (contains moderate violence) | Region B Blu-ray

I'm currently trying to understand what the sources of this will be. So far, this is what I gathered from the BFI :

Me : Will the Preminger Blu ray set be sourced from the recent 4K restorations (like Where the Sidewalk Ends shown at The Reel Thing, LA) ?

BFI : Fallen Angel, Whirlpool and Where the Sidewalk Ends have been scanned at 2K and delivered in High Definition.

Me : So, no 4K scan ? These aren't the masters currently hold by Hollywood Classics then ?

BFI : Night & The City was scanned at 4K while the Preminger titles were scanned at 2K. All are licensed by 20th Century Fox.

Posted: **Mon Sep 07, 2015 12:01 pm**

Full specs announced:

The Otto Preminger Film Noir Collection
Limited Edition Blu-ray box set

Fallen Angel • Whirlpool • Where the Sidewalk Ends

Released on 28 September 2015, this Limited Edition box set brings together three of acclaimed director Otto Preminger’s greatest films for the first time on Blu-ray. Presented with essential extras, including audio commentaries, these classic films deliver a unique combination of intrigue, moral ambiguity and stylish photography which truly define the influential film noir genre.

In Fallen Angel, Dana Andrews stars as a down-on-his-luck press agent turned amateur sleuth, investigating the murder of the sultry waitress, Stella (Linda Darnell). Whirlpool is a fascinating blend of noir and woman’s picture, starring the beautiful Gene Tierney as a troubled socialite who falls prey to the machinations of a sinister hypnotist (José Ferrer). Whilst in the downbeat Where the Sidewalk Ends, Dana Andrews again stars as a tough cop whose brutal methods leave a trail of murder, deceit and cover-ups.

Special features

• All films presented in High Definition
• Original theatrical trailers
• Audio commentaries for Fallen Angel, Whirlpool and Where the Sidewalk Ends by film scholar and critic Adrian Martin
• The Guardian Lecture: Otto Preminger interviewed by Joan Bakewell (1972, 80 mins, audio with stills): the director talks about his career in film in this discussion with the English journalist
• Illustrated booklet with essays by Edward Buscombe and full film credits

Blu-ray product details
RRP: £59.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1216 / Cert 12

Fallen Angel: USA / 1945 / 1.33:1 / black and white / 97 mins
Whirlpool: USA / 1950 / 1.33:1 / black and white / 98 mins
Where the Sidewalk Ends: USA / 1950 / 1.33:1 / black and white / 95 mins

English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / 291 minutes / 2 x BD25, 1 x BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)

Posted: **Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:18 pm**

DVD Beaver:

Where the sidewalks end

Fallen angel

Whirlpool

Posted: **Sun Sep 20, 2015 5:11 am**

Fallen Angel appears to be from lesser source elements than the other two, both of which are stupendous, but it's still a nice upgrade. Cannot wait to get my hands on this.

Posted: **Sun Oct 04, 2015 4:19 pm**

Interestingly enough, the booklet still says that the movies were scanned and restored in 2K.

Posted: **Mon Oct 05, 2015 2:01 am**

I know, it does look like 4K scans. Actually, I think the booklet might be wrong, but I asked Jill Reading weeks ago if she could have a look and tell me the sources for the movies, and she ended never coming back to me (sadly, because she usually answers).

Posted: **Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:35 am**

david hare wrote:
tenia wrote: I think that's both good news and not so good news. Assuming - who would know? - it's in safe hands like David MacKenzie's the new 2k and encodes should be very good.

Hi David

Just to clear something up - my credit in the booklet for this set is a misprint. I wasn't involved with BFI's Otto P set. Not that I want to intentionally distance myself from it or anything (I haven't seen it but I'm sure it's good) - just to set the record straight.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:17 pm**

Quickly going back at this one, source wise : it now seems clear to me that Where The Sidewalk Ends isn't from the latest 4K restoration but was sourced from an older source.
Twilight Time has used the newer 4K restoration for their release, and now Wild Side in France will use too for theirs next month. Here are a few comparative caps between the BFI disc and the upcoming Wild Side one.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:36 pm**

I think I prefer the rougher and different gamma with deeper blacks BFI release!

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 5:30 am**

While I usually prefer higher-contrast looks, it looks like the BFI is overly contrasted, while the newer restoration isn't too dull looking (compared to, say, stuff Eclair sometimes does).
But I only have screened quickly through the disc so far, so I'll see what happens when I watch it entirely.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 6:25 am**

These are the same HD masters used for the dvds. Where the Sidewalk Ends is the best of the lot, Whirlpool in particular has a lot of warping and judder (also on the DVD). The 4k restoration for Where the Sidewalk Ends on the TT disc is pretty good but suffers from the usual Fox approach of (IMHO) taking out too much of the grain and digitally flattening the blacks in particular.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:20 am**

The forehead and neck area on the first screencap is really waxy on the new release.

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:23 am**

That seems quite exaggerated.

Posted: **Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:51 am**

Me exaggerating or the screen capture?

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