ola t wrote:The one I think we're all thinking of is Dangerous Disguise from 1951 (so it predates the film). Here's the wonderful Donald-as-matador cover picture. Just to get even more ephemeral, a nice bit of trivia is that this is the only Barks story where the non-duck characters are fully human. His editors didn't like it and made him go back to the usual dog ears, pig snouts, etc.
Yes, Ola, that is definitely the one I had in mind. Thanks. I had forgotten about the matador climax, but it's coming back to me. I had no idea it was so early. Perhaps I have the Gladstone reissue version -- I lose track of some of the original publication dates when it's the Gladstones I own.
I'm with David, though. Those early frames look uncannily like some of Hitch's shots in To Catch a Thief. Who knows? Maybe Hitch was an avid comic-reader. I wouldn't be surprised if he were. The sketches for shots in his notebooks look a little like comic books anyway.
Sadly, the new French edition in the Alfred Hitchcock Collection series is no improvement on the Laserlight version (on the Blackmail disc)...
France R2 PAL:
Laserlight NTSC:
France R2 PAL:
Laserlight NTSC:
Elstree Calling (1930), an extra on the French disc, is also in poor condition and badly over-compressed (worse in fact than the DivX bootleg that's in circulation):
L'Aîné des Ferchaux (Melville)
The new French release (Rene Chateau) vs the 2006 German edition (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Both are non-anamorphic (I've cropped the black borders). The French release gives more of the frame but is picture-boxed, looks noticeably pinched and the whole image is almost constantly juddering. Very disappointing.
Scharphedin2 wrote:I take it, this would be the same transfer that is on the R1 SE of [To Catch A] Thief...?
It would have to be. It was released a few weeks earlier down here due to Mother's Day tie-in promotions for early May, and can be found for below AU$15 (around US$10), with all the extras.
One thing to keep in mind - it's a PAL transfer, so technically speaking the colour should always be better than N(ot) T(he) S(ame) C(olour). This was always the case in the VHS days, but the mastering down here (and in the UK and Euruope) has never been as good as the US, so it all balances out in the end I guess.
I've read the three reviews of the R1 disc currently listed on DVD BASEN, and while all but one proclaim it to be superior to the prior release (one claims it to be the exact same transfer), none are exactly blown away citing some black level problems and lost shadow detail. The screen captures from the R4 disc, however, do look positively amazing. Has anyone seen or done a direct comparison of the two?
I can sorta answer my own question... it appears that the R4 and R1 "To Catch a Thief"s are not the same.
DVD BEAVER now has its review up, comparing the new R1 against the old R1.
There is a nearly identical frame in the Beaver's review and in the captures on the preceding page - the shot of Grant sitting next to Hitch in the car. The R1 appears brighter (perhaps more contrasty) and redder. To my eyes, the R4 looks superior.
Yes, I've just seen Gary's caps of the new R1, and the R4 is superior. As HerrSchrek said, you can smell the suntan lotion on the Oz disc. I can only guess, but I'm sure the UK R2 will be using the same PAL transfer as the R4, and Gary will compare again when he gets it.
I just received my CC Vengeance is Mine and thought that it looked much better than the DVDBeaver caps indicated. So I took a couple captures of my own using VLC player and they show much less blowout, saturation etc. These are not exact screen matches.
(FYI, if you are using IE7, Firefox or another tab enabled browser, drag each screen cap you want to compare into a new tab and then toggle between them.)
Edit: I originally proclaimed that I thought this settled the MOC vs CC debate based on these screen caps, which is totally unfair to MOC as I have not seen it in motion.
Last edited by mbalson on Fri May 04, 2007 3:55 am, edited 4 times in total.
stephan73 wrote:Le Mystère de la Tour Eiffel (Duvivier, 1927)
Filmmuseum release (Holland), includes only Dutch intertitles!
Thanks very much. It seems odd that Filmmuseum would limit this release to Dutch speakers only (rather a small global market, I would assume), but perhaps their hands are tied by the licensing agreement. I'm curious to see this, not least because Alain Resnais has declared himself an admirer of the film.
I was expecting either English or French subs (for the Benelux countries), but alas, no subs at all! Still from what I've seen the image is really good!
