Blu-ray Brings New Life to Black & White Films

The vast majority of new Blu-ray owners are enticed to the format with high-dollar blockbuster action films, but there are a smaller, similarly dedicated group of people who would rather see more black and white films brought to the high definition format. These films, due to their age and monochrome characteristics, are often more difficult to restore, but the results are often more rewarding. George Feltenstein, Senior Vice President of theatrical catalog marketing at Warner Home Video, commented, "If we want to go back 12 years, nobody wanted to go near the classics for DVD. We believe that Blu-ray is a transformational way to represent these films." He continued, "There's an extraordinary expense in bringing these to Blu-ray." Warner is no stranger to black & white films, including the highly praised 'Casablanca' and 'Good Night, and Good Luck' Blu-ray releases. They are currently planning on bringing more classic films to Blu-ray, including those from the Marx Brothers, Errol Flynn, Betty Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Already on schedule, 'The Maltese Falcon' will be released next year on Blu-ray. For more quotes and commentary regarding black and white films on Blu-ray, click on the Source link below.
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jk1138  » Oct 12, 2009
YES! Marx Bro! Awesome! Gotta' say I love the classics on BD bring many, many more of them!

redwing69  » Oct 12, 2009
The Marx Brothers on blu-ray?! If they did some real restoration work on some of those, that could be VERY cool.

Bishop_99  » Oct 12, 2009
I have to pick up Casablanca soon. I'm glad to hear they will release The Maltese Falcon on Blu-ray.

JurassicMass88  » Oct 12, 2009
The Marx Brothers will take a lot of work, but hopefully it will end up looking great. I'm looking forward to The Maltese Falcon, one of my favorites. I say keep the black and white classics coming...they look gorgeous when they're restored correctly.

ShellOilJunior  » Oct 12, 2009
Wooooooooo! Marx Brothers and Maltese Falcon headed to Blu-ray! Day one purchases for both!

Lucy Diamond  » Oct 12, 2009
The detail in Casablanca is staggering. It was like watching it for the first time.

GoBlu08  » Oct 12, 2009
Casablanca is great. Bring on Maltese Falcon. Great news.

bygberbrown  » Oct 12, 2009
The sepia sequences of Wizard of Oz are easily the best b/w yet on blu. Stunning combination of detail and grain. Yeah, all of those hinted at here will be easy pre-orders for me, as are The General BD from Kino, and the Sunrise BD from Masters of Cinema UK.

TheManInBlu  » Oct 12, 2009
Awesome news about The Matlese Falcon. Now bring on The Big Sleep and I'm on cloud nine

williamh  » Oct 12, 2009
Absolutely brilliant. Can't wait to see more - the Criterion releases in particular look amazing!

jaws3dfan  » Oct 12, 2009
I would like to see The House on Haunted Hill Starring Vincent Price restored for Blu-Ray

Futureboy  » Oct 12, 2009

Agreed with all - CASABLANCA and the sepia in WIZARD OF OZ is absolutely breathtaking in its clarity! I want to give a shout out to seeing some film noirs (DOUBLE INDEMNITY, OUT OF THE PAST) some Bogie & Bacall movies, and the GINGER ROGERS & FRED ASTAIRE films in Blu. A lot of those sets are just beautiful art deco designs that would pop on Blu-Ray. And there's gotta be some opulant MGM spectaculars like GRAND HOTEL, DINNER AT EIGHT or PRISONER OF ZENDA (was that MGM?) that would benefit from Blu. Bringing out the art direction in films from the 30s & 40s would be great just from a historical perspective.

donaldheil  » Oct 12, 2009
Since I watched THE SEVENTH SEAL, I knew B&W was something amazing on Blu Ray. The Day the Earth Stood Still, Great Expectations and La Haine are no exceptions. I'm waiting for THE INNOCENTS to be released next november (in the U.K.).

moverob  » Oct 12, 2009
I agree with the comments above. I am a huge classic movie fan. Over the years, I've spent thousands of $$$ on the b&w classics on DVD. I will spend that same amount to upgrade to these classics on BD. Are you hearing what I'm saying, studios? Let me say it again: I will spend thousands of more dollars to upgrade to b&w classics on BD, so keep them coming.

donaldheil  » Oct 12, 2009

"Both Kline and Feltenstein noted that when making a black-and-white film ready for Blu-ray, the studios have to be careful not to treat the original film grain as noise. “We’ve done some electronic grain reduction here and there but not completely eliminated it,” Kline said. “We’re still feeling that out with Blu-ray, but we feel grain has to be close to what was originally presented.” IF ONLY all studios stick to that idea, even for color...

Ubertrout  » Oct 12, 2009

Let me preface this by saying I'm a huge fan of the Marx brothers and I own multi DVD boxsets of their stuff. And I have no doubt the Blu-Rays would look lovely. And I'd probably make them a day 1 purchase despite what I have to say below. That said, I think prioritizing the Marx Brothers on Blu-Ray is a mistake. While they weren't cheap productions I'm not sure PQ is particularly important to them, or that they'd look much better beyond making Groucho's moustache look even faker. I'd rather there was a focus on bringing musicals, dramas, and other works from the era where PQ is an integral part of the experience.

assydingo  » Oct 12, 2009
Can't go wrong with more Bogart.

rmainhammer  » Oct 12, 2009

Good news on The Maltese Falcon! All my b/w BDs look fantastic (Casablanca, The Seventh Seal, The 400 Blows, etc.), and I'm really anticipating some I've recently caught on HD broadcast, like Lillies of the Field, The Defiant Ones, A Raisin in the Sun (I'm a HUGE Sidney Poitier fan), but also some I'm looking to replace: To Kill a Mockingbird, Psycho, Seven Samurai, The Bad Sleep Well, The Hustler all come to mind. Keep 'em coming studios!!!

skdenfeld  » Oct 12, 2009

I am not necessarily a classic movie fan in the sense that I focus on that genre in my collecting/viewing, but judging by the results I've seen on The 400 Blows, I would have to throw in my sincere support for this movement into more B&W on blu-ray. I am also stunned by the B&W scenes in Kill Bill.. In the same way that B&W photography can have even more impact on the viewer than color, so to with films. Bravo blu!

kamiller42  » Oct 12, 2009
I am looking forward to "It's a Wonderful Life." And bring on the Hitchcock movies!

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