Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Holiday Inn 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 14, 2023

Universal has released the 1942 film 'Holiday Inn,' directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Marjorie Reynolds, to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video. This release simply repurposes the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack found on the original 2014 Blu-ray. The bundled Blu-ray and the UHD both include a single new supplement that addresses the "blackface" in the film while also carrying over most of the extras from the 2014 issue.

Official synopsis: Screen legends Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire sing and dance their way into your heart in one of the most timeless holiday classics ever, 'Holiday Inn.' Featuring the Academy Award-winning song, 'White Christmas,' Crosby plays a song-and dance man who leaves showbiz to run an inn that is open only on holidays. Astaire plays his former partner and rival in love. Follow the two talented pals as they find themselves competing for the affections of the same lovely lady (Marjorie Reynolds). 'Tis the season for one of the most sensational musical comedies of all time!

For a full film review, please click here to read Jeffrey Kauffman's thoughts on the 2014 Blu-ray page.

Holiday Inn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Universal releases Holiday Inn to the UHD format with a new 2160p/HDR presentation of the film. The picture quality is excellent, generally, with only a few issues of note. To get those out of the way first: there are a few soft shots scattered throughout, but such appear to be inherent to the source rather than a product of a faulty UHD encode. Additionally, errant pops, speckles, and stray vertical lines appear throughout to some degree or another, with some scenes just about free and others a little more densely populated.

Outside of these issues, the UHD presentation is very good. It offers a commanding increase in sharpness over the Blu-ray, capturing a much more naturally organic grain structure that is evident and what might be considered "heavy" but nevertheless complementary and satisfying, bringing the picture's filmic credentials to the screen with impressive accuracy. The image sees greatly bolstered clarity as well, bringing a significant gain to facial definition, clothes, and environments. The sense of added sharpness adds appeal to the picture and oftentimes surpasses the Blu-ray by a significant level. The BD appears rather soft and hazy in comparison. In this area, the UHD offers a sizeable and impressive gain over the Blu-ray.

An even bigger adjustment comes with the HDR grading. The black and white source finds a significant gain to contrast and a more finely tuned grayscale, transitioning from the creamy Blu-ray with limited grayscale range to, here, a much firmer example of black and white imagery excellence with greatly improved contrast in the midrange that helps to give greater differentiation and separation to elements. Black level depth is significantly improved, not only adding depth but also shadow detail. This is vital in some of the darker suits characters wear throughout the film. White balance is much better, too, especially as seen on white clothing and on-screen text, both of which find a striking gain against the drab and creamy Blu-ray. This is a very good UHD presentation from Universal.

Holiday Inn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather than re-encode for additional (and unnecessary for this film) channels, universal has simply, and smartly, ported over the existing soundtrack from the 2014 Blu-ray, which sounds just fine for all areas of consideration, including music and dialogue. For a full audio review, please click here.

Holiday Inn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Holliday Inn includes most of the supplements from the 2014 release while also adding a new extra, which was recorded in 2022. Extras are included on both the UHD and the Blu-ray discs. Note the absence of the Coloring a Classic supplement, which was included on the 2014 release. It is not included here, presumably, because a colorized version is not included on either the BD or the UHD, but it still would have offered an interesting additional layer to the film's history to at least see how the process was performed. The UHD ships with a digital copy code and an embossed slipcover.

• A Couple of Song and Dance Men
• All-Singing All-Dancing
• NEW! Reassessing "Abraham" (1080p, 4:23): Commentators Donald Bogle, Leonard Maltin, Shona Tucker, and Robert S. Bader address the film's inclusion of "Minstrel" and "blackface," speaking of its place in history broadly and in this film specifically.
• Theatrical Trailer
• Audio Commentary

Holiday Inn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Universal makes sure that today's audiences are aware of the "blackface" content in the film, offering both a pre-film disclaimer about its inclusion in the film and offering a new supplement in which several individuals address it. The film is certainly a classic and it has earned a wonderful and rich new UHD treatment. Holiday Inn now delivers satisfying 2160p/HDR video of the original black-and-white photography while also including a good 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Highly recommended!