Houdini Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Houdini Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 18, 2016

George Marshall's "Houdini" (1953) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. There are no supplemental features on the disc. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Houdini and his girl

In the United States, George Marshall's Houdini was first released on Blu-ray in 2011 by local distributors Legend Films. This new release of the film from Olive Films appears to have been sourced from the same master that Legend Films accessed, but the technical presentation is different. For a complete analysis of the film, please see Jeffrey Kauffman's review of the first release here.

Houdini Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, George Marshall's Houdini arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

Houdini first transitioned to Blu-ray in 2011 as part of this double-feature set via Legend Films (the other film in the set is Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies a.k.a. Monte Carlo or Bust!). This new release of the film appears to have been sourced from the same master that Legend Films accessed, which I assume comes via Paramount Pictures. I own the previous release and was able to do some direct comparisons. There are some pretty obvious differences between the two releases, though I must make it clear that the same source limitations remain. This is important to note because there are fluctuations in terms of density and color stability that are on the existing master, and there are also some weaknesses that are present on the previous release but have been eliminated on the new release. Grain exposure and detail are better on the new release and as a result plenty of close-ups now also boast better depth (see screencaptures #1, 4 and 5). Color saturation and in select segments even color balance are also better. However, there is still room for important improvements because many of the panoramic shots reveal the same alignment issues that are present on the previous release (see screencaptures #15 and 17). Elsewhere it is also easy to see that highlights should be managed better. The good news here is that no recent attempts have been made to enhance or repolish the film and as it is always the case this does make a difference. Ultimately, if you wish to add Houdini to your collection, my advice would be to consider the new release from Olive Films and avoid the previous release. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Houdini Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The music has sufficient depth, but some of the dialog can sound a bit thin at times. Also, occasionally I could hear extremely light background hiss trying to sneak in. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report. (The Legend Films release has only a lossy 2.0 track).

Houdini Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

Houdini Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you wish to add George Marshall's Houdini to your collection, I recommend that you consider this new release from Olive Films. It is sourced from the same master that Legend Films worked with when they prepared their release of the film in 2011, but the technical presentation is better. The new release also comes with a lossless audio track and optional English subtitles.