Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 19, 2022

For those with jaded temperaments who tend to see the glass basically completely empty, let alone halfway there, perhaps it will be helpful to note that miracles, or at least unexpected events, can occur, though the fact that they're in the home theater market may be a bit disconcerting. Around two years ago, VCI released Jack and the Beanstalk in a version with less than optimal video and some outright damage to the element which included things like missing frames along with the "usual suspect" age related wear and tear bugaboos like nicks and scratches. Within minutes of me posting my Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray review, which began with a somewhat whimsical notion that maybe someone somewhere had a better element to source a transfer of this curiously charming film off of, the estimable Bob Furmanek from 3-D Archive emailed me to let me know that he indeed was working on a "new, improved" transfer of Abbott and Costello's first color film.

There's a bit of a plot recap in my original Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray review, but the story here follows the general outlines of the folktale while introducing a number of new elements. Jack in this case is not a young boy, but the goofy Lou Costello, and Bud Abbott is on hand as a pseudo-villain named Dinklepuss, the guy Jack tries to sell his cow to and who pays Jack with magic beans. As I mention in the original review, there's an undeniable Wizard of Oz feeling here, with bookending sequences in black and white (actually sepia) and the main story in color being told as a kind of quasi-dream.

Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jack and the Beanstalk is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The 3-D Film Archive and ClassicFlix with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Probably unsurprisingly, this presentation easily aces the one from VCI in every category, though that's not to say it doesn't still show a few anomalies along the way. Color is much more consistent and true to the Cinecolor look, which frankly has both pluses and minuses (the "limited spectrum" of Cinecolor is overtly discussed in one of the supplements on this disc). Flesh tones no longer have the kind of weird sickly green tint they did in the VCI edition, but at times here can look a bit peach colored. Cinecolor's strengths were probably more in line with two strip Technicolor, offering really secure renditions of blues and oranges in particular. One noticeable difference here is that the grain field is much more visible, especially in the Cinecolor sequences (I'm assuming the technique, which the featurette devoted to it documents included "negative doubling", probably added to the grain field in the finished product). There is still some minor damage to be spotted, and for the eagle eyed, you can definitely see color temperature varying slightly throughout the feature (sometimes within individual shots). Detail levels are generally improved throughout the presentation in this version, though some of the "baked in" situations like focus issues (again discussed in the Cinecolor featurette) are still evident. Given the condition of the element, and especially when stacked up against the VCI release, this warrants a flat out 5.0 for effort.

Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jack and the Beanstalk features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that manages to overcome some of the most blatant disruptions of the VCI release, but which admittedly still shows minor signs of distortion (especially in some of the most boisterous musical cues), and an overall boxy, somewhat thin, sound. Still, the choral and orchestral can sound nicely full bodied, and all dialogue is rendered without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Chris Costello, youngest daughter of Lou Costello (HD; 1:12) can be accessed under the Play Menu. The disc is authored to automatically move on to the main feature after the introduction is completed.


• Commentary by Abbott and Costello expert Ron Palumbo, with recollections from Jack and the Beanstalk co-star David Stollery


• Audio and Video Extras

  Who's On First? - December, 1940 (HD; 4:05) comes with some prefatory explanatory text which explains that this is a rare archival newsreel with sound.

  
  

  Imperfect Spectrum: A Brief History of Cinecolor by Jack Theakston (HD; 13:21) is a really fascinating short documenting some of the history of both the company and the process.

  
  

  Climbing the Scales: The Music of Jack and the Beanstalk (HD; 9:18) features Ray Faiola discussing the film's rather charming score.

  
  

  Cutting Down the Beanstalk (HD; 18:30) features Ron Palumbo looking at some of the material that was deleted from the film before release.

  
  

  Abbott and Costello Meet the Creature - Live TV Appearance from February, 1954 (HD*; 15:01) offers more prefatory text giving a bit of context, including the fact that Lou had just had a major health scare and had lost a ton of weight. Glenn Strange "co-stars" as Frankenstein's Monster.

  
  

  Rudy Vallee Radio Sketch (February, 1945) with photo gallery by Shane Fleming (HD; 6:16)

  
  

  Restoration Demo (HD; 3:10)

• Image Gallery

  Behind the Scenes photo gallery by Chip Ordway with 1952 children's recording (HD; 7:02)

  
  

  Publicity Materials photo gallery by Chip Ordway (HD; 12:15)

• Trailers includes:

  Abbott and Costello Trailer Rarities (HD; 41:04) features 18 original "Coming Attractions" previews, including for Jack and the Beanstalk.

  
  

  Fireman Save My Child (HD; 2:10) features two optional commentary tracks, one by 3-D expert Mike Ballew and another one with Ron Palumbo.


Additionally, other trailers for ClassicFlix releases are featured. The disc boots to a trailer for A Night in Casablanca which can't be chapter skipped through (you can fast forward).

*720

Jack and the Beanstalk Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unlike the Pope and some other online reviewers, I am not infallible, and as such, I freely admit I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. In the closing comments of my review of the VCI release I stated, "This is frankly not the kind of film that will probably ever be granted any kind of major restoration, and in a way it's kind of sad", which hilariously was rebuffed almost immediately when I received that aforementioned email from Bob Furmanek. In this case, I'm actually quite happy to have been mistaken, because as usual Furmanek and his team at 3-D Archive along with ClassicFlix have afforded this sweet little film an unexpectedly great looking restoration. The film may frankly not be everyone's cup of tea, but this release sports generally solid technical merits and some very appealing supplements, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase. For fans of Abbott and Costello, though, this release definitely comes Recommended.