7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A widowed doctor of both Chinese and European descent falls in love with a married American correspondent in Hong Kong during China's Communist revolution.
Starring: William Holden, Jennifer Jones, Torin Thatcher, Isobel Elsom, Virginia GreggRomance | 100% |
War | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Biography | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.55:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.55:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The recent verdict in the George Zimmerman – Trayvon Martin case has ignited a whole new round in the seemingly never ending debate about “race relations” in our country, but here’s the thing: “race relations” are not exclusive to the United States nor are they they solely focused on interactions between blacks and whites. Americans sometimes tend to forget this since so much of our history is wrapped up in the horrible legacy of slavery and the resultant ripples which resulted from that abhorrent practice, ripples which continue to inform our own time. And the Civil Rights Era, roughly from the mid 1950s on, only continued to make many Americans think of their country as the lone nation dealing with issues, issues almost exclusively thought to be about African Americans and Caucasians. Any number of other ethnic minorities can no doubt point to their own less than welcoming experiences in attempting to assimilate and join the so-called American melting pot, but unfortunately prejudice seems to be a universal trait in Mankind, one certainly not limited to those living in the United States. Love is a Many-Splendored Thing was released in 1955, just a few months before Rosa Parks made her famous stand (or perhaps more appropriately, sit) aboard a Montgomery, Alabama bus. The film is set in Hong Kong in 1949, a time and place swirling with the after effects of both World War II and the roiling atmosphere of the long simmering Chinese Civil War, but it is not ostensibly a politically centered piece. Instead this lovely, heartbreaking outing is an intimate portrayal of two would be lovers whose brief grasp at happiness is interrupted by prejudices brought to bear by several different groups due to the fact that the male is an American and the female is a mixed race "foreigner". (Rather interestingly, the film’s time frame of 1949 is itself the year that Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific first debuted on Broadway. Though many seem not to realize it any longer, this musical actually was rather prescient in its day for dealing with much the same kinds of prejudice as this film does in its depictions of two star-crossed love affairs. In fact, the children of lead character Emile DeBeque would have probably been defined as “Eurasian”, the same category that Love is a Many-Splendored Thing’s main feminine character is stuffed into, whether or not she wants to be.)
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time (licensing a high definition master provided to them by Fox) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.55:1. I have sometimes found the Fox releases licensed by Twilight Time to be just slightly less beautiful than the Sony – Columbia titles that Twilight Time also licenses, which is in no way meant as a slam toward Fox but is merely indicative of the incredibly high bar Sony – Columbia has routinely set for its catalog titles, but in this case, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing is indeed a many-splendored thing. This high definition presentation features a perfectly film like ambience, with natural grain, commendable fine detail, excellent contrast and, best of all, absolutely gorgeous color (just take a gander at the blues in the screenshots accompanying this review). The film is awash in opticals and lots of rear projection work, which some may mistake for softness or a less than fulsome transfer, but that's simply not the case. This is certainly one of the nicest looking Blu-ray releases we've had from Twilight Time, which continues to generally offer superior looking presentations.
Love is a Many Splendored Thing features a (slightly) repurposed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that offers decent immersion in terms of dialogue and foley effects, but which really utilizes the surround channels to provide a lustrous rendering of Alfred Newman's really gorgeous score. There's one noticeable albeit slight dropout at just a little past the 24 minute mark, but otherwise this is a sterling lossless offering that presents dialogue very cleanly and which certainly shows off Newman's work to an often stunning degree.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II summed up the sad proclivity of Mankind to continue fostering prejudice in their deceptively childlike song "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" in South Pacific. Love is a Many-Splendored Thing makes it all too clear that far too many people learned that particular lesson in bigotry far too well. But love triumphs over all—at least for a little while, anyway. This is three hankie fare of the highest order, and it has received absolutely top notch treatment on this wonderful new Blu-ray release. Highly recommended.
1933
Limited Edition to 3000
1957
Limited Edition to 3000
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2017
1958
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Warner Archive Collection
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1943