Also included in the June slate: Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude. This Blu-ray initially had an April 17th street date, but this past week Criterion pushed the release back to June. The distributor's website no longer lists the "booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Wood; a 1971 New York Times profile of star Ruth Gordon; and excerpted transcripts of two interviews, one from 1997 with star Bud Cort and director of photography John Alonzo and one from 2001 with executive producer Mildred Lewis" under the disc's bonus supplements.
Of those seven films, The 39 Steps and The Samurai Trilogy are the only previously available Criterion entries receiving Blu-ray upgrades; the rest are new to the Criterion Collection.
Furthermore, the Ashby, Chaplin, Boyle, and Soderbergh films are making their respective debuts onto the North American Blu-ray format.
Quoted below are Criterion's release date and disc specifications for each film.
The Gold Rush (June 12th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restoration of the 1942 sound version
- 1942 version has an uncompressed monaural soundtrack
New 2K digital transfer of the reconstructed original 1925 silent film, restored in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna
- Restored 1925 version has a newly recorded version of director Charlie Chaplin's score, presented in 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
New audio commentary for the 1925 version by Chaplin biographer and archivist Jeffrey Vance
Three behind-the-scenes programs:
- Presenting The Gold Rush, which traces the film's history from original release to rerelease to 2003 reconstruction and features film historian Kevin Brownlow and Vance
- Music by Charles Chaplin, featuring conductor and composer Timothy Brock
- Visual Effects in The Gold Rush, featuring effects specialist Craig Barron and Chaplin cinematographer Roland Totheroh
Chaplin Today: The Gold Rush (2002), a short documentary featuring filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo
Four theatrical trailers
A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Luc Sante and James Agee's review of the 1942 version
Harold and Maude (June 12th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restoration
Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Optional remastered stereo soundtrack
Audio commentary by Hal Ashby biographer Nick Dawson and producer Charles B. Mulvehill
Illustrated audio excerpts of seminars by Ashby and writer-producer Colin Higgins
New interview with songwriter Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)
Shallow Grave (June 12th, 2012) —
New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Brian Tufano
2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Two audio commentaries:
- Director Danny Boyle
- Screenwriter John Hodge and producer Andrew Macdonald
New interviews with stars Christopher Eccleston, Kerry Fox, and Ewan McGregor
Digging Your Own Grave, a 1993 documentary by Kevin Macdonald on the making of the film
Andrew Macdonald and Kevin Macdonald's video diary from the 1992 Edinburgh Film Festival, where they shopped around the script for Shallow Grave
Shallow Grave trailer
Trainspotting teaser trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp
Gray's Anatomy (June 19th, 2012) —
New high definition digital transfer, supervised by director Steven Soderbergh
5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
New interviews with Soderbergh and cowriter Renée Shafransky
A Personal History of the American Theater monologue by Spalding Gray, filmed in 1982
Theatrical trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin
And Everything is Going Fine (June 19th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restoration
Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Making of And Everything Is Going Fine, featuring director Steven Soderbergh, producer Kathie Russo, and editor Susan Littenberg
Sex and Death to the Age 14, Spalding Gray's first monologue, created in 1979 and filmed in 1982
Trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by writer Nell Casey, editor of The Journals of Spalding Gray
The 39 Steps (June 26th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restoration
Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Audio commentary by Alfred Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane
Hitchcock: The Early Years (2000), a British documentary covering Hitchcock's prewar career
Original footage from British broadcaster Mike Scott's 1966 television interview with Hitchcock
Complete broadcast of the 1937 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation, performed by Ida Lupino and Robert Montgomery
Visual essay by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff
Excerpts from François Truffaut's 1962 audio interview with Hitchcock
Original production design drawings
A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Cairns
The Samurai Trilogy (June 26th, 2012) —
New high-definition digital restorations of all three films
Uncompressed monaural soundtracks
New English subtitle translations
New interviews with translator and historian William Scott Wilson about the real-life Musashi Miyamoto, the inspiration for the hero of the films
Trailers
A booklet featuring essays by film historian Stephen Prince and Wilson
These Blu-rays will be available for pre-order on Amazon shortly.