The Good Fairy - Margaret Sullavan

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

USA 1935

From Preston Sturges, the acclaimed screenwriter of The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story, and William Wyler, the renowned director of The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Country and Ben-Hur, comes this classic romantic comedy about a naïve girl just out of a cloistered orphanage who finds that being a “good fairy” to strangers makes life awfully complicated. When a brash movie theater owner needs usherettes for his Budapest cinema, he recruits young Luisa (Margaret Sullavan, The Shop Around the Corner) from a nearby orphanage. Encouraged by her kindly guardian (Beulah Bondi, It’s a Wonderful Life) to “spread her wings,” Luisa embarks on her quest to live the life of a fairy-tale angel. Quickly encountering the debonair wolves that roam the sidewalks of Hungary, Luisa randomly chooses a man to play the role of her husband: Dr. Max Sporum (Herbert Marshall, Murder!), a humble and idealistic lawyer. Even as Luisa’s simple ruse grows hopelessly complicated, the dream-eyed girl refuses to abandon the charade, determined to evade another suitor’s wily grasp, provide Max the prosperity he so deserves, and allow the opportunity for true love to enter his life. The stellar cast also includes Frank Morgan (The Wizard of Oz), Alan Hale (The Adventures of Robin Hood) and Cesar Romero (The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend).

***

A screwball comedy written by Preston Sturges, directed by William Wyler, and starring Margaret Sullavan, "The Good Fairy" was released "under the radar" last year. And it's a shame. A tale of an orphan Luisa Ginglebusher (Sullavan) becoming a good fairy to an idealistic lawyer Dr. Sporum (Herbert Marshall) is very funny and charming. The play by Hungarian Ferenc Molnár, just like his fellow countryman's Shop Around the Corner, is improved by sharp dialogues, great performances and exceptional Margaret Sullivan.

Posters

Theatrical Release Date: January 31st, 1935

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Kino - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:37:21	1:37:44.525
Video	1.33:1.00 / 4:3 Average Bitrate: 5.30 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 30,737,701,706 bytes Feature: 28,729,565,184 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.41 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino International Edition Details: • Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) • Theatrical trailer • Photo Gallery • Black & White DVD Release Date: November 5, 2002 Keep Case Chapters: 12	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 30,737,701,706 bytes Feature: 28,729,565,184 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.41 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Critic and Author Simon Abrams -Theatrical Trailer (2:46) Blu-ray Release Date: January 14th, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (January 2020): Kino have transferred William Wyler's 1935 The Good Fairy, written by Preston Sturges, to Blu-ray. It is from a "Brand New 4K Master" and looks amazing. This is a significant leap beyond Kino's own 2002 DVD showing lush grain and deeper black levels ion a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It shows much more information in the frame on all four edges. The result is a very attractive image - still a few marks and light scratches, but a beautiful HD presentation reflecting the strength of the source.

NOTE: We have added 40 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It suffers only from the original production limitations but, overall, a notable bump beyond the lossy DVD. The score by Heinz Roemheld (There's Always Tomorrow, Dangerous, The Monster that Challenged The World, The Land Unknown, The Mole People, 1933's The Invisible Man) adds some ingratiating flavor to this charming and humorous film. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has a new audio commentary by film critic and author Simon Abrams who identifies the changes from Sturges screenplay to Molnár's play - often Hayes Code-related, he stumbles through reading some other comments about the film or principles, but the information, especially about Sullavan, is extremely interesting. I got a lot out of this. There is also a theatrical trailer and trailers for other films.

A joyful romantic-comedy from Wyler - an age gone by - we don't get cinema like this nowadays, that's for sure. The Good Fairy is touching and a brilliant film experience. The commentary is a valuable addition and the beautifully textured image and lossless audio - make it a must-own, imo. Don't miss this Blu-ray!

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD (2002): Universal provided Kino with a very good print. There was very little of specs and no print damage. At first, I was disappointed that there're no captions or subtitles provided, but there was no need for it. The audio is very clear, with no hiss or distortion. Overall, the presentation is much better than Criterion's Trouble in Paradise, also released through Universal. The extras are limited to a theatrical trailer ("A Major Screen Event!") and a photo gallery of William Wyler. 12 Chapters provided.