ADDITION: Criterion - NTSC - February 2007: Firstly, I feel certain someone at Criterion has the exact same taste as I, or a listing of my favorite films is somehow transmitted to their head office. 49th Parallel is another of my favorite films.

After our review of Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist, we obviously spoke too soon as this Criterion transfer is again pictureboxed (see our description of 'pictureboxing' in our Kind Hearts and Coronets review).

Criterion's seamless digital restoration once again eclipses the previous releases, actually exposing their contrast boosting to be even more prevalent than we suggested. Just about every facet of the Criterion image appears to be superior - vastly better contrast, less artifacts (although some are visible), less damage and slightly more information in the frame than the PAL editions. As black levels have been selectively tweaked and some damage marks obliterated ('Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System') the Criterion image is probably the best we will see until it one day reaches HD (49th Parallel may be years to reach that lofty height).

The audio also appears to be slightly clearer and more consistent than the other two releases but I always admit that I have no quantitative measure of this except my own ears.

This Criterion package is stacked and the meat of it belongs to the strong extras. Firstly the Bruce Eder commentary is fabulous. Another example of how Criterion, not only the pioneers of this digital supplement, but are also the best at this DVD attribute. Eder talks, without a recollected gap about many subtle details of the filming of 49th Parallel. He know his stuff, was fully prepared and I was enthralled.

On disc 2 we have a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short starring Ralph Richardson called The Volunteer. Very entertaining war effort and topical for its relevance to the feature film and its similar slant. After a his performance as Othello 'Ralph Richardson' is asked for an autograph by Fred, his dresser who has joined the Fleet Air Arm (Fly Navy) and consequently becomes a hero, rescuing a pilot from his burning plane. When Fred goes to Buckingham Palace it's Richardson's turn to ask for his autograph (about 25 minutes). There is a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger called A Pretty British Affair. It offers details on their WWII-era collaborations and features rare footage of the filmmakers together plus input from a young Martin Scorsese (and others). Finally there are audio excerpts from Michael Powell's dictations for his autobiography, an original theatrical trailer (3:09) is included and a 20-page liner notes booklet with essay by film scholar Charles Barr and Powell's 1941 premiere speech.

Wow - what a great package. I enjoyed every minute of re-watching the film (umpteenth time) and the extra features. This has one of our stronger recommendations. Fabulous stuff Criterion - you continue to impress!       

***

ADDITION: Warner Home Vidéo (April 06'): this is labeled as from the 'Collection Institut Lumiere' as are the other new Powell and Pressburger offerings from Warner Home Vidéo in Europe. The image quality is definitely superior although I'm afraid the screen captures may not give it enough credit. For one thing the Warner Home Vidéo edition is on a dual layered DVD as opposed to the single layered Carlton. Hence there are far less instances of artifacts. In many scenes it appears that the Warner has had a shade of black boosting bringing up a sharper looking image (The Laurence Olivier image below is a good example). Although the Warner does shows some minor damage in the form of hairline scratches - they appear to be far less than those visible on the Carlton.

Of course the big bonus to the Warner DVD are the extras. The 2nd disc is not extensive but it is good news that everything is 'English friendly' meaning if it is in French (Language) there are optional English subtitles. The package itself is beautiful - some real effort has gone into this as because of my adoration for the film I am thrilled with my purchase. We recommend!

****

I loved this film so much I could have taken screen captures all day. The Carlton disc is better than you might expect from them, with a decent image and removable subtitles. Perhaps a little boosted and heavy at times it still maintains some sharpness. No extras save a trailer and the price is sure 'right'. I strongly recommend the film - unavailable in any other region on the digital format.   out of

Gary W. Tooze