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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2024): Kino have transferred George Seaton's The Country Girl to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2023 HD Masters by Paramount Pictures – From 4K Scans". The 1080P image quality is quite stable housed on a dual;-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It is transferred in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio - possibly a compromise as it was in the transitional phase (negative ratio 1.37:1 and intended ratio 1.85:1) with some theaters not having widescreen capabilities yet. Compositions don't seem to suffer. The contrast is strong with consistent, fine, grain and occasional depth. There are no speckles or damage. It looked very pleasing on my system. 

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Country Girl has almost no aggressive with only a smashed bar-room window carrying modest depth. The score was credited to Victor Young (The Ghost Breakers, Strategic Air Command, The Sun Shines Bright, The Accused, Johnny Guitar, China Gate etc.) sounding effective. Bing also croons Arlen + Gershwin's The Pitchman / It's Mine, It's Yours, The Land Around Us, The Search Is Through and Dissertation on the State of Bliss (Love and Learn Blues) with Jacqueline Fontaine. Bing Crosby recorded four of the songs for Decca Records. Very clean - his voice sounded excellent in the lossless. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney. He discusses how important the film was for all three of the leads; Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and William Holden, the parallels between the plot and lives of Crosby and Holden, the behind-the-scenes romantic drama that occurred off the set, how the film handles the problem of alcoholism, and why it should be better remembered than it is. He also addresses some of the differences between Clifford Odets' 1950 play and the film - and why they matter. Jason always delivers. There are also trailers for six other films including one for The Country Girl.

One of the more fascinating aspects of George Seaton's The Country Girl is the transformation of radiant Grace Kelly into a depressed, and dowdy, housewife. Edith Head worked overtime but the lifeless hair and un-glamorous make-up do the trick as effectively as possible. Kelly, deservedly, won the 'Best Actress' Oscar for her bitter character of Georgie. Like the 'play within the film' Bing was the gamble but he shines perhaps drawing from his own experiences with alcoholism. He did state that "I had some serious qualms about my ability to play the role accurately." Critics gave him his best reviews of his career. The Country Girl is an excellent film that seems unjustly 'out of the conversation'. It had a number of Academy nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Crosby,) Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction etc. I'm very glad I saw this less-spoken film on Kino Blu-ray with excellent a/v and the Ney commentary. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze