DVD Compare - John Ford's "How Green Was My Valley " - 20th Century Fox US Region 1- NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox Studio Classics US Region 1- NTSC

directed by John Ford

USA 1941

The opening scenes tell you what you're going to feel: the old days and ways, the wide-open beauty of rural Wales, circa 1875, with its cobblestones and donkey-drawn carts, the bare-bones chapel, the courage of miners—and of their women, who too often lost their men deep under the earth. An old woman's face says it all; she's worked hard, lived well, loved and lost. There's the magic of her hills in her face.

(I have a serious complaint here and throughout the film: Moving though it is, I have to wonder why a major motion picture in 1941 chose to film in B&W. For goodness sakes, the film is called How Green Was My Valley! This would all have been unbearably exquisite if I had been able to see the green. As it is, my imagination is good enough, but I shouldn't have had to do without color in the first place.)

All the scenery and sets are exceptional. Someone spent many pounds on sets big enough to cope with wide-angle shots, and much of this is shot on location in Wales, in some enchanted corner where the twentieth century hadn't intruded. It's the heart of Britain in 1870, all thatched roofs and stone walls, all gorgeous. The Morgan family home is cheerful and airy, the house of a family who've worked hard and loyally for the mining company for a long time and have been paid well for their work.
Inside the mines is exactly as it should be. It's black, dreary, rusty...scary shots, shots that let us know the drudgery these men deal with daily. Some of the scenes are so sweaty and awful, you can feel the black-lung disease creeping up your throat.

Excerpt from Laurie Edwards review on CultureDose.net

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Theatrical Release: October 28th, 1941

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DVD Comparison:

20th Century Fox US Region 1 - NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox Studio Classics US Region 1- NTSC

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

20th Century Fox

Region 1 - NTSC

20th Century Fox (Studio Classics)

Region 1 - NTSC

The differences are quite striking with the newer edition being far superior in the areas of detail and contrast. The Studio Classics version is an easy winner.

NOTE: For details on the extras, subtitles and audio options of How Green Was My Valley please see our friends at

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Distribution	Twentieth Century Fox Region 1 - NTSC	Twentieth Century Fox Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:58:52	1:58:56
Video	1.37:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.95 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.37:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.95 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: 20th Century Fox - old
Bitrate: 20th Century Fox - new
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), DUB: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles	English, Spanish and none	English, Spanish and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Theatrical Release Date: January 1, 1941 Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 1 Layers: Dual Edition Details: • Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby • Theatrical trailer(s) DVD Release Date: March 7, 2000 Keep Case Chapters 10	Release Information: Studio: Fox Home Entertainment Theatrical Release Date: January 1, 1941 Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 1 Layers: Dual Edition Details: • Black & White, Closed-captioned • Audio Commentary by Anna Lee Nathan and Film Historian Joseph McBride • AMC Backstory Episode • Still Gallery • Theatrical Trailer DVD Release Date: January 14, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 10

Comments:

Although the restored version is darker with better contrast, I, personally, don't see it as a huge difference. The problem with the original release of the 20th Century Fox Region 1 "How Green Was My Valley" was in pixelation, especially in highly detailed areas like stone walls, etc. This seems to have been evened out nicely in the new release which is superior in that respect. Both versions are derived from the same film elements. The restored has better extras (with a commentary), but if you can get the old version cheap, you might want to go for it if you are only moderately keen on this film. The new version does look great though.

- Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(20th Century Fox R1 - NTSC Left vs. 20th Century Fox R1- RESTORED - Right)

These captures are courtesy of DVD-Compare, now hosted by DVDBeaver, and very special thanks to Thomas Koeberl (version captures appreciation noted at bottom). They are captured using the "Forced Weave" method with a set resolution (1024 wide), no bi-cubic filtering and jpeg compression of 90%.