Gary Cooper - Friendly Persuasion

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USA 1956

The 2024 Warner Archive Blu-ray of "Friendly Persuasion" is compared HERE

This charming, gentle and perfectly crafted William Wyler film (produced with older brother Robert), based on the Jessamyn West novel, revolves around the activities of a family of Indiana Quakers circa 1860. How the Mother (Dorothy McGuire), Father (Gary Cooper), son, Josh Birdwell (Anthony Perkins) , sister and younger brother deal with their traditional beliefs and way of life being challenged over the course of a few crucial weeks in their lives is the crux of this 1957 Palme D'or winning picture (which, to be fair, should have gone to Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria").

Wyler subtly captures characterizations and sentimentality with humorous vignettes following the family through its daily activities. An excursion to the local fair, exposes the family to dancing, gambling, music, and violence, attending and traveling to church as well as congenial interaction with neighbors all substantiate the innocence of both the religious sect and the time period.

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 25th, 1956

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DVD Review: Warner - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	2:17:35
Video	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.82 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Featurette "Wide Wide World" from Nov 27th, 1955 (10:23) • Behind the Scenes (text screen) • Awards (text screen) • Theatrical Trailer(1:51) DVD Release Date: December 5th, 2000 Snapper Case Chapters: 37

Comments:

The 2024 Warner Archive Blu-ray of "Friendly Persuasion" is compared HERE

A very strong image considering this DVD came out in 2000. The major failing seems to be some ingrained dirt in the negative, which can be removed with a future restoration. It almost looks like digital noise but I think the grain is just very prevalent (which I prefer). Colors are excellent and don't appear manipulated. What is amazing to see is that even back then Warner was able to anamorphize a 1.66 ratio film that so many (including recent Criterion) don't seem able to do to this day without cropping to 1.78. There are some extras which appear to be filler, but the early attempt with a featurette is a applaud-able effort. There is a French dub optional and the removable subtitles (English and French) are quite good but in a fairly small type. I like this DVD and I love this film. out of