Jezebel Blu-ray - Bette Davis

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

USA 1938

New Orleans, 1852, the Lympus Ball. Enter Julie Marston (Davis) dressed in scarlet. Deep shock from the maidens in white and the matrons in grey. She starts to waltz and couples shrink from the contaminating touch of her red gown. This justly famous scene from Jezebel (filmed, incidentally, in black-and-white) telescopes many of the film's themes. Julie is socially and sexually transgressive. Indeed her defiance of conventions threatens the very Social Order, and she is soon associated with the fever and fires that devastate the town. Preston Dillard (Fonda), engaged to Julie but already insecure in his masculinity, cannot cope with her dangerous sexuality and finds refuge with a safe woman from the North.

Excerpt from the TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

***

While movie fans were abuzz over who might play Scarlett O'Hara in the upcoming Gone with the Wind, Bette Davis got another Southern-belle role - and gave a fiery performance that won the 1938 Best Actress Academy Award®. Davis plays Julie, a New Orleans beauty whose constant attempts to goad fianc? Pres Dillard (Henry Fonda) to jealousy backfire. Angry and disgraced, Pres breaks their engagement and leaves town. Julie endures a year of remorse until Pres comes home - married. Then her vengeance explodes.

Jezebel is also noted for its sumptuous sets and costumes, Fay Bainter's Oscar®-winning* performance and William Wyler's vivid direction, highlighted by a horrifying re-creation of a yellow fever epidemic. But the film's greatest strength is Davis, whose titanic talent has never been better displayed than in Jezebel.

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 10th, 1938

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Warner - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner (Restored and Remastered Edition) Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover
Distribution	Warner Studios	Warner Studios	Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:44:04	1:44:00	1:44:08.450
Video	1.33:1.00 Original Aspect ratio Average Bitrate: 5.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1.00 Original Aspect ratio Average Bitrate: 5.73 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,410,260,478 bytes Feature: 32,225,961,984 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 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 Restored and Remastered Edition:
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 ), DUB: French (Dolby Digital Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1970 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1970 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1992 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1992 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, None	English, Spanish, French and None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Studios Aspect Ratio: Original - 1.33:1 Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 1 Layers: Single Edition Details: • Black & White • Theatrical trailer (4:3, un-restored - 2:01) DVD Release Date: September 19, 2000 Snap Case Chapters: 32	Release Information: Studio: Warner Studios Aspect Ratio: Original - 1.33:1 Discographic Information: DVD Encoding: Region 1,2,3,4 Layers: Dual Edition Details: • Commentary by: film historian Jeannine Basinger • New featurette: Jezebel: Legend of the South (23:53) • Vintage musical short: Melody Masters: Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra (9:12) • Classic cartoon: The Mice Will Play (6:51) • Theatrical trailer (4:3, un-restored - 2:01) DVD Release Date: May 30th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 32	Release Information: Studio: Warner Archive 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,410,260,478 bytes Feature: 32,225,961,984 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary by: film historian Jeannine Basinger • Jezebel: Legend of the South (23:57) • Vintage musical short: Melody Masters: Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra (9:13) • Classic cartoon: Daffy Duck in Hollywood (8:04) Promo-Teaser "Rambling • 'Round the Hollywood Studio with the Candid Camerman" (1:45) • Theatrical trailer (un-restored - 1:57) Blu-ray Release Date: August 27th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 28

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Warner Archive Blu-ray (September 2019): Warner Archive have transferred William Wyler's Jezebel to 1080P Blu-ray. About 13-years ago we got the "Remastered" DVD version and this appears to be the same source. the distinguishing characteristics are the lush grain support and layer contrast. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate (slightly under 7X that of the Remastered DVD). It may be slightly horizontally squished as compared to the DVDs, but I didn't notice at all in-motion - only through the scrutiny of the matched captures. Overall, this is clean and a BIG improvement as seen on HD TVs.

On their Blu-ray, Warner Archive use a fairly robust DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by, one of my favorites, Max Steiner (The Hanging Tree, Tomorrow is Forever, Sergeant York, Key Largo, Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny, Bird of Paradise, Beyond the Forest, Pursued etc. etc.) and I thought the lossless transfer added significantly to the film's drama. Warner Archive offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Not enough new supplements with the same, but excellent, audio commentary by film historian Jeannine Basinger and 24-minute featurettes Jezebel: Legend of the South as found on the last DVD. Repeated is the 9-minute vintage musical short: Melody Masters: Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra plus a new Daffy Duck cartoon and a brief promo-teaser "Rambling 'Round the Hollywood Studio with the Candid Cameraman". It looks like the same unrestored trailer. You can do better Warner.

It's great to have more Bette Davis and Wyler films reach 1080P. This is a pure classic that can be watched at any time and enjoyed. But I speak for a few that would appreciate more new extras (and I don't mean cartoons.) Still this Blu-ray for the HD a/v and commentary are essential. More Bette please.