ADDITION: Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - May 11': the reasonableness of the 1080P upgrade is exemplified by the interlaced transfer of the DVD. This wouldn't be as impressive to those with higher, more modern film, expectations but as far as being the best home theater representation the Blu-ray is easily the #1 available at present.  The hi-def caps are somewhat soft and grainy with noise prevalent on the single-layered rendering. Colors are bright(er), for the most part, and the image quality is consistent with negligible damage. Even with the modest bitrate it certainly provides a far better presentation than the SD NoShame disc.

Audio - while lossless (TrueHD) - is original mono with no robust qualities at all (379 kbps). Although it lacks in depth and range it supports the film's dialogue well enough for an enjoyable spin. There are alternate English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Extras on the Blu-ray are slim with three trailers and Stills gallery but Lorber have thoughtfully provided a second disc DVD with the documentary 'Vittorio D." described as "Seventy years after his first film (Red Roses, 1939) and 35 after his death, Vittorio De Sica remains a celebrated, forgotten and perhaps unknown giant of Italian cinema. His irrepressible humanity, versatility as an actor and intransigence as a filmmaker remain in the shadows. This original and different portrait is created through stories from De Sica’s children – Emy, Christian and Manuel – alongside artists such as Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, John Landis, Ken Loach and Mario Monicelli." This is an excellent addition to the package and pushes the Blu-ray for solid consideration. We, indeed, recommend.

***

ON THE NO SHAME DVD: This anamorphic image is tight to the frame edges but is once again not progressive. It is advertised as "Remastered in high definition from the restored original 2P negative" and looks very strong aside from the 'trailing effect' in many horizontal pans. Colors are excellent and I see no evidence of manipulation. I would say that this DVD looks superior to NoShame's Boccaccio 70' release and like that issue the included liner notes booklet (in this case 30 pages) is quite extensive.

Again I wasn't impressed by the English DUB, but I suppose it has some limited value for those incapable of reading subtitles or understanding Italian. The original Italian track is clear and defined. The poster and stills gallery is quite elaborate. This is a good release and NoShame continue to delight Italian film fans with their selection of transfers. We recommend this cute and sexy comedy by De Sica. We hope NoShame continue releasing these gems for English language NTSC audiences.

Gary W. Tooze