The Gilded Lily Blu-ray - Claudette Colbert

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

Directed by Wesley Ruggles
USA 1935

This often overlooked comedy gem marks the first teaming of screen legends Claudette Colbert (The Bride Comes Home, The Palm Beach Story) and Fred MacMurray (The Princess Comes Across, The Apartment) and is the epitome of a New York City urban fantasy. Newspaper reporter Peter Dawes (MacMurray) and stenographer Marilyn David (Colbert) meet regularly on a park bench sharing popcorn along with their dreams. Their budding romance is soon threatened by a chance meeting between Marilyn and Charles Gray (Ray Milland, Beau Geste, The Lost Weekend), an English nobleman visiting America. Marilyn’s fantasy of landing a handsome millionaire becomes a reality as she is pursued by Charles in a whirlwind courtship, leaving Peter fighting to reclaim his love. When the press learns of the affair, it turns into an international tabloid scandal for everyone involved. Directed by Wesley Ruggles (I’m No Angel), The Gilded Lily helped launch the career of Fred MacMurray who would make six more films with Claudette Colbert over the years.

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Secretary Marilyn "Lynn" David falls in love with British aristocrat Charles Gray Granville, to the dismay of her best friend, reporter Pete Dawes, who secretly loves her. When Pete learns that the already-engaged Gray has hurt Lynn, he fabricates an article casting her as "No Girl," who refused to marry a callous aristocrat. But when the publicity brings Lynn unexpected fame, and Gray returns, she is forced to choose between the two men.

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 25th, 1935

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:23:34.009
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,505,156,058 bytes Feature: 26,841,096,192 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,505,156,058 bytes Feature: 26,841,096,192 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger • Theatrical Trailer (2:44) Blu-ray Release Date: July 20th, 2021 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2021): Kino have transferred Wesley Ruggles' The Gilded Lily to Blu-ray. It has some persistent light marks and scratches throughout (see samples below.) The overall image is a bit rougher than we have come to expect from a dual-layered transfer with a max'ed out bitrate, undoubtedly due to the source which probably requires a film-level restoration to improve further. It is entirely watchable, has film-like thickness but can appear uneven in certain parts.

NOTE: We have added 38 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 (16-bit) in the original English language. The Gilded Lily is a passive film audio-wide, with modest depth and the score is uncredited by Sigmund Krumgold (Union Pacific), Heinz Roemheld (Ruby Gentry, I, Jane Doe, Dangerous, The Monster that Challenged The World, The Land Unknown, The Mole People, 1933's The Invisible Man) and Tom Satterfield (Go'in To Town) sounding occasionally less consistent matching the video inferiorities. Some may recognize An der schönen, blauen Donau, Op. 314 by Johann Strauss. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Kat Ellinger who talks about MacMurray, a relative unknown, and this role vaulting him to star status, Milland's longer road to stardom and Colbert at her peak. She discusses heritages in the UK, Colbert, Milland and Wesley Ruggles as well as much more on the film's production. It is worth the indulgence to learn more about The Gilded Lily. There is also a trailer for the film an other films including The Bride Comes Home and Bluebeard's Eighth Wife among others.

Wesley Ruggles' The Gilded Lily is a well-realized romantic comedy. An enjoyable effort with a charming cast. It has an honest working girl falling for a rich playboy all the while the sly newspapermen is hoping to catch her eye - under a backdrop of nightclub hype, lavish ocean liners and park bench, simplistic, joy. It's lovely. The Kino Blu-ray has imperfect a/v but seeing the film and enjoying Kat's commentary make it a worthy purchase for fans of this era and genre.