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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2021): Kino have transferred Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman to Blu-ray. It looks very impressive - clean, wonderfully consistent grain, excellent contrast, rich black levels, and pleasing detail. Most of the DeMille directed films had high production values and the sources were meticulously stored. This 1080P provides a marvelous HD presentation exporting depth and a strong film-like image. Top shelf quality on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate.

NOTE: We have added 50 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 Plainsman has many adventurous and aggressive scenes from group conflicts, rifles firing, Indian captures and celebration and more. that come through with modest depth and very supportive score by George Antheil (Dementia, Not as a Stranger, The Pride and the Passion, In a Lonely Place, Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), Sirocco (1951), House by the River (1950) Tokyo Joe (1949) and other Nicholas Ray films, including, Knock on Any Door (1949) along with songs of the day; When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Yankee Doodle, (I Wish I Was in) Dixie's Land, Oh Susanna and The Battle Cry of Freedom, sounding as clean and consistent as the video transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Simon Abrams (author of Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone). While not overly fact-checking the historical inaccuracies, Simon does talk about what was going on behind the scenes, where DeMille, Cooper and Arthur were in their careers and the evolution of their characters, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane. He quotes and paraphrasing from the stories by Courtney Ryley Cooper and Frank J. Wilstach on which the film is loosely based. He discusses why Gary Cooper was chosen for the role, how Mae West was considered for the role of Calamity Jane and much more. There is also a beat-up trailer for the film.

Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman is a fabulous western adventure with iconic characters. Typical of DeMille, the story has taken clear historical liberties but is notable for his exceptional handling of the many extras and large sets.The Plainsman is BIG and is carried to fruition with class - a lovely vintage film. I love seeing Jean Arthur in anything - ditto for Charles Bickford.  Some may notice that Anthony Quinn has an early acting role as an Indian. It's a film I was so glad to see via the exceptional HD presentation on the Kino Blu-ray. The Abrams commentary gives it further value and at the writing of this review it is priced right at 34% OFF. Strongly recommended! 

Gary Tooze