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

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (June 2023): Imprint have transferred Elliott Nugent's The Great Gatsby to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Once considered a lost film, the master was found in 2012 and has been lovingly restored. Here for the first time, the film is presented in high definition from a new 4K scan." The 1080P image is characterized by plenty of speckles and frame-specific marks as well as lusciously abundant grain textures. The HD presentation is a little rough but looked contrast appeared okay on my system - forgiving the compromised source that require a film-level restoration.

NOTE: We have added 66 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Great Gatsby has plenty of party/crowd moments and one very aggressive violent sequence. The score was by Robert Emmett Dolan (Sorrowful Jones, Monsieur Beaucaire Murder He Says, The Major and the Minor, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, The Bells of St. Mary's, My Son John, The Three Faces of Eve) that permeates The Great Gatsby with a somber tone. It has consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Imprint offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray offers a new commentary by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney. He states that F. Scott Fitzgerald is his favorite author (one of his son's middle names is 'Fitzgerald') and he considers The Great Gatsby the great American novel. Of all the film adaptations he considers this 1940 version has the most intriguing interpretation. He breaks down some of the major changes to the film from the novel, why they occurred, the censorship battles ('low moral tone', adultery, manslaughter, excess use of liquor) including the very first scene, the production decisions of The Great Gatsby's by producer Richard Maibaum, compromises, the eye advertisement of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg and so much more. It's an exceptional commentary. Also included is Gene Feldman + Suzette Winter's 1999, almost hour-long, documentary Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man. It offers input from Edward Dmytryk, Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Alan Ladd, son David Ladd, Lizabeth Scott and many others discussing Ladd's childhood and a family tragedy referencing his notable films: This Gun For Hire, The Glass Key, The Blue Dahlia, Whispering Smith, and, of course, Shane. Lizabeth Scott has been quite a recluse so it was interesting to see her. Included is 22-minutes of Professor Sarah Churchill on The Great Gatsby and a 1/4 hour of Film Critic / Writer Christina Newland (She Found it at the Movies: Women Writers on Sex, Desire and Cinema) on the title. Lastly is a 25-minute interview with Alan Ladd's son, David Ladd, conducted by Alan K. Rode where they discuss 'Gatsby's failure', 'Gatsby's importance to the Ladd family', his father's early Hollywood career, Michael Curtiz (The Proud Rebel) and 'Successes at Paramount studios'. Good stuff.

Elliott Nugent's (The Cat and the Canary) film version of The Great Gatsby was the second cinematic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, after the, now-lost, 1926 silent version - making this the first sound adaptation. As Time Out says; "...the casting of Alan Ladd as Gatsby, so much more convincing as a man with a dark and mysterious past than one-dimensional glamour-puss Robert Redford". I concur. I enjoyed how Alan K. Rode makes the brief case for Noir conventions in the supplements (John F. Seitz cinematography.) I was very keen to see the 1949 The Great Gatsby on Imprint Blu-ray. Fans of the a dark cinema mainstay, Ladd, will want to see this. An imperfect image but I was thankful to see the film at all in 1080P. The extras are advanced and offer tremendous value from the commentary, hour-long documentary and Gatsby views by Sarah Churchill and Christina Newland. Absolutely recommended to the right crowd. Wonderful.  

Gary Tooze