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

ADDITION: Studiocanal Blu-ray (October 2023): Studiocanal have transferred Zoltan Korda's Cry, the Beloved Country to Blu-ray. The restoration is cited as; "The 4K-16 bit scan was done by the BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE- U.K., using the 35mm Original Nitrate Negative. This Original Nitrate Negative has some Internegative and 35mm Reversible segments in it. Picture and sound restauration were then completed by VDM Laboratory - France. This project was brought to you by STUDIOCANAL and supervised by Delphine Roussel, Sophie Boyer and Jean-Pierre Boiget." Eric Cotenas reviewed an Umbrella PAL DVD of 1951's Cry, the Beloved Country HERE. We've compared a few captures below. The 1080P has about 7X the bitrate and is far more film-like, shows depth and superior contrast. The DVD has 4% PAL speedup. This HD presentation is fairly flawless - clean, textured and consistent. No negative impressions.

NOTE: We have added 52 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Studiocanal use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Cry, the Beloved Country has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth and score by Vietnamese-born, French violinist and composer, Raymond Gallois-Montbrun. Some may recognize Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, 'Pathetique': II. Adagio cantabile and Solomon Linda's Mbube (Take 2) performed by Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds. It's quite good, solemn music supporting the film well in the lossless transfer. Studiocanal offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Studiocanal Blu-ray offers a 35-minute video piece about Canada Lee by Mona Z Smith (author of Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee.) She discusses Lee as one of the most respected black actors of the forties and a tireless civil rights advocate. "Lee was unjustly dishonored, his name reduced to a footnote in the history of the McCarthy era, his death one of a handful directly attributable to the blacklist." There is also a 25-minute 1990 interview with Lionel Ngakane the South African filmmaker and actor, who lived in exile in the United Kingdom from the 1950s until 1994 - who then returned to South Africa after the end of apartheid. In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid runs shy of an hour and is Peter Davis and Daniel Riesenfeld's award-winning film that examines the role of cinema in both supporting and attacking apartheid. It includes newsreel footage of violence in South Africa and interviews with writers, directors, and actors. We also get African Mirror footage of the World Premiere and 3-minutes of "Africa: Alan Paton" from 1962 of footage of author Alan Paton was filmed in 1962 by Reuters, in anticipation of his being placed under house arrest by the South African government. Lastly is a 'behind the scenes stills' gallery.

Cry, the Beloved Country was Zoltan Korda's chance to express his admiration for African culture in 'undiluted form'. His nephew Michael Korda describes the film as "certainly his finest film, and the one he most cared about." Cry, the Beloved Country is marked as a memorable introduction to the evils of apartheid and was remade in 1995 with James Earl Jones and Richard Harris. Korda's 1951 adaptation of Alan Paton novel, was the first major film shot in South Africa (interiors filmed in the UK at Shepperton Studios.) South Africa had been under apartheid for three years at the time forcing stars Sidney Poitier and Canada Lee to be misrepresented to the immigration authorities that they were not actors but were Korda's indentured servants. It's a totally absorbing film experience and the Studiocanal Blu-ray is so welcome. It a great a/v presentation and is loaded with excellent extras. Very strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze