Sadly, Ron left (was sacked by) Paramount before being able to start on Funny Face for BD and before he had run final encode tune ups for Samson and Delilah. The DeMille was finished by Andrea Kalas who took over as VP Archive and Funny Face as far as I know was based on the earlier master (presumably 2k rather than 4k) which was done for the excellent SD Centenary version DVD. What we get from Kalas' team in the Blu-ray now is very good, but I cannot help thinking it should have been ramping up the quality - sharper, more control over the two or three fog filter scenes for depth, much more poppy color, and that incredible sense of depth and stability that Ron Smith brought to his own mastering of the VV titles (and the standard 1.85 Breakfast at Tiffanys.) There are only a handful of people doing mastering like Ron - James White, Dave Mackenzie and Lee Kline and Maria Palazzola at Criterion. They have the "magic touch" that the others can only envy and learn from.

I seem to be a lone voice on this, and of all the things to complain about these days it hardly seems like a major let down. " (Thanks David!)

The Blu-ray looks, sounds and advances on the supplements over the past SDs and for those keen on the film make it an easy purchase!

***

ADDITION: We've added the release from 2001 for comparison. I think some of David M.'s points below hold true for the new 50th Anniversary but I'd like to specifically embellish upon this:

'...it looks like Funny Face was given some sort of clean-up work...' -  this may be vastly understating it. With the captures below it is quite obvious the healthy degree of improvement the new 50th Anniversary DVD has over the older 2001 release. Colors and detail are remarkably superior and artifacts are significantly removed from the image. The new DVD is smoother and better in every visual area. The older had some reddish skin tones and plenty of marks and damage (usually in the last frames of each scene). In a few scenes the new transfer shows less information in the frame - surprising.  The new may be one of the better looking discs, and most advanced improvements in SD (over older editions), for the year 2007.

The older release offered no DUBs but the same 2.0 and 5.1 channel tracks. The new, it should be noted, was also region 4 - and is set to sell in South America as well (hence it offers Portuguese and Spanish subtitles - as well as French).

As David M. noted the old edition included the, hardly relative, “Paramount in the 1950s” featurette where the new has those featurettes.

The bottom line is that the Anniversary SD improves in all areas and quite dramatically in the image. Certainly for only $4 more (and less than $15 total) it is a ridiculous bargain.

Gary Tooze

***

DAVID M. ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY: Video: I no longer have the first R1 DVD since I gave it to my sister, but looking at a review that I wrote, it seems that the video quality left much to be desired. I wrote that the previous DVD had a lot of white spackles and that the colors of certain objects (such as the doors at the offices of “Quality” magazine) seem to change for no reason. Some objects can’t make up their minds as to whether or not they want to be pink or orange during the “Think Pink” scene. The soft-focus lenses used for outdoor scenes create gelatinous bubbles enveloping the dancing Hepburn and Astaire. I couldn’t help but laugh as the actors resemble floating Jell-O packets sometimes.

As with To Catch a Thief, another VistaVision title from Paramount’s 1950s run, it looks like Funny Face was given some sort of clean-up work, including color correction. I don’t know if a restoration of the film elements took place, but the movie looks surprisingly clean and detailed. The new DVD (also 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen) solves most of the color problems, though shots with extreme soft focus probably could not be saved from looking like Vaseline sculptures.

Audio:
A newly-created Dolby Digital 5.1 English track is available, but purists might opt for the restored DD 2.0 English original mono track (single channel doubled to the left and right front speakers). Surround use is virtually non-existent; the audio is very front-heavy. The bass makes an appearance only during some of the song-and-dance numbers, though most of the aggressive effects are flat or even muffled due to the limited dynamic range of the movie’s production period. The DD 5.1 track does open up the sound field of the film, but given the age of the original elements, Funny Face will not test your audio system’s limits.

You can also watch the movie with DD 2.0 mono French, Spanish, and Portuguese dubs. Optional English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.

Extras:
Funny Face receives two new extras for its second DVD bow in Region 1. First up is “The Fashion Designer and His Muse”, which details Audrey Hepburn’s professional collaboration with Hubert Givenchy. “Parisian Dreams” is a sort of “making of” featurette that is fairly different from what I’m used to seeing. A couple of talking heads talk about the themes and the use of Paris as a mythical place for romance.

The remaining extras were ported from the previous DVD edition. The “Paramount in the 1950s” featurette has little to do with Funny Face itself aside from the fact that the film was made by the studio during the stated time period. You also get a photo gallery and the movie’s original theatrical trailer.

 - David McCoy