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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

directed by Edmund Goulding
USA 1946

 

Screen legend Tyrone Power stars in this engaging classic based on W. Somerset Maugham’s best-selling novel.

Despite being offered an impressive job when he returns from World War I, Larry Darrell (Power) instead opts for the Paris bohemian lifestyle, followed by a soul-searching trip to the Far East. After his beautiful fiancée (Gene Tierney) loses patience with the spiritual seeker and marries a wealthy man, Larry finds himself drawn to Sophie (Anne Baxter in an OSCAR-Winning performance), an old friend. Newly widowed, Sophie has descended into alcoholism, a state from which Larry hopes to save her in this thought-provoking film nominated for four ACADEMY AWARDS, including Best Picture.

***

Screen legend Tyrone Power stars in this engaging classic based on W. Somerset Maugham's best-selling novel. Despite being offered an impressive job when he returns from World War I, Larry Darrell (Power) instead opts for the Paris bohemian lifestyle, followed by a soul-searching trip to the Far East. After his beautiful fiancée (Gene Tierney) loses patience with the spiritual seeker and marries a wealthy man, Larry finds himself drawn to Sophie (Anne Baxter in an OSCAR-Winning performance), an old friend. Newly widowed, Sophie has descended into alcoholism, a state from which Larry hopes to save her in this thought-provoking film Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

 

  Posters

Theatrical Release: November 19th, 1946

Reviews                                                       More Reviews                                                    DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Covers

 

  

Distribution 20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC

20th Century Fox

Region FREE  - Blu-ray

Signal One

Region 'B'  - Blu-ray

Runtime 2:24:45  2:24:56.729  2:24:56.521 
Video 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.1 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 45,261,998,861 bytes

Feature: 44,397,920,256 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.21 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,446,778,927 bytes

Feature: 22,820,238,720 bytes

Video Bitrate: 17.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate Fox: Blu-ray

Bitrate Signal One: Blu-ray

Audio English (Mono), English (Stereo), DUB: Spanish (Mono) 

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1089 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1089 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

LPCM Audio English 768 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -30dB

Subtitles English, Spanish, None English, Spanish, None English (SDH), None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• Commentary by Anthony Slide and Robert Birchard
• Fox Movie-Tone News (3 short features)
• 4-page liner notes with limited film info and poster

DVD Release Date: April 5th, 2005

Keep Case
Chapters: 28

Release Information:
Studio:
20th Century Fox
 

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 45,261,998,861 bytes

Feature: 44,397,920,256 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.21 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Commentary by Anthony Slide and Robert Birchard
• Fox Movie-Tone News (3 short features)


Blu-ray Release Date:
January 13th, 2015
Standard
Blu-ray Case
Chapters: 28

Release Information:
Studio:
Signal One
 

1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,446,778,927 bytes

Feature: 22,820,238,720 bytes

Video Bitrate: 17.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Commentary by Film Historians Anthony Slide and Robert Birchard
• Movietone News Footage (“Honouring Somerset Maugham’s Book”, Film Premiere and Oscar Presentation) (3:06)

PAL DVD

Blu-ray Release Date:
June 6th, 2022
Transparent
Blu-ray Case
Chapters: 22

 

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: (July 2022) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray: Signal One has transferred Edmund Goulding's "The Razor's Edge" for its premiere on UK Blu-ray. It's only single-layered and the 2.5 hour film can look a shade green beside the, now out-of-print, 2015 Fox Blu-ray. that always looked somewhat digitized to me. To be honest, I didn't notice this less robust transfer at all in my viewing but the contrast is inferior with a low-ish bitrate. It is still consistent and very clean.

Audio goes liner PCM mono - but only 16-bit as compared to the 24-bit lossless of the Fox HD presentation. There is surprisingly little background music of the score by Alfred Newman (The Gunfighter, Yellow Sky, The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, The Bravados, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Panic in the Streets, The Song of Bernadette etc. etc.) with other music from April Showers, a Traditional Scottish folk song sung a cappella by Elsa Lanchester, to pieces by director Edmund Goulding as well as Frédéric Chopin's Polonaise in A Flat Major (Heroic), Op. 53. It sounds fine if not having the deeper buoyancy of the Fox. Signal One also add optional English subtitles (although SDH) but their Blu-ray disc is Region 'B'-locked.

Supplements duplicate the Fox with the excellent commentary by Anthony Slide and Robert Birchard where they discuss the long takes, differences from the popular novel, the extensive extras (16,000?), Power, Tierney, Clifton Webb, Goulding, the history of the wedding gown used in the film (designed by Tierney's future husband Oleg Cassini), the proposed but rejected intermission and much more. We also have the Fox Movie-Tone News but there is a second disc PAL DVD included.

So, the Fox Blu-ray is unavailable - fetching big bucks in some auctions. The Signal One has an inferior a/v transfer but marginally more film-like and it the same extras. I had forgotten how informative the commentary is. I'm very glad I revisited the film with restless Larry Darrell (Tyrone Power) seeking meaning in his life after being traumatized as a pilot in the war - rejecting a conventional life. George Cukor was slated to direct but he wasn't keen on the screenplay. Somerset Maugham (played by Herbert Marshall) pushed for Gene Tierney. Betty Grable and Judy Garland were originally considered for the role of Sophie before Anne Baxter was cast. The Razor's Edge is a stacked film with extensive production values. A very worthwhile film and commentary for fans who missed out on the Fox BD.    

***

ADDITION: (January 2015) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray: A successful dual-layered transfer with a max'ed high bitrate for the 2.5 hour film. I was impressed by the SD back in 2005 but it does look greenish beside the new 1080P, which advances with richer black levels and the high resolution brings out the film's textures but it can tend to look a bit digitized. The source still has some light scratches and marks, plus a bit of contrast flickering but overall, in-motion, it looks quite good.

Included is an authentic DTS-HD Master mono track at 1089 kbps. It sounds clean, consistent and flat with the depth prevalent in the noble score by Alfred Newman (The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, A Letter to Three Wives, Panic in the Streets etc.) sounding majestic and brilliant. There are optional, white, subtitles (see below) on the Region FREE Blu-ray disc.

Extras mimic the DVD with the commentary by Anthony Slide and Robert Birchard and Fox Movie-Tone News but we lose the liner notes and poster image. What a great film - magnificent and one we can whole-heartedly recommend in this superior, if imperfect, HD release. I can't think of a reason not to own this film in your collection. 

***

ON THE DVD: I'm always swayed by Gene Tierney's beauty, but this is a decent image. Progressive, 1.33 ratio, film grain prevalent, good contrast and relatively sharp. Both English audio tracks seemed clear and defined to me, although I only test the stereo option briefly. I don't like the bright yellow subtitles, but they are readable and accurate. I'm about 2/5ths through the commentary and am enjoying the insights. This is great film with a universal theme still prevalent today.  

Gary W. Tooze


Menus

1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT


 

Signal One Region 'B'  - Blu-ray

 


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample

 

1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

2) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

2) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

Screen Captures

 


1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

2) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

2) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

2) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) 20th Century Fox - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

2) Signal One - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

More Fox Blu-ray Captures

Box Covers

 

  

Distribution 20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC

20th Century Fox

Region FREE  - Blu-ray

Signal One

Region 'B'  - Blu-ray

 

 





 

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