Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.

 

What do Patrons receive, that you don't?

 

1) Our weekly Newsletter sent to your Inbox every Monday morning!
2) Patron-only Silent Auctions - so far over 30 Out-of-Print titles have moved to deserved, appreciative, hands!
3) Access to over 50,000 unpublished screen captures in lossless high-resolution format!

 

Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much.


 

Search DVDBeaver

 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings")

directed by Howard Hawks
US 1939

Electrified by crackling dialogue and visual craftsmanship of the great Howard Hawks, Only Angels Have Wings stars Jean Arthur as a traveling entertainer who gets more than she bargained for during a stopover in a South American port town. There she meets a handsome and aloof daredevil pilot, played by Cary Grant, who runs an airmail company, staring down death while servicing towns in treacherous mountain terrain. Both attracted to and repelled by his romantic sense of danger, she decides to stay on, despite his protestations. This masterful and mysterious adventure, featuring Oscar-nominated special effects, high-wire aerial photography, and Rita Hayworth in a small but breakout role, explores Hawks’s recurring themes of masculine codes and the strong-willed women who question them.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 12th, 1939

Reviews                                                                      More Reviews                                                                 DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC vs. Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Covers

   

  

Also available by Criterion on Blu-ray in the UK a week later:
Distribution

Sony Pictures (from The Cary Grant Box Set Reviewed HERE)

Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC

 Criterion Collection - Spine #806 - Region 'A' Blu-ray
Runtime 2:00:48 2:01:15.268 
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.2 mb/s
 NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 45,533,265,288 bytes

Feature: 35,521,456,128 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 34.93 Mbps

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

Sony Pictures

 

Bitrate:

 

Criterion Blu-ray

 

Audio English (Dolby Digital 2.0)

LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles English, French, none English (SDH), none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Sony Pictures

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Angels: Made in Heaven
• Previews

DVD Release Date: February 7th, 2006
Keep case

Chapters 26
 

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 45,533,265,288 bytes

Feature: 35,521,456,128 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 34.93 Mbps

Edition Details:

• Audio excerpts from a 1972 conversation between filmmakers Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich (19:31)
• New interview with film critic David Thomson (17:04)
• Howard Hawks and His Aviation Movies, a new program featuring film scholars Craig Barron and Ben Burtt (20:51)
• Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, and Thomas Mitchell, and hosted by filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille (56:37)
• Trailer (2:45)
• PLUS: An essay by critic Michael Sragow

 Blu-ray Release Date: April 12th, 2016
Transparent Keep case

Chapter: 23

 

 

 

Comments

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

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray March 16': Wow - Criterion's new Blu-ray - is approaching 7X the bitrate of the DVD from Sony's Cary Grant Box Set from 2006 (reviewed HERE.) . The 1080P contrast is nicely layered, the image is darker than the SD, but the biggest attribute is the thick grain textures that give it a very film-like presentation. It ends up being a gigantic improvement over the old SD in-motion. The Criterion is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate and probably as good as the film will ever look for home theater consumption. Bravo.

Criterion utilize a linear PCM mono track in the original mono (24-bit). It is predictably flat with a tight high-end - the wonderful score is by the iconic Dimitri Tiomkin (Angel Face, Strangers on a  Train, The Men, Dial M For Murder, The Thing From Another World etc. etc.) and it sounds beautiful in the uncompressed transfer. There are optional English subtitles (SDH) on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Criterion add plenty of interesting excerpts with 20-minutes worth of audio excerpts from a 1972 conversation between filmmakers Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich in Palm Springs, California. There is a fabulous new, 18-minute, interview with film critic David Thomson that I wish was a full blown commentary and we also get Howard Hawks and His Aviation Movies, a new program featuring film scholars Craig Barron and Ben Burtt that runs about 20-minutes. There is an hour-long Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, and Thomas Mitchell, and hosted by filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. There is a, rough-looking, trailer in 1080i. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Michael Sragow.

What a wonderful film... the Criterion Blu-ray offers perfect a/v and is a package worthy of any vintage cinema digital library - fans of Hawks, Cary Grant, Jean Arthur etc. will be extremely pleased. Our highest  recommendation!

 -Gary Tooze

 Menus Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC

 

 

Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

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

 

Subtitle Sample

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

Box Covers

   

  

Also available by Criterion on Blu-ray in the UK a week later:
Distribution

Sony Pictures (from The Cary Grant Box Set Reviewed HERE)

Region 1, 2, 3, 4 - NTSC

 Criterion Collection - Spine #806 - Region 'A' Blu-ray

Hit Counter

Report Card:

 

Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray
Extras: Blu-ray




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Many Thanks...