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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

directed by William A. Wellman
USA 19
39

 

From William A. Wellman, the acclaimed director of Wings, The Public Enemy, Nothing Sacred, The Ox-Bow Incident, Yellow Sky and The High and the Mighty, comes this epic adventure starring screen legends Gary Cooper (The General Died at Dawn), Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend), Robert Preston (Junior Bonner) and Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!). Cooper, Milland and Preston are Beau, John and Digby Geste, three brothers who join the Foreign Legion to escape a troubled past only to find themselves trapped under the command of the sadistic Sergeant Markoff (Brian Donlevy, The Great McGinty) deep in the scorching Sahara. Now the brothers must fight for their lives as they plot mutiny against tyranny and defend a desert fortress against a brutal enemy. The stellar cast includes J. Carrol Naish (Joan of Arc), Albert Dekker (Dr. Cyclops), Broderick Crawford (Night People) and Donald O’Connor (Singin’ in the Rain). Beau Geste has been universally acclaimed by generations of critics and audiences alike as a true motion picture classic and was nominated for two Oscars: Actor in a Supporting Role (Donlevy) and Art Direction (Hans Dreier, Robert Odell).

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Academy Award winners Gary Cooper and Ray Milland star along with Robert Preston in the epic adventure Beau Geste. When three brothers join the Foreign Legion to escape a troubled past, they find themselves trapped under the command of a sadistic sergeant deep in the scorching Sahara. Now the brothers must fight for their lives as they plot mutiny against tyranny and defend a desert fortress against a brutal enemy. Nominated for 2 Academy Awards, Beau Geste has been universally acclaimed by generations of critics and audiences alike as a true motion picture classic.

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 2nd, 1939

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Universal - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

  

Beau Geste can also be purchased in the Universal Gary Cooper Collection Boxset with Design for Living / Peter Ibbetson / The Lives of a Bengal Lancer and The General Died at Dawn reviewed by DVDBeaver HERE

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Universal Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:53:04        1:53:04.944
Video 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 8.45 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 37,725,444,725 bytes

Feature: 35,442,714,624 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.93 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 Blu-ray:

Audio English (Dolby Digital mono)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English, French, Spanish, None English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Universal

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• Trailer (1:27)

DVD Release Date: July 7th, 2009

Keep Case
Chapters: 18

 

Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 37,725,444,725 bytes

Feature: 35,442,714,624 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by William Wellman Jr. and Historian Frank Thompson
• Theatrical Trailer (1:28 in SD)


Blu-ray Release Date:
April 7th, 2020
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 13

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2020): Kino have transferred William A. Wellman's Beau Geste to Blu-ray. It is from a "Brand New 4K Master". It dramatically advances on the darker (and green-cast_ SD transfer from over 10-years ago. It can look a bit waxy and very glossy at times - I am still on the fence about possible digitization - it does look awfully 'flat' at times but there appears to be good grain when you zoom-in. There are some vertical surface scratches - mostly frame-specific. Without bringing out the magnifying glass, it looks fabulous in-motion on my system. Like a grand new film. Such an important film - and great to have a 4K restoration in 1080P.

NOTE: We have added 37 large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It sounds quite clean with buoyancy - decent depth in the battle sequences. There is a dramatic score by Alfred Newman (Panic in the Streets, Heaven Can Wait, Man Hunt, Cry of the City, The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Song of Bernadette)  sounding rousing and noble at times. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has new audio commentary by William Wellman Jr. and historian Frank Thompson (author of William A. Wellman - Filmmakers Series). Wellman Jr. tells us that this is one of the greatest adventure films of the golden age of Hollywood - agreed! He introduces Frank Thompson as one of the foremost authorities, in the world, on Beau Geste of which he describes the film as his introduction to history, the French Foreign Legion, how he had been to the shooting location 6 times, and eventually found the exact spot where he found many cartridges. I enjoyed when Wellman Jr. related an interesting story about Donald O'Conner - who plays 'Beau Geste' as a child - and his displeasure about being embarrassed by Sr. while acting in Beau Geste. This caused him to reject being in the director's 1949 Battleground or giving Jr. an interview. This commentary will appeal to many - especially those keen on the production aspect of Beau Geste. There is also an SD theatrical trailer and trailers for other films.

Beau Geste is an amazing adventure film with an all-star cast - Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, Albert Dekker, Broderick Crawford etc.  It has the effective, competent direction of master William A. Wellman and a impressive production values. The Kino Blu-ray has one of the great adventure films from the 30s in a 4K-restoted 1080P transfer - with an expert commentary! For me, it's a keeper.

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD (November 2009): Wake up Universal. You're not showing a lot of respect for your the purchasers of your product. This appears to be the exact same transfer as the 2005 Gary Cooper Movie Collection Boxset. - which you can get for a whopping $2.50 more.... but that package also includes 4 other great films including Ernst Lubitschs' 1933 masterpiece Design For the Living. What type of money-grab is this? am I missing something ??!?!? is this just to get it in its own keep case?

Fantastic film and a decent, if green-leaning, transfer that still has some light marks and scratches, flickering contrast, and similarly weak audio indicative of its age (yeah - that's right - 70-years!). The only supplement is trailer.

Don't buy this stand-alone edition. Buy the Gary Cooper Movie Collection Boxset which offers infinitely better dollar value. I'd like to know, just who, at Universal, is deciding this, single disc, price of $18? This is wrong.   

Gary W. Tooze

 


Universal - Region 1 - NTSC

 

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


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

 

1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

  


 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

  

Beau Geste can also be purchased in the Universal Gary Cooper Collection Boxset with Design for Living / Peter Ibbetson / The Lives of a Bengal Lancer and The General Died at Dawn reviewed by DVDBeaver HERE

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Universal Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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