[Torsten Kaiser TLE]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

(THE 39 STEPS REVIEW TEXT)
(...)I do not quite know what to make of this Blu-ray release. I did some extensive comparisons during the last 48 hours with the Criterion R1 SDVD and at this point must conclude that a) either I received a defective screener of some sort or b) something went terribly wrong at ITV-Granada. As a result, instead of a high-definition transfer, what ended up on this disc is an upconverted standard-definition transfer. (...) Clarity and detail are also problematic. In fact, so much that I feel very comfortable stating that during a number of scenes the Criterion SDVD release actually looks a lot stronger.(...)

pro-bassoonist,

I have the Blu-ray in front of me here and have checked the image in comparison to the Criterion DVD and the Carlton R2 DVD issues having read your opinions.

Having done this I can state with absolute certainty that what you said (that THE 39 STEPS Blu-ray issue by Granada is an upconversion made from a Standard Definition master) is erroneous. The master and the Blu-ray encoding are, in fact, clearly native High Definition material.

So, why is THE 39 STEPS falling short vs many other B/W issues out on Blu-ray right now (THE THIRD MAN, CASABLANCA, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL) ?

First, these films were made much later, with different equipment, mostly much higher budgets and - and this is where it gets sad: the film elements that survived are on a much different generation and quality than this film and (unfortunately) so many others like it.
So, when it comes to THE 39 STEPS and many other Hitchock films of the early period several aspects need to be addressed with regard to film cameras/lenses used during filming, the copying process at the time and the film elements and the history they share. The most important aspect is this: All these (early 1930/40s) films were shot on nitrate stock; however, the fact that the very flammable materials were often the cause of massive fires have led to the fact that only few nitrate originals (be it the camera negative or fine grain) survived. In many cases, what was left was dupe neg or dupe positive or even only composite print materials. Most of these remaining materials were copied in a rush onto saftety stock (mostly diacetate) in the early 50s, sometimes with dire consequences. Many of these mintings were very poor, and all too often the nitrate was destroyed. What was left was the poor copy on 35mm.

On the other hand, there was the issue re: cameras and lenses. The quality of many films made around that time (1935) was not that great to begin with, either. The budget determined in many cases the quality of the image output, the copying process in the same way. That coypying process was all too often made directly off the camera negative, again, and again, and again. Protection masters such as fine grain were few and far between to begin with, and many were lost due to fires. That, on top, contributed often to the disaster that was inherited in the 1950s, when the remaining nitrate materials were copied again and the originals destroyed. This affected many productions in Hollywood, as well. Look no further than the Fred Astaire & Ginger Rodgers classics from RKO.

Now, having said all this, the Blu-ray edition is certainly no beauty queen, sure. But the problems are not due to any upconversions of any kind. There are clearly visible goofs that were caused in cleanup and the attempted "restoration" in the digital realm and static noise caused by the de-noiser has reduced the detail of the image to quite a degree. But in my view at least just as bad are instances where pieces of the image from one and the same frame was borrowed to be pasted onto the next aligning frames, causing that part of the image to freeze. Such is the case when Robert Donat's character buys his ticket to the music hall at the beginning of the picture - pay attention to his right arm. This is, unfortunately, is an issue that plagues many if not more titles from the ITV DVD line. Also, the master has quite a bit of bitdepth problems, as well. However, it has to be said that it is certainly NOT poorer than the DVD issues as was claimed in the review, not even close.