Samson and Delilah (Cecil B. DeMille)

[pro-bassoonist]

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT:

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Legendary director Cecil B. DeMille’s epic masterpiece SAMSON AND DELILAH makes its long-awaited DVD debut on March 12, 2013 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles, SAMSON AND DELILAH tells the story of the Bible’s fabled strongman and the woman who seduces and betrays him. The film brings to life Samson’s incredible feats, including his battle with a lion, his single-handed assault on a thousand Philistine soldiers, his struggle with a giant and finally the spectacular climax in which he pulls down the pagan temple. But it is Delilah’s quest for revenge and ability to bring down even the mighty Samson that drive this thrilling and powerful story. The lavish production earned five Academy Award® nominations and won for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The film also stars venerable actors George Sanders, Angela Lansbury and Henry Wilcoxon.

Sometimes referred to as DeMille’s rehearsal for The Ten Commandments, SAMSON AND DELILAH was enormously popular around the world upon its release in 1949. Over 60 years later, the original film elements required significant work in order to return the film to the vibrant masterpiece that had so thrilled theater audiences. The original nitrate three-strip Technicolor negatives were scanned in 4K, and the three strip image was registered, cleaned and color corrected in 4K. In addition, DeMille’s original nitrate print was used in order to complete the original music overture and special effect work was done to clean up original optical images, a particularly tricky three-strip challenge. Finally, the original mono audio track was cleaned up and restored.

Interestingly, the restoration team noticed a shimmer effect in some of the scenes. Since they were simultaneously restoring Sunset Boulevard, they looked at production photos of Norma Desmond’s visit to the SAMSON AND DELILAH set and saw the enormously powerful lights that were required for the Technicolor production. This explained the shimmer effect, which was left intact.

Arriving just in time for Easter, the SAMSON AND DELILAH DVD will be presented in full screen with English Mono Dolby Digital, French Mono Dolby Digital and Spanish Mono Dolby Digital, as well as English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Pro-B

[bluknight1]

Dvd only??? This is 2012!!! And with a 4k master there is absolutely no excuse for not releasing this on Blu ray!

[pro-bassoonist]

I am only posting the press releases. That's all

But I agree with you, a Blu-ray would have been appreciated, with or without a 4K scan.

Pro-B

[bluknight1]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

I am only posting the press releases. That's all

But I agree with you, a Blu-ray would have been appreciated, with or without a 4K scan.

Pro-B

I would also like to mention that Audio Mechanics posted on their website a while back that they did the audio restoration work for Samson and Delilah and that it would be released on DVD and Blu-ray. Both formats. But I guess you can't take their word for it since they ultimately don't make decisions on home media.

Also, since Blu-ray has such a large market, wouldn't Paramount want to cater to both DVD AND Blu-ray users? I feel that they would turn a much greater profit which would help offset the cost of such a comprehensive restoration.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by bluknight1

I would also like to mention that Audio Mechanics posted on their website a while back that they did the audio restoration work for Samson and Delilah and that it would be released on DVD and Blu-ray. Both formats. But I guess you can't take their word for it since they ultimately don't make decisions on home media.

I understand. But we received the press release and I only posted it here. So, unless they made a mistake, it is a DVD only release.

I post here so that the guys could see what is coming on DVD as well as we do not have a DVD section on the main page.

Unfortunately, this does not look like an error as the press release mentions multiple times DVD only.

A Combo-pack would have been great.

Pro-B

[drak b]

Originally Posted by bluknight1

Dvd only??? This is 2012!!! And with a 4k master there is absolutely no excuse for not releasing this on Blu ray!

I couldn't agree more! I saw the announcement in a ClassicFlix email and figured that they must have just made an error in not listing the BR release. What are they thinking? Unless this is an error (hopefully!), I'll pass until they release their 4K scan in a format that makes sense...

[bluknight1]

Still no BD anouncement! Wake up, Paramount! In fact, supposedly this DVD has sold out at some places where it's been sold. Look now Paramount! The market is greater than you think!

[filmmusic]

I just found out about this DVD!!
Wow, it looks fantastic judging from the screenshots!
I am also looking forward to a Bluray!!!

[Arkadin]

I'll be passing on getting the dvd because the hd stream will obviously look far better.
that's just the sad reality of things.
what a joke that there is no bd at present.
(I still think a bd from somewhere is inevitable eventually)