"Marnie" 1964 Blu-Ray release

[David Alp]

I watched my new Blu-Ray release of "Marnie" (1964) with 'Tippi' Hedren. I bought the UK Boxed version that includes an assortment of 15 of Hitchcock's finest films on Blu-Ray; (some for the very first time). My UK version did not include "North By Northwest" which I believe the US version of this same box-set did include. [see pic below]. But that's okay because the BBC broadcast the film in HD last year and I recorded it to my hard-drive, so I do have it.

Anyway; "Marnie" is one of my favourites, because it has that "feel" of a really expensive Hitchcock Technicolor masterpiece. And some of Bernard Herrmann's music is very much like the music in "Vertigo" which happens to be my ultimate favourite.

My main quibble with this feature was the film grain. It was highly apparent; and very very coarse throughout the entire picture? Even my partner (who knows nothing about films) suddenly burst out with "Hey what's wrong with the picture?" -- and I said "What do you mean?" -- and the reply was "Well it's all mottled and foggy" -- so I just replied "I don't know?"

But I'm glad it wasn't just me who noticed it. When I once taped this film off TV (in the 1990's) it was not all grainy like this; so I'm wondering if per chance it is supposed to look this way (as per the Blu-Ray?) but for the life of me, I can't think what the reason would be? I mean one would think that with blu-ray, that's the way the Director intended it to look, and maybe my 90's copy from TV was dumbed down in some way using a softening tool? But then I started thinking that maybe the film's negative needed cleaning up because I noticed a few other people had noted the heavy film grain on other sites. Can anyone shed any light on why "Marnie" looks this way? Is it supposed to look this way?

Oh by the way! Did Christopher ever do an in depth synopsis on this collection on the HD Movies Guide thread? I have looked; but I can't find anything?

[coolcatdaddy]

There's been quite a bit of discussion about the mastering of some of the titles in this set and how grainy they are, particularly "Marnie", "Frenzy" and "Family Plot".

Robert Harris in one forum made the conjecture that Universal created the HD masters for these some time ago and they were approved for the dvd releases, but weren't adequate for use on blu-ray with the lower resolution of dvd hiding some of the faults and some digital "futzing" done on them to try to make them work for the blu-ray.

Keep in mind that some of the catalogue we're seeing pop up on blu-ray and hi-def streaming or broadcast were 2K or 4K scans done some time ago when the technology was new. Studios might not see the sales or licensing numbers justifying a revisit of the material with new scans and a new round of work on color grading and getting rid of scratches or dust on the elements all over again.

Overall, I'm happy with the set - even "Marnie" - when compared with the dvd releases. It's a bit of a trade-off - with more resolution, you get more grain, and you can see that there's some digital noise reduction and color problems. The dvd is like having a nice 8mm print; the blu-ray is like having an imperfect 16mm print.

[David Alp]

Thank you "CoolCatDaddy". Yes I noticed the same problem with "Frenzy" although it wasn't so apparent as with "Marnie", (partly due to the dull grey English weather), and also, with "Frenzy" I just put it down to them using the Technicolor system of 1972, which I believe was not 3-strip? I believe it was some kind of mono-pack? Meaning just one strip of film going through the camera and capturing all the colours? (Am I right in saying that they used that sort of Technicolor film by 1972? Some expert would have to step in because I'm not familiar with what they used in the 1970's) - But I thought in 1964 they were still using the beautiful traditional 3-strip Technicolor system, that has garnered such STUNNING results in every single one of Hitch's Technicolor films from "Rope" in 1948 onwards? Perhaps I am wrong, and "Marnie" was shot using a different film stock?

But anyway: "Rope", (1948), "Rear Window" (1954), "The Trouble With Harry" (1955), "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), "Vertigo" (1958), "North By Northwest" (1959), and "The Birds" (1963) - all have to be seen to be believed because they have done an incredible job on those seven titles regarding the Technicolor restorations! I mean my eyes were literally popping out because I have never seen these films look so good.... Especially "Rope", which is quite old now, and yet it looked like it was shot yesterday. (I can't comment on "Under Capricorn", "Dial M For Murder" or "To Catch A Thief" because they are not included, and I have not seen them on TV as yet.) But those seven restored titles are just top knotch restorations, with sharp as a knife picture quality; stunningly saturated colour; all dirt particles removed, fine grain, deep inky blacks, and highly stabilized picture.

[earlytalkie]

Actually, the final film to use the traditional 3-strip Technicolor was the 1955 Universal release FOXFIRE. The "monopack" Technicolor system, more economical came in after that.

[s.w.a.c.]

Who even owns Under Capricorn now? I have a DVD of it that was released by Image, and it's OK but not stellar. I'm guessing it would take some major restoration work to get it up to snuff, but it seems to be something of an orphan title in the Hitchcock filmography.