Jack MacGowran

10 films on Best Blurays3 in 4K7 in HD

John Joseph "Jack" MacGowran (October 13, 1918 – January 31, 1973) was an Irish character actor, whose last film role was as the alcoholic director Burke Dennings in The Exorcist. He was probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack MacGowran , licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Biography from Wikipedia via TMDB

By format

List

3 in 4K

UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming

The Exorcist (1973)

Supporting role · Director: William Friedkin

4K · Solid

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

WB 4K Blu-ray retains the revisionist colors with minor tweaks, has OG mono

Best Audio:

Theatrical: 1985 WB LaserDisc (mono). 1997 WB DVD has the 1979 70mm reissue remix.

4.0

The Gentle Gunman (1952)

Small role · Director: Basil Dearden

4K · Excellent

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Excellent 4K master and encode, except for opticals grain is very fine, grading is beautifully silvery and luminous, nice HDR re-grade by Fidelity in Motion

3.3

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

Small role · Director: Charles Crichton

4K · Excellent

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

The old discs use a significantly worse transfer with faded colors, color fringing and a strong green tint throughout.

7 in HD

Blu-ray or HD streaming

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

Leading role · Director: Roman Polanski

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

3.3

Cul-de-sac (1966)

Supporting role · Director: Roman Polanski

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

3.6

A Day at the Beach (1970)

Supporting role · Director: Simon Hesera

Best English-Friendly:

Indicator Blu-ray

3.3

The Giant Behemoth (1959)

Supporting role · Directors: Douglas Hickox & Eugène Lourié

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

2.8

Tom Jones (1963)

Supporting role · Director: Tony Richardson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion/BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion/BFI Blu-ray no comparisons, both have theatrical and directors cut

2.9

The Quiet Man (1952)

Small role · Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2023 Paramount Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2023 Paramount Blu-ray or Eureka MoC Blu-ray

Additional Info:

USA Paramount has the best video transfer with the least amount of artifacts: https://slow.pics/c/sjZ3mqF6

Olive Films Blu-ray and Eureka MoC Blu-ray are sourced from the same restoration and are both very good.

Apart from some mild attenuation, the audio is the same on all releases of the newest restoration and is relatively untampered with: https://slow.pics/c/bWF9EGuM

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Small role · Director: David Lean

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Dec 1st

4.0

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