The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)
Madame de…
Drama, Romance • 1h 45m
Director: Max Ophüls
Cast: Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio De Sica, Jean Debucourt, Jean Galland, Mireille Perrey, Paul Azaïs, Jacques Josselin, Hubert Noël, Lia Di Leo, Gérard Buhr, Jean Toulout, Madeleine Barbulée, Charles Bayard, Jacques Beauvais, Jean Degrave, Claire Duhamel, Guy Favières, Émile Genevois, Serge Lecointe, Franck Maurice, Daniel Mendaille, Albert Michel, Robert Moor, Max Mégy, Georges Paulais, Léon Pauléon, Colette Régis, Louis Saintève, Michel Salina, Germaine Stainval, Roger Vincent, Georges Vitray, Léon Walther, René Worms
Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago
Overview
In France of the late 19th century, the wife of a wealthy general, the Countess Louise, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off debts; she claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, & her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, work done to un-Nolan the 4K master, the first ever appearance of the 35mm mono track on physical media and a new restoration/remastering of the 70mm 6-track mix.
(early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, new restoration of mono mix which should be better than what was on the WB 4K Blu-ray and 1999 DVD and revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1971.
WB 4K 5.1: a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: 4K Blu-ray/1999 DVD
Director: Stanley Kubrick
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, both the US and the International Cut, new restoration/remastering of the mono mix which should be better than the 1999 WB DVD, revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1980 and for the first time ever on physical media, the film will be in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.
The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Directors: Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell
Imprint 4K Blu-ray
Sources: filmalert101.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
FiM encode and none of the low-pass filtering present on the Criterion 4K, resulting in more detail and better handling of highlights on Imprint https://filmalert101.blogspot.com/2026/09/on-4k-uhd-david-hare-rhapsodizes-over.html?m=1
Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Video format: 4K Streaming
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal 4K
Director: Max Ophüls
French version: Criterion Blu-ray (Carlotta has no English subtitles)
German version: Filmmuseum DVD
Sources: cinema-scope.com (opens in a new tab) · fredcamper.com (opens in a new tab) · sensesofcinema.com (opens in a new tab)
French version: 2020 Carlotta Blu-ray
German version: Filmmuseum DVD
Carlotta Films corrects the mistakes of Criterion due to the compression on dark scenes and gives the gorgeous transfer of the restoration a better encode/compression and more bitrate.
The German cut, titled Lola Montez, is considered by Ophüls scholars such as Jonathan Rosenbaum, Dan Sallitt and Tag Gallagher to be superior to the French cut. It has only been reissued on the Filmmuseum DVD.
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
2017 Olive Films Signature Blu-ray
(Jokers 4K Blu-ray has forced France subs)
The Jokers 4K Blu-ray
The Jokers 4K Blu-ray has raised black levels/gamma issue, good when fixed
1992 Republic Pictures LaserDisc
Video format: 4K Streaming
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Film Masters youtube (raw scan)
Director: Dennis Hopper
BFI Blu-ray renders grain structure better than Severin 4K Blu-ray’s disappointing encode, although Severin does feature an HDR grading with Dolby Vision. Furthermore, Severin’s soundtrack is worse due to the noise reduction applied.
Severin 4K Blu-ray has very good extras that are more relevant to the film
Director: Jan Švankmajer
Directors: Cecil M. Hepworth & Percy Stow
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Director: John Cassavetes
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