Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Comedy, Crime, Drama • 2h 3m
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison Roddan, Robert Lewis, Audrey Betz, Martha Raye, Ada May, Isobel Elsom, Marjorie Bennett, Helene Heigh, Margaret Hoffman, Marilyn Nash, Irving Bacon, Edwin Mills, Virginia Brissac, Almira Sessions, Eula Morgan, Bernard Nedell, Charles Evans, William Frawley, Arthur Hohl, Barbara Slater, Fritz Leiber, Vera Marshe, Christine Ell, Lois Conklin, Richard Abbott, Ed Agresti, Warren Ashe, Gertrude Astor, John Breen, Ralph Brooks, James Carlisle, Wheaton Chambers, Julius Cramer, James Craven, Joseph Crehan, Oliver Cross, Russell Custer, Albert D'Arno, Daniel de Jonghe, George Dee, Josette Deegan, Jack Deery, Cyril Delevanti, Wheeler Dryden, Elspeth Dudgeon, Dick Earle, Ella Ethridge, Herbert Evans, Franklyn Farnum, Tom Ferrandini, Charles Fogel, George Ford, Raoul Freeman, Rudy Germane, Joe Gilbert, Dick Gordon, Herschel Graham, Joseph Granby, Stuart Hall, Sam Harris, Adolf Hitler, Boyd Irwin, Fred Karno Jr., Colin Kenny, Bert LeBaron, Ruth Lee, Ethelreda Leopold, Carl M. Leviness, Leota Lorraine, Robert Locke Lorraine, Therese Lyon, Wilbur Mack, Lester Matthews, Clyde McLeod, Harold Miller, Hans Moebus, Ralph Montgomery, Benito Mussolini, Paul Newlan, Barry Norton, Louis Payne, Albert Petit, Hamil Petroff, Foster H. Phinney, Catherine Price, Edna Purviance, Frank Reicher, Greg Rhinelander, Addison Richards, Suzanne Ridgway, Jeffrey Sayre, Carlo Schipa, Wallace Scott, William Self, C. Montague Shaw, Millard Sherwood, Bert Stevens, Nanette Vallon, Herb Vigran, Charles Wagenheim, Pierre Watkin, Eric Wilton
Best video release
Criterion, 2k transfer
About the film
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.
- TSPDT
- 2026: #3262025: #3182024: #3092023: #3192022: #319
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1928 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
1969 version: Criterion Blu-ray > UK Artificial Eye Blu-ray, see DVDBeaver caps.
Japan Kadokawa Blu-ray is the same as AE BD and inferior to Criterion too
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1936 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · nitrateville.com (opens in a new tab)
Cut info: https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=31209
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Theatrical: Image Entertainment LaserDisc International: Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2000 Image Entertainment DVD
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
4k restoration. Superior to Germany Kinowelt or Japan Kadokawa, see caps-a-holic
2000 Image Entertainment DVD
Director: Charlie Chaplin
BFI or Flicker Alley Charlie Chaplin Mutual Comedies Blu-ray boxsets
BFI or Flicker Alley Charlie Chaplin Mutual Comedies Blu-ray boxsets use the same restoration, no comparison available
BFI Blu-ray has commentaries while Flicker Alley doesn't
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
And it has both 1925 version and 1942 version
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1921 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
1923 version: Image Entertainment DVD. 1976 version: Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
1923 version: Image Entertainment DVD 1976 version: Criterion Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed. The compression is better, but some of the grain is lost. Difference is pronounced in screen caps, but not likely to be noticed during playback, without a reference to compare it to. Comparisons
All discs use the same source transfer. It's not of the highest quality, and it includes some slight distortion, looping, clicks, pops, and hum. Criterion cleaned it up for their release, but unfortunately also lost a lot of fidelity in the process.
MGM NTSC DVD doesn't seem to have some of the more prominent distortion and has slightly different EQ but is otherwise the same.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K / Capelight 4K
1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered
Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice
Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.
DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Janus and thus Criterion likely to release 4K Blu-ray in 2027
Director: Hal Ashby
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
See caps https://slow.pics/c/lVdZaG0W
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal's 4K release is similar in encode quality, but has significant glitches in multiple frames. See comparisons 9-16 here: https://slow.pics/c/YkSVb3Ey
The pitch of the StudioCanal 4K's English audio is too high
Criterion has more extras than StudioCanal.
Director: Jacques Tati
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: William Dieterle
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Edit history
No edit history available
Maintained by the community
· last reviewed 1 year ago
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