Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Music, Romance, Comedy • 1h 42m
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Frank Morgan, Ian Hunter, Florence Rice, Lynne Carver, Ann Morriss, Trixie Firschke, Libby Taylor, George Chandler, Gladys Blake, Mary Field, Irving Bacon, James Flavin, Joe Yule, Charlotte Arren, Johnny Broderick, Bess Flowers, Carol Adams, Barbara Jo Allen, Bobby Barber, Herman Bing, Mel Blanc, Don Brodie, Paul E. Burns, Chick Collins, James Conaty, Joseph Crehan, John Daheim, Bobbie Canvin, Jeanne Darrell, Patt Hyatt, Alice Ludes, Hal K. Dawson, Edgar Dearing, Sayre Dearing, Jean Del Val, Eddie Hall, Henry Hebert, Shep Houghton, Arthur Stuart Hull, Harry Lash, Hal Le Sueur, David Lloyd, Alphonse Martell, Frank McLure, Bert Moorhouse, Douglas McPhail, Jack Mulhall, John T. Murray, Wanda Perry, Tom Quinn, Suzanne Ridgway, Cyril Ring, Mel Ruick, Gertrude Simpson, Walter Soderling, Larry Steers, William Tannen, Russell Wade, E. Alyn Warren, Denny Wilson, Blair Woolstencroft
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About the film
Johnny Brett and King Shaw are an unsuccessful dance team in New York. A producer discovers Brett as the new partner for Clare Bennett, but Brett, who thinks he is one of the people they lent money to, gives him the name of his partner.
- Alternative Titles
- Broadway Melody of 1940
Director: Norman Taurog
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Vincent Sherman
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: George Pal
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Compton Bennett
4K restoration from original technicolor negatives
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
More Music on Blu-ray
Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang
"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Director: Damien Chazelle
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
US Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray re-release announced with Dolby Vision, a new exclusive bonus, and the previously retailer pre-order bonus-exclusive/Hong Kong-exclusive bonus interviews in HD
Italy Eagle Pictures has DV, better encode, and no brightness shifts compared to Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray for the original Dolby Atmos mix
Hong Kong Panorama 4K Blu-ray has two interviews available in HD that are SD everywhere else and only included as retailer-exclusive pre-order bonus DVDs with the US Blu-ray
Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
UK StudioCanal UHD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Morton DaCosta
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Nov 24th
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Shout Factory Blu-ray
Shout's BD has both cuts of the film in addition to the 3.0 stereo and 2.0 mono mixes making it the first time the full theatrical cut is available with the 3.0 mix. The new commentary is good. The 3.0 stereo sounds wonderful and the mono sounds solid.
That's where the positives end. This is the same terrible Universal DVD master slapped on a Blu-ray disc with a terrible encode making both versions share the disc separately taking up more space. This master was already poor for DVD and is nearly unwatchable here on the Shout disc. It looks virtually identical to the upscaled DVD most of the time with only a bit less noise due to it being 1080p. This is one of the most appalling cases of "DVD master slapped on a Blu-ray disc" you can possibly find. Absolutely shameful video presentation. This should have never been released this way. Sadly it's still ever so slightly better than the DVD and the only way you get the proper theatrical cut with lossless 3.0 stereo. This is still the best source we have for the film.
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