Best Blurays IconBest Blurays
Films
/
Child of Manhattan (1933)
Child of Manhattan (1933) poster
Letterboxd

Child of Manhattan (1933)

Drama, Romance • 1h 10m

Overview

Paul Vanderkill is extraordinarily wealthy because his grandfather happened to buy farmland in what was to become Midtown Manhattan. The Loveland Dance Hall is one of the tenants of the Vanderkill estates. To reassure his aunt Sophie, Vanderkill visits Loveland to determine whether it is as disreputable as Sophie suspects. There he meets a dime-a-dance girl, Madeleine MacGonagal, who charms him with her quaint proletarian accent. They begin a secret affair, which turns into a secret marriage when pregnancy ensues. When the baby fails to survive, Madeleine decides that since he had married her only for the baby's sake, she should make haste to Mexico to secure a divorce. There she meets Panama Canal Kelly, a former suitor who now owns a silver mine. Her plans for divorce and quick remarriage are complicated when Vanderkill arrives to confront her.

Director: Edward Buzzell

Best Video Release

Unofficial DVD

Format

Only Unofficial Sources

Featured Lists

External Links

Length

70 mins

Type

Movie

Last Updated

9 months ago

Contributors

Best Video Release

Unofficial DVD

Format
Only Unofficial Sources
Featured Lists
Length
70 mins
Type
Movie
Last Updated
9 months ago
Contributors

Featured in Pre-Code Films

See more →
Thirty Day Princess poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray in October

Best Video:

Universal DVD

Best English-Friendly:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray in October

Best Video:

Universal DVD

The Lost Patrol poster
1080p Blu-ray
The Lost Patrol poster
1080p Blu-ray
Skyscraper Souls poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

WB Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 7 DVD

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 7 DVD

Best English-Friendly:

WB Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 7 DVD

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 7 DVD

Lilly Turner poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

The Sin of Nora Moran poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Film Detective or Film Masters Blu-ray

Best Video:

Film Detective or Film Masters Blu-ray 4K restoration from 35mm Original Camera Negative

Best English-Friendly:

Film Detective or Film Masters Blu-ray

Best Video:

Film Detective or Film Masters Blu-ray 4K restoration from 35mm Original Camera Negative

Shopworn poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Three Wise Girls poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Arizona poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Ten Cents a Dance poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Additional Info:

Restored but no release yet

Best English-Friendly:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Best Video:

Turner/Sony Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection DVD

Additional Info:

Restored but no release yet

This Is the Night poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Universal Blu-ray

Best Video:

Universal Blu-ray seems to be an old HD scan and doesn't look too good

Best English-Friendly:

Universal Blu-ray

Best Video:

Universal Blu-ray seems to be an old HD scan and doesn't look too good

More from Edward Buzzell

See more →
At the Circus poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray new 4K restoration

At the Circus poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray new 4K restoration

Neptune's Daughter poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Song of the Thin Man poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

More Drama on Blu-ray

Before Midnight poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps

Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps

When Tomorrow Comes poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Indicator Blu-ray

Best Video:

Indicator Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and likely better than Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Indicator Blu-ray see comparison

Best English-Friendly:

Indicator Blu-ray

Best Video:

Indicator Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and likely better than Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Indicator Blu-ray see comparison

Zander the Great poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Undercrank Blu-ray

Best Video:

Undercrank Blu-ray, 2K scan from a 35mm safety duplicate negative made from an original tinted nitrate print in the Marion Davies Collection at the Library of Congress.

Best English-Friendly:

Undercrank Blu-ray

Best Video:

Undercrank Blu-ray, 2K scan from a 35mm safety duplicate negative made from an original tinted nitrate print in the Marion Davies Collection at the Library of Congress.

Rad poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

2026 Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray, 2025 Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Rad poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

2026 Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray, 2025 Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Out of the Blue poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray has better detail. Severin 4K Blu-ray has HDR but poor encode.

Best Video:

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.

Additional Info:

Severin 4K Blu-ray has very good extras that are more relevant to the film

Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray has better detail. Severin 4K Blu-ray has HDR but poor encode.

Best Video:

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.

Additional Info:

Severin 4K Blu-ray has very good extras that are more relevant to the film

Va Savoir (Who Knows?) poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Radiance Blu-ray

Best Video:

Radiance Blu-ray, FiM encoded, 4K restoration for both theatrical and director's version

Best English-Friendly:

Radiance Blu-ray

Best Video:

Radiance Blu-ray, FiM encoded, 4K restoration for both theatrical and director's version

The Bad Seed poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Warner Bros 2011 Blu-ray

The older track sounds significantly more natural. The WAC BD uses a new mastering which sounds much worse. A lot of the dialogue sounds off, sort of echoey, garbled or even artifacted. Its overzealous click removal also erased some sounds. Its only positive is a new EQ that brings out the bass more making some of the score more effective.

It seems that the new mastering likely uses AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering, resulting in extended peaks despite losing real high end detail (most pronounced on sample 3).

Samples (WAC is mislabeled as UHD)

Additional Info:

Commentary is mono on the Blu-rays and panned stereo on NTSC DVD (different channels for each speaker).

The Bad Seed poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Warner Bros 2011 Blu-ray

The older track sounds significantly more natural. The WAC BD uses a new mastering which sounds much worse. A lot of the dialogue sounds off, sort of echoey, garbled or even artifacted. Its overzealous click removal also erased some sounds. Its only positive is a new EQ that brings out the bass more making some of the score more effective.

It seems that the new mastering likely uses AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering, resulting in extended peaks despite losing real high end detail (most pronounced on sample 3).

Samples (WAC is mislabeled as UHD)

Additional Info:

Commentary is mono on the Blu-rays and panned stereo on NTSC DVD (different channels for each speaker).

Thank You, Life poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The older Studio Canal disc has incorrect pitch - 0.7 semitones lower than it should be. As their PAL DVD release was pitched correctly despite running at 25 FPS, it's likely they just took that master and slowed it down without accounting for that.

Best English-Friendly:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The older Studio Canal disc has incorrect pitch - 0.7 semitones lower than it should be. As their PAL DVD release was pitched correctly despite running at 25 FPS, it's likely they just took that master and slowed it down without accounting for that.

Nouvelle Vague poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion has English subtitles burned in for the entire film, stylized to look like an old film print.

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion has English subtitles burned in for the entire film, stylized to look like an old film print.

West Side Story poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Capelight's 5.1 is sourced from the original 6-track. The fidelity is comparable to the 4.0 from the 4-track available on previous BDs.
An alternate 5.1 mix was created for the 1999 MGM DVD / LaserDisc, It boasts better high end detail throughout, but the trade off is reduced bass.

See additional info for more detail.

Additional Info:

West Side Story was produced as a 70mm Todd-AO presentation, with an accompanying 6-track audio mix in the following channel configuration: see diagram. 35mm presentations used a 4-track or a mono mixdown instead.

The original 6-track elements were thought to have been lost until they were recovered and restored in 2010. In 1981, for the film's 20th anniversary, a new 6-track mix was created by upmixing the available 4-track elements.

Capelight's release is sourced from original 6-track elements uncovered in 2010, but unfortunately it's not as detailed as it should be, owing to unnecessary noise reduction. It's by no means bad, but it could be better. As the Lc/Rc channels are mixed into into L/C/R, it's also essentially no different to a 4-track fold-down. This isn't exactly an issue as left/right center channels mix down to L/C/R very well, but a better way of handling this would be to use Atmos objects to position those channels where they should be, as Disney did on The Sound of Music.

The 4-track mix was included in a discrete form on MGM's previous BD, it trades blows with Capelight's 6-track-derived 5.1.

Interestingly, the 1999 MGM LaserDisc/DVD release includes a different 5.1 mix, which sounds a bit more detailed than the two other tracks. It's sound signature is on the brighter side, with a slight emphasis on the treble instead of bass like other releases. Although that accounts for some of the perceived detail, even after matching EQ there are spots where Capelight loses out. It's a slight upmix, with split surrounds and LFE. Whether it was derived from 4-track or 6-track elements is not clear, though it matters little, as the end result would have been very similar in either case. There are no booklet notes stating the source used, but it sounds very similar to the matrixed 1992 LD, which was attributed to the 6-track. Still, given that the original elements were thought to have been lost, I would assume that this refers to the 1981 mix.

Previous LaserDisc releases are similar to the discrete 1999 track. All LD releases are missing the intermission music and a brief whistling sequence.

The 7.1 upmix on MGM's Blu-ray offers little of value.

Best English-Friendly:

Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Capelight's 5.1 is sourced from the original 6-track. The fidelity is comparable to the 4.0 from the 4-track available on previous BDs.
An alternate 5.1 mix was created for the 1999 MGM DVD / LaserDisc, It boasts better high end detail throughout, but the trade off is reduced bass.

See additional info for more detail.

Additional Info:

West Side Story was produced as a 70mm Todd-AO presentation, with an accompanying 6-track audio mix in the following channel configuration: see diagram. 35mm presentations used a 4-track or a mono mixdown instead.

The original 6-track elements were thought to have been lost until they were recovered and restored in 2010. In 1981, for the film's 20th anniversary, a new 6-track mix was created by upmixing the available 4-track elements.

Capelight's release is sourced from original 6-track elements uncovered in 2010, but unfortunately it's not as detailed as it should be, owing to unnecessary noise reduction. It's by no means bad, but it could be better. As the Lc/Rc channels are mixed into into L/C/R, it's also essentially no different to a 4-track fold-down. This isn't exactly an issue as left/right center channels mix down to L/C/R very well, but a better way of handling this would be to use Atmos objects to position those channels where they should be, as Disney did on The Sound of Music.

The 4-track mix was included in a discrete form on MGM's previous BD, it trades blows with Capelight's 6-track-derived 5.1.

Interestingly, the 1999 MGM LaserDisc/DVD release includes a different 5.1 mix, which sounds a bit more detailed than the two other tracks. It's sound signature is on the brighter side, with a slight emphasis on the treble instead of bass like other releases. Although that accounts for some of the perceived detail, even after matching EQ there are spots where Capelight loses out. It's a slight upmix, with split surrounds and LFE. Whether it was derived from 4-track or 6-track elements is not clear, though it matters little, as the end result would have been very similar in either case. There are no booklet notes stating the source used, but it sounds very similar to the matrixed 1992 LD, which was attributed to the 6-track. Still, given that the original elements were thought to have been lost, I would assume that this refers to the 1981 mix.

Previous LaserDisc releases are similar to the discrete 1999 track. All LD releases are missing the intermission music and a brief whistling sequence.

The 7.1 upmix on MGM's Blu-ray offers little of value.

Edit History

1 edit
Child of Manhattan (1933) backdrop