The Great Man's Lady (1941)
Western, Drama, Romance • 1h 30m
Overview
In Hoyt City, a statue of founder Ethan Hoyt is dedicated, and 100 year old Hannah Sempler Hoyt (who lives in the last residence among skyscrapers) is at last persuaded to tell her story to a 'girl biographer'. Flashback: in 1848, teenage Hannah meets and flirts with pioneer Ethan; on a sudden impulse, they elope. We follow their struggle to found a city in the wilderness, hampered by the Gold Rush, star-crossed love, peril, and heartbreak. The star "ages" 80 years.
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy, K.T. Stevens, Thurston Hall, Lloyd Corrigan, Etta McDaniel, William B. Davidson, Lillian Yarbo, Helen Lynd, Mary Treen, Lucien Littlefield, John Hamilton, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, George Irving, Charles Lane, Theodore von Eltz, Damian O'Flynn, Pat O'Malley, Frank M. Thomas, Irving Bacon, Hank Bell, Monte Blue, Horace B. Carpenter, George Chandler, David Clyde, Tom Coleman, Tex Cooper, Tex Driscoll, Fern Emmett, Sam Harris, G.P. Huntley, Jack Kenny, Ethan Laidlaw, Larry Lawson, Buck Mack, Lee Moore, Ottola Nesmith, Anna Q. Nilsson, Milton Parsons, Bob Perry, Lee Phelps, Tex Phelps, John Roy, Eleanor Stewart, Dorothy Vernon, Charles Williams
Director: William A. Wellman
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: William A. Wellman
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Kino Lorber Blu-ray suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
Kino Lorber Blu-ray from blah-ray:
Both the Plaion and Arrow audio tracks sound like they received little/any high- or low- frequency attenuation, but the audio on the new Kino Lorber restoration is much more detailed. It's likely that it was transferred from different (superior) analogue elements. It sounds excellent.
Kino Lorber Blu-ray suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
Kino Lorber Blu-ray from blah-ray:
Both the Plaion and Arrow audio tracks sound like they received little/any high- or low- frequency attenuation, but the audio on the new Kino Lorber restoration is much more detailed. It's likely that it was transferred from different (superior) analogue elements. It sounds excellent.
Director: William A. Wellman
Kino Lorber OOP Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: William A. Wellman
Kino Lorber OOP Blu-ray 2K restoration
Film Masters Blu-ray not a good encoding, but at least it's from a 4K scan of Original Camera Negative see caps
Film Masters Blu-ray not a good encoding, but at least it's from a 4K scan of Original Camera Negative see caps
Director: William A. Wellman
2018 Kino Lorber Remastered Blu-ray
2018 Kino Lorber Remastered Blu-ray, new 2k scan with very different color http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews55/nothing_sacred_blu-ray.htm but overall much better compared to the older Kino Lorber Blu-ray
MoMA has just scanned from the original separations, and it's the only version of this classic with accurate Technicolor. This new restoration is now streaming on Criterion Channel
Director: William A. Wellman
2018 Kino Lorber Remastered Blu-ray
2018 Kino Lorber Remastered Blu-ray, new 2k scan with very different color http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews55/nothing_sacred_blu-ray.htm but overall much better compared to the older Kino Lorber Blu-ray
MoMA has just scanned from the original separations, and it's the only version of this classic with accurate Technicolor. This new restoration is now streaming on Criterion Channel
Director: William A. Wellman
Director: William A. Wellman
Director: William A. Wellman
Director: William A. Wellman
Director: Rob Reiner
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray release date September 21 2026
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray no comparison available
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has exclusive extras the Kino Lorber/ Capelight release doesn't
The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.
Director: Rob Reiner
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray release date September 21 2026
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray no comparison available
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has exclusive extras the Kino Lorber/ Capelight release doesn't
The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.
Director: Lou Breslow
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Lou Breslow
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Howard Hughes
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Howard Hughes
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Stuart Heisler
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Stuart Heisler
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Indicator Blu-ray > Kino Lorber see DVDBeaver
Indicator is using a different restoration from earlier Kino Lorber Blu-ray and it has much better contrast and slightly better grain resolution
Indicator Blu-ray > Kino Lorber see DVDBeaver
Indicator is using a different restoration from earlier Kino Lorber Blu-ray and it has much better contrast and slightly better grain resolution
Director: Frank Borzage
While Indicator Blu-ray used a newer 4K restoration from 2022 instead of the older 2K restoration, Kino Lorber has the original aspect ratio, and the Indicator Blu-ray looks very soft in comparison see comparison
Director: Frank Borzage
While Indicator Blu-ray used a newer 4K restoration from 2022 instead of the older 2K restoration, Kino Lorber has the original aspect ratio, and the Indicator Blu-ray looks very soft in comparison see comparison
Kino Lorber Blu-ray, new 2K master
No caps available for French Elephant Films Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Blu-ray, new 2K master
No caps available for French Elephant Films Blu-ray
Director: Billy Wilder
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Director: Billy Wilder
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
More Western on Blu-ray
Director: George Pal
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Warner Bros NTSC DVD
The old DVD's track has significantly better detail compared to BD, especially on the score. The BD has some extra detail on dialogue, but also exhibits strange artifacting (e.g. sample 3, 0:20) which suggests possible AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering. In contrast, DVD appears to be completely unfiltered and sounds good throughout. Samples
As the BD is significantly rolled off, a lot of the detail (real or fabricated) is buried in the mix and not audible during normal playback.
Director: George Pal
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Warner Bros NTSC DVD
The old DVD's track has significantly better detail compared to BD, especially on the score. The BD has some extra detail on dialogue, but also exhibits strange artifacting (e.g. sample 3, 0:20) which suggests possible AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering. In contrast, DVD appears to be completely unfiltered and sounds good throughout. Samples
As the BD is significantly rolled off, a lot of the detail (real or fabricated) is buried in the mix and not audible during normal playback.
Director: Martin Ritt
Director: Martin Ritt
Original TV Version: Japan LaserDisc, US OOP Bandai DVD for English dub
"Remix" Remaster: Italy Dynit Blu-ray, US Funimation/Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub
The "Remix" remaster has slightly different cuts for some episodes, and completely redone audio mixes. The original TV version of the English dub also has an entirely different audio mix from either the Japanese mix or the "Remix" remaster.
Original TV Version: Japan LaserDisc, US OOP Bandai DVD for English dub
"Remix" Remaster: Italy Dynit Blu-ray, US Funimation/Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub
The "Remix" remaster has slightly different cuts for some episodes, and completely redone audio mixes. The original TV version of the English dub also has an entirely different audio mix from either the Japanese mix or the "Remix" remaster.
Director: John Ford
1988/1990 WB Hi-Fi VHS, crystal clear, albeit with some distortion in louder areas
The 4K Blu-ray reuses the same poor mastering used on the 2006 WB Blu-ray, only with a completely unnecessary bass cut and extra noise reduction.
Even putting resolution aside, the Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray has the best video. The old Blu-ray master and earlier DVD both had massive issues with colour.
That said, picture on the 4K Blu-ray isn't perfect, with strange posterized magenta glints and some instances of DNR: https://bsky.app/profile/dagscott.bsky.social/post/3leahavqi7k2l
Director: John Ford
1988/1990 WB Hi-Fi VHS, crystal clear, albeit with some distortion in louder areas
The 4K Blu-ray reuses the same poor mastering used on the 2006 WB Blu-ray, only with a completely unnecessary bass cut and extra noise reduction.
Even putting resolution aside, the Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray has the best video. The old Blu-ray master and earlier DVD both had massive issues with colour.
That said, picture on the 4K Blu-ray isn't perfect, with strange posterized magenta glints and some instances of DNR: https://bsky.app/profile/dagscott.bsky.social/post/3leahavqi7k2l
Director: David Dobkin
Director: David Dobkin
Director: Tom Dey
Director: Tom Dey
Director: Howard Hawks
Director: Howard Hawks
Director: Howard Hawks
Director: Howard Hawks
Edit History
Made with ❤️ 📀 by vanshady