The Front Page (1974)
Comedy • 1h 45m
Overview
Ruthless Chicago newspaper editor Walter Burns resorts to dubious motives in order to get top reporter Hildy Johnson to cover one more big crime story before retirement.
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia, David Wayne, Allen Garfield, Austin Pendleton, Charles Durning, Herb Edelman, Martin Gabel, Harold Gould, Cliff Osmond, Dick O'Neill, Jon Korkes, Carol Burnett, Paul Benedict, Allen Jenkins, Barbara Davis, Biff Elliot, Lou Frizzell, Doro Merande, Noam Pitlik, Joshua Shelley, John Furlong, Leonard Bremen
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
Director: Billy Wilder
Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the BD mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.
The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.
Director: Billy Wilder
Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the BD mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.
The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.
Director: Billy Wilder
Director: Billy Wilder
Director: Billy Wilder
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is a fine release with no glaring encode issues, the new master is also fine but graded to look quite dim in HDR/DV. Unsure whether that's really respectful to the source
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray / Paramount EU Blu-ray
Old Warner Bros US release is inferior.
Director: Billy Wilder
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is a fine release with no glaring encode issues, the new master is also fine but graded to look quite dim in HDR/DV. Unsure whether that's really respectful to the source
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray / Paramount EU Blu-ray
Old Warner Bros US release is inferior.
Director: Billy Wilder
Director: Billy Wilder
UK MoC Blu-ray has the better encoding
US Kino Lorber Blu-ray has inferior encoding and likely suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
MOC Blu-ray or MGM Laserdisc
Eureka MOC is far superior to Kino with also more printed booklet extras. The reconstruction work, transfer and extras date back to MGM's Laserdisc attempt. The LD master and materials were ported to the MGM DVD which in turn was paired with an updated HD master for the BDs. The film still cries out for a proper modern restoration and reconstruction attempt with the partially surviving cut sequences. The extras on LD also have PCM audio and one of the visuals in one of the cut episodes is more untouched which is censored for nudity on the modern versions. It's small but the particular element has been blurred on most versions today.
UK MoC Blu-ray has the better encoding
US Kino Lorber Blu-ray has inferior encoding and likely suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
MOC Blu-ray or MGM Laserdisc
Eureka MOC is far superior to Kino with also more printed booklet extras. The reconstruction work, transfer and extras date back to MGM's Laserdisc attempt. The LD master and materials were ported to the MGM DVD which in turn was paired with an updated HD master for the BDs. The film still cries out for a proper modern restoration and reconstruction attempt with the partially surviving cut sequences. The extras on LD also have PCM audio and one of the visuals in one of the cut episodes is more untouched which is censored for nudity on the modern versions. It's small but the particular element has been blurred on most versions today.
Director: Billy Wilder
Arrow 4K Blu-ray (transfer of the 1989 MGM LaserDisc, without problems plaguing Kino Lorber's release)
Arrow UHD is an update of the original 4K scan done for their BD. It is also visually far superior to the Kino version and adds Dolby Vision HDR. The Arrow UHD uses a new LD mono capture and has none of the issues or processing found in the Kino UHD which also used an LD mono capture and somehow mucked it up. Short of a brand new scan, the Arrow UHD is as good as it possibly can be.
Director: Billy Wilder
Arrow 4K Blu-ray (transfer of the 1989 MGM LaserDisc, without problems plaguing Kino Lorber's release)
Arrow UHD is an update of the original 4K scan done for their BD. It is also visually far superior to the Kino version and adds Dolby Vision HDR. The Arrow UHD uses a new LD mono capture and has none of the issues or processing found in the Kino UHD which also used an LD mono capture and somehow mucked it up. Short of a brand new scan, the Arrow UHD is as good as it possibly can be.
Director: Billy Wilder
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray disappointing
Kino UHD has frozen grain and other artifacts from a Paramount master with the usual lackluster Kino encoding.
Director: Billy Wilder
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray disappointing
Kino UHD has frozen grain and other artifacts from a Paramount master with the usual lackluster Kino encoding.
Director: Billy Wilder
Germany Plaion Blu-ray has better encoding and Kino Lorber Blu-ray likely suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug, see caps
Director: Billy Wilder
Germany Plaion Blu-ray has better encoding and Kino Lorber Blu-ray likely suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug, see caps
Director: Billy Wilder
Germany Plaion Blu-ray has the best encoding, and both MoC and Kino Lorber Blu-ray have Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
For encoding, Plaion > MoC > Kino Lorber
Director: Billy Wilder
Germany Plaion Blu-ray has the best encoding, and both MoC and Kino Lorber Blu-ray have Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
For encoding, Plaion > MoC > Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber Philo Vance Collection Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Philo Vance Collection Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Philo Vance Collection Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Philo Vance Collection Blu-ray
Director: Arthur Dong
Director: Arthur Dong
Director: Arthur Dong
Director: Arthur Dong
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
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Henry Koster
Director: Henry Koster
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Director: Paul King
Director: Charles Lamont
Director: Charles Lamont
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