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I, an Actress (1977)
I, an Actress (1977) poster

I, an Actress (1977)

Documentary, Comedy, Drama • 9m

Director: George Kuchar

Cast: George Kuchar, Barbara Lapsley

Best video & English-friendly release

Image Entertainment Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986 OOP DVD

Updated 5 months ago


About the film

An actress and a director run through a melodramatic scene, speaking to a mannequin.

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National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 2011

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Victor Sjöström

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray with a new score composed and performed by Matti Bye

Director: Victor Sjöström

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray 

  • New 4K digital restoration of the 1928 theatrical-release version, preserved and digitally restored by the MoMA, with original soundtrack

  • New 2K digital restoration of the 1983 variable-frame-rate version, with a score by Carl Davis

Director: Leo McCarey

Best Video & English-Friendly:

2012 MoC Blu-ray or Elephant Films France Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray with new 4K restoration

Video Notes:

They are using the same very old HD transfer.

Directors: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

4K · Excellent
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Philip Kaufman

4K · Excellent
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is a significant upgrade over previous WB Blu-ray see comparison

Audio Notes:

Criterion for the first time on home video have provided the 70mm 6-track as well as the Dolby stereo which was previously on LaserDisc. Both tracks are unique so included both with the 6-track default. Criterion’s 5.1 remix is lossless compared to the lossy tracks of the previous blu-rays and DVDs.

See comparison

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best Video & English-Friendly:

WB Blu-ray

Additional Info:

New restoration to be shown at TCM Film Fest

Director: Joel Coen

4K · Excellent
Best Video & English-Friendly:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Shout is still very good but Arrow has the edge due to better handling of highlights and less chroma noise, comparison

Best Audio:

All the same

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Sony boxset or 2024 VHS packaging 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Sony boxsets or 2024 VHS packaging has Dolby Vision, 2019 Sony 4K Blu-ray is HDR10 only.

Best Audio:

Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray (any) 

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray 

Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray (any)

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper

Best Video & English-Friendly:

WB Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Director: Mike Nichols

4K · Solid
Best Video & English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

StudioCanal 4K caps.Criterion Blu-ray better encode than StudioCanal Blu-ray.

Best Audio:

1987 Criterion LaserDisc

More from Image Entertainment

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Director: Charlie Chaplin

Best Video & English-Friendly:

1928 version: Image Entertainment DVD

1969 version: Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Otis Turner

Best Video & English-Friendly:

2000/2010 Image Entertainment DVD or 2013 Warner Bros The Wizard of Oz (1939) 3D 75th Anniversary Limited Edition Blu-ray Disc 3 (in SD)

Director: James Cameron

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly:

2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Steelbook and Mediabook announced for 2026

Best Video:

2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Best Audio:

1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix

Audio Notes:

Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731

Additional Info:

The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.

Director: William Friedkin

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray (damage removed, improved color/HDR, and best audio) or Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray (best compression but no damage removal and LaserDisc audio from Arrow)

Best Video:

Arrow UK /Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Arrow UK /Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber US 4K Blu-ray, see caps

Arrow has done additional cleanup work removing nearly all the damage in the transfer. They have massaged the color timing and HDR to try and improve what they could. The Capelight may have better encoding but it does not have these improvements. The Arrow encoding is solid and in motion there are no issues whatsoever. The Kino Lorber release has the damage and other issues plus frequent noise due to the lesser encoding.

Some scenes in the Arrow transfer are better, some are better in the Capelight.

Best Audio:

Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Arrow  4K Blu-ray or Image Entertainment LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

(Arrow is a port of the LaserDisc track, see spectrograms) This track has the best fidelity of any release but does have some channel bleeding baked in. The 2017 2.0 on the Arrow and Shout! Factory Blu-rays was the Dolby Stereo original mix without channel bleeding but that had heavy noise reduction resulting in a very flat and underwhelming presentation. The surround winds up being lessened as well due to the processing. It's a tough choice between the two but the Image LaserDisc audio wins out because it hasn't been messed with and the impact is so unrestrained that no other version hits in the same way.

Capelight and old Arrow Blu-ray included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino Lorber only included a painfully defective 2.0 track sourced from somewhere with limited fidelity, volume spikes and screechy high end which frequently ruins the music. The 5.1 remix on most modern release is a processed version that does not sound as good as it once did.

The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is the original version from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in lossy AC3 form.

The best source for the commentaries are from the 2003 Special Edition DVD.

Director: Luchino Visconti

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Image Entertainment DVD

Upcoming Release:

Radiance Blu-ray with 4K restoration

Best Video:

Japan Blu-ray

Director: John Mark Robinson

Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

US Image Entertainment LaserDisc

Video Notes:

US Image Entertainment LaserDisc is pan-and-scan, but is the best quality release of the film. Widescreen version never released on home video.

Audio Notes:

US Image Entertainment LaserDisc has the original Dolby Stereo mix.

Additional Info:

Germany DVD is a dupe-y transfer ripped from a VHS with German titles, PAL speedup, and mono audio.

Director: William K.L. Dickson

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Grapevine DVD Rip Van 1921 extras or OOP Image Entertainment DVD

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Criterion Blu-ray > BFI. France Carlotta Blu-ray is a new, flawed 4K resto, which has heavy frozen grain

Best Audio:

1999 Image Entertainment DVD

Directors: Gus Meins & Charley Rogers

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Original 1934 Theatrical Version: US Legend Films Blu-ray

1950 Reissue Version: OOP 1980s US VHS

Samuel Goldwyn 1991 Colorized Version: US Image Entertainment/GoodTimes LaserDisc or US GoodTimes DVD

Legend Films 2006 Colorized Version - 2D: US Legend Films Blu-ray

Legend Films 2006 Colorized Version - 3D: US Legend Films 3D Blu-ray

Director: Vincent J. Donehue

Best Video & English-Friendly:

1990 Image Entertainment/GoodTimes LaserDisc or 1999 GoodTimes DVD

More Documentary on Blu-ray

Director: János Zsombolyai

4K · Disappointing
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Sony Music 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

AI upscale but color and HDR grading is improved as it's way more subdued see caps

Director: Vivian Kubrick

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono: 1999 WB DVD
5.1: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Werner Herzog

Best Video & English-Friendly:

2015 UK Lionsgate Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Directors: Frank Capra & Anatole Litvak

Best Video & English-Friendly:

US Periscope Blu-ray OOP

Director: Steve James

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray and UK Dogwoof Blu-ray probably similar

Director: Leos Carax

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Hal Ashby

4K · Solid
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.

Audio Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.

Director: Preston Sturges

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray extras

Video Notes:

While it's included on both Criterion The Palm Beach Story extras and Arrow's Sullivan's Travels' extras, Criterion uses a different source and is vastly superior, see caps

Director: Mitra Farahani

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 5 months ago

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