The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
Drama, War, Romance • 2h 6m
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Irene Dunne, Alan Marshal, Roddy McDowall, Frank Morgan, Van Johnson, C. Aubrey Smith, May Whitty, Gladys Cooper, Peter Lawford, John Warburton, Jill Esmond, Brenda Forbes, Norma Varden, Harry Allen, Wilson Benge, Matthew Boulton, Edmund Breon, Clifford Brooke, Eldon Burkett, Elton Burkett, Bobby Callahan, Charles Coleman, Clyde Cook, Alec Craig, Ann Curzon, Adrienne D'Ambricourt, Guy D'Ennery, George Davis, Kay Deslys, Vernon Downing, Tom Drake, Isobel Elsom, Herbert Evans, Franklyn Farnum, Emily Fitzroy, Bunny Gordon, Vera Graaff, Douglas Grant, Gary Gray, Arthur Gould-Porter, Ethel Griffies, Gerald Hamer, Lumsden Hare, Joy Harington, Keith Hitchcock, Stuart Holmes, Charles Irwin, George Kirby, Molly Lamont, Nelson Leigh, Adolf E. Licho, Doris Lloyd, June Lockhart, Miles Mander, Emily Massey, Lal Chand Mehra, James Menzies, Leo Mostovoy, Gavin Muir, Norbert Müller, Steven Muller, Ottola Nesmith, J. Pat O'Malley, Jean Prescott, John Rogers, Mabel Row, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Arthur Shields, Elizabeth Taylor, Larry Wheat, Ian Wolfe
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About the film
American Susan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a society ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a whirlwind romance. However, she never quite adjusts to life as a new member of the British gentry. At the outbreak of World War I, John is sent to the trenches and never returns. When her son goes off to fight in World War II, Susan fears the same tragic fate may befall him too.
Director: Clarence Brown
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 Drama on Blu-ray
Director: Robert Altman
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.
YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.
Director: Roman Polanski
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
UK 4K teased by 88 Films https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=24252379
Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray > Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sidney Lumet
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed, Imprint minimally less so. Unfortunately, unlike with The Killing, Kino does not hold up at all, the grain is much rougher and the compression visibly struggles making for a much less pleasant watch, even if select stills look better.
All discs use the same source transfer. Criterion cleaned up some hums and hiss, but lost a little bit of high-end detail. Unlike The Killing, the difference's relatively mino.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Cinematographe is an FiM encode
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