Desk Set is a 1957 romantic comedy staring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, based on a play by William Marchant, adapted for the screen by Phoebe and Henry Ephron and directed by Walter Lang. The film was the eighth of nine films that Tracy and Hepburn would make together, and the first in color.

So did they screw up the Blu-ray – short answer yes. Longer answer: yes, but the existing DVD also has problems.

Desk Set Blu-Ray Teal Issues

To understand the problem with both the old DVD and the new Blu-ray you need to understand that early color film needed a lot of help to achieve a given look. Secondary color correction was impossible. Even maintaining a broadly consistent look across a single print of a film was challenging.

To help steer the film in the right direction a color consultant would be provided by the film manufacturer – in the case of Desk Set it was Leonard Doss, who performed the same role for over one hundred and thirty other features over the course of his career. The set was painted in carefully selected hues to produce the desired effect, taking into account the need to keep flesh-tones natural, while allowing the latitude to adjust printing to get a certain look.

Looking at the below two images, it’s clear that the Blu-ray has a very teal-y look. But one thing immediately jumps out: the leather chairs. In the HDTV transfer, these sink into the background, in the Blu-ray, they carefully complement the composition.

What I suspect, is that the DVD and HDTV master are reflective of what the set really looked like (i.e. what’s on the negative), but that the new Blu-ray is an attempt to get closer to the release prints. Further supporting this is the brown filing cabinets in the HDTV transfer, which seems like an odd choice, unless they were intended to be printed as grey.

However – the Blu-ray colorist went too far, and couldn’t resist the urge to teal things up a bit.

For comparison purposes I have taken the HDTV screenshot and neutralized the color of the filing cabinets, this shifts around the color balance in a way similar to what could be achieved by adjusted the printing process. The result appears much more natural (i.e. less teal) and keep the composition punchy.

Desk Set iTunes HD 1080p Download

After originally writing the article it occurred to me to see what the iTunes version looked like. The answer is that it looks pretty close to the HDTV broadcast: quite grainy and with the same colors, clearly the same underlying master was used for both.

The picture quality is pretty good, but sometimes a little artifact-y during pans. Interestingly the iTunes image shows a lot of small white scratches and marks during the opening credits, which aren’t visible in the HDTV broadcast (perhaps some light DVNR at work in the HDTV version ?)

I’d give the iTunes download four out of five.

Verdict

The Blu-ray isn’t a crime against humanity, but it is too teal-y to recommend. The existing DVD or 1080p iTunes download is probably your safest bet a the moment. If you can adjust the temperature on your TV to ‘Cool’, you’ll probably shift closer to the theatrical experience than the Blu-ray.

Desk Set Comparison Screenshots

Comparing ‘Desk Set’ HDTV broadcast and Blu-ray. From top to bottom. Film4 HD Broadcast, which matches the earlier Fox NTSC DVD release. Middle is the new Blu-ray, and bottom is the HDTV broadcast color matched, so that the filing cabinets are neutral. Not exactly the same frame, but very close.

Comparing ‘Desk Set’ HDTV broadcast and Blu-ray. From top to bottom. Film4 HD Broadcast, which matches the earlier Fox NTSC DVD release. Middle is the new Blu-ray, and bottom is the HDTV broadcast color matched, so that the filing cabinets are neutral.