Classic Family Movies on Itunes in HD

There are many classic family movies available on Itunes. Many of them in HD, and many of them not available on Blu-Ray yet.

I’ve had a look at some of them and assessed them purely from a video quality point of view, and summarized the results below.

TitleItunes HD Review
Absent Minded Professor, TheGreat: 5/5. Black and white with fine grain throughout at the correct 1.66:1 ratio. A typical Disney studio picture excellently presented. A few compression artifacts present during heavy motion, looks like it could have done with a higher bit rate. Recommended.
Cat from Outer Space, TheGood: 4/5. Grain and minor dust present in non-studio scenes, some minor artifacting.
Darby O’Gill and the Little PeopleGreat: 5/5. Grain and excellent color. Sean Connery and little people, who could ask for more. Highly recommended.
Escape to Witch MountainFair: 3/5. Picture is free of grain and noise, possibly due to the application of DVNR. Not bad, but a little soft.
Herbie Goes BananasFair: 3/5. Very very grainy. TV movie of the week production values give the movie a very washed out and grainy look. However- I'm pretty sure this is how it's supposed to look. Unfortunately the aspect ratio got lost in the post, the film is presented 4:3, and is the shorter 'TCM' cut. Basically this appears to be the same transfer that was used for the 2004 DVD. Definitely the low point of the Herbie series.
In Search of CastawaysGreat: 5/5. Grain present, strong color. Some very minor artifacting.
Love Bug, TheGreat: 5/5. Grain throughout, the jumps in quality between stock footage, effect shot are obvious and delightful. A fantastic presentation. Highly recommended.
Moon-spinners, TheGood: 4/5. Color a little muted in places, but probably reflects the source material. Grain and minor dust present throughout. Some minor artifacting.
Parent Trap, TheFair: 3/5. Compared to a HDTV broadcast I’ve seen, it has obviously been de-grained. Still an improvement on the DVD.
Return from Witch MountainGood: 4/5. Very little noise and some grain. Better than the original, but still a little soft in places.
Summer MagicGood: 4/5. Grain and minor dirt present.

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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance iTunes HD Review

Liberty Valance - Cast

John Wayne and James Stewart star in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a 1962 John Ford directed, western, that despite being a IMDB top 250 film, isn’t available in Blu-Ray in the US, but is available on ITunes in 1080p HD. Taking a look at the it from a purely quality perspective.

1962 makes this a pretty late black and white movie, and there have been several reasons put forward for this. Director John Ford said that he wanted to distance the film from the Technicolor  epics, and that shooting in black and white added to the tension. Others have suggested that since both Stewart and Ford were playing characters thirty years younger than their real age, black and white helped sell them both as younger men.

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Roman Holiday on iTunes HD Review

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck shine in Roman Holiday a 1953 feature that as of 2013 strangely isn’t available on Blu-ray yet, despite being an IMDB top 250 film, and winning Oscars for Best Actress, Writing and costume design. Since it is available on Itunes 1080p HD, I thought I’d give it a look from a quality perspective.

Appropriate grain for a 1950s black and white film. But not for long.

Appropriate grain for a 1950s black and white film. But not for long.

The film is shot in black and white in ‘Academy’ ratio (4:3), and makes excellent use of real locations in Rome, as well as the then newly renovated Cinecitta studios. 

The Itunes transfer is taken from the 2002 restoration, as it includes a story credit for Dalton Trumbo, who black-listed as one of the ‘Hollywood Ten’ at the time of the original release and couldn’t be associated with the project.

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