[78-L] Jazz Singer Blu-ray set -- my Amazon review

[David Lennick]

I see TMC is showing The Jazz Singer next Saturday morning. Any chance they'll 
have the new restoration?

dl

On 1/25/2013 11:28 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
> Since a lot of you on the list might be interested, here (with the usual
> disclaimers) is my Amazon review of the new Blu-ray edition of The Jazz
> Singer and Vitaphone collection:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Singer-Blu-ray-Al-Jolson/dp/B009P07QPS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
>
> Let's cut to the chase because it is obvious that all film collectors
> either need this or already have the DVD -- yes, you DO need to upgrade
> from the DVD to this new Blu-ray edition. It IS that much better.
>
> All of the errors in the DVD have been corrected. The scratches during
> "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" and much of the rest of the Coffee Dan's scene
> have been eliminated without a trace. The mis-matched synchronization of
> the entire reel before "Blue Skies" has been fixed. The artificial
> shaking of the inter-titles to disguise them being free-frames has been
> steadied. In the extras, they have put in the correct two scenes from
> "Gold Diggers Of Broadway" -- we actually see Nick Lucas sing in 2-strip
> Technicolor "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" this time. As an additional
> bonus they have added two shorts which have cameo appearances by Al
> Jolson and Ruby Keeler at Santa Anita Raceway. Most of the printed
> extras from the DVD set are in the book except for most of the
> postcards, but they have added some great portraits, bios, and an
> illustrated essay on the earlier film sound systems.
>
> Only disc one is Blu-ray. Discs two and three are still DVD, and
> actually have the same labels and catalog number as the originals -- so
> don't mix them up with your originals or else you'll lose Nick Lucas.
> They are still standard definition, but the first disc is High
> Defination and the image sparkles! The DVD was good, but the Blu-ray
> image will blow you away. It probably looks better than original nitrate
> prints looked in 1927. I'll go so far as to say that it proves that you
> DO need to buy that Blu-ray player if you haven't yet.
>
> The aforementioned scratches on the DVD were always a puzzle to me. They
> were continuous vertical scratches that often hit right on Jolson's
> face. You could tell they had worked on them because they were faint
> remnants of what must have originally been very deep. But they were
> still there in the most famous scene in the film. When Mary Dale enters
> down the stairs the scratch is right down the middle of her face in the
> first close-up and very heavy at the end of the second close-up. (There!
> I've done it!! If you never noticed them before, now you will never be
> able to watch the DVD again without them bothering you!!! Mission
> Accomplished!) But they are GONE in the Blu-ray!!
>
> The sync problem in the DVD starts at the beginning of the train station
> scene where they mis-start the disc too late over the letter writing
> close-up. It is as much as 20 seconds off, and the music cues are in all
> the wrong places. It is much like the scene in "Singing In the Rain"
> where voices come out of the wrong person's mouths. The bassoon that was
> supposed to be mocking the prima donna always came when other people
> were on the screen. The music made no sense. It continues on to the
> neighborhood walk and the entry into his family's apartment. The
> mother's theme music was never there at the correct time. And the end of
> the disc was clipped off when the "Blue Skies" reel begins. This had
> never been wrong in previous issues and prints so someone really goofed
> when the DVD was being assembled. But all of this has been fixed in the
> Blu-ray, and the scenes and the music really make sense once again.
>
> Almost all of the inter-titles are freeze-frames. They are noticeable
> because all moving grain of the image stops cold. To disguise this they
> wandered the image slightly in the DVD version. This fake motion was
> supposed to emulate how titles look when the film continues to run, but
> in 35mm theatrical prints this does not happen unless the film is worn.
> The four sprockets per frame should keep the picture steady, unlike 16mm
> where there is only one sprocket per frame and the image usually always
> shakes. Saner heads prevailed this time, and the titles are kept steady
> in the Blu-ray. (Again, if you had never noticed this in the DVD, now it
> will bother you. Good! Mission accomplished!)
>
> The book is easier to maneuver than all those separate booklets and
> slip-cases of the DVD set. It is much easier to find the list of
> contents of the discs because they are the last two pages of the book,
> rather than being in one of four booklets that you never can find right
> away. They still do not give you any info about the shorts other than
> their title. None of the extras have their track number printed so you
> can easily find which track they are on without having to go back to the
> headers on the discs. You have to print this out for yourself from the
> internet. Do be careful when removing disc three fromthe plastic holder
> because there is an added lip that requires it being slid out further
> than you might realize. But these are small nitpicks.
>
> All in all, the original DVD was a bargain for all you got -- but this
> Blu-ray set is even more of a bargain. It IS necessary to get even if
> you already have the DVD set.
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