Don’t miss classic “Shane” in brilliant 4K UHD

4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS

The Grand Tetons tower over the picturesque Jackson Hole Valley as drifter Shane, played by Alan Ladd, installs fencing for the Starrett homestead. Young Joey, played by a winsome Brandon De Wilde, builds a special bond with Shane.

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4K screenshots via Filmmaker Mode courtesy of KL Studio Classics/Paramount Pictures - Click for an Amazon purchase

“SHANE”

4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 1953; Not Rated

Best extra: The educational commentary with the director’s son, George Stevens Jr., and associate producer Ivan Moffat

CONSIDERED ONE of the quintessential westerns of American cinema, “Shane” was selected No. 45 in the American Film Institute’s “100 Years… 100 Movies” 10^th Anniversary Edition in 2007. It also landed at No. 3 in AFI’s Top 10 Westerns list, right behind “The Searchers” (1956) and “High Noon” (1952).

“Shane” was written by newspaper editorial page editor Jack Schaefer, who worked at my old newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot, during the 1940s when he decided to take a stab at fiction as a way to relax in the evenings. The story was first published as a western serial, “Rider from Nowhere,” in 1946. Three years later, it was revised into a novel, the story of a post-Civil War drifter passing through Wyoming and his relationship with a homestead family caught in the midst of a violent range war.

George Stevens Jr. was in his late teens when he introduced his father, George Sr., considered one of Hollywood’s finest directors, to the book. Young George became a production assistant during the filming. His father was known for lighter fare during the 1930s and early ‘40s for classics like “Swing Time” with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the first Hepburn/Tracy screwball comedy, “Woman of the Year,” and the adventurous “Gunga Din” starring Cary Grant.

(1) “Shane” premiered on April 23, 1953, at New York’s Radio Music Hall. (2&3) Joey spots a lone rider approaching his house. (4) Alan Ladd plays buckskin-clad drifter Shane, considered Ladd’s best film and greatest role. He became a Hollywood star in 1942, playing an evil gunman out for revenge in the film noir classic “This Gun for Hire.” (5) Joey runs toward his father, Joe, played by Oscar-nominated Van Heflin, as Shane rides toward the homestead. (6) Joe stops chopping on the old, stubborn tree stump to watch Shane. (7-9) Cattle baron Rufe Ryke (Emile Meyer) threatens the Starrett family, demanding they leave what he considers his grazing land.

Stevens then abandoned the glitz of Hollywood during World War II and marched off to Europe as head of the Army’s documentary film unit. He reentered civilian life affected by the horrors of war, an experience that comes across in “Shane.”

In the opening scene, Shane (Alan Ladd), a reluctant gunfighter, stumbles onto the Starrett farm in Wyoming’s majestic Grand Tetons. He soon becomes the Starretts’ defender, championing them and other homesteaders against cattle baron Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer) and his gang of cowboys. The Starretts are played by Van Heflin and Jean Arthur, while their 10-year-old son, Joey, is played by a winsome Brandon De Wilde. A highlight of the show is the tender bond that grows between Joey and Shane, and Shane’s dynamic showdown with gunslinger Jack Wilson (Jack Palance).

EXTRAS

During the insightful commentary, Stevens Jr. reads an excerpt from a pre-production note from his father. “Little Joe is shy; he can’t quite look at Shane. He looks at the ground; he takes an occasional peek up. When he does look at him, it’s long and thoughtful with faith showing in his eyes as if he's looking at a god.”

Stevens and Moffat also talk at length about the film’s main theme during the commentary, “Dad had seen what a single bullet could do to a human being. He wanted to show what a weapon meant and what a six-shooter could do.” Stevens pushed film violence to a new level of realism when gunfighter Wilson kills a farmer who’s thrown back 10 feet into a muddy street from the blast.

(1) After dinner, Shane starts to chop on the tree stump. He and Joe finally manage to hack through the roots and haul it out of the ground. (2&3) The Starretts provide Shane a bed of straw in the barn, and Joey greets the visitor the next morning. (4) Homesteader Ernie Wright (Leonard Strong) announces that Ryker’s men have threatened him and his family, and destroyed his wheat field. "What comes next?" he asks as he and his family leave the county. (5) Joe organizes a meeting with the other homesteaders.

A new commentary is included with author/film historian Alan K. Rode, who provides a number of new stories and elements. For example, Paramount was overly concerned about Stevens’ ballooning schedule and budget, which they perceived as “financial hara-kiri,” he says. “Stevens was going to make his film, his way or hell or high water, and ignored the hand-wringing from the front office.”

“Shane” became the fourth biggest box office film of the year, receiving six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Writing, and Supporting Actors for De Wilde and Palance, but only won for its striking color cinematography.

VIDEO

A dozen years ago, Paramount and Warner Bros. partnered for the first 4K restoration of the three-strip Technicolor process captured by cinematographer Loyal Griggs (“The Ten Commandments”). Each of the three negatives (1.37:1 aspect ratio) was scanned in 4K and digitally realigned (red, green, blue), a treatment developed by Warner in the early 2000s. Decades earlier, “Shane” had been plagued with out-of-alignment dye transfer prints and soft 2K masters. But in 2013, the 60^th Anniversary restoration rectified all of the visual shortcomings and produced one of the best Blu-rays of the year.

Fast-forward to today, the same 4K RAW digital master was used for this complete HDR10 & Dolby Vision restoration handled by Kino Lorber and Paramount. The results are breathtaking, with visual depth and clarity as Shane travels across the valley nearing the towering Tetons. The shadows are much more detailed, while the highlights extract an extra level of splendor from the landscape and clouds. Also, the film grain is more defined with structure and refinement throughout the presentation. The only time the visuals drop in quality is during the composite fades, which Stevens applied dozens of times throughout the Western.

Everything was encoded onto a 100 GB disc, where the video bitrate runs consistently above 80 Megabits per second for the best possible imagery. HDR10 peak brightness hits 556 nits and averages at 82 nits.

(1)The homesteaders head to town for supplies. (2-5)Inside Sam Grafton’s general store, Chris Calloway (Ben Johnson), one of Ryker’s men, calls out Shane, and the two fall into a classic Western bar fight. The other homesteaders join in when Ryker’s men join in.

CINEMA HISTORY: When the massive 600-pound Technicolor cameras started rolling in the picturesque Jackson Hole Valley during the summer of 1951, Hollywood was still projecting movies in the Academy square-like aspect ratio (1.37:1), standardized in 1932. Stevens and Griggs framed the imagery with that aspect in mind. But, as the production was winding down, rumors of a new widescreen format, CinemaScope, was about to be unveiled by 20^th Century Fox.

Not to be outdone, Paramount decided “Shane’s” April 1953 premiere would take place at New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall, where they had just installed a new supersize movie screen nearly double the size of the previous screen. “Shane” would be matted (slightly cropping the top and bottom of the frame) into a 1.66:1 widescreen aspect. You can imagine Stevens wasn’t happy, but “Shane” became the first widescreen presentation in the modern era, beating out Fox’s “The Robe” shown in CinemaScope in September ‘53.

The new 4K UHD and Blu-ray of “Shane” are presented in Stevens’ desired 1.37:1 aspect, emphasizing the vertical expansion of the granite Tetons.

AUDIO

Paramount restored the original 2.0 mono soundtrack, removing hiss, pops, and other noises. Dialogue, gun blasts, and the orchestral score from Victor Young (“The Quiet Man,” “Around the World in 80 Days”) remains front and center.

As the closing line says, “Shane! Shane, come back!” We’re so glad this American classic has found its way to the grandeur of 4K Ultra HD.

― Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer

(1) A hired gunslinger from Cheyenne, Jack Wilson, played by Jack Palance (“City Slickers”), arrives in town. (2) Ryker’s men drive their cattle through the homesteaders’ land, destroying their crops and killing livestock. (3) Director George Stevens convinced Jean Arthur to come out of semi-retirement to play Marian Starrett. Marian is concerned that Shane is showing Joey how to shoot a six-shooter. (4&5) The July 4th celebrations include a horse race and a dance.

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The killing & funeral of Stonewall Torrey

(1-3) Jack Wilson guns down former Confederate soldier and homesteader Stonewall Torrey (Elisha Cook Jr.). (4-6) The townsfolk bury Torrey on a small hill overlooking the valley.

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Shane’s showdown