Classy musical “High Society” arrives on 4K UHD
- Bill Kelley III
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
Actress Grace Kelly in her last on-screen performance as the icy socialite Tracy Lord. After filming “High Society,” she married Prince Rainier and became Princess Grace of Monaco. Below, Tracy has a flashback when she and her first husband, Dexter, played by the actor/singer Bing Crosby, sail on their yacht “True Love."
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“HIGH SOCIETY: WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION”
4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 1956; Not Rated
Best extra: a short featurette, “Cole Porter in Hollywood: True Love”
LAST YEAR, Warner Archive set a new restoration standard with the extraordinary 4K Ultra HD release of John Ford’s Western masterpiece “The Searchers” (1956). The original VistaVision 8-perf 35mm negative, captured running horizontally through the camera, was scanned at 13K resolution delivering one of the finest on-screen images of any 4K release ever.
The same large-format restoration template was used for the new 4K release of “High Society” starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. “High Society” was an MGM release in 1956, but for decades, Turner Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner, has owned the MGM library of films that spans from the 1930s to the 1980s.
The 1950s musical comedy is based on Philip Barry’s hugely successful Broadway play “The Philadelphia Story” (1940), which was adapted the following year into a charming screwball comedy with the same name, receiving six Oscar nominations. Director George Cukor (“Gaslight,” “My Fair Lady”) helmed the production starring Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord, the eldest of two daughters of a filthy rich family from Philadelphia. Hepburn played Tracy on stage and bought the movie rights for its first Hollywood production.
(1&2) Louis Armstrong sings “High Society Calypso” with his band during the opening as their bus arrives at Dexter Haven’s mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. The massive home was actually on Bel Air Road in Los Angeles, and also used for the TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies.” (3) Dexter and two ladies organize the upcoming Newport Jazz Festival. (4) Dexter laughs as Armstrong’s band plays in his home. (5) Tracy and her mother (Margalo Gilmore) register all of the wedding gifts. (6) Tracy is annoyed by the loud music from Armstrong’s band. (7) Uncle Willie (Louis Calhern) tells Tracy’s mother that she must agree that Spy Magazine will be covering the wedding, or they will run an article about her husband’s indiscretions.
Tracy is about to marry her second husband (John Howard). Two reluctant tabloid journalists (James Stewart, who won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Ruth Hussey) have been assigned to cover the lavish wedding for Spy Magazine. Tracy’s ex, C.K. Dexter Haven, played wonderfully by Cary Grant, appears to derail the wedding, while her estranged father adds to the chaotic fun.
THIS TIME, the nearly 70-year-old remake is set in Newport, Rhode Island (home of the new Newport Jazz Festival). Beautiful Grace Kelly plays the icy socialite Tracy, getting ready to marry stuffy George Kittredge (John Lund). It’s Kelly’s final on-screen performance before marrying Prince Rainier and becoming Princess Grace of Monaco; Crosby as the ex-husband, Dexter, a singer/songwriter, whom Tracy calls a “jukebox hero”; Sinatra as Mike Connor, a cynical Spy Magazine reporter; and Celeste Holm as photographer Liz Imbrie. The delightful jazz great Louis Armstrong plays himself, with his band. Director Charles Walters (“Summer Stock,” “Easter Parade”), a trained dancer, handles the production.
Kelly and Crosby had previously worked together in the poignant Paramount drama “The Country Girl” (1954), in which Crosby played a broken-down alcoholic actor, and Kelly his loyal wife, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
The famous songwriter Cole Porter provides nine songs, including the plot-explaining “High Society Calypso,” which Armstrong sings from the backseat of the band's traveling bus. “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” sung by Sinatra and Holm, in a room filled with Tracy’s extravagant wedding gifts. The romantic “True Love,” a duet with Crosby and Kelly (her vocals), became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hit Parade, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Song, but lost to Doris Day singing “Que Será, Será” from Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” ‘Ol Blue Eyes’ handles “You’re Sensational” as he tries to swing Tracy to fall for his eyes. Crosby sings “Little One” to Tracy’s little sister Caroline (Lydia Reed), and there’s the hilarious Crosby/Sinatra duet of “Well Did You Evah?”
(1-3) Spy Magazine reporter Mike Connor, played by Frank Sinatra, and Celeste Holm as photographer Liz Imbrie arrive at the Lord home. (4) Crosby sings “Little One” to Tracy’s little sister Caroline (Lydia Reed). (5) Imbrie takes a photograph of Tracy’s two men: ex-husband Dexter and soon-to-be husband George Kittredge (John Lund). (6) A crazy turn of events, Tracy calls Uncle Willie her father, Seth Lord.
VIDEO
The real shocker is, this is the first physical media upgrade for “High Society” in 22 years. Strangely, it was never released on Blu-ray until now, and is included in the 4K Ultra HD set. The original VistaVision camera negative (developed by Paramount Pictures) was only used twice by MGM for its movies. The other was Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” (1959). During the 1950s, it was considered ‘High Fidelity’ filmmaking, compared to the other widescreen formats. The large-format negative was finally scanned in the super high resolution of 13K. The high-resolution digital files were restored, and the new 4K master extracts perfect clarity and brilliant colors with its HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading.
The film grain varies from super fine to slightly larger. Not sure why the grain varies, since the majority of the production was filmed on a studio soundstage, with controlled bright lights to keep the film speed at a low level, which produces a finer grain.
The only shortcoming is the flat, uneventful, and wide composition imagery from Oscar-winning cinematographer Paul Vogel (“Battleground”). Yes, there are plenty of medium shots and some tight shots, but the majority of the time, the camera is positioned some distance from the actors, providing a wide view of the drama and singing.
Maybe that was the director’s intent: to give the moviegoing audience the viewpoint as if they were seated on the 10th row of a stage production. The same wide visual approach had been applied to the film adaptation of MGM’s “Brigadoon” (1954) from director Vincente Minnelli. The added resolution of the VistaVision process highlight the smallest details within the mansion's massive rooms, as Tracy, George, and Dexter battle through their love triangle.
(1) Sinatra and Holm sing the delightful “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in a room filled with Tracy’s extravagant wedding gifts. (2&3) Tracy drives Mike Conner to Dexter's mansion and unveils a hidden wet bar inside the massive library room. (4) ‘Ol Blue Eyes’ handles “You’re Sensational” as he tries to swing Tracy to fall for his eyes.
AUDIO
The new expansive Dolby Atmos soundtrack is purely magical. The Porter tunes, along with Armstrong’s jazz, fill the room from the front, sides, back, and above. The original soundtrack, especially the orchestrated musical tunes, had been captured with dynamic sound, which gave the restoration team plenty to work with. Plus, the nearly five-minute Overture is included at the beginning. And, for you purists, the original Mono track has been restored and included.
EXTRAS
The 4K and Blu-ray include all of the extras.
“Cole Porter in Hollywood: True Love” (8:59) A short featurette captured in 2003 with co-star Celeste Holm, whose voice was fading at the time. She highlights the story from the stage to producer Sol C. Siegel’s desire for a musical adaptation. MGM composer Johnny Green hired Porter, who originally wrote 14 new songs. And, MGM musical director Saul Chaplin (“An American in Paris,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”) would help fine-tune the lyrics. Holm’s reveals that Elizabeth Taylor (“A Place in the Sun”) was MGM’s first pick to play Tracy Lord. She had been one of the studio's most bankable stars since her first role in “National Velvet” (1944).
“Gala Hollywood Premiere Newsreel” (1:07) Old 16mm black and white footage from the August 1, 1956, premiere at the RKO Pantages Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Today, the 95-year-old theater holds 2,703 seats for live Broadway entertainment, where my wife and I saw the stage production of “The Lion King” a few years back on the main floor.
Eight Radio Spots (15:36) Scripted audio clips with Crosby, Kelly, and Sinatra.
MGM Cartoon: “Millionaire Droopy” (6:56) A Tex Avery color cartoon in CinemaScope, of the anthropomorphic white Basset Hound, which was produced by TV animation giants Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.
Three original Theatrical Trailers: (9:02) “Bing Meets a Friend at MGM” (Ed Sullivan), “High Comedy”, and “Together for the First Time.”
— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1&2) Armstrong and Crosby provide a smashing number, “Now You Has Jazz.” (3) George finds Tracy has had too much to drink. (4) The hilarious Crosby/Sinatra duet of “Well Did You Evah?” (5) Sparks fly between Mike and Tracy. (6&7) Who will Tracy marry: Dexter, George or Mike? Tracy’s father, Seth, walks her down the aisle. (8) Armstrong’s band delivers the closing number.
SPECS:
100 GB disc
True 4K mastering
Video bitrate average: 93.65 Megabits per second
8-perf 35mm film stock running horizontal through the VistaVision camera, 1.85:1 aspect ratio
HDR10 maximum light level: 2839 nits
Max frame average light level: 92 nits
Academy Awards: Two nominations – Best Song, Best Music, Scoring
Box Office: $6.5 million, with 13 million tickets sold. Landed No. 12 in the annual domestic box office totals No. 1 “The Ten Commandments” $85 million, and 170 million tickets were sold