The Corner Penthouse

Warner Brothers recently released the Singin' in the Rain (1952) 4K UHD. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

Silent movies are giving way to talking pictures - and hoofer-turned-matinee idol Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is caught in that bumpy transition, as are his buddy Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), prospective ladylove Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), and shrewish costar Lina Lamont (Jean Hagan).

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The movie is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:42:46. Audio languages include English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese. Subtitle languages include English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

The Blu-ray disc dates back to 2012 and includes a few items not on the new 4K disc. Neither disc includes the many featurettes and documentaries from the Bonus Disc DVD included with the 60th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD set. It's a major pet peeve of mine when the studios release these 4K editions of library titles without all of the previously-released special features; especially those included on a "bonus disc" from a previous special edition. These new 4K releases should be the definitive "be all, end all" releases. Anyway, below are the few things you will find on the discs here.

4K UHD DISC

• Audio Commentary - Recorded separately, this vintage commentary features Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, co-director Stanley Donen, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, and author Rudy Behlmer.
• Musical Numbers (42:46) - Instant access to the film's 14 musical numbers. Essentially, this is a stripped-down version of the included Blu-ray's excellent "Jukebox" feature. The musical numbers include "Fit As a Fiddle", "All I Do Is Dream of You", "Make 'Em Laugh", "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'", "Wedding of the Painted Doll", "The Should I?", "Beautiful Girl", "You Were Meant for Me", "Moses", "Good Morning", "Singin' in the Rain", "Broadway Melody / Rhythm / Ballet", "Singin' in the Rain (Reprise)", "You Are My Lucky Star".

BLU-RAY DISC

• Audio Commentary - Identical to the 4K disc.
• Singin' in the Rain: Raining on a New Generation (50:48) - This documentary from 2012 includes a lineup of singers, dancers, musicians, and more talking about the song-and-dance numbers featured in the film.
• Jukebox - A total of 17 musical numbers from the movie, which can be assembled into a playlist in any order, or you can Play All. The musical numbers include "Singin' in the Rain Main Title" (0:35), "Fit as a Fiddle" (1:31), "All I Do Is Dream of You" (1:03), "Make 'em Laugh" (3:10), "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'/The Wedding of the Painted Doll/Should I?" (0:46), "Beautiful Girl" (3:15), "You Were Meant for Me" (3:31), "Moses" (3:04), "Good Morning" (3:16), "Singin' in the Rain" (3:58), "Would You?" (1:40), "The Broadway Melody" (0:43), "Broadway Rhythm" (1:03), "Broadway Melody Ballet Finale" (1:09), "Would You?" (1:07), "Singin' in the Rain" (1:14), and "You Are My Lucky Star Finale" (1:38).
• Theatrical Trailer (4:07)

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

A digital copy code voucher is included inside the standard two-disc black UHD case. The first print run includes a shiny slipcover.

[ NOTES ]

Singin' in the Rain certainly looks fantastic on this new 4K UHD disc, so it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED in that regard. However, if you want the complete set of special features, you'll need to also buy the 60th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD set or the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. I wish I didn't have to keep recommending buying additional old releases just to have a more complete supplemental package, but until the studios stop being lazy and excluding pre-existing bonus discs and the such, I have to keep mentioning it in my reviews.


This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.