When TCM Vault released its Blu-ray/DVD of The Lady From Shanghai in January, disappointment was voiced in some quarters that the Blu-ray did not fully do justice to the recent 4K restoration of Orson Welles’ 1947 thriller.
The key complaints were that TCM had used VC-1 encoding instead of the superior MPEG-4 AVC; standard Dolby was employed rather than Dolby TrueHD; and the single layer disc disc offered a relatively small file size. Another gripe was the release failed to include the Eddie Muller comments advertised on the website.
To the surprise of many, TCM quietly issued a new version in May that addressed those concerns. Further, they have allowed those who purchased the earlier Blu-ray to swap it at no charge for the new version.
To a casual observer, the first thing that stands out is the new TCM offering is darker than that of the initial Blu-ray release. The audio – to my aging ears – sounds pretty much the same. Unfortunately, there are still no subtitles for the hearing impaired.
The far more discerning DVDBeaver.com, which had called the earlier Blu-ray “underwhelming,” says of the new version “The image quality is more robust supporting the film’s grain textures to a higher degree but most notable is how much darker the “***NEW Version***” image is, almost to the point of losing detail or venturing into moiring territory. But, it honestly looks far more film-like to me using a higher file size (now on a dual-layered disc), and hence higher bitrate and the superior AVC encode as opposed to the VC-1 found on the previous 1080P. Compression artifacts found (zoomed-in) on the original BD seem to have disappeared. This is, absolutely, better…”
As for the audio, DVDBeaver wrote that “Although a puny kbps (at 570) the improved Dolby TrueHD in 2.0 channel sounds superior in my opinion. It’s richer than the standard Dolby of the original BD. Heinz Roemheld’s score certainly benefits from the lossless rendering.”
DVDTalk.com also had reservations about the contrast: “This new transfer of The Lady From Shanghai differs drastically from the January version in terms of contrast. The image presented here is noticeably dark, with thick, impenetrable shadows covering the screen. Of course, stark shadows are a visual staple of film noir, but the distinct lack of visible detail or nuance in these shadows does arouse a level of suspicion about whether the film is now too dark. During the daytime scenes, the film looks perfectly natural, and it’s more than possible that the previous version of Shanghai was too bright. However, this development will undoubtedly disturb some viewers. (The included DVD copy is the initial, brighter version.)… The film’s new DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track sounds excellent, with very strong separation of dialogue and music. The film’s climactic “house of mirrors” scene is startling and immersive.”
On the Blu-ray.com forum, there was debate over the darkening of the image.
One commenter noted, “I’d say the contrast is closer now to transfers from Double Indemnity (US), and the Casablanca 70th ann., which both got high praise’: while another wrote, “It is much darker then any noir I have in my collection. Almost half the film is shrouded in complete black. I’m not even talking about dark shadow detail here. And it just looks off IMO.”
Perhaps it was summed up best by a viewer who noted, “You can’t please everyone.”
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