Woman of the Year Blu-ray delivers stunningly beautiful video and superb audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Tess is a political reporter for The New York Chronicle, and Sam is a sports writer. After a rocky start, they eventually fall in love and get married. But professional conflicts and dueling priorities threaten their relationship, especially after Tess is selected as "America's Outstanding Woman of the Year".
For more about Woman of the Year and the Woman of the Year Blu-ray release, see Woman of the Year Blu-ray Review published by Dr. Svet Atanasov on April 22, 2017 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
Winner of Oscar Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, George Stevens' "Woman of the Year" (1942) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer; archival audio interview with director George Stevens; new video interview with author Marilyn Ann Moss; two archival documentaries; and a lot more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The odd couple
There is a lot that works spectacularly well in this film and there are literally hundreds of articles that try to explain why, but there isn't much of a mystery here that needs to be solved. It is the great chemistry between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy that makes the film special, and everything else is just icing on the cake.
Hepburn and Tracy play two rivaling reporters who are employed by a big newspaper in New York City. Tess Harding is the perfectionist type that is always a few steps ahead of everyone else and working hard to set higher standards rather than follow existing ones. She likes her job, but loves the recognition that she gets through it. Sam Craig is a traditionalist who needs plenty of time to get things done. He also likes his job, but does not allow his daily professional duties to disrupt his dull yet mostly pleasurable personal life. An awkward public exchange of 'informed opinions' allows Tess and Sam to finally meet face to face and they instantly fall in love. Shortly after, they begin dating and after learning more about each other's careers and lives decide to marry -- only to then abruptly discover that they have drastically different understandings about what it means to live together as husband and wife.
The effectiveness of George Stevens' direction should not be underestimated, but it is really the manner in which Hepburn and Tracy engage in front of his camera that is ultimately responsible for the quality of the film. For example, as their relationship evolves the newlyweds become very uncomfortable with their roles but in order for the change to look authentic Hepburn and Tracy have to reveal a very delicate indecisiveness through their behavior and body language. Now all of this has to be done after a number of gender stereotypes have already been flipped in the first half, which means that there is yet another round of changes that Hepburn and Tracy have to sell to the audience. So there are a lot of small yet brilliant things that the two stars do -- such as timely responses, clinical 'casual' remarks, or quick tell-all looks -- that make the transformations of their characters look credible.
It is worth mentioning that despite the brilliant performances the film has had a fair share of outspoken detractors. A popular 'flaw' that is frequently brought up by folks that dislike it is the supposedly forced transformation of Hepburn's reporter, which apparently sends a dangerous message that targets equally strong and driven professional women. Opinions of course will always vary, but the film actually sides with the reporter until eventually she has to decide how to rearrange her priorities in life. She has the freedom to choose, and at the end it is precisely what she does.
*Woman of the Year was the first of nine films that Hepburn and Tracy made together. The remaining eight are Keeper of the Flame (1942), Without Love (1945), The Sea of Grass (1947), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Desk Set (1957), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, George Stevens' Woman of the Year arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from a 35mm fine-grain master positive made from the 35mm original camera negative. The 35mm original soundtrack negative was transferred using Chase Optical Sound Processor. The monaural soundtrack was then remastered; clicks, thumps, hiss, humm, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.
Transfer supervisor: Lee Kline.
Colorist: Russell Smith.
Audio transfer: Deluxe Sound Services, Burbank, CA."
The film has a strong and very solid organic appearance. There are a few segments with very light density fluctuations that are clearly caused by aging, but there are no anomalies that impact the overall integrity of the image. On the contrary, plenty of the indoor and nighttime footage actually boasts wonderful healthy nuances; fluidity is also excellent (see screencaptures #3 and 13 where these nuances are very easy to see). There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. A layer of very light and healthy grain is visible throughout the entire film; it is nicely resolved as well, never appearing under/overexposed. There are no distracting sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is excellent. If there ever were any obvious age-related imperfections, such as large blemishes, cuts, stains, debris, and damage marks, now it is impossible to tell because the film also looks spotless. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The audio has been remastered and it is actually very easy to tell -- balance is great and the indoor dialog is typically very sharp and all-around nicely rounded -- but there are a few short segments where I noticed some 'thinning' in the upper register. The exact effect is difficult to accurately describe, but it sounds as if the audio was compressed in some way in order to remove or at least minimize some serious background imperfections. The overall quality of the audio is still very good, but the 'thinning' is certainly recognizable if the volume is turned up a notch or two above the normal settings. (And I certainly realize that with different viewers these settings would be different). There are no audio dropouts, pops, or cracks to report.
Trailer - original trailer for Woman of the Year. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080i).
George Stevens - presented here is an excerpt from an archival interview with director George Stevens in which he recalls his interactions with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy during the shooting of Woman of the Year, and how he nearly abandoned the film because of some creative disagreements that involved prominent studio people. The interview was conducted in 1967. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).
George Stevens Jr. - in this brand new video interview, George Stevens Jr., the son of director George Stevens, discusses the creative environment in which his father worked and the manner in which he treated the people that he expected would see his films. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Washington D.C. in January 2017. In English, not subtitled. (7 min, 1080p).
Marylin Ann Moss - in this brand new video interview, Marilyn Ann Moss, author of Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film, discusses George Stevens' career in Hollywood and the evolution of his work, the interesting relationship he had with his female characters, the lasting impact Laurel and Hardy had on his directing style,
and Woman of the Year and some of its key themes. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in December 2016. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080p).
Katharine Hepburn: Woman of the Century - in this new video interview, author and journalist Claudia Roth Pierpoint discusses the life and career of Katharine Hepburn, her image as a powerful woman (and with some great comments about the roles that defined it), and the feminist overtones in Woman of the Year. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in New York in December 2016. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey - this archival documentary examines the life and career of George Stevens as well as the significant impact his work has had on American culture. Included in the documentary are clips from interviews with Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Ginger Rogers, Millie Perkins, Max Von Sydow, Spencer Tracy, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, and Montgomery Clift, amongst others. The documentary was written and directed by George Stevens Jr. in 1984. In English, not subtitled. (112 min, 1080p).
1. Life is a journey
2. Alice Adams
3. Early life
4. Hollywood
5. Laurel and Hardy
6. Swing Time/Gunga Din
7. Woman of the Year
8. The More the Merrier
9. World War II
10. I Remember Mama
11. A Place in the Sun
12. The Director's Guild
13. Shane
14. Giant
15. The Diary of Anne Frank
16. The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Spencer Tracy Legacy - this archival documentary focuses on the life and illustrious career of Spencer Tracy. Narrated by Katharine Hepburn, the documentary features numerous clips from interviews with Burt Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Richard Widmark, and Stanley Kramer, amongst others. The documentary was produced in 1986. In English, not subtitled. (87 min, 1080i).
1. Opening
2. The Power and the Glory
3. Family life/Up the River
4. New studio/Riffraff
5. Gable and Tracy
6. Fury/Captain Courageous
7. The Old Man and the Sea/Boys Town
8. Northwest Passage/Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
9. Woman of the Year
10. Adam's Rib/Pat and Mike
11. The Actress/Father of the Bride
12. Keeper of the Flame/State of the Union
13. Bad Day at Black Rock
14. Judgement at Nuremberg
15. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
16. Kate's letter to Spence
Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek and technical credits.
There are some drastically different takes on Woman of the Year and the main reason behind some of them appears to be the desire to politicize the nature of the relationship that it chronicles. I will admit that there are some delicate truths that are mentioned in it, but in my opinion their significance is wildly exaggerated. I enjoy the film because its two stars, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, are absolutely magnificent together. It is really that simple for me. Criterion's new Blu-ray release is sourced from an excellent recent 2K restoration and offers an extensive selection of supplemental features. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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The Criterion Collection will release six titles on Blu-ray in April: Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, George Cukor's Woman of the Year, Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club, Juzo Itami's Buena Vista Social Club, and Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ...
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