This delightful musical comedy about a Broadway dance director who finds himself drafted into the Army stars Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire and features songs by Cole Porter. The dance sequences between Astaire and Hayworth are marvelous and the score earned an Oscar nomination.
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Video Quality
You’ll Never Get Rich makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Sony with a brand new 1080p master that is absolutely gorgeous. The exact provenance of this source is unknown, but there is no doubt that the restoration team at Sony has given this a remaster in recent years. The black-and-white photography is delightful in high definition with natural grain intact and resolved without issue. Black levels are deep with no semblance of black crush or compression artifacts. The highlights are steady with no signs of blooming. There is a significant amount of detail present with rich textures on the clothing. We did not spot any notable print damage that would detract from the viewing experience. Sony has knocked this one out of the park.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray release comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that brings this movie to life with the utmost care. This narrative is filled with rapid-fire dialogue, and all exchanges come through crisp and clear with rarely a trace of sibilance. Music is a significant part of the narrative, and all musical elements maintain a favorable fidelity. The environmental effects never clip the dialogue on this release. There does not appear to be anything in the way of damage or age-related wear and tear to the track outside of some minor hissing and the fleeting harsher inflection. This audio presentation deftly accomplishes everything that is asked of it. There are optional English, English SDH, and French subtitles available on the disc.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Film Historian Steven C. Smith provides a very informative commentary track that explores where this fits into the history of Columbia Pictures, the perfectionism of Fred Astaire, the background of the performers, the legacy of the film, and more.
- Theatrical Trailer: The nearly four-minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
You’ll Never Get Rich is a delightful musical comedy that thrives thanks to the magnetic screen presence of Rita Hayworth and her delightful chemistry with Fred Astaire. The two glide across the screen throughout their intoxicating dance numbers, reminding you of the stirring quality of the genre. The plot has some dated elements to it, but it works well enough for what it needs to do. This is a joyous cinematic delight that should satisfy fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a great A/V presentation and a good commentary track. We hope Sony continues to treat its classic output so well. Recommended
You’ll Never Get Rich can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
