So I will jump straight into this. I love THE GREAT GATSBY book. Its myriad mystery about the 1920s and the quick elevation to money of many. This enhanced the powerful on the one hand, but also an air of mystery on the other. Fitzgerald’s unpicking of this and the ultimate example of the realisation of the toxic American dream. I read it as a teen, loved it and always related to its skewing of then and now, money and its emptiness. Fitzgerald did also seem to be coming to terms with his own life, loves and long held issues. Flash forward to today and I have another take. More of this later. But so it seems have many film makers interpreted this. There have been 5 Gatsby films in total. Starting in 1926 and most recently, 2013.

So to the 1949 movie. Jay Gatsby (Alan Ladd) works his way from poor fisherman to captains mate on a luxury ship. Three times around the world, and after the death of his captain and a nice pay off, he moves onward to become an extravagant millionaire. A mansion, elaborate parties and finest things galore, its all up. Some suspect the how and the why of it. Nick Carraway (Macdonald Carey ) has ideas but also a fascination with the man. So it seems does his married friend, Daisy Buchanan (Betty Field), who has a past with him. He husband Tom Buchanan (Barry Sullivan) might not like it mind and that might be the beginning of the end for everyone.

Paramount Pictures choose to develop the script from not only the book but the play of the same name. This meant that the shift in focus away from the mystery of Gatsby to the unpacking of his backstory, which though hinted at and then covered in grasps by the love story, was never its core. There is an issue with this ‘unpacking’, which I felt drew attention away from the impact of the final act. Add to this the awful transfer. Which though scanned to 4K, is worn, damaged and suffers from abundant bubbling. This all seems to suggest that those scanning, literally didn’t care. I know that some of you will point out that it was once considered a lost film and that the master was found in 2012. Yes that has meaning. But it was only known copy and this one deserved to be lovingly restored. Without a making of on the restoration, we can only see it as a scan and we have no idea what else happened. There is much however to fix eyes and ears on. First ears. Jason A. Ney speaks about the sets, which are lavishly captured and how that is old school Hollywood. He also pushes open this second film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald famous novel. Eyes on Sarah Churchwell essay, which is more rounded and focused than many I have seen. No flab, just thought. Targeting the film as a bolt on to the text with a sense it could be seen as like WIDE SARGASSA SEA in its revealing nature outside the text, of a central character.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 2022 4K scan of the original negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney
• Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man – documentary (1999)
• NEW Professor Sarah Churchwell on ‘The Great Gatsby’
• NEW Film critic/writer Christina Newland on ‘The Great Gatsby’
• On-stage interview with Alan Ladd’s son, David Ladd, conducted by Alan K. Rode
• Aspect Ratio 1.37:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HOH subtitles

https://viavision.com.au/shop/the-great-gatsby-1949-imprint-collection-220/