James Stewart · 1940s

2 James Stewart movies from the 1940s on 4K Blu-ray, ranked S to D by transfer quality. 1 S-Tier pick including Rope.

Decade

All 12 1930s 2 1940s 2 1950s 6 1960s 1 1970s 1

Year

All 2 1940 0 1941 0 1942 0 1943 0 1944 0 1945 0 1946 1 1947 0 1948 1 1949 0

Rope(1948)

7.9/10

dir. Alfred Hitchcock

S-Tier

Part of the Hitchcock Classics Collection Volume 3, which has been discounted as low as $18 USD with coupons. Collectors consistently say the set is worth it for Rope and Frenzy alone. The biggest collector request is Dial M for Murder in 4K, followed by North By Northwest. The single-take technique makes this one interesting to revisit on a better display.

Universal Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray

It's a Wonderful Life(1946)

8.3/10

dir. Frank Capra

A-Tier

A-Tier Paramount 4K. The steelbook drops to $9.96 USD on Amazon pretty regularly, which makes it an easy December pickup. The 4K disc is black and white, and the included Blu-ray is the colorized version. Black and white films actually benefit a lot from HDR because you get more shades of gray and better contrast. The UK steelbook has two B&W discs while the US version splits color and B&W across formats.

Paramount Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray