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What A Disgrace wrote:This is being released on DVD and Blu Ray on March, 23 2009. Amazon UK ahs the BR for pre-order, but unfortunately, not the DVD (otherwise I'd have placed my first DVD order of the year). No details yet.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
A film by Karel Reisz
Starring Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field and Rachel Roberts

The much-admired British New Wave classic is re-issued on DVD and released on Blu-ray in new High-Definition transfers, alongside The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962)

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a seminal film of the British New Wave, was a great box-office success when it opened in 1960 – audiences were thrilled by its anti-establishment energy, gritty realism, and above all by its fresh, outspoken working-class hero.

In the industrial streets and factories of Nottingham, Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney) spends his days at the factory bench, his evenings in the local pubs and his nights in the arms of Brenda (Rachel Roberts), the wife of a fellow factory worker. Irresistibly handsome and brimming with animal vitality, Arthur is anti-authority and unashamedly amoral….“What I’m out for is a good time. All the rest is propaganda.”

Based on Alan Sillitoe’s largely autobiographical novel, and with powerful central performances, crackling dialogue and a superb jazz score by Johnny Dankworth, the film stands as a vibrant modern classic.

Special features
• Commentary by film historian Robert Murphy, with writer Alan Sillitoe and cinematographer Freddie Francis
• New filmed interview with Shirley Anne Field
• Audio interview with Albert Finney
• We Are the Lambeth Boys (1959) – Karel Reisz’s classic Free Cinema documentary
• Illustrated booklet containing essays and biographies

Release date: 23 March 2009
RRP: DVD £17.99 / cat. no. BFIVD784 / Blu-ray £22.99 / cat. no. BFIB1004
UK / 1960 / black and white / 89 mins / cert PG / original aspect ratio 1.66:1
Optional subtitles for the hearing-impaired

John Hodson wrote:I've only had chance to have a brief look at this (and 'Loneliness'), but, even disregarding any aspect ratio issues, I think it's marginally the better of the two transfers; appears to be quite lovely and very film-like.

MichaelB wrote:

John Hodson wrote:I've only had chance to have a brief look at this (and 'Loneliness'), but, even disregarding any aspect ratio issues, I think it's marginally the better of the two transfers; appears to be quite lovely and very film-like.

My colleagues (one in particular) will be very happy to hear this, as the BFI did that transfer from scratch from original film elements - as mentioned in the other thread, Loneliness was bought in from Warner Bros (albeit with a bit of digital cleanup along the way).

This is a true honey of a transfer the BFI has produced. The enclosed booklet states that the film was transferred in high definition using an original 35mm finegrain film element from the BFI National Archive. The picture was then restored to remove various dirt and scratches, which has been accomplished beautifully here. The detail shines through boldly and contrast too looks exceptional. It's an improvement over the simultaneous release of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, and the brightness is comparatively toned down. Some mild grain has still been retained, but at a consistent and appropriate level. There obviously haven't been too many black and white films brought to Blu-ray thus far, but the only one I've seen that outdoes the BFI's work here is Casablanca from Warner Bros.

Lazertron wrote:I always shudder when I see workers' living quarters built so close to their factories with not much space to regenerate.