Any GOOD DVD versions out there?

Mark, thanks very much for the info on this LaserLight release of Two Women - from your description it sounds as though this might well be preferable to the fuzzy prints on other reprint labels.

But where did you find this LaserLight? It isn't listed at either Amazon or Walmart; and a quick search for a LaserLight website comes up blank, but I didn't try digging deep.

I'm also curious about their source print. The Koch DVD of the English dub has a total runtime of 1:39:08. It starts immediately with the Joseph E. Levine Presents screen, and ends with "The End / An Embassy Pictures Corporation Release", followed by about 4 seconds of black screen. There are no subtitles or Closed Captions. Levine was the original U.S. distributor, through his Embassy Pictures; IMDb also shows Levine as having been the (uncredited) executive producer of the film, with Carlo Ponti as the credited producer.

I'm not sure at what point the English dub was made, or by whom. I know many Italian films from this era were immediately dubbed professionally in postproduction, but the extremely poor quality Madacy release has the Italian soundtrack with burned-in subtitles, following after the same Joseph E. Levine Presents opening screen and credits printed in English. (This is the version with the 7-minute cut that I described above in my post of Oct 4 2007.) I saw the movie in its first U.S. theatrical release, probably in 1961, and to the best of my recollection it was this subtitled Italian version; I'm pretty sure of that, but can't absolutely swear to it. I have no idea now whether the cut scenes were included or not.

If your LaserLight includes both an intro and a closing by Tony Curtis, and a closing MGM logo, but clocks in at just over one minute longer than the Koch, then the 4% PAL-to-NTSC timing difference might explain this discrepancy. (Or, but it seems unlikely, perhaps the LaserLight has the same cuts as the Madacy Italian version?)


If you see this post, please advise where you found the LaserLight.


FWIW, as of this date Amazon.de Marketplace lists two out-of-print releases of La Ciociara, one having the same Cinema Forever cover art as the Medusa release discussed at http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/twowomen.htm, with runtime given by both sources as 97 min, and says Sprache: Italienisch - Untertitel: Italienisch (whereas dvdbeaver said the Medusa did not have subtitles). The other Amazon.de entry has different cover art, but says runtime is 100 min, and that it also has Italian subtitles. Neither of two reviews for these mentions problems with a poor transfer.

Amazon.fr Marketplace lists one out-of-print French language release of the film, at 100 min, apparently without any subtitles. There's a single review that again does not mention transfer problems.

Okay, here we go; my Half.com purchase arrived today.

LaserLight is a trademark of Delta Entertainment Corp. The Delta/LaserLight edition of Vittorio De Sica's 1960 film La Ciociara, or Two Women, is far from perfect in either its video or its audio reproduction, but it's much better than the very poor Koch Vision edition or the disastrous Madacy release.

Amazon is currently listing nine different editions of this film, five of which are presently in print and sold directly by Amazon (Alpha, Ent, A2zcds, Pro-Active, and AFA); and another four out-of-print but available from Marketplace sellers (Madacy, Koch Vision, Bci/Eclipse, and Delta [aka LaserLight]). The cover art for this Delta/LaserLight edition is a photo of Loren in a low-cut black dress with shoulder straps, wearing a sparkly necklace and earrings, with "Sophia Loren" written down the right side of the cover.

Of these various editions I know only the bad Koch Vision, the terrible Madacy, and this Delta/LaserLight. None of the various editions listed by Amazon show good reviews for transfer quality, but this is not necessarily meaningful, since Amazon tends to post reviews by movie title without clearly distinguishing between different editions. A few reviews do specifically mention which bad edition is referred to, which is helpful.


Details of the Delta/LaserLight edition:

-Although the case cover insert carries the LaserLight logo, the disc itself is printed "delta" and "2001 Delta Entertainment Corporation".

-This version is the English dub, with no subtitles or captions. The word "delta" is watermarked from time to time in the lower right corner of the picture. Contrast is generally pretty good, perhaps slightly exaggerated; picture and sound fuzziness are about the same as with many transfers from VHS - not excellent, but watchable; there are occasional blips in both video and audio, but not overly distracting.

-The opening screen reads "Joseph E. Levine Presents"; the final screen reads "The End / An M-G-M Release".

-The disc contains both an introduction and closing remarks by Tony Curtis, both of which were recorded specifically for this LaserLight DVD release, not for the MGM distribution print or for television. It also includes a trailer (with both of its side edges cut off) for "Operation Crossbow", as DVD title 3. Curtis's introduction is DVD title 4, accessible through the menu, but his closing remarks are appended to the end of the movie as chapter 21 in the main DVD title 5. Titles 1 & 2 are the FBI warning and the LaserLight logo.

-The back cover claims a runtime of 110 min, which is wrong. The actual runtime for the movie itself, excluding the final Tony Curtis remarks, is 99'19". Curtis's appended concluding remarks run slightly less than one minute, giving a total runtime of 100'13" for DVD title 5. His introductory remarks in the separate DVD title 4 run 2'44".

-As Mark previously mentioned, this is UPC 018111205290, and it states that it is region-free. If you're considering purchasing from a source other than an Amazon Marketplace seller, be sure to confirm this UPC number.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.