Now available on 4K UHD and standard Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, George Stevens’ 1953 classic, Shane, joins Roman Holiday, Stalag 17, Sabrina, and White Christmas as the fifth of seven of Paramount’s biggest hits of the early 1950s to be released on 4K UHD, with 1950’s Sunset Boulevard due to follow on August 5th. Can Stevens’ 1951 Oscar winner, A Place in the Sun be far behind?

Nominated for six Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, and two for Best Supporting Actor, Shane won for Loyal Griggs’ iconic cinematography.

The film’s star, Alan Ladd, was not nominated for Best Actor, despite being for many the best thing about the film. The problem was that Ladd had left the studio before the film’s release, and Paramount had no interest in promoting him for the award which went to William Holden who they heavily promoted for Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 which was also nominated for Best Picture and Director.

Ladd had been a major star for Paramount since 1942’s This Gun for Hire in which he was fourth billed behind Veronia Lake, Robert Preston, and Laird Cregar, even though he played the film’s principal character. That same year he was billed under Donlevy and Lake in The Glass Key in which he was again the film’s main character, and Lucky Jordan for which he was finally given his solo star billing. From then on, it was one hit after another. He was always a fan favorite, but never a critic’s darling.

He left Paramount for Warner Brothers in 1951 with his last three films for Paramount, Thunder in the East, Shane, and Botany Bay yet to be released. Thunder in the East opposite Deborah Kerr was released in 1952, Shane in the spring of 1953, and Botany Bay in the fall of that year with Shane being the biggest hit of his career. None of his films for Warner Bros. were as successful as his earlier films for Paramount to which he returned for 1964’s The Carpetbaggers, his last film before his suicide at the age of 50.

In Shane, Ladd is a former gunfighter who comes to the aid of a family of homesteaders consisting of a father (Van Heflin), a mother (Jean Arthur in her last film), and their ten-year-old son, Oscar nominated Brandon De Wilde whose first film it was.

De Wilde, who was Oscar nominated for his compelling portrayal of the starry-eyed kid who hero worships Ladd, had his first success in Broadway’s The Member of the Wedding which was filmed and released in 1952 rendering his “introducing” title card for Shane somewhat disconcerting.

The supporting cast was headed by De Wilde’s fellow Oscar nominee Jack Palance as a vicious gunfighter on the other side of the ongoing 1899 Wyoming range war featured in the film.

Palance, a 1952 Oscar nominee for Sudden Fear opposite Joan Crawford, also had head-scratching billing as Walter Jack Palance a year after dropping Walter in his billing.

Also in the film were Edgar Buchanan from Stevens’ Penny Serenade and The Talk of the Town (also in support of Jean Arthur) and both Ellen Corby and Edith Evanson who played Irene Dunne’s sisters in Stevens’ I Remember Mama for which Dunne and Corby, along with Barbara Bel Geddes and Oscar Homolka received Oscar nominations.

Others prominent in the cast include future Oscar winner Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show) and film noir favorite Elisha Cook, Jr. (The Killing).

Extras include a brand-new commentary by film historian Alan K, Rode and a previously recorded one by George Stevens, Jr.

Also newly released on 4K Ultra Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray are two other Oscar nominated classics, 1968’s The Lion in Winter from Studio Canal, and 1975’s Barry Lyndon from Criterion.

Kino Lorber released The Lion in Winter on Blu-ray last year and have been releasing films from the U.K.’s Studio Canal in 4K UHD so it’s surprising that they didn’t release the 4K upgrade in the U.S. as well.

Like all 4K UHD releases thus far, the stunning U.K. Studio Canal release is region free. However, the accompanying Blu-ray disc is region B locked.

As was to be expected, Anthony Harvey’s masterful film looks and sounds better than ever in 4K UHD. The performances of Oscar nominated Peter O’Toole, Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn (her third of four), Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, John Castle, Nigel Terry, and Nigel Davenport still thrill.

Extras include the previously recorded commentary by Harvey and brand-new on-screen interviews with Hopkins and Castle.

Criterion’s 4K UHD state-of-the-art upgrade of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, is from a 4K restoration and remaster of the film in Dolby Vision/HDR10 and the uncompressed monaural soundtrack, as well as an alternate DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound mix with the expected English subtitles provided for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Bonus features include five sets of previously released interviews (including with cast and crew, with archival audio of director Stanley Kubrick), trailers, and an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien.

The 3-disc set features one 4K UHD disc of the film and two standard blu-rays with the film and special features.

The film itself it breathtakingly beautiful but is perhaps too slow for modern tastes. Too bad. It is also playing in select theatres around the country on this, the 50th anniversary of the film whose restoration has long been anticipated.

Happy viewing.