The film element used for the transfer shows very few blemishes, although there are a couple scratches on the print that I wish could have been cleaned up digitally. Other than this minor nit pick, the transfer is quite good. The image is usually very crisp, which brings out many fine details in the original photography. There are some shots in the movie that include optical effects and rear screen projection, that appear somewhat soft, but these are limitations in the original production and not flaws in the transfer. Blacks are pure and the picture displays a nice range of grays up to white.
Contrast is very good and there are no instances where the whites blow out the image.
Digital compression artifacts are well hidden during the presentation. The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is crisp and free from distortion. Dialogue is fully intelligible and the music is pleasant sounding, despite the frequency limitations inherent in recordings that are over fifty years old. One may wish to amplify the soundtrack for Dimitri Tiomkin s adaptations of Claude Debussy s music. The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection feature, as well as a theatrical trailer.