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(Basil Dearden, 1948, 96 mins) Release date: 19 August 2025 Limited Edition 4K UHD (World premiere) From the celebrated director-producer team of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph (The Gentle Gunman, The Ship That Died of Shame) comes Saraband for Dead Lovers, the first colour production from Britain’s legendary Ealing Studios. In this sumptuous historical romance, a teenage princess (Joan Greenwood, Girl Stroke Boy) is trapped in a loveless marriage to Prince George Louis of Hanover (Peter Bull, The Old Dark House), heir to the British throne. To escape the boredom, she begins a dangerous affair with Count Philip Konigsmark (Stewart Granger, Footsteps in the Fog), an affair with potentially terrible consequences for the pair... Adapted from a novel by Helen Simpson (Under Capricorn) by Alexander Mackendrick (Whisky Galore!) and John Dighton (Kind Hearts and Coronets), scored by acclaimed composer Alan Rawsthorne (The Cruel Sea), and shot in ravishing three-strip Technicolor by the great Douglas Slocombe (The Young Ones, Murphy’s War), Saraband for Dead Lovers is a glorious feast for the eyes and ears. INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD SPECIAL FEATURES 4K HDR restoration from the original three-strip Technicolor negatives 4K (2160p) UHD presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) Original mono audio A Sense of Loyalty (2025, 11 mins): director and screenwriter James Dearden introduces his father’s work A Life on the Set (2025, 13 mins): unit stills photographer Georgina Slocombe remembers her father, the acclaimed director of photography Douglas Slocombe The BEHP Interview with Michael Relph (1990, 87 mins): archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the producer, director, set designer, and long-term Dearden collaborator in conversation with Sidney Cole and Alan Lawson A Technicolor Dance (2023, 23 mins): film historian Josephine Botting explores the film’s production and the challenges its creators faced A Strange Adventure (2023, 24 mins): broadcaster Matthew Sweet and film critic Phuong Le discuss the film’s themes and reception Restoring ‘Saraband for Dead Lovers’ (2023, 10 mins): a look behind the scenes of the restoration process Prague location footage (1948, 2 mins): British Pathé newsreel extract Image galleries: promotional and publicity material; dialogue continuity script; and original storyboards by screenwriter Alexander Mackendrick New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Limited edition exclusive 80-page book: with a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival pieces by director Basil Dearden, producer Michael Balcon, art director Michael Relph, director of photography Douglas Slocombe, costume designer Anthony Mendleson, and conductor Ernest Irving, archival profile pieces on the principal cast members, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits World premiere on 4K UHD Limited edition of 5,000 individually numbered units (3,000 4K UHDs and 2,000 Blu-rays) for the US #PUSLE295U REGION FREE UPC: 843501043974
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Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948)
96 min
Sophie Dorothea is a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with Prince George Louis of Hanover. George Louis is later crowned King George I of England. Despairing of ever experiencing true love, the depressed queen finds life at court no solace. Sophie then falls for a dashing Swedish soldier of fortune, Count Konigsmark.