Image quality looks quite acceptable - moderately dirty/grainy at times but sharp and rendered with decent contrast - a few speckles here and there. Progressive on a single layered DVD, its strongest appeal lies in the fact that this film is not on the digital versatile disc format anywhere else in the entire world to my knowledge. If you want this Nicholas Ray/Bogart film you must spring for the Boxset (none are sold separately) - which contains all decent Bogie films anyway (In A Lonely Place 1950. Dead Reckoning 1947. Tokyo Joe 1949. The Harder They Fall 1956), but if you are like most you have some (or all) already in your collection with the region 1 discs.

Conveniently this DVD contains optional English subtitles (along with a Japanese choice). The menus are in Japanese but there are limited screens and it takes only moments to access your desired choice through trial and error. The English audio is 2.0 channel - both clear and consistent.

The film is an interesting one, perhaps a little heavy-handed for Ray's usual brilliant style but it is impacting and Bogart's charisma in this era is at its apex. It also skirts into the noir category with the flashback usage and showing society's struggling less fortunate with a crime/criminal focus. Being Bogie and noir it may be worth buying the entire package. 

Gary W. Tooze