Cloak and Dagger Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

USA 1946

A virtuoso World War II espionage thriller directed by Fritz Lang as his follow-up to the noir classic Scarlet Street (and not long after the war itself had ended), Cloak and Dagger is an underrated entry in Lang's oeuvre, a crackerjack spy saga with a commanding Gary Cooper performance and a wealth of masterful Langian suspense sequences (as well as some genuinely hard-hitting action set pieces).

Nuclear physicist Alvah Jesper (Cooper) is recruited by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services to become a reluctant undercover agent, traveling to Switzerland to meet with a fellow scientist regarding information on Germany's plans to construct an atomic bomb. After this colleague is assassinated, Jesper must sneak into Italy via the underground resistance, to contact another scientist. While there, Jesper falls in love with resistance fighter Gina (Lilli Palmer, in her first Hollywood role), and the two must battle shootouts, double crosses, and narrow escapes to smuggle the scientist out of Italy.

A more perfectly titled film would be difficult to imagine, as Cloak and Dagger is a consummate wartime espionage suspense picture, and an intriguing mixture of genres for Lang: part spy thriller, part romantic melodrama, and part patriotic war movie, Cloak and Dagger is another triumph among Lang's U.S. features, and an expert exercise in genre fusion that's ripe for rediscovery.

Poster

Theatrical Release: September 28th, 1946

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Artisan - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Olive Film - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

1) Artisan - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Olive- Region 'A' - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Masters of Cinema Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Artisan - Region 1 - NTSC	Olive Films Region 'A' - Blu-ray	Masters of Cinema Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:46:24	1:46:53.865	1:46:39.351
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.4 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,140,371,024 bytes Feature: 20,969,594,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,280,782,917 bytes Feature: 32,658,963,840 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.89 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Olive: Blu-ray
Bitrate Masters of Cinema: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 891 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 891 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	None	None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artisan Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: May, 2001 Keep Case Chapters: 23	Release Information: Studio: Olive Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,140,371,024 bytes Feature: 20,969,594,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • None Blu-ray Release Date: April 30th, 2013 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 8	Release Information: Studio: Masters of Cinema Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,280,782,917 bytes Feature: 32,658,963,840 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.89 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Brand new audio commentary by film critic and writer Alexandra Heller-Nicholas • Spycraft A brand new video essay by David Cairns (19:15) • Cloak and Dagger: Lux Radio Theater [57:58] Radio adaptation from 1946 starring Lilli Palmer and Ronald Reagan • Cloak and Dagger: The Radio Series [approx 660 mins 29:30 X 22] • A collector s booklet featuring a new essay by Samm Deighan DVD Blu-ray Release Date: January 27th, 2020 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 8

Comments:

NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray (January 2020): The short story is that this is the same source with the same scratches and marks (see sample) but it is more robustly transferred and looks superior - notably in the contrast and black levels. Audio also advances - 24-bit linear PCM, Masters of Cinema add optional English (SDH) subtitles and most obviously the supplements advances on Olive's bare-bones Blu-ray. The UK BD has a commentary, video essay and hours of radio broadcasts. There is also a liner notes booklet and second disc DVD. For Fritz Lang fans the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray is a must-own. Great job!

***

ADDITION: Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray (April 2013): The DVD was so poor that the 1080P image quality has no where to go but 'much higher'. The contrast boosting of the SD is readily apparent beside the significantly layered Blu-ray - which is a typical Olive; a single-layered, 'straight' transfer with no extras. There are many light surface scratches on the Olive, which has had no restoration. There is some textured grain. Lilli Palmer looks fabulous in the higher resolution. There are no subtitles nor extras and the audio is unremarkable, but lossless, mono. I still find this an awkward Lang film, but I enjoyed it significantly more in 1080P.

***

ON THE DVD: Not a film really representative of Lang and an even poorer quality DVD. This is bottom of the discount barrel. A very inconsistent image with some edge enhancement and contrast boosting - it's vertically stretched. Poor audio, no subtitles, no extras - they should be giving this away. We do NOT recommend unless you can buy for under $5 somewhere.