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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka 'Agent X-27')
Directed by
Josef von Sternberg
USA 1931
My
favorite among the seven glittering Josef von Sternberg features
starring Marlene Dietrich, all of them made between 1930 and 1935,
is ironically the least well known, and currently available only as
a Swedish import, although Jean-Luc Godard once included it in a
list of his ten favorite American films. It’s the second American
film Sternberg made with Dietrich, although it was completed before
he released the first (Morocco),
and in some ways it’s the most stylistically perfect of all his
sound features. In it, Dietrich plays X-27, a character clearly
inspired by Mara Hari — an Austrian prostitute whose patriotism
leads her to agree to spy on the Russians (in particular, Victor
McLaglen) and whose activities ultimately lead to her death by
firing squad.
Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum's article "30 Great Movies on DVD" located HERE |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: April 4th, 1931
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Universal (Europe) - Region 2,4,5 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
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Part of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood [ Blu-ray] with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman: |
Part of Indicator's Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg at Paramount, 1930-1935 (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman: Coming to Blu-ray, in a standard individual package in July 2022 from Indicator: or buy directly from Indicator: |
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Distribution | Universal (Europe) Home Video - Region 2,4,5- PAL | Criterion - Spine #932 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
Indicator -
Spine #130 Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:27:30 (4% PAL Speedup) | 1:31:41.245 | 1:31:27.273 |
Video | 1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.1 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,871,253,137 bytesFeature: 27,496,955,904 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.86 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,912,878,809 bytes Feature: 26,802,694,272 bytesVideo Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate: |
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Bitrate: Criterion Blu-ray |
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Bitrate: Indicator Blu-ray |
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Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) | LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit | LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit |
Subtitles | English, German, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Danish, None | English (SDH), None | English (SDH), None |
Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: • none |
Release Information: Studio: Criterion
1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,871,253,137 bytesFeature: 27,496,955,904 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.86 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: • Dietrich Icon - New documentary on Dietrich’s status as a feminist icon, featuring film scholars Mary Desjardins, Amy Lawrence, and Patricia White (20:23)• Bodies and Spaces, Fabric and Light - New video essay by critics Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin (29:17) • New interview with director Josef von Sternberg’s son, Nicholas (14:50)
Custom Blu-ray Case Chapters 17 |
Release Information: Studio: Indicator
1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,912,878,809 bytes Feature: 26,802,694,272 bytesVideo Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
• Introduction by Nicholas von Sternberg (2019, 11:28): the son of Josef
von Sternberg discusses Dishonored
Chapters 13 |
Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.ADDITION: (August 2019) Indicator Region 'B' - Blu-ray: This is another disc of Indicator's Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg at Paramount, 1930-1935 (Limited Edition) Blu-ray that has Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman. We will compare all of them to the corresponding Criterion Blu-rays.Like Blonde Venus, the Indicator Dishonored transfer is extremely similar to the Criterion. It is also on a dual-layered Blu-ray disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The Indicator 1.19:1 aspect ratio image looks mostly exactly the same as the Criterion but there are instances - in certain scenes (see the subtitle capture) where the contrast is slightly different. In that particular case the Indicator is lighter with less-prominent black levels. We've compared 3 others as well as the subtitle - and each of those is, pretty much, exactly the same. Like Blonde Venus, this Indicator is also noted as being a "4K restoration". T he audio on the Indicator is exported using a 24-bit linear PCM 1.0 mono audio track. I couldn't hear any difference in Donauwellen (Danube Waves) nor Strauss' "Blue Danube Waltz", Haydn's "Kaiserlied" and Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" - it still moderately suffers from the limitations of the production era. It is flat and authentic. There are optional English subtitles on this Indicator's Region 'B' Blu-ray.
There are some excellent supplements on the
Indicator Blu-ray.
This also offers an introduction by Nicholas von Sternberg
the son of Josef von Sternberg discusses Dishonored. It runs
about a dozen minutes. Josef von Sternberg, a
Retrospective was made in 1969 and runs over 1/ 1/4
hours. It is a feature-length
Belgian
television documentary (in Flemish) by the
acclaimed filmmaker Harry Kümel, containing rare
interview with von Sternberg. I really enjoyed “I did what he told me to do”
a new video essay on the films of Marlene Dietrich and Josef
von Sternberg by film historian Tag Gallagher running
16-minutes. It is wonderful to have Tag back and providing
us with these incredible visual essays. Lastly, is an image
gallery of promotional and publicity material.
The entire
package has a limited edition (6,000 copies) exclusive
120-page book with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson,
archival interviews and articles, an overview of
contemporary critical responses, film credits and more. Gary Tooze *** ADDITION: (June 2018) Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray: This is the first disc of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood Blu-ray that has Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman. We will review all of them, shortly.
Criterion bring us Dishonored, as the
second of the set. The film is housed on a dual-layered
disc, with the feature having a max'ed out bitrate.
The previous DVD had examples of edge-enhancement with some
boosted black levels, that are not found on the Criterion
1080P. Grain is prevalent and consistent throughout, but
that is par for the course with films of this era. Contrast
levels are much better on this Criterion
Blu-ray.
There are very few instances of frame-specific damage, it is
not noticeable in motion. Colin Zavitz *** ON THE DVD (2005): For a single layered DVD this looks marvelous. I see no evidence of manipulation and there is just a healthy smattering of film grain for a realistic film-like appearance. Contrast is very strong and black levels are deep and penetrating. If any of us had been able to obtain these in time I am sure a few of these Universal DVDs would have made our 2005 DVD of the Year poll. These discs have been region-coded to sell in Europe, Middle East, Russia and Australia and enough removable subtitle options have been added to help their universality. No extras and a very no frills package but its the films that many cineastes have craved for years... and they are here. Dietrich seems timeless as you watch her and its so much fun to see a film with so much style over substance - perhaps this is the quality giving it such endurance. |
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DVD Menus
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Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
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Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Universal Europe - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - TOP2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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More Blu-ray Captures
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Part of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood [ Blu-ray] with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman: |
Part of Indicator's Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg at Paramount, 1930-1935 (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman: Coming to Blu-ray, in a standard individual package in July 2022 from Indicator: or buy directly from Indicator: |
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Distribution | Universal (Europe) Home Video - Region 2,4,5- PAL | Criterion - Spine #932 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
Indicator -
Spine #130 Region 'B' - Blu-ray |