John M. Stahl's -The Keys of the Kingdom

Directed by John M. Stahl
USA 1944

A marvelous spectacle spanning six decades and two continents, The Keys of the Kingdom is the glorious epic that introduced audiences to screen newcomer Gregory Peck.

***

A young priest, Father Chisholm (Gregory Peck) is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend (Vincent Price), also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles. He encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which humble him, but make him more determined than ever to succeed. Over the span of many years he gains acceptance and a growing congregation among the Chinese, through his quiet determination, understanding and patience.

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Theatrical Release: December 15th, 1944

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DVD Review: 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	2:16:50
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.33 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Mono), DUBS: French (Mono), Spanish (Mono)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by Kenneth Geist and Chris Mankiewicz • Trailer • Gregory Peck Theatre (7 trailers of Peck films) DVD Release Date: July 11th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 24

Comments:

This is up to the strong standards of Fox's 'Studio Classics' lineup. Digital noise is almost imperceptible and sharpness and contrast are very strong. I honestly am starting to feel that these Fox Classics are unnecessary to review - they are consistently good at absurdly low prices - very easy blind purchases especially as far as the transfer and film choices are concerned.

That being said the commentary on The Keys of the Kingdom is quite weak - actually one of the poorer that I have heard in recent months. There are substantial gaps, Chris Mankiewicz is often hard to hear there is very little of any relevance spoken. But solely on the basis of the film and excellent transfer we can whole-heartedly recommend the DVD. Peck's charismatic camera magnetism is evident right from his first scene. Wonderful, if unnecessarily long, film.

Gary W. Tooze

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