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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Hell Ship Mutiny Bay")

 

Directed by John Farrow
USA 1953

 

Botany Bay tells the story of the birth of Australia as a nation in the late 18th century—drawing its founding settlers from the dreary prisons of England. Condemned to live out the rest of their existence in a foreign land, these convicted criminals are given a chance for reformation on new soil. Among them are Hugh Tallant (screen great Alan Ladd, Whispering Smith), a rebellious medical student unjustly accused of highway robbery, and Sally Munroe (a wonderful Patricia Medina, Sangaree), a pretty young actress sentenced in a dispute over the ownership of a necklace. In order to reach their new life in the British penal colony of Botany Bay, however, they have to survive the grueling voyage of the prison ship Charlotte—and the treachery of its sadistic overlord, Captain Gilbert (a fiery James Mason, The Man Between). When the ship finally lands at its destination, the film comes to a crashing climax that makes it one of the most exciting sea adventures ever filmed! Franz Waxman’s (Red Mountain) score and John F. Seitz’s (Captain Carey, U.S.A.) Technicolor cinematography heighten the drama in this sweeping swashbuckler from screenwriter Jonathan Latimer (Night Has a Thousand Eyes) and director John Farrow (Submarine Command).

***

Based on the story of Australia's colonization, this atmospheric drama stars Alan Ladd as Hugh Tallant, an American medical student falsely convicted of robbery and sent on a torturous voyage with other prisoners to the penal colony at Botany Bay. Because of his attempt to escape, evil Captain Gilbert decides to return him to England on charges of mutiny.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 26th, 1952

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:34:15.900        
Video

1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,669,081,666 bytes

Feature: 22,559,213,568 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.43 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1556 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1556 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB

Subtitles English (SDH), None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,669,081,666 bytes

Feature: 22,559,213,568 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.43 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Heath Holland, Host of Cereal at Midnight Podcast


Blu-ray Release Date: September 24th, 2024

Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 9

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2024): Kino have transferred John Farrow's Botany Bay to Blu-ray. It was shot in Technicolor and has some minor color bleeding and some fluctuations but generally looks decent in 1080P. It's reasonably clean with a few speckles. It's only a single-layered disc but has  supportive bitrate. The biggest attribute may be the desirable color hues.

NOTE: We have added 40 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Botany Bay has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth. The score is by Franz Waxman (I, The Jury, Bride of Frankenstein Untamed, Rebecca, Dark Passage, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard etc.) and it supports the film with some subtlety and intensity in the dramatic sequences. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Heath Holland, host of Cereal at Midnight Podcast. He talks about the historical details of the story, the source material being a novel, director Farrow, actors Ladd, Mason, Patricia Medina, Jonathan Harris (Lost in Space) composer Waxman, character inspirations and more about the production. It's quite good and he speaks clearly and precisely. There are also a handful of Ladd, or sea-faring, trailers but none for Botany Bay.   

John Farrow's Botany Bay is set in 1787, and has cruel British Capt. Paul Gilbert (James Mason) on an 18th-century prison ship, the Charlotte, victimizing a young U.S. medical student, Hugh Tallant (Alan Ladd) including 50 lashes with a cat-o-nine-tails. An attractive female prisoner, Sally (Patricia Medina), with her frequent off-shoulder wardrobe, is the target of romantic intentions. Not surprisingly conflict ensues. Botany Bay was based on the novel of the same name by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall who has written the successful of Mutiny on the Bounty. Joel McCrea or Ray Milland were proposed leads but it went to the big Paramount star, Alan Ladd. Koala bears and kangaroos were flown from Australia to appear in the film that was shot in California. It's a decent adventure - especially for Ladd fans - and it has some historic 'penal colony' stuff as well. Patricia Medina is quite 'dishy'. The Kino Blu-ray has the vintage film in 1080P and a well-researched commentary. Fans should consider. 

Gary Tooze

 


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Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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