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

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (December 2021): Indicator have transferred 10 Mae West films to Blu-ray in a package entitled Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943. They are Night After Night (1932), She Done Him Wrong (1933), I'm No Angel (1933), Belle of the Nineties (1934), Goin' to Town (1935), Klondike Annie (1936), Go West Young Man (1936), Every Day's a Holiday (1937), My Little Chickadee (1940), The Heat's On (1943) and, included as an extra, the 1982 Biopic Mae West with Ann Jillian, James Brolin, Piper Laurie and Roddy McDowall.

They are cited as a 2014 High Definition remaster of Night After Night, a 2017 restoration of She Done Him Wrong from a 4K scan, a 2018 restoration of Goin’ to Town from a 4K scan, a 2014 High Definition remaster of Klondike Annie, 2021 restorations of Go West Young Man and Every Day’s a Holiday from 4K scans, a 2019 4K restoration of I’m No Angel, a 2021 restoration of Belle of the Nineties from a 4K scan and a 2018 4K restoration of My Little Chickadee.

Kino came out with most of these on Blu-ray earlier this year, but not The Heat's On (1943) which is having its world premiere. We have reviewed the Kino BDs Night After Night, She Done Him Wrong, I'm No Angel, Goin' to Town and Go West Young Man, and have compared captures below. Essentially, Indicator are pairing two films per dual-layered Blu-ray, and they look equally as strong - perhaps a shade lighter. There is usually plenty of grain, some marks and inherent softness. For the most part, the younger the film, the better, tighter and crisper, the 1080P image appearance with My Little Chickadee and The Heat's On looking the most remarkable. Bitrates average about 30 Mbps per feature.

NOTE: We have added 180 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Indicator use linear PCM mono tracks (16-bit) in the original English language. The sounds is authentically flat, and occasionally scratchy. Scores are by the likes of Herman Hand (Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The Song of Songs, A Farewell to Arms), Rudolph G. Kopp (The Sign of the Cross, The Woman Accused, 1934's Cleopatra, 1934's The Murder in the Zoo, 1950's Noir Mystery Street), John Leipold (Christmas in July, The Devil is a Woman, The Flying Deuces, Duck Soup) and Heinz Roemheld (Ruby Gentry, I, Jane Doe, Dangerous, The Monster that Challenged The World, The Land Unknown, The Mole People, 1933's The Invisible Man), and others with some musical, numbers sprinkled throughout - often sung by Mae West. The audio, like the video, show the production's ages but are fully functional to enjoy the features. Indicator offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Indicator Blu-ray offers new (2021) commentaries for a number of the films; She Done Him Wrong with critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson, on I’m No Angel with critic and writer Farran Smith Nehme, a commentary on Klondike Annie with academic and curator Eloise Ross, and on Go West Young Man with writer and film historian Nora Fiore. I am just sampling them now. There is plenty more including Mae West at UCLA a 25-minute 1971 archival audio recording of the great performer in conversation at the University of California, Los Angeles. We get a new 1/2 hour appreciation of Mae West’s unique persona with academic and film historian Lucy Bolton. It is entitled Downtown Girl. Christina Newland explores Mae West’s cultural importance for 20-minutes in The Only Way Is West. A Love-Hate Relationship is a new 12-minute appreciation of My Little Chickadee with Dr Harriet Fields, granddaughter of W C Fields. There are two, separate, Super 8 versions of I’m No Angel: a pair of original cut-down home-cinema presentations, each condensing the film via different scenes and another Super 8 for The Heat's On. There are a few cartoons added; 1933's She Done Him Right - an animated short film parody of She Done Him Wrong featuring 'Pooch the Pup' and other canine characters, The Merry Old Soul from the same year with Oswald the Rabbit featuring caricatures of many Hollywood stars, including Mae West and Hollywood Bowl from 1939 - a Walter Lantz animation featuring many Hollywood caricatures, including W C Fields. There are a number of trailers and image galleries of publicity and promotional materials for all the Mae West films. I enjoyed the 1982 feature 'Mae West' - a television movie biopic directed by Lee Philips, starring Ann Jillian as Mae West, and co-starring James Brolin, Piper Laurie, and Roddy McDowall. It had plenty of focus on her scandals, and pushing the envelope with her honest approach to sex as well as dramatizations of her private life. I thought it was well-made and covered a lot of the performer's life including her childhood. Jillian did an admirable performance with mannerisms down well. It, of course, has plenty of detail missing, and inaccuracies, but fans may appreciate the solid attempt at an entertaining bio-drama. The package includes an exclusive double-sided poster only available with direct orders from Indicator (poster features original designs for She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel)... while stocks last.  

It's very appealing to have all these films in one package. Indicator's Blu-ray set, Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943, has a great selection of the iconic and unique star's films that include pre-code, comedy, crime, musical genres. Nice to have the inclusion of The Heat's On, albeit in more of a minor role, as her final film until Myra Breckinridge (1970) 27 years later. Mae West's breezy sexual independence was always 'on', quoting her: "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it." She frequently rewrote portions of her character's dialogue often being severely censored and judged as "vulgar and indecent". The outwardly sexual burlesque of the West characterizations were wildly popular. The dialogue is often filled with supreme feminine confidence and double entendres. She's absolutely marvelous. I love the idea of such a complete package of her films including The Heat's On and the 1982 biopic, the commentaries and other extras. Indicator are the best! Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze