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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Stuart Walker
USA 1935

 

Starring Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, Casablanca), Heather Angel (The Undying Monster, Lifeboat) and David Manners (Dracula, The Death Kiss), The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a haunting film adaptation of the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. An opium-addicted choirmaster, John Jasper (Rains), becomes obsessed with a young student named Rosa Bud (Angel). His nephew, Edwin Drood (Manners), also holds a torch for the girl and asks her to marry him. Circumstances in their small Victorian town grow more perplexing when Drood disappears and the sordid details of Jasper’s secret life come to light. Featuring beautiful sets, lavish costumes and wonderful direction by Stuart Walker (The Eagle and the Hawk, Werewolf of London), this gripping tale remains as mysterious as ever. Douglass Montgomery (The Cat and the Canary), Francis L. Sullivan (Great Expectations), Valerie Hobson (Kind Hearts and Coronets) and E.E. Clive (The Bride of Frankenstein) round out the fine cast.

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Mystery of Edwin Drood is a haunting film adaptation based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. An opium-addicted choirmaster, John Jasper (Claude Rains), becomes obsessed with a young student named Rosa Bud (Heather Angel). His nephew, Edwin Drood (David Manners), also holds a torch for the girl and asks her to marry him. Circumstances in their small Victorian town grow more perplexing when Drood disappears and the sordid details of Jasper’s secret life come to light. Featuring beautiful sets, lavish costumes and stunning cinematography, this gripping tale remains as mysterious as ever.

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 4th, 1935

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

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:27:03.051        
Video

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 22,596,789,152 bytes

Feature: 21,438,191,616 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.92 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 1983 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1983 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
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Kino

 

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 22,596,789,152 bytes

Feature: 21,438,191,616 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.92 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle
• Trailers


 Blu-ray Release Date: November 2nd, 2021
 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 (October 2021): Kino have transferred Stuart Walker's Mystery of Edwin Drood to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 2K Master". Firstly, the Universal 'Vault Series' DVD from 2014, reviewed HERE, was very poor. The SD disc had no menus, or extras, the transfer was interlaced and it also had distracting chroma bug (see sample below.) This Kino 1080P transfer is still has plenty of speckles and a very thick, film-like image dense with textures, The Kino Blu-ray visuals, like Secret of the Blue Room, are obviously a massive improvement over the MoD DVD. 

NOTE: We have added 44 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. Mystery of Edwin Drood has very few aggressive moments and a score by Edward Ward (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves The Vanishing Shadow,, Night Must Fall, The Women, Boys Town) sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle. He discusses 'selling' Mystery of Edwin Drood in promotional posters as a horror with supernatural characters. He discusses Dickens' unfinished work on which this is based. He shares interactions he had with actor David Manners ('Edwin Drood') and the debate of who the murder is - or if there was a murder at all. He tells details of Claude Rains professionalism. David is great - he shares fascinating anecdotes and his passion always shines through. There are also trailers but none for Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Mystery of Edwin Drood is drenched in Gothic Victorian era charm. It's a fairly lavish production. There is some appeal about the unresolved ending. It remains an entertaining murder/crime effort with the horrors of drug addiction and obsession - steeped in foggy atmospheres or underground crypts. The Kino Blu-ray offers another wonderful Del Valle commentary and the film's HD presentation is a massive leap beyond the 'Vault Series' DVD.

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

Universal 'Vault Series' - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

NOTE: Chroma on the DVD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

 
Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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