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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Kurt Neumann
USA 1933

 

A deadly secret from the past returns to haunt a young woman and her loved ones in Secret of the Blue Room. Irene von Helldorf’s twenty-first birthday celebration is eclipsed when her father shares the dark details of his estate’s guest room: twenty years earlier, three people were killed there and their murders remain unsolved. Hoping to prove their own bravery and win Irene’s love, each of her three suitors agrees to spend a night in the room… and a new string of deadly mysteries is set into motion. Lionel Atwill (Doctor X, The Song of Songs), Gloria Stuart (The Kiss Before the Mirror, Titanic), Paul Lukas (The Lady Vanishes, The Ghost Breakers) and Edward Arnold (Easy Living, You Can’t Take It with You) star in this delightfully chilling Pre-Code murder-mystery movie directed by Kurt Neumann (Son of Ali Baba, The Fly).

***

According to a legend, the mansion's "blue room" is cursed -- everyone who has ever spent the night in that room has met with an untimely end. The three suitors of the heroine wager that each can survive a night in the forbidding blue room.

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 30th, 1933

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

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

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:05:47.318        
Video

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 22,782,740,174 bytes

Feature: 21,522,923,520 bytes

Video Bitrate: 39.26 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 1960 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1960 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: 22,782,740,174 bytes

Feature: 21,522,923,520 bytes

Video Bitrate: 39.26 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Michael Schlesinger
• 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 Kurt Neumann's Secret of the Blue Room to Blu-ray. Firstly, the Universal 'Vault Series' DVD from 2014, reviewed HERE, was a disaster. The SD disc was single-layered, no menus, or extras, and the transfer was interlaced but the more distracting issue is the consistent chroma bug. This Kino 1080P transfer is cited as from a "Brand New 2K Master". It still has plenty of speckles and a very thick, film-like image but there are some pleasing, heavy, textures on the Kino Blu-ray. It is, obviously, a massive improvement over the MoD DVD. 

NOTE: We have added 34 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. Secret of the Blue Room has the limitations of its era - tinny and scattered but a supportive score by Heinz Letton, with I Can't Help But Dream of You performed by Gloria Stuart but is notable for its opening music: Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (also briefly at the end of the film.)  Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by filmmaker / historian Michael Schlesinger. He talks about the various versions of Secret of the Blue Room identifying stock footage used from a previous version. He talks about Gloria Stuart's career and many of the cast and crew. Her is funny - making a few jokes noting the clichés, plot turns and dialogue. There are also trailers but none for Secret of the Blue Room.

Kurt Neumann's Secret of the Blue Room is a simple murder-mystery with a fair amount of suspense. I have always liked it - the Pre-Code production significance doesn't cause any 'more adult' circumstances to surface but the film still has that vintage era charm, fashion, mansions architecture etc.. The Kino Blu-ray is a significant bump over the weak DVD and also has the commentary.  It's a keeper for this reviewer.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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