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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (October 2022): Kino have transferred James Whale's Pre-Code By Candlelight to Blu-ray. It is cited as being "Digitally Restored by Universal Pictures in 4K from 35mm Original Film Elements". The hour-10-minute film is on a single-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Considering its age it looks solid; clean with rich film grain that extol the decadent costuming. It's fairly heavy and dark - almost dampened - but clean and this appears to be a worthy representation. It looked consistent on my system.  

NOTE: We have added 42 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. By Candlelight has no aggressive effects. The score was by W. Franke Harling (The Kiss Before the Mirror, Blonde Venus, Trouble In Paradise.) There is also other music in the film including I Kiss Your Hand, Madame, Long Live Love, Domenico Savino's Valse Passioné, Lyric Agitato, The Captive, Agitato Drammatico etc. sounding clean, if dated, with audible dialogue in the lossless transfer. I noted no egregious flaws. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Troy Howarth. He informs us that the intended casting was for Adolphe Menjou and Joan Bennett. He discusses Whale's fascination with royalty and the upper echelons of society. Troy talks about the mild pre-code-ness in By Candlelight  but still having suggestive circumstance and dialogue. He observes the brisk pacing and identifies many of the cast and other roles they portrayed later in their careers, the evolution of the production and much more with tangential involvement of William and Robert Wyler. I always enjoy Troy and he unearths plenty of interesting information on the film. A very good, well-researched commentary. There are also a handful of trailers but none for By Candlelight.    

James Whale's By Candlelight is a classy Pre-Code romantic-comedy based on the Austrian play Candle Light by Siegfried Geyer and Karl Farkas, adapted to the English-speaking stage by P. G. Wodehouse. By Candlelight revolves around mistaken identity, pretense and a playful desire for wealth and nobility... if only temporarily. Whale adds a keen layer of sophistication and it's nice to marvel at the fashions and decor. There is a lot to like for fans of Pre-Code. The Kino Blu-ray has a strong 4K restored appearance and another excellent commentary. I would, definitely, watch this again. Enjoy!

Gary Tooze