You and Me Blu-ray - Sylvia Sidney / George Raft

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Wonderful")

USA 1938

Sylvia Sidney (An American Tragedy), George Raft (Spawn of the North), and Harry Carey (The Long Gray Line) head up the cast of this powerful film from the great Fritz Lang (Ministry of Fear). When ex-convict Joe (Raft) gets a job in a department store, he falls in love with his co-worker Helen (Sidney) and, even though the rules of their employment strictly forbid it, the two secretly are married. However, when he discovers that Helen has been hiding the fact that she is also an ex-con, Joe becomes enraged and decides to rob the store, putting their relationship in jeopardy. With a screenplay by Virginia Van Upp (Affair in Trinidad) and Norman Krasna (Fury), as well as music by the legendary Kurt Weill (The Threepenny Opera), You and Me is a unique mix of crime thriller and romantic comedy which confounded audience expectations at the time of its release, but which has become a critical favourite in the decades since.

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One of the earliest and quirkiest Hollywood ventures of groundbreaking filmmaker Fritz Lang (Metropolis, Scarlet Street, Human Desire), You and Me is a romantic comedy-drama that packs a punch of social commentary through the hard-boiled love story of a hard-luck couple. Sylvia Sidney (Fury, You Only Live Once) and George Raft (Spawn of the North, Some Like It Hot) star as two former convicts who find honest work in a department store and love in one another—until a dark secret from the past threatens to drive them apart. With dazzling montages and choral sequences that marry the director’s German Expressionist technique to Kurt Weill’s music, You and Me overflows with sheer cinematic joy. Featuring Barton MacLane, Harry Carey, Roscoe Karns, Robert Cummings and the rich cinematography of Charles Lang (The Big Heat).

***

Mr. Morris, the owner of a large metropolitan department store, gives jobs to paroled ex-convicts in an effort to help them reform and go straight. Among his 'employed-prison-graduates' are Helen Roberts and Joe Dennis, working as sales clerks. Joe is in love with Helen and asks her to marry him, but she is forbidden to marry as she is still on parole, but she says yes and they are married. In spite of their poverty-level life, their marriage is a happy one until Joe discovers she has lied about her past, in order to marry him. Disillusioned, he leaves, goes back to his old gang and plans to rob the department store.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 28th, 1938

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Comparison:

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover
	Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray	Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:33:44.166	1:34:03.471
Video	1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 23,163,407,838 bytes Feature: 22,002,579,456 bytes Video Bitrate: 27.43 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,908,419,814 bytes Feature: 29,720,128,896 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.66 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Kino Blu-ray:
Bitrate Indicator Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1964 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1964 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	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -30dB
Subtitles	English, None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 23,163,407,838 bytes Feature: 22,002,579,456 bytes Video Bitrate: 27.43 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Critic and Author Simon Abrams • Trailer (2:33) Blu-ray Release Date: April 18th, 2023 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9	Release Information: Studio: Indicator 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 40,908,419,814 bytes Feature: 29,720,128,896 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.66 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary with writer and film programmer Tony Rayns (2024) • Lucy Bolton on Sylvia Sidney (2024): the academic discusses the life and lengthy film career of the stage and screen actor (22:39) • David Huckvale on Kurt Weill (2024): the author and musicologist discusses the film’s unique musical score (27:08) • Original theatrical trailer (2:32) • Image gallery: promotional and publicity material Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Farran Smith Nehme, an archival interview with Fritz Lang conducted by Peter Bogdanovich, an archival interview with screenwriter Norman Krasna, a contemporary profile of Lang, and film credits Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2024 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 10

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (September 2024): Indicator also have transferred Fritz Lang's You and Me to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2K restoration". Short story is that the Indicator is superior. It is on a dual-layered disc with a 40% higher bitrate, is slightly cropped beside the Kino which shows frayed edges and rounded corners. We won't do further bonus captures. Audio is liner PCM mono with the Kurt Weill score (The 3 Penny Opera) including Song of the Cash Register, The Right Guy for Me, and Knocking Song. It is Region 'B'-locked and has optional English (SDH) subtitles.

There is a new commentary by film programmer Tony Rayns. He talks about it being an anti-Brecht film in terms of its ideology, how it was appealing to female audiences more than male, how it did not do well at the box office and that Fritz Lang was not a fan, writer Norman Krasna and more. It's an excellent commentary. We also get a new piece of Lucy Bolton (Film and Female Consciousness: Irigaray, Cinema and Thinking) talking about Sylvia Sidney where, for 23-minutes, the academic discusses the life and lengthy film career of the stage and screen actor whose career spanned 70 years. She made her first film appearance as an extra in D.W. Griffith's 1926 The Sorrows of Satan. Also included is almost 1/2 hour of David Huckvale (Occult Arts of Music: An Esoteric Survey from Pythagoras to Pop Culture) on Kurt Weill where the author and musicologist discusses the film’s unique musical score. Lastly are an original theatrical trailer and Indicator's usual image gallery of promotional and publicity material. The package has a limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Farran Smith Nehme (Missing Reels), an archival interview with Fritz Lang conducted by Peter Bogdanovich, an archival interview with screenwriter Norman Krasna, a contemporary profile of Lang, and film credits.

Fritz Lang's You and Me is not prominent in the noir cycle despite the proliferation of ex-cons, Lang directing and Raft-Sidney starring. There are stronger elements of romance and comedy floating over a half-baked crime caper. Fritz Lang had just made Fury and You Only Live Once with Sylvia Sidney. You and Me lacks desirable style (however, loved the Art Deco opening credits) but it is fun and I enjoyed the leads very much - ex-cons (she know he is, but he doesn't know she is) breaking the terms of their parole by secretly marrying. It's not one of Fritz Lang's masterpieces but is a better film than some critique it. The Indicator Blu-ray has the best a/v and I appreciated the Rayns commentary as it bolstered my opinion of You and Me. The two new video featurettes and booklet advance the package. Raft, Sidney and Lang fans should definitely indulge.

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ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (April 2023): Kino have transferred Fritz Lang's You and Me to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 2K Master". In 2010 we reviewed the German Koch Media PAL edition of You and Me HERE. Then the film was transferred, in 2014, to SD as part of Turner's Dark Crimes: Film Noir Thrillers, Volume 2 - that we reviewed HERE. We've compared some captures below. The Kino 1080P improves in all the expected areas; it is sharper, supports the grain textures better, shows more information in the frame and, overall, it is brighter. Contrast is pleasingly layered. There was damage (see sample below) but it was rare. The films is housed on a single-layered disc with a supportive bitrate.

NOTE: We have added 54 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. You and Me has no real aggressive moments (a one punch fist fight) and the audio is authentically flat and a shade hollow. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film critic and author Simon Abrams. It is fairly academic. He discuss how this was the director's 3rd American production, the cinematography of Charles Lang, that composer Kurt Weill disliked working with Lang, the unusualness or non-continuity of the film including the opening song - contrast of tone and style often quoting Lang and Bogdanovich about the production. He observers the film's winking didacticism, the shortness of some scenes and Bertolt Brecht - Lehrstück (lesson-play) -influences. It's a well-researched commentary and I appreciated it. It is quite dense and you could need to listen twice. There is also a trailer for You and Me and other trailers.