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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2023): Kino have transferred three films for their fifteenth edition of Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema series to three single-layered Blu-rays. This boxset has three films released in 1957; The Tattered Dress, Man Afraid and The Girl in the Kremlin. The 1080P transfers are being cited as from "Brand New HD Masters – From a 2K Scan of the 35mm Fine Grains". The CinemaScope titles look pleasing if having some inherent softness - notable in The Tattered Dress. There are infrequent speckles - perhaps slightly more abundant on The Girl in the Kremlin. The image quality had depth and some reasonable detail in the close-ups. Contrast was not at premium levels but the overall HD presentation outshined SD. Good stuff... but not stellar.

NOTE: We have added 125 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-rays, Kino use DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language. All the films had violence - in a variety of forms - and the audio gave it a slight bass edge. On The Tattered Dress the score was by Frank Skinner (The Appaloosa, Madame X, Magnificent Obsession, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, The Green Hornet serial, All That Heaven Allows, Thunder Bay.) The score for Man Afraid was by Henry Mancini (Days of Wine and Roses, Oklahoma Crude, Step Down to Terror, Wait Until Dark, Operation Petticoat, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Experiment in Terror, Charade) and on The Girl in the Kremlin they used a mish-mash of un-credited stock music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Irving Gertz, William Lava, Mancini, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, Skinner and Herman Stein with Joseph Gershenson as the music supervisor. They audio was clear and consistent and I didn't have any strong issues of dropouts etc. Kino offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-rays.

The Kino Blu-rays offer three new commentaries - one for each film. By Professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney on The Tattered Dress. He discusses the intriguing, character-driven, plot - the solid performances and "sleek" direction by Jack Arnold. The commentary on Man Afraid is by film historian David Del Valle and filmmaker David DeCoteau. I always love their observations and details on Nader, Thaxter, Tim Hovey, Eduard Franz and anecdotal stories of, even the most, minor performer. Always appreciated. The commentary on The Girl in the Kremlin is by by film historians Emma Westwood and Paul Anthony Nelson. I haven't had a chance to indulge in that one - perhaps soon. There are also theatrical trailers for Man Afraid and The Tattered Dress and 3 TV Spots for The Girl in the Kremlin.   

Kino's fifteenth edition of Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema Blu-ray package is quite a mix although labeling them all Noir may be a misnomer. Man Afraid is a good film with themes of misplaced revenge and self-forgiveness. The Tattered Dress has Jeff Chandler, Jeanne Crain, Gail Russell, and Elaine Stewart with engaging courtroom drama sequences. The Girl in the Kremlin has a kind of campy edge to it with Hungarian socialite, beauty and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. There is Eastern Block brainwashing, bald women and Lex Barker whipped mercilessly by female minions of Stalin! I'll probably keep this set - it's a bizarre mix although all released in the same year. Vintage films fans should consider. The commentaries embolden your appreciation.

Gary Tooze