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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Day and the Hour" or "Today We Live")

 

Directed by René Clément
France / Italy 1963

 

International screen icon Simone Signoret (Diabolique, Room at the Top, Madame Rosa) stars in the powerful World War II drama The Day and the Hour, directed by René Clément (Forbidden Games, Joy House, Is Paris Burning?). Signoret is superb as Thérèse, a lonely and isolated woman who unwittingly gets involved in the Resistance. When British and American planes are shot down over France, the Germans scour the countryside for the pilots. On her way to Paris, Thérèse discovers the Allied airmen hiding among a truckload of goats. She reluctantly agrees to smuggle the pilots into neutral Spain, and along the way finds herself falling in love with U.S. Captain Allan Morley (Stuart Whitman, Sands of the Kalahari, Guyana: Cult of the Damned). Co-starring Geneviève Page (The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes), Michel Piccoli (Max and the Junkmen) and Reggie Nalder (Zoltan… Hound of Dracula), The Day and the Hour delivers a gripping tale of wartime romance and suspense.

***

In Nazi-occupied France during WWII, a French woman helps two downed Allied airmen to evade capture by the Germans and make their way into neutral Spain.

Posters

Theatrical Release: April 5th, 1963

Reviews                                                                    More Reviews                                                       DVD Reviews

 

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

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Bonus Captures:
Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:53:51.250        
Video

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 39,603,552,921 bytes

Feature: 36,984,821,760 bytes

Video Bitrate: 39.34 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 French 1585 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1585 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, French, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Kino

 

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 39,603,552,921 bytes

Feature: 36,984,821,760 bytes

Video Bitrate: 39.34 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Samm Deighan
• Theatrical Trailer (4:13)


 Blu-ray Release Date: August 15th, 2023
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 8

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2023): Kino have transferred René Clément's The Day and the Hour to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "4K Restoration by Gaumont". The 1080P image is quite dark and has some roughness never being very tight. It does highlight the film textures well and contrast is pleasingly muddy at times. It's on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate.

NOTE: We have added 56 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 French language. The Day and the Hour has some aggression and bass response - beatings, torture, train sounds etc. - moments that come through with impacting depth. The score was by Claude Bolling (Borsalino, Three Men to Kill, Le Magnifique) plus the film includesCharles Trenet's La Romance de Paris. Both provide perfect period atmosphere. Kino offer optional English or French subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. She discusses Simone Signoret, Stuart Whitman, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page, René Clément (and contemporaries Jean-Pierre Melville etc.), what was happening in French cinema in the 60s, Vichy France and the state of occupation in WW2, at first affecting only the northern and western portions of the country. Samm covers a lot of ground and the commentary is at her usual high level. I recommend listening. There is also a trailer for The Day and the Hour and for a few similar films.  

René Clément's The Day and the Hour melds a WW2 resistance film and a romance showing a viable portrait of a country identifying its own destiny. It has Simone Signoret - who is always so watchable and elevates every film she is in. There are adventure/thriller elements with suspense evading Gestapo ambushes + roadblocks. I found The Day and the Hour an enjoyable viewing - one I would watch again. The Kino Blu-ray has this lesser-seen film in 1080P and a strong commentary. Recommended!

Gary Tooze

 

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Box Cover

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


 


 

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