Repeat Performance Blu-ray

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

Directed by Alfred L. Werker
USA 1947

Repeat Performance, the most requested film in the early years of the Film Noir Foundation's restoration campaign, is finally available in digital form! An amazingly original hybrid of film noir, supernatural fantasy, and backstage melodrama, the film stars Joan Leslie as a Broadway actress who magically relives the previous year of her life, but can she alter the fateful mistakes and misjudgments that led to a New Year's Eve tragedy? Think of it as film noir's answer to It's a Wonderful Life or a full-length precursor to The Twilight Zone.

Produced as a rare prestige picture by fledgling Eagle-Lion Pictures, the movie features an array of vivid performances: 21-year-old Joan Leslie as Sheila Page, her first mature role following a parade of teenage ingénues at Warner Bros.; Louis Hayward as her husband Barney, a bitter and vengeful playwright; Virginia Field as Sheila's personal and professional rival, Paula Costello; Tom Conway as suave stage producer John Friday; and Richard Basehart in his movie debut as poet William Williams, one of the era's most sensitive depictions of a gay artist.

In the years after it's 1947 release, Repeat Performance seemingly vanished. For many who'd seen it, the film's startling premise and stunning set-pieces became merely a tantalizing memory. It fell so far off the cultural radar people began to think they'd only imagined the movie. But thanks to the dedication and diligence of the Film Noir Foundation, Repeat Performance was restored in collaboration with UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Packard Humanities Institute.

***

Broadway star, Sheila Page, shoots Barney, her murderous husband on New Year's Eve. She flees her apartment and goes to her producer, John Friday. When she arrives, it is New Year's day, a year earlier. She has been given the chance to live life over and correct the errors of the past only to find that the end will be the same although the path will be different.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 22nd, 1947

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Review: Flicker Alley - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Flicker Alley - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:33:18.384
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,482,614,318 bytes Feature: 27,515,583,552 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.97 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	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
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Flicker Alley 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,482,614,318 bytes Feature: 27,515,583,552 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • AUDIO COMMENTARY by film historian Nora Fiore (“The Nitrate Diva”) • VIDEO INTRODUCTION by author, film historian, and “noirchaeologist” Eddie Muller (5:27) • VIDEO PROFILE OF JOAN LESLIE by author and film historian Farran Smith Nehme (9:22) • MINI-DOC on Eagle-Lion Pictures, by film historian Alan K. Rode & author Steven C. Smith (34:25) • DIGITAL PRESS BOOK: A complete digital edition of the film’s original 1947 pressbook BOOKLET with author Brian Light’s book-to-film comparison, original photos, lobby cards, and posters Blu-ray Release Date: February 18th, 2022 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 10

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Flicker Alley Blu-ray (September 2023): Flicker Alley have transferred Alfred L. Werker's Repeat Performance to Blu-ray. It is cited as being "restored in collaboration with UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Packard Humanities Institute". This is after a discovered 35mm print had surfaced although it had bad decomposition. Thankfully it has been saved.

Gregory reviewed the Mr. Fat-W Video DVD, HERE. As he related, in 2014, Repeat Performance was "...impossible to see in any decent quality. The (SD) transfer is culled from a 16mm TV print, copyrighted in 1960 to Pathe Industries - it's interlaced, with lots of damage and softness and poor contrast...". So the DVD was one of the only ways and it was an almost unwatchable image. We compared a capture below. The disparity is some of the highest we have ever seen. The Flicker Alley 1080P is consistent, clean, has pleasing, if a shade bulky at times, textures - and the type of established contrast we have come to expect from 1080P. It is, obviously, exceptionally pleasing beside the horrid DVD. We are thrilled with the HD presentation.

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Flicker Alley use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Repeat Performance has almost no aggressive moments - or any that require extensive bass response. There is a gunshot and plenty of New Year's Eve partying etc. that come through authentically flat. There is a score with a sweeping prelude by George Antheil (Dementia, Not as a Stranger, The Pride and the Passion, In a Lonely Place, Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), Sirocco (1951), House by the River (1950) Tokyo Joe (1949) and Nicholas Ray films, including, Knock on Any Door (1949) along with Rule, Britannia) running comfortably beside the film heightening moods appropriately and sounding buoyant via the uncompressed transfer. Flicker Alley offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Flicker Alley Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Nora Fiore (“The Nitrate Diva”.) She talks about it being Eagle Lion's first big picture, the film's early New Years Eve ambiance, the supernatural aspects of Repeat Performance, the coding of Richard Basehart's character, William Williams - the Poet, as gay, director of photography L. William O'Connell, and plenty more. It's very well researched and has light, almost gossipy, comments. I really enjoyed it. She's top shelf. Included is a 5-minute video introduction by author, film historian, and “noirchaeologist” Eddie Muller. I also enjoyed the video of American actress and vaudevillian Joan Leslie by author and film historian Farran Smith Nehme (Self-Styled Siren) for 10-minutes. There is also a 1/2 hour documentary on Eagle-Lion Pictures, by film historian Alan K. Rode & author Steven C. Smith (Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood's Most Influential Composer) entitled Eagle-Lion a Noir Stained Legacy. It discusses the minor studio along its five years of existence - hosted by Rode - exporting the smallest details and large range of valuable reporting about movies produced and its legacy mainly in Noir genre. Lastly, is a digital Pressbook - a complete digital edition of the film’s original 1947 Pressbook in a click thru fashion. The package also has a 24-page booklet with author Brian Light’s book-to-film comparison, original photos, lobby cards, and posters. A second disc DVD is included with the film and supplements.

Alfred L. Werker's Repeat Performance has elements of cheating fate, fantasy, psychiatric institutionalization, alcoholism, murder, etc. It's rich with dark cinema tropes. Werker also directed He Walked by Night (with Anthony Mann) that also stared Richard Basehart. Repeat Performance reverses the novel by William O'Farrell that replaces the Barney and Sheila Page characters as he relives the previous year believing he has murdered, the alcoholic (in the book), Sheila. The idea of 'time loops' in films has been used many time since Repeat Performance, including The Time Travelers, Groundhog Day and Run Lola Run. Another stellar Flicker Alley Blu-ray package - an easy must-own for Noiristas.