The Man in Half Moon Street Blu-ray

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

Directed by Ralph Murphy
USA 1945

Based on the West End play of the same name by Barré Lyndon, this rare sci-fi noir stars Nils Asther and Helen Walker (Nightmare Alley), on Blu-ray for the first time worldwide. Remade into the 1959 horror film The Man Who Could Cheat Death!

A scientist discovers that he can live forever by receiving gland transplants every ten years. Unfortunately, the unwilling donors must be killed for him to survive, something that doesn’t bother the scientist until he falls in love…

***

A scientist, Dr. Karell (Asther), has discovered a treatment that can indefinitely prolong his life, using glands stolen from human victims. Having kept his achievement secret for over a century of continuous youth, Karell now has to contend with the curiosity of his new girlfriend Eve (Walker), the increasing guilt of his colleague Dr. Van Bruecken (Schünzel), and a police investigation of his most recent murder. Above all, he needs a renewal of his treatment, or else the mortality he has been evading will catch him at last.

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 19th, 1945

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Review: Imprint - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Imprint - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:32:24.539
Video	1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 19,847,724,395 bytes Feature: 19,632,893,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.99 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 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Imprint 1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 19,847,724,395 bytes Feature: 19,632,893,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by film historian Tim Lucas Blu-ray Release Date: December 8th, 2023 Transparent Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 13

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (December 2023): Imprint have transferred Ralph Murphy's The Man in Half Moon Street to Blu-ray. It is cited as being a "1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a NEW 2K Scan". The 1080P image quality is quite decent - no flagrant damage, consistent contrast and detail. There are some textures and modest depth is spots. It has slight imperfections (a brief vertical scratch and one cue blip in the conclusion) but nothing that deterred my enjoyment of the film. It looked a full notch above SD.

NOTE: We have added 62 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Man in Half Moon Street has most of its aggression supported by the occasionally intense score by Miklós Rózsa (Time Out of Mind, The Green Cockatoo, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, The Killers, The Lost Weekend, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Double Indemnity) supporting the film's moods adding atmosphere. Imprint offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray offers a new commentary by, our favorite, film historian Tim Lucas. Tim talks about the score by Rozsa - who was at the height of his abilities, and the film's love theme. He discusses the careers of actor Paul Cavanagh (as Dr. Henry Latimer - not Gavin Elster), Edmund Breon, Danish born but Swedish-raised Nils Asther, extensively about the life of Helen Walker, Reinhold Schünzel, playwright Barré Lyndon, art directors Hans Dreier + Walter H. Tyler, the remake, The Man Who Could Cheat Death - he describes how they created the aging effects and eventually he reads from the Pressbook of The Man in Half Moon Street and discusses rejuvenation experiments. It's another excellent commentary from Tim.

Ralph Murphy's The Man in Half Moon Street has never even been released on DVD to date. The idea of seeking a medical solution to become ageless is not new from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray to The Wasp Woman. The Man in Half Moon Street is based on a 1939 West End play of the same title by Barré Lyndon. I enjoyed Helen Walker (my favorite Impact, plus Heaven Can Wait, Lucky Jordan, Cluny Brown and of course, another favorite Nightmare Alley.) There are science-fiction, noir, crime and romance elements in The Man in Half Moon Street. Eternal youth is not what it's cracked up to be as it always seems to go hand-in-hand with murder. I enjoyed this Imprint Blu-ray of a film I would never have seen if not for this release. Very dark atmosphere abounds. I'm keeping it.