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Lana Turner Double Feature
Portrait in Black (1960) Madame X (1966)
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Lana Turner fans collectively shout 'It's about time!' for two of her better remembered, aptly titled, melodramatically fun thrillers. The "Sweater Girl" with the outrageous tabloid existence (7 marriages - multiple affairs) including battles with alcoholism and the infamous incident where her 'gangster' lover, Johnny Stompanato, was killed by Cheryl Crane, her daughter - that always seem to supersede her professional career. Universal offer this very reasonable 2-seperate disc DVD set with noirish, star-studded, Portrait in Black (with Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart , Sandra Dee, John Saxon and Anna May Wong!) and Madame X wear she shines above her co-stars John Forsythe, Ricardo Montalban and Burgess Meredith. Finally! |
Directed by Michael Gordon
USA 1960
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This glitzy, glossy, murder-suspense picture was shot like one of Ross Hunter's romantic films. It took 15 years for the 1945 play to reach the screen, after an interesting history. Goff and Roberts' stage production premiered in New Haven with Geraldine Fitzgerald in the lead. There was a two-year hiatus until it went to New York for 61 performances starring Clare Luce, Donald Cook, and Sidney Blackmer. The film rights were bought by Bruce Manning and Jack Skirball, who announced Joan Crawford to star and Carol Reed to direct. When that didn't happen, Universal picked up the rights and held them until they needed a film Turner could appear in to follow-up her successful remake of IMITATION OF LIFE. Turner was dressed in some eye-catching Jean Louis gowns, and the film employed some beautiful sets, but neither of these flashy touches could conceal PORTRAIT IN BLACK's contrived plot. Married to Nolan, an invalid multimillionaire, Turner is having an affair with Nolan's doctor, Quinn. |
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Theatrical Release: July 27th, 1960
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Universal - Region 1 - NTSC
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| Distribution | Universal - Region 1 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 1:52:28 | |
| Video | 1.85:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.65 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English (CC), French, None | |
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Release Information: Edition Details: • Theatrical
Trailer |
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Competent dual-layered transfer - progressive and anamorphic in the original aspect ratio. Colors are a bit dull and there is some noise infiltrating the grain, but overall this is very watchable. The print used is fairly clean and I see no untoward manipulations. Thumbs up! It has a clear audible track and optional English or French subtitles. No extras save a trailer. It shares the package with a 2nd disc Madame X (reviewed below). A great deal for fans of noir (which it approaches) or Lana herself. Recommended! |
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Directed by David Lowell Rich
USA 19
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Based on a 1909 French play by Alexandre
Bisson, Madame X was first filmed in
1916, with Dorothy Donnelly in the title
role. In a 1920 remake, the celebrated stage
actress Pauline Frederick played her. The
first talkie version, in 1929, earned an
Academy Award nomination for Broadway star
Ruth Chatterton. MGM remade it in 1937 with
Gladys George as the doomed lady, and there
was a British version in 1948. Tuesday Weld
received excellent reviews in the 1981
television adaptation. Perhaps the best of
the lot -- and certainly the one with the
highest production values -- is the 1966
version of Madame X starring Lana
Turner. Turner plays Holly, the neglected wife of a diplomat and mother of a young son. She has an affair with a playboy, and is implicated in his death. To avoid tainting her family with scandal, Holly disappears, leaving them to believe she's dead. Over the years Holly sinks into a life of degradation, until another death leaves her on trial for murder...defended by the son who's unaware of who she is. By the mid-1950's, Lana Turner had segued from sexpot roles into romantic melodramas such as Peyton Place (1957), which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The real-life melodrama of her mobster lover's murder by her daughter (Cheryl Crane) not only increased Turner's notoriety, but also her popularity. She then teamed up with director Douglas Sirk and producer Ross Hunter, who specialized in lavishly-produced women's pictures, for Imitation of Life (1959), a tearjerker about a conflicted mother-daughter relationship. It was a huge hit and was quickly followed by another, equally glossy Turner and Hunter collaboration, Portrait in Black (1960). |
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Theatrical Release: February 25th, 1966
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Universal - Region 1 - NTSC
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| Distribution | Universal - Region 1 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 1:40:03 | |
| Video | 1.85:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.74 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English (CC), French, None | |
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Release Information: Edition Details: • Theatrical
Trailer |
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| Comments: |
A superior transfer - brighter and clean - again - dual-layered, progressive and anamorphic. A notch above Portrait in Black in both film and appearance. It also offers a clear audible track with optional English or French subtitles. No supplements save a trailer. It shares the package with the 1st disc (reviewed above). This amounts to a fabulous deal for less than $13. For those familiar with the era this is highly recommended! |
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Recommended Reading in Film Noir (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir by Foster Hirsch |
Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City by Nicholas Christopher |
Shades of Noir: A Reader by Joan Copjec |
The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the
Classic Era of Film Noir by Eddie Muller |
The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir:
Quotations from Films of the 40's and 50's by Peg Thompson, Saeko Usukawa |
Film Noir by Alain Silver |
Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era,
1940-1959 by Michael F. Keaney |
Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir by Foster Hirsch |
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| Distribution | Universal - Region 1 - NTSC | |
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