Portrait in Black Blu-ray

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

Directed by Michael Gordon
USA 1960

As the health of tyrannical but gravely ill shipping tycoon Matthew Cabot (Lloyd Nolan) declines, he relies on pain medicine injected by his physician, Dr. David Rivera (Anthony Quinn). What Cabot doesn't know is that his frustrated wife, Sheila (Lana Turner), is having an affair with the doctor and has conceived a plan to do away with her husband. David agrees to go through with the murder, but threatens to confess their crime when Sheila begins receiving anonymous letters from a blackmailer.

***

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.

Excerpt from TV Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 27th, 1960

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Elephant Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Also released on Blu-ray in the US by Kino in May 2019
Distribution	Elephant Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:52:40.462
Video	2.0:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 29,466,947,714 bytes Feature: 24,922,816,512 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.98 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 1441 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1441 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1344 kbps / 16-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio English 1474 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1474 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1344 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Elephant Films 2.0:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 29,466,947,714 bytes Feature: 24,922,816,512 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Le Film Par Mathieu Macheret (12:56) • Trailer (1:30) • Gallery Photos (1:36) DVD Blu-ray Release Date: May 2nd, 2018 Transparent (thick) Blu-ray Case inside cardboard sleeve Chapters 12

Comments:

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

Elephant Films have brought this 1960 murder/thriller-cum-melodrama to a new Blu-ray package. It's on a dual-layered Blu-ray in 1080P with a supportive bitrate. It looks excellent in the original 2.0:1 aspect ratio and the transfer exports some appealing fine grain. Colors (reds, blues and greens) are rich and deep - a notch above SD. The texture is the notable facet and the higher resolution has done the visuals proud. It just looks wonderful.

The film is presented in a 2.0 mono, with a 16-bit DTS-HD Master Audio track in original English as well as the option of a similarly encoded French DUB. The film features a supportive and occasionally romantic score by Frank Skinner (Written on the Wind, Canyon Passage, Magnificent Obsession, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, All That Heaven Allows, and The Naked City). The audio quality is strong and dialogue is clear and audible. There are optional French subtitles on this Region FREE Blu-ray.

Extras consist of an introduction, in French-only, by Mathieu Macheret running almost 13-minutes, a trailer (and trailers for other films) and a photo gallery. There is also a second disc PAL DVD.

This is a lavish Eastmancolor film that is really a cool artefact of its time. It has a stellar cast with Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Ray Walston, Virginia Grey, Anna May Wong, Lloyd Nolan etc. The murder cover-up just builds on its own lies and we are left in suspense to see if it will be a fatalistic tragedy instead or a romantic climax. I enjoyed it very much. This package is recommended!