Appointment with Danger Blu-ray

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

(aka 'United States Mail')

Directed by Lewis Allen
USA 1951

The 2024 Kino Blu-ray is reviewed / compared HERE

Postal Inspector Al Goddard (Alan Ladd) is assigned to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. The only witness to the crime is Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert), who identifies the photograph of one of the assailants. This leads Goddard to a seedy hotel where he learns that the assailant is a member of a gang headed by Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), and he soon discovers that the gang is planning a million dollar mail robbery. This classic film noir also features the stars of Dragnet, Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, as Stewart’s Henchmen. This was Alan Ladd’s final Film Noir and was directed by Lewis Allen (The Uninvited).

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Theatrical Release: May 9th, 1951

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Comparison:

Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Olive Film - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT

2) Olive Film - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover		Coming out individually December 2014:
Distribution	Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC	Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:38:48	1:30:38.808
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 15,143,175,779 bytes Feature: 15,020,341,248 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 20.00 Mbps
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 929 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 929 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Olive Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: July 27th, 2010 Keep Case Chapters: 8	Release Information: Studio: Olive Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 15,143,175,779 bytes Feature: 15,020,341,248 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 20.00 Mbps Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: November 13th, 2012 Thick Blu-ray Case inside cardboard case Chapters: 9

Comments:

The 2024 Kino Blu-ray is reviewed / compared HERE

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

ADDITION: Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - November 12': Olive Films have created a Film Noir Boxset offering Blu-ray versions of their previously released DVDs of Rope of Sand, Appointment With Danger, Union Station and Dark City. We will duplicate our comments as they are generally the same for all four 1080P releases.

The improvement in the HD video is evident in the screen captures - it is noticeable by the comparisons - if not always overwhelming in superiority. Technically these are on the modest side with a respectable 20 Mbps bitrate. There has been no further restoration or digital tinkering from the SD - but grain is more prevalent and contrast certainly improves showing more detail in the frame. Typical of a straight Blu-ray transfer - the damage marks - in this case only speckles - become slightly more visible in hi-def. These all look quite good in my opinion - better than I anticipated. Details tighten, visuals brighten, and artifacts morph into film-grain. It was a pleasure to revisit these films with the improved resolution. It felt much closer to seeing them as they were originally - in the theatre.

Audio is now lossless in mono, there are no subtitles and no extras. Noir Fans should be pleased to own this Blu-ray Boxset - especially if they don't own the previous DVDs.

***

ON THE DVD: Summer 2010 has been an exceptional time for Noir on 'pressed' DVD. Aside from the plentiful Warner Archive we've gone through a long drought of consistent and important Noir titles being available. Many essentials from the 'dark cinema' style have been recently released including VCI's New York Confidential followed by the 5 film Sony The Film Noir Collection: Volume 2 being released the week prior to Film Noir Classics Collection 5 and it's not over! - now Olive Films offer this; Lewis Allen's Appointment With Danger, also William Dieterle's Dark City and Rudolph Mate's Union Station. Noir devotees' diligent patience has been amply rewarded.

There are pluses and minuses to these new Olive Films Noir DVDs. Firstly, on the VERY positive - they look very strong with high bitrates on dual-layered discs! The image quality is relatively clean (a few speckles - very light surface scratches) - contrast is better than I anticipated and there is even some grain peeking through. Audio is original mono (something Criterion seem the only production company adhering to) - so basically the A/V transfer is excellent.

On the negative these are totally bare-bones offerings with no supplements at all - not even a trailer. There are also no subtitles offered. In an ideal world we'd have some Muller et all commentaries etc. but this seems to be a sign of the times (see the Film Noir Classics Collection 5). In all honesty I am thankful to see these films in the first place - so I won't be complaining too vociferously. I suppose the lack of extra material is a result of profit vs. cost -and I'd rather have the films available in bare-bones editions than not at all.

It was great to see Ladd's last noir - looking and sounding so adept. It is an intriguing crime-drama expose and I am thrilled to finally own it on DVD! Recommended!