The Clay Pigeon - Barbara Hale

(aka "Acusado a traición" )

directed by Richard Fleischer
USA 1949

When Bill Williams comes out of a coma at a Naval hospital in Long Beach, he knows who he is but doesn't know why he's there. But he overhears staff talking about his impending court-martial for treason: Apparently he snitched on his fellow Americans in a Japanese prison-camp, leading to their deaths by torture. No fool he, he grabs some civvies and slips out the door, headed to San Diego and the widow (Barbara Hale) of one of his dead buddies.

...

The Clay Pigeon is another of the trim and stripped-down noir thrillers churned out by Richard Fleischer in the post-war years. While not as deftly worked out as Armored Car Robbery or The Narrow Margin, it clocks in at just over an hour and delivers the goods.

Excerpt of review from Bill McVicar for imdb.com located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 29 June 1949 (New York City)

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DVD Comparison:

Manga Films - Region 2 - PAL vs. Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for all the Screen Caps!

(Manga Films - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Manga Films Region 2 - PAL	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:00:16 (4% PAL speedup)	1:02:48
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.57 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.92 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Manga Films
Bitrate: Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection)
Audio	Dolby Digital Mono (English, Spanish Dub)	Dolby Digital 2.0 (English)
Subtitles	Spanish, None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Manga Films Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: � Richard Fleischer Filmography � Bill Williams Filmography � Barbara Hale Filmography DVD Release Date: April 19, 2006 Keep case Chapters 10	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: � None DVD Release Date: June 9, 2015 Keep case Chapters 8

Comments

ADDITION (March 2016): Back in 2011 when Spanish DVD of The Clay Pigeon was reviewed, I lamented on the lack of region 1 release for this Richard Fleischer B noir. It was finally released by Warner Archive in 2015 as part of their ongoing Film Noir Archive Collection. Compared to Spanish disc, the transfer is superior, with a smoother image and better contrast. Compare the image quality of the Barbara Hale's face in the car in third capture or running Bill Williams in the street that turns into a Seurat painting in the fifth capture on the Manga disc. The Warner transfer is softer, with more pronounced whites, but looks better in motion. Warner disc also does not have PAL speedup, so we recommend the Warner Archive disc over international versions that derived from old transfers.

ON THE SPANISH DVD (2007): Richard Fleischer directed several B-noir thrillers for RKO before breaking big with The Narrow Margin and Warner Archive Collection released a couple of them on DVD - Bodyguard and Follow Me Quietly. Unfortunately, the title that was directed between these two, The Clay Pigeon, is yet to get a North American release. A stab at amnesia noir, it's been available on DVD in France and Spain for a couple of years now.

This Spanish disc is from Manga Films, which released a number of RKO pictures on digital media. While some French releases of RKO films from Éditions Montparnasse were interlaced, this Spanish DVD is progressive. The image is quite sharp with a good contrast and very little damage. It's clearly an earlier transfer that is likely to get an eventual region 1 release, unless Warner will be remastering this film. The audio is decent and a better mix compared to Spanish dub. The only extras are a few filmographies, probably copied from imdb. A highly recommended noir with a decent DVD release. Hopefully, stateside DVD is coming sooner than later that doesn't have PAL speed-up.

- Gregory Meshman

DVD Menus
(Manga Films - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Manga Films - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

Report Card:

Image:	Warner Archive
Sound:
Extras:	Manga

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Manga Films

Region 2 - PAL

Warner Home Video
Region 0 - NTSC

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