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Universal Studios

Region 1 - NTSC

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.56 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.

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Galleries

DVD Release Date: September 26th, 2011
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Chapters 13

A Fannie Hurst novel Back Street saw three film adaptations from Universal Studios over the years, in 1932, 1941 and 1961. Now exclusive to Movies Unlimited and TCM shop, Universal released a double feature of two latest of these adaptations. It's unfortunate, that the superior John Stahl film with Irene Dunne was not included in this set and yet to see a DVD release. The 1941 film is considered superior to the 1961 adaptation, but as much as I liked female protagonist Ray Smith played wonderfully by Margaret Sullavan, I could never warm up to the Charles Boyer's character whose selfish actions made everyone's life miserable. In a conscious decision, we actually never see his wife in this version of the novel, so we are never aware of reasoning of staying with her. 1961 version with Susan Hayward and John Gavin changes things around with adding a thankless role for underrated Vera Miles as the wife in question. If this film was made a few years earlier, it likely would have been directed by Douglas Sirk, like many 1950's melodramas produced by Ross Hunter and remade from John Stahl earlier adaptation. Unfortunately, David Miller's direction lacks the depth of Douglas Sirk, but still it's a good tearjerker for a rainy afternoon.

The two-disc set from Universal and TCM was released on pressed DVD as part of their TCM Vault Collection lineup. Each single-layered disc comes with multiple galleries for stills, posters and lobby cards. 1941 film features an older transfer with multiple instances of dirt, scratches and marks, including cue marks (see capture # 3). Mono audio soundtrack is adequate, but there are no subtitles or closed captioning. 1961 film fares much better. The anamorphic progressive transfer is in correct aspect ratio, close to 2:1 than 1.85:1 that is stated on the back cover. Colors are good and well-balanced, but sometimes too soft. There is a monaural soundtrack that is decent. A recommended release if the price is right - definitely not worth 39.99 that is being charged by a third-party seller on Amazon.

  - Gregory Meshman

CLICK to order from:

Universal Studios

Region 1 - NTSC