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Strangers in the Night [Blu-ray]
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Review by Gary Tooze
Production:
Theatrical: Republic Film
Video:
Olive Films
Disc:
Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 0:56:07.322
Disc Size: 13,255,609,306 bytes
Feature Size: 13,184,944,128 bytes
Video Bitrate: 28.98 Mbps
Chapters: 8
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: February 26th, 2013
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 816 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 816 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles:
• None
Extras:
• None
Bitrate:
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Description: The first film-noir directed by legendary filmmaker Anthony Mann (T-Men, The Naked Spur) - A Marine sergeant (William Terry) stationed overseas falls in love with a woman only through correspondence. On the train back home, he meets a beautiful young doctor (Virginia Grey) who's starting a new practice in the same small town. Once in town, he finds his pen pal's place of residence, but to his surprise he only finds the girl's mother (Helen Thimig) living at the old mansion with her servant (Edith Barrett) - The old woman informs him that her daughter has gone away and will return shortly, but asks him to stay at the mansion until her return. This gothic and haunting mystery in the tradition of Hitchcock's Rebecca was beautifully shot Reggie Lanning (Hoodlum Empire).
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The Film:
Sergeant Johnny Meadows (William Terry) is recently discharged from the army, and on his way to meet the girl of his dreams. He found a copy of “A Shropshire Lad” with a name — Rosemary — scrawled on the inside cover, along with an address. Intrigued, he struck up a correspondence with Rosemary and fell in love. En route to the California seaside town where she lives, he meets Dr. Leslie Ross (Virginia Grey), the town’s new physician. Leslie and Johnny hit it off (and bond when the train has an accident and the doctor leaps into service) but he is determined to stay true to his pen pal love. When he arrives, he meets only Rosemary’s mother Hilda (Helene Thimig) and her “companion” Ivy (Edith Barrett). He is told that Rosemary is out of town. Captivated by her portrait, he waits. And waits. And grows suspicious.
Excerpt from Martin Teller's Movie Reviews located HEREMann’s fifth quickie: cheerfully stolid GI Johnny returns from war, to a penpal with whom he’s in love but never seen, thanks to her donated copy of A Shropshire Lad. Her address turns out to be a looming, clifftop mansion (rendered via a charmingly ambitious piece of matte painting), inhabited by aged mother (Thimig), nervous companion/housekeeper Ivy, and a gloriously chocolate box portrait of the perfect Rosemary, hanging amidst chandeliers over the mantle. The epistolary love-making and the charms of Rosemary’s painting are offset by a queer atmosphere in the brooding mansion, and Grey butts in as a preternaturally poised lady doctor Johnny meets on the train (she’s also keen the Housman).
Excerpt from Movies [Tom von Logue Newth] located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.
Strangers in the Night has a modest Blu-ray transfer from Olive Films. This is only single-layered and contrast looks a shade dusty but decently layered. The black levels do seem to improve as the films runs along and detail is quite acceptable - strong in spots. There is some grain peeking through and a few lengthy vertical scratches and occasional speckles. The Blu-ray improved the presentation over an SD. I thought the source was fine and the transfer supplies a worthwhile video presentation.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
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Audio :
The audio is transferred via a DTS-HD mono track at 816 kbps. It sounds authentically flat but clear and consistent. Joseph Dubin did the seething score - he looks to have composed for many B-westerns of the era. There are no subtitles and m
y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras :
No supplements - not even a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with many of their releases. A 'Mann' scholar giving input might have been appropriate.
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BOTTOM LINE:
I was keen to see this being an Anthony Mann fan. It is really a
'B'-film and never gets the chance to evolve but I still
enjoyed it with that as a consideration. Characters are
patently one-dimensional with a fairly obvious deviation.
Olive could have easily put three similar length features on
this
Blu-ray - a 'B' Triple Feature might have been a good idea. Mann
completists will get the most out of this - I only wish it
was longer.
Gary Tooze
March 7th, 2013
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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