Escape in the Fog Blu-ray

directed by Budd Boetticher
USA 1945

Compared to the Indicator Blu-ray HERE

A nurse (Nina Foch, My Name is Julia Ross), suffering from a nervous breakdown, has nightmares about a man being murdered, only to see him standing in front of her when she awakens.

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Years before Budd Boetticher made the Randolph Scott-starring westerns for which he is best remembered -- Seven Men from Now (1956), The Tall T (1957) and Ride Lonesome (1959) among them -- he learned his craft by directing a run of B films for Columbia, Eagle-Lion and Monogram studios. Escape in the Fog (1945), a 63-minute Columbia production, was Boetticher's fifth picture.

It's the story of an expert in psychological warfare (William Wright) who is given a secret mission to deliver some wartime documents from San Francisco to the Far East. German agents, however, have gotten wind of the plan and spend the movie trying to capture Wright before he can leave the city. Before we see all this, however, we are introduced to a Navy nurse on leave (Nina Foch) who has a dream of Wright being attacked by two men on the foggy Golden Gate Bridge - but only after she awakes does she actually meet Wright. As she tries to figure out the meaning of her dream, she becomes his unwitting partner as he tries to outwit the Germans; naturally the two also fall for each other (in an unconvincing romantic subplot).

Excerpt of review from TCM located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: April 5th, 1945

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Sony (Choice Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Kit Parker Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Sony - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT

2) Kit Parker Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover
Distribution	Sony Region 1 - NTSC	Kit Parker Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:02:44	1:02:50.057
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.80 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 44,460,527,699 bytes Feature: 12,816,482,304 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray
Audio	Dolby Digital 1.0 (English)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 821 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 821 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Sony Aspect Ratio: Original - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: July 3rd, 2010 Keep Case Chapters 7	Release Information: Studio: Kit Parker 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 44,460,527,699 bytes Feature: 12,816,482,304 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • No extras - shares the disc with The Guilt of Janet Ames and Address Unknown Blu-ray Release Date: April 23rd, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 7

Comments

Compared to the Indicator Blu-ray HERE

ADDITION: Kit Parker Blu-ray (April 2019): Kit Parker Films in association with Millcreek Entertainment have released the first (of three announced) of these 3 Blu-ray / 9 Film Noir features Boxsets. Volume One is described as:

"Stalwart noir directors and casts highlight these hard to find features Address Unknown (1944) dir/William Cameron Menzies, cast/Paul Lukas, Carl Esmond, Peter Van Eyck; Escape in the Fog (1945) dir/Oscar (Budd) Boetticher cast/Otto Kruger, Nina Foch, William Wright; The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947) dir/Henry Levin cast/Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, Sid Caesar; The Black Book (aka The Reign of Terror) (1949) dir/Anthony Mann cast/Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Arlene Dahl; Johnny Allegro (1949) dir/Ted Tetzlaff cast/George Raft, Nina Foch, George Macready; 711 Ocean Drive (1950) dir/Joseph M. Newman cast/Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru, Otto Kruger; The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) dir/Earl McEvoy cast/Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin, William Bishop; Assignment Paris (1952) dir/Earl McEvoy cast/Dana Andrews, Marta Toren, George Sanders; The Miami Story (1954) dir/Fred F. Sears cast/Barry Sullivan, Luther Adler, John Baer - all in high definition presented in their original aspect ratios."

So, 3 films on a dual-layered Blu-ray, with a decent bitrate in 1080P and the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. This has the same damage marks as the Sony (MOD) DVD - but the higher resolution shows beautiful grain texture, a notch ahead in detail and superior contrast layering. Like the others we have seen in this set this is a notable step above the made-on-demand SD transfer.

The audio is 24-bit lossless (DTS-HD Master) exporting the score by Sol Kaplan (Deadline USA, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Seven Wonders of the World, Niagara, The House on Telegraph Hill) that adds 'foggy' atmosphere. Dialogue is clean and consistent. The Blu-ray offers optional English subtitles on this Region FREE Blu-ray package.

No supplements - but the disc has The Guilt of Janet Ames and Address Unknown. For Noir fans this is very pleasing to have both upper-tier and mid-level 'dark cinema' gems in the higher resolution. Escape in the Fog certainly benefits with delicious, film-like, grain textures. A must-own, at the offered price.

***

ON THE DVD: Firstly, I agree with Gregory - in that Columbia have the best print sources for their DVD-R titles. Regarding the film I agree with an IMDb comment that describes Escape in the Fog as an 'economical, satisfying thriller'. Spot on - characters are 1 dimensional and the suspense is as well built as possible in a little over an hour-long feature. I liked it.

It's standard single-layered but progressive in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and looks very good. This is labeled under the Sony's "Choice Collection" marquee and the image is very impressive with not one prominent instance showing damage. Black levels are strong and detail surprisingly good. There is some grain showing and the disc supports Escape in the Fog with a fine transfer with plenty of shadows and light play. Excellent overall.

The mono sound is decent but unremarkable and there are no subtitles, extras or even a main menu offered. The score has awkward moments with a uniquely odd edge to it.

I was keen on this and I found it a pleasing short crime-based thriller with overtones of Noir. Sure it has limitations but as an example of a B-suspenser - this is prime. No masterpiece but entertaining nonetheless.

- Gary Tooze

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