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Warner Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.27 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:
• Theatrical trailer (2:21)

DVD Release Date: July 10th, 2012
4 discs in a Keep Case

Chapters 28

Before the age of Warner Archive Collection, Warner Home Video released three volumes of pre-code dramas as Forbidden Hollywood Collection (reviewed HERE, HERE, HERE). Since then, both Universal (HERE) and Columbia/Sony (HERE) followed the suit and released their own pre-code set and Warner Archive themselves released a number of pre-code double features (Dorothy McKaill)  and single disc releases, like highly recommended Safe in Hell and Madam Satan. The public has spoken and Warner Archive Collection continue to bring us pre-code goodies in volumes 4 and 5 of Forbidden Hollywood Collection. What's more of interest for some people, these two volumes were released on pressed and not made-on-demand discs in the first pressing. I ordered my sets 3 months after they were released, in October, and both of them were pressed.

Volume 5, unlike the previous volume, does not follow the same cast or director, but overall more representative of the pre-code films of the era, with different genres and themes. We get Mervyn LeRoy's Hard to Handle with James Cagney, Howard Bretherton and William Keighley's Ladies They Talk About with Barbara Stanwyck, Roy Del Ruth's The Mind Reader with Warren William and last, but not least Lloyd Bacon's Miss Pinkerton with Joan Blondell and George Brent. From the crime comedy of Hard to Handle to the mystery of Miss Pinkerton, we can not imagine these films being made they way they are now in just a year. Each movie gets its own single-layered disc, with 3 titles getting a theatrical trailer. Only Ladies They Talk About has been available previously on home video in VHS era, but each title gets a new progressive transfer. Unfortunately, each transfer as good as a print quality would allow, with various degree of damaged frames, marks and lines on the print, but overall the contrast is good and mono audio is adequate. Unlike previous volumes and per usual Warner Archive standard, there are no English captions or subtitles, but nevertheless we highly recommend these two sets.

  - Gregory Meshman

CLICK to order from:

Warner Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC