Richard Dix plays the title-role, of a dashing highwayman and bandit in 1870's Australia, in this strangely delightful mix of swashbuckler and musical. But the real star is Irene Dunne as Hilda Bouverie, an impoverished serving girl who wants to sing. Left orphaned and homeless by the deaths of her parents, Hilda is now a servant in the home of the Clarksons, the wealthiest family in the province. Hilda is glad to have a roof over her head and three meals a day, but won't really be happy unless she gets a chance to sing, and she has the voice to match her aspirations. Mr. Clarkson (Henry Stephenson) is kind and encouraging enough to her, but his wife (Mary Boland) is a harridan who treats Hilda and her other maid Annie (Una O'Connor) as little better than slaves; and Mrs. Clarkson is especially jealous of Hilda, as she also aspires to a singing career (but is sorely lacking a voice), and is eagerly awaiting a visit by London-based composer and impressario Sir Julian Kent (Conway Tearle).

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

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In 1874 Australia, debonair outlaw Stingaree (Richard Dix, Cimarron), aided by his sidekick, Howie (Andy Devine, Stagecoach), uses his wily charm to take what he wants from the ruling class… with or without permission. When he meets composer Sir Julian Kent (Conway Tearle, Black Oxen), who’s on his way to see a promising opera singer Mrs. Clarkson (Mary Boland, The Women), Stingaree abducts Kent and decides to take his place at the audition. He quickly realizes the real talent is Clarkson’s servant, Hilda (Irene Dunne, The Awful Truth) and not Mrs. Clarkson, so he promises Hilda that he’ll make her a star. Legendary filmmaker William A. Wellman (Yellow Sky, The Ox-Bow Incident, Nothing Sacred) directed this Pre-Code romantic comedy drama.

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William Wellman's Stingaree (1934), a sublimely outrageous hybrid of musical and Western adventure (although set in the Australian outback), is one of six RKO films of the 1930s previously thought "lost" but rediscovered and restored by TCM. The films were sold out of the RKO library to producer Merian C. Cooper in 1946 and until now have not been part of the Turner collection. Extensive legal negotiations and a thorough search of the world's film archives allowed TCM to claim the films and create new, fine-grain 35mm prints in association with the Library of Congress and the BYU Motion Picture Archive. Before that, the last authorized screening of Stingaree was in brief television exposure during the late 1950s.

The film, made three years after Dunne had become a major star opposite Richard Dix in RKO's hugely successful Cimarron (1931), again casts her opposite that studio's most dashing leading man of the day. Stingaree was Dunne's first film showcase as a singer, to be followed by Sweet Adeline (1934), Roberta (1935), Show Boat (1936), High, Wide and Handsome (1937) and Joy of Living (1938). Although now remembered chiefly for her comedies and domestic melodramas, she was a singer of some note at this stage in her career. Closely associated with the songs of Jerome Kern, she was said to be his favorite soprano.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

1080P Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition Details:
• Commentary by William Wellman Jr.
• 4 trailers of other films

Blu-ray  Release Date: March 20th, 2018
Standard Blu-ray case