The Gun Runners Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Gunrunners" or "To Have and Have Not")

directed by Don Siegel
USA 1958

The owner of a cabin cruiser in Florida innocently rents it to a ruthless gun merchant who sells arms to a revolutionary group in Cuba.

***

The third and (as of 2005) the last film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's short story To Have and Have Not, The Gun Runners was as topical as this morning's news when it came out in 1958. Audie Murphy plays Sam Martin, a charter-boat skipper based in Key West, whose bad luck has enlarged from the gambling tables to his business. He's managed to stay honest up to this point, with a little help from his boozy friend and first-mate, Harvey (Everett Sloane), and a lot from his loyal, loving wife, Lucy (Patricia Owens), both of whom represent the best things in Sam's life. But then he finds himself about to lose his boat, and the only opportunity he has to save it lies with a larcenous American arms seller named Hannagan (Eddie Albert), who isn't above murder to get what he wants. Sam falls in with him, first for a quick trip in and out of Cuba and then up to his neck, and he is suddenly faced with destroying the most decent part of himself and the only people who care about him.

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 14th, 1958

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

MGM (MGM Limited Edition Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the DVD Review!

Box Cover
Distribution	MGM (MGM Limited Edition Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:22:39	1:22:47.837
Video	1.33:1 Open Matte format Average Bitrate: 6.59 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 1080P Sing.-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,299,839,550 bytes Feature: 20,810,962,944 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.22 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	English (Dolby Digital mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Italian theatrical trailer (2:09) DVD Release Date: April 18th, 2011 Keep Case Chapters 9	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.85:1 1080P Sing.-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,299,839,550 bytes Feature: 20,810,962,944 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.22 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Theatrical Trailer (02:11) • Other Trailers (Madigan, Charley Varrick, The Black Windmill) Blu-ray Release Date: November 12th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (November 2019): This brand new 2K Master of Don Siegel's "The Gun Runners" arrives on a single layered Blu-ray disc from Kino Lorber. The film is now presented in the theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 and features a high bitrate. A few things are immediately obvious when compared to the previous SD DVD release. For one, the improved contrast shows a far better range of blacks and grays, while also losing a slight squeeze of the image. Details now look appropriately crisp, showing a fine amount of information within any given frame. Another respectable 1080P transfer from Kino Lorber.

Kino have chosen to release "The Gun Runners" with a 2.0 16-bit DTS-HD Master audio track. While sounding a little flat, this is an acceptable audio track, sadly not in linear PCM or even 24-bit. The epic and intense score is thanks to Leith Stevens (Syncopation, World Without End, The Night of the Grizzly, I Married a Monster From Outer Space, 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Garment Jungle). There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Unfortunately, the only extras are the film's theatrical trailer (in Italian! - as found on the DVD) as well as trailers for "Madigan", "Charley Varrick", and "The Black Windmill".

Though a bare-bones single-layered Blu-ray release, the transfer here is nothing to scoff at. Fans of Don Siegel and Audie Murphy will be pleased with this transfer from a new 2k Master from Kino Lorber for this above-average crime-adventure.

Collin Zavitz

ON THE DVD: Here is another re-telling of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not from United Artists and not Warner Brothers as previous films - 1944 and as Breaking Point in 1950 (). The film is released by MGM's Limited Edition Collection made-on-demand service. The progressive transfer is open-matte with noticeable extra headroom. Some scenes have some marks and specs, but overall the image is very good.

The mono soundtrack is fine and there is an Italian trailer included as an extra. Breaking Point is still the best adaptation of this Hemingway novel and To Have and Have Not is much more famous, but The Gun Runners is recommended for comparison if you can find it for the right price.

- Gregory Meshman