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Kings Go Forth [Blu-ray]
(Delmer Daves, 1958)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Frank Ross-Eton Productions Video: Twilight Time
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:50:30.081 Disc Size: 29,464,690,883 bytes Feature Size: 28,061,952,000 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Chapters: 24 Case: Transparent Blu-ray case Release date: January, 2016
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1028 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1028 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Isolated Score:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1045 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1045
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
Subtitles: • English (SDH), None
Extras:
• Isolated Score
Track • Liner notes by Julie Kirgo Limited to 3,000 Copies!
Bitrate:
Description: Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis star in Kings Go Forth (1958) as a pair of American soldiers in World War II France, both falling in love with the same woman (Natalie Wood), an American-born expatriate with a difficult secret. Even as they are trying to help bring the war to an end, both are doing battle with the difficulties of their mutual relationship. Directed by Delmer Daves (3:10 to Yuma), with a score by Elmer Bernstein, available on this Twilight Time release as an isolated track.
The Film: Adapted by Merle Miller from the novel by Joe David Brown, Kings Go Forth stars Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis as, respectively, a tough army lieutenant and a cocky radio operator. Serving in Southern France during World War II, Sinatra and Curtis vie for the affections of mademoiselle Natalie Wood. Upon learning that Wood's father was black, both men succumb to their inbred prejudices. Sinatra manages to overcome his latent bigotry, but Curtis does not. In fact, he's so vocal in his race hatred that audiences are virtually cheering for his inevitable demise. After the war, Sinatra, who has lost an arm in combat, relocates Wood. The film ends ambiguously, possibly because miscegenation was still a touchy topic amongst Hollywood censors. Kings Go Forth was universally popular - except, perhaps, with those ex-GIs who were still resentful that Frank Sinatra had in real life been spared wartime service due to a questionable physical ailment. Excerpt from MRQE located HEREWell-crafted but unconvincing mixture of war movie and melodramatic problem picture, with Sinatra and Curtis as GIs in France in 1944, falling out over Wood, an expatriate American girl who is beautiful but proves to be not entirely white. Daves, as so often, does a careful salvage job on a soapy script, but the best sequence is a brief jazz interlude with Curtis (giving the best performance in the film) grabbing a trumpet in a dive and (ghosted by Pete Candoli) sitting in with Red Norvo and group. Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Kings Go Forth comes to Twilight Time Blu-ray in a dual-layered, 1080P transfer with their usual very high bitrate. The visuals are reasonable but not overwhelming with some inherent softness. Contrast has some decent layering with detail, in close-ups, looking fairly tight in the HD transfer. It looks quite consistent in-motion with no damage or speckles. I see no evidence of manipulation or noise. This Blu-ray gives a solid presentation in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio - probably as good as it will get for this film.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The DTS-HD Master 1.0 channel mono at 1028 kbps does a competent job of exporting the original sound effect requirements - which are not overwhelming with little war/battle action. Prominently is the Elmer Bernstein (The Comancheros, The World of Henry Orient, Kings of the Sun, Hud, To Kill a Mockingbird, Summer and Smoke) score that is augmented by the lively jazz in the club and Pete Candoli's uncredited trumpet (in the guise of Curtis.) Twilight Time offer an isolated score in a slightly more robust 2.0 channel lossless track. There are optional English subtitles (sample above) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE.
Extras : Only Twilight Time's usual isolated score track and an original theatrical trailer plus it has liner notes by Julie Kirgo and is limited to 3,000 copies.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze February 1st, 2016
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Gary Tooze
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