The Long Dark Hall - Rex Harrison

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

directed by Reginald Beck, Anthony Bushell

UK 1951

Rex Harrison's extramarital relationship with Patricia Wayne comes to an end when Wayne is murdered. All evidence points to Harrison; we know that he's innocent, but the detectives don't have this advantage. With his faithful wife Lilli Palmer at his side, Harrison goes on trial for his life. Anthony Dawson, the genuine murderer, intends to confess after Harrison is hanged. Thanks to a governmental quirk, Dawson's letter reaches the authorities just a few steps ahead of the hangman. Anthony Bushell, co-director of Long Dark Hall, is featured as Harrison's defense attorney. The film was co-scripted by Hollywood's Nunnally Johnson and based on a novel by Edgar Lustgarden...

***

A disquieting story of obsession and manipulation unfolds in a critically acclaimed thriller based on a novel by crime writer Edgar Lustgarten.

Oscar and Golden Globe winner Rex Harrison plays a man accused of murdering his mistress, with Lilli Palmer (then Harrison's wife) as the woman who stands by her husband as he fights for his life in the courtroom. An outstanding Brit-Noir, The Long Dark Hall is presented here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements.

When Arthur Groome finds his girlfriend murdered at her Earls Court flat he is stricken with grief and fear. When the police question him about the crime, Arthur, a married man, denies all knowledge of the girl. Soon, however, he finds himself charged with murder and inexorably drawn towards the gallows...

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 21st, 1994

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Network - Region 2 - PAL vs. Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover
		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Network - Region 2 - PAL	Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:24:42 (4% PAL speedup	1:28:07.041
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.75 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 18,622,825,544 bytes Feature: 18,529,658,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.98 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)	LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Network Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Image Gallery DVD Release Date: September 12th, 2016 Slim, transparent Amaray Case Chapters 10	Release Information: Studio: Network 1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 18,622,825,544 bytes Feature: 18,529,658,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Image Gallery Blu-ray Release Date: July 15th, 2019 Slim transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Network Blu-ray (February 2020): Network have transferred the wonderful Murder-mystery-courtroom-drama-cum-Brit-Noir The Long Dark Hall to Blu-ray. It's single-layered but a notable advancement over the older DVD looking brighter overall, better contrast in the form of deeper black levels and brighter whites. It is in the accurate 1.37:1 aspect ratio. Textures are visible and it looked great on my system.

NOTE: We have added 32 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Network use a linear PCM mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and dynamic score by Benjamin Frankel (notable for composing the music for the British version of Night and the City, plus some Noirish titles like Libel and Footprints in the Fog as well as The Iron Petticoat, The Man Who Watched Trains Go By, and The Importance of Being Earnest) sounding a bit deeper with more measured volume levels for the dialogue. Network offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Network Blu-ray has. like the DVD, only an image gallery of posters, title cards and glossy stills.

the more I see The Long Dark Hall the more I like it. In the higher resolution I was able to better appreciate the cinematography of Wilkie Cooper (Hitchcock's Stage Fright, and boyhood favorites The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts among his many credits). Wonderful - only a 'rushed' ending keeps it from top-shelf status. It's a highly-regarded British mystery/thriller/courtroom-drama that I am grateful to own in the superiority of Blu-ray. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD: Another competent and watchable, reasonably-priced, single-layered SD PAL transfer from Network out of the UK. The film is combination murder-mystery-court-room drama. It has some nice touches including the lighting and shadows. I was in the mood and I felt very satisfied.

The image is strong - good contrast and a from a clean, undamaged, source. It's consistent showing some texture and is very pleasing for the format. There are no subtitles on the region 2 PAL sped-up disc.

The sounds is lossy Dolby but the sounds a bit weak in the high end (screetchy) with an atmospheric score by Benjamin Frankel (notable for composing the music for the British version of Night and the City, plus some Noirish titles like Libel and Footprints in the Fog as well as The Iron Petticoat and The Importance of Being Earnest.)

Extras consist of only an image gallery.

The film is not as typical as the majority for this genre. I liked the premise and the mystery / court room aspect with two strong performances. Great film!

- Gary Tooze