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Legend of the Lost [Blu-ray]
(Henry Hathaway, 1957)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Batjac Productions Video: Kino Lorber
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:48:33.173 Disc Size: 33,462,495,462 bytes Feature Size: 31,314,604,032 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.91 Mbps Chapters: 9 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: December 12th, 2017
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.32:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: English, None
Extras: • Original Theatrical Trailer (3:43)
Bitrate:
Description: Told against the sweeping panoramas of the Sahara desert, this star-studded epic features an exotic mix of action, suspense, and romance. Famed for its stunning location cinematography, Legend of the Lost delivers a caravan of excitement - with the screen icons John Wayne (Dakota, Brannigan) and Sophia Loren (Boy on a Dolphin, Five Miles to Midnight) leading the way. Wayne is Joe January, a hard-drinking and hard-living tour guide. When Paul Bonnard (Rossano Brazzi, South Pacific, Summertime) hires him to find his father and a legendary lost treasure, the two set out into the isolated wasteland of the North African desert. Joining them is Dita (Loren), a prostitute desperate to find a new life who comes between both men as they battle for survival... and their souls. The great Henry Hathaway (23 Paces to Baker Street, Rawhide) directed this first-class adventure with exotic backgrounds, action, mystery and intrigue.
The Film:
Produced and directed by Henry Hathaway, The Legend of the Lost boasted the one-time-only teaming of John Wayne and Sophia Loren. Location-filmed in the Sahara desert, the story concerns the efforts of Wayne, Loren and Rosanno Brazzi to locate a missing treasure in the ruins of ancient Timgrad. Once found, the treasure is stolen by Brazzi, who leaves his partners in the middle of nowhere to die like rats. Fortunately, Wayne and Loren survive the ordeal, though Brazzi is not so lucky. Of the three stars, Brazzi delivers the most interesting performance, while Wayne and Loren seem ill-at-ease throughout. The best aspect of this sometimes ponderous effort is the color cinematography of the great Jack Cardiff.
Legend of the Lost was put together by film industry veterans with impressive credentials. Director Henry Hathaway worked with John Wayne nine times, beginning with The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) and ending with Wayne's OscarŽ-winning role in True Grit (1969). Co-author Ben Hecht, nearing the end of his career by the time of this movie, was one of Hollywood's most successful and acclaimed screenwriters with such films to his credit as Nothing Sacred (1937), Notorious (1946), and Monkey Business (1952) - as well as dozens of even more famous pictures for which his important contributions remained uncredited. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff's remarkable longevity has seen him at the lens of the historical disaster movie The Last Days of Pompeii in 1935 as well as its 1984 TV mini-series remake. In between, he shot pictures as varied as The Red Shoes (1948), The African Queen (1951), and Death on the Nile (1978). Winner of numerous international honors, Cardiff earned an Academy AwardŽ for his stunning color cinematography on Black Narcissus (1947). None of this wealth of talent, however, managed to keep Legend of the Lost from being brutally panned by critics on its release. Excerpt from TCM located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The dual-layered Kino Lorber Blu-ray of Legend of the Lost with a max'ed out bitrate, looks very attractive in 1080P. The colors (reds), contrast and detail are at a very high level. The film's frequent outdoor sequences can tend to look quite impressive in, and around, the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The source is very clean, only a very few speckles and I noticed no noise. This Blu-ray offers a strong HD presentation.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Kino Lorber use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track at 1555 kbps (16-bit) in the original English language. There are few demonstrative effects in the film - some gunplay and fist-a-cuffs. The desert wind is exported well. The, sometimes, dramatic score is by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (Chimes at Midnight, Othello, The Savage Innocents). The dialogue was clear. There are optional English subtitles offered (see sample above) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : Only a trailer for the film and some other trailers.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze December 10th, 2017
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