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Directed by Basil Dearden
UK 1944
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Nine disparate Britons are transported to a mysterious city
where, according to their class and disposition, they find themselves either in
an earthly paradise of peace and equality or a hell starved of ambition and
riches. From the pen of J B Priestley, this fantastical allegory is a striking
expression of post-war utopian impulses and among Ealing's most unusual
features. *** They Came to a City is a 1945 British film directed by Basil Dearden adapted from a J. B. Priestley play. It stars John Clements, Googie Withers, Raymond Huntley, Renee Gadd, A. E. Matthews and others, and is notable for including a cameo guest appearance by Priestley as himself. The plot concerns the experiences of various people who have come to live in their "ideal" city, and explores their hopes and reasons for doing so. Many of the cast had also performed their roles in the original stage play. The film's art direction was by Michael Relph. |
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Theatrical Release: August 17th, 1944
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Review: BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray | |
| Runtime | 1:17:57.416 | |
| Video |
Disc Size: 34,044,816,308 bytes Feature Size: 19,687,667,712 bytes Average Bitrate: 28.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio |
LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
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| Subtitles | English, None | |
| Features |
Release Information: Disc Size: 34,044,816,308 bytes Feature Size: 19,687,667,712 bytes Average Bitrate: 28.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details:
• Michael Balcon NFT Lecture (audio only, 59 mins): recorded
in 1969, the producer discusses the different stages of his career |
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| Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc. This new BFI 1080P is advertised as "a new 2K transfer from the best surviving 35mm element " and the Blu-ray transfer is a shade inconsistent but looks fine with some nicely layered contrast. This is a wonderful philosophical fantasy that seems far ahead of its time. Sometimes the print seems better than at other sequences but generally I liked the 1080P in-motion. It is dual-layered with a strong bitrate and there are speckles and light surface scratches but I didn't find them impinging upon the presentation. It is in around the 1.33:1 aspect ratio. I loved my viewing in HD because I was so into the film. BFI offer the option of a linear PCM 2.0 channel mono (24-bit). Almost exclusively dialogue although some may recognize Alexander Scriabin's Symphony No.3, op.43 (The Divine Poem) as the only music in the film. Vocals are clear and the accents not too heavy but there are optional English subtitles on BFI's Region 'B' Blu-ray. Extras are stacked starting with an hour long Ealing Studio producer Michael Balcon NFT Lecture that runs to the film. It was recorded in 1969 where the producer discusses the different stages of his career. We Live in Two Worlds is Alberto Cavalcanti, 1937, 14-minute short that is a GPO film about communications technology, narrated by J B Priestley. Britain at Bay was directed by Harry Watt in 1940 and runs just over 6-minutes. It is a wartime propaganda film intended to boost morale, also narrated by J B Priestley. A City Reborn runs over 22-minutes form 1944. It is a propaganda film written by Dylan Thomas highlighting plans for post-war reconstruction. There are two animation shorts; Charley in New Town (Halas & Batchelor, 1948, 8:33) focuses on new towns built to address housing shortages and Your Very Good Health (Halas & Batchelor, 1948, 8:58)refernnces the new 'National Health Service'. The package has am illustrated booklet with essays by Dr Josephine Botting, Tim O'Sullivan, Katy McGahan, Jenny Stewart and Alan Burton, and full film credits. This lesser-seen Ealing gem had its earliest US telecast on Monday April 23rd 1945 via New York City's fledgling television station WNBT (at the time, known as 'Channel 1'). I have never seen it before. BFI have chosen an amazing film to release on Blu-ray. Their package was greatly appreciated by this reviewer. Fans of the studio or unique vintage efforts should also love this probing mystery-adventure fantasy. Strongly recommended! |
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| Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray | |
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