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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Michael Gordon
USA 1950

 

Newlywed Deborah Chandler Clark (Ida Lupino, Road House) discovers on her honeymoon that her husband (Stephen McNally, Winchester ’73) may have murdered her father for business reasons… and now wants to kill her. After surviving an attempt on her life, she disappears, moving to another town and changing her name. She meets a drifter and ex-GI named Keith Ramsey (Howard Duff, The Naked City) who may know more than he’s letting on. Woman in Hiding marks the first pairing of Lupino and co-star Howard Duff, who would marry in 1951 and appear in four more features together including While the City Sleeps and as guest villains on the hit Batman TV series. Beautifully shot by legendary DP William H. Daniels (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and directed by Michael Gordon (Portrait in Black).

***

So far as the rest of the world is concerned, Deborah Chandler Clark (Ida Lupino) is dead, killed in a freak auto accident. But Deborah is alive, if not too well. Having discovered a horrible truth about her new husband (Stephen McNally), Deborah had intended to commit suicide. Now she is the "woman in hiding" of the title, living in mortal fear that someday her husband will catch up with her again. Howard Duff, Ida Lupino's husband-to-be, co-stars as a returning GI who turns out to be the hero of the piece. One particularly suspenseful sequence takes place during a noisy convention, with Joe Besser scoring as an obnoxious reveller. Woman in Hiding would make an interesting companion piece to Julia Roberts' Sleeping with the Enemy.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 6th, 1950

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the DVD Review!

Box Cover

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:32:21    1:32:23.120  
Video 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.55 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 1080P Sing.-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,895,207,983 bytes

Feature: 20,042,004,480 bytes

Video Bitrate: 25.59 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 Dolby Digital Mono (English)

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)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Universal / TCM

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Ben Mankiewicz Introduction (1:51)
• Galleries (stills, posters, lobby cards)
• TCMDb Article

DVD Release Date: June 5th, 2012
4 Discs in a digipack

Chapters 11

Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.33:1 1080P Sing.-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,895,207,983 bytes

Feature: 20,042,004,480 bytes

Video Bitrate: 25.59 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
Theatrical Trailers


Blu-ray Release Date:
November 5th, 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 (October 2019): Kino have transferred another delicious Noir with Ida Lupino, Woman in Hiding to Blu-ray. It appears to be from the same very strong master as the 2012 DVD rendering (same light surface marks). It looks stunning in 1080P - fine grain, layered contrast, impressive detail and very film-like. This has frequent depth and looked amazing on my system.

NOTE: 27 more full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray captures for Patrons are available HERE.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. There are some effects with depth (train etc.) and no credited score with 'stock' music used to accentuate tension. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray have included another insightful commentary from Kat Ellinger who makes some links of Woman in Hiding to Gothic mystery / gothic romance finding interest in how marginalized female characters were portrayed in this film era. As always, I enjoyed hearing her opinions and the interesting details (how a young boy was used in a scene doubling as Howard Duff - or was it Stephen McNally - to give scale to the bridge.) There are also some trailers - none for the film.

Woman in Hiding is a wonderful Noir that does make one think that Julia Roberts' Sleeping with the Enemy was somewhat of a remake. Woman in Hiding has some of the best cinematography - by the renowned William H. Daniels (Harvey, How the West Was Won, Thunder Bay) with mirror shots, shadows etc.. It's a 'dark cinema; favorite that I am thrilled to own on Blu-ray., with another excellent Kat Ellinger commentary. It gets our highest recommendation! 

Gary Tooze

***

ON THE "Women in Danger" DVD set (reviewed HERE): Universal has not released a film noir in region 1 ever since their quartet of releases back on 2004 (to be fair, they did license a number of noirs to Criterion). It's really unfortunate, since besides their own library, they also own a number of Paramount essential noirs that are sorely missing on DVD. Thankfully, they finally released four crime dramas as part of "Women in Danger - 1950s Thrillers" Collection, exclusive to Turner Classic Movies shop and Movies Unlimited. Like the title says, the set features four lead actresses, past their prime, in different degrees of predicament and danger. Only the first film, Woman in Hiding with Ida Lupino, can be considering true film noir. Other titles in the set are Female on the Beach with Joan Crawford, The Unguarded Moment with Esther Williams and The Price of Fear with Merle Oberon. One of the real disappointments is that Universal did not include one of their best woman-in-distress noirs - The Woman on the Run with Ann Sheridan that is currently only available in poor 16 mm public domain transfers (now available on Blu-ray! SEE HERE).

Universal Studios joined forces with Turner Classic Movies for this release. Four single-layered discs are housed in a digipack, with one film per disc. All transfers are progressive, but a real disappointment is The Unguarded Moment. The only color film in a set, it is presented in a letterboxed aspect ratio, quiet muddy and soft. In 2012 this is inexcusable that an old transfer, probably from laserdisc days, was utilized for this release. All other black-and-white transfers are very good, with The Price of Fear being presented in original aspect ratio of 2.00:1, anamorphically enhanced. There is very little damage on the prints and mono audio is good. Extras include a short into for the whole set by Ben Mankiewicz on the Woman in Hiding disc, a TCMDb article on said disc and all discs include a number of stills, posters and lobby cards. All films are good examples of their sub-genre, especially Woman in Hiding. It's really disappointing that they dropped a ball on one of the films in the set - otherwise this set would have been highly recommended.

  -Gregory Meshman

 


Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC

 

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample - Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

 

1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 

Box Cover

  

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Universal / TCM - Region 1 - NTSC Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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Gary Tooze

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