Murder, He Says Blu-ray - Fred MacMurray

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

Directed by George Marshall
USA 1945

From George Marshall, the outstanding director of Destry Rides Again, The Ghost Breakers, The Blue Dahlia, Pillars of the Sky and How the West Was Won, comes this hilarious crime-comedy about Trotter Polling Company employee Pete Marshall (Fred MacMurray, Hands Across the Table, Double Indemnity), who is sent down the backroads and into the backwoods in search of a missing fellow pollster. The city slicker soon finds himself mixed up with a family of homicidal hillbillies who are looking for stolen loot hidden on their property. Co-starring Marjorie Main (Ma and Pa Kettle) in an over-the-top performance as the matriarch of the insane family, Murder, He Says is a fast-paced farce in the grand tradition of such macabre classics as The Cat and the Canary (1939) and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). The wonderful cast includes Helen Walker (Call Northside 777), Jean Heather (Going My Way), Porter Hall (The General Died at Dawn) and Peter Whitney (The Big Heat).

***

Pete Marshall is sent as a replacement to the mountain district town of Plainville when a public opinion surveyor who went there goes missing. Visiting the hillbilly family of Mamie Fleagle, Pete begins to suspect that she and her two sons have murdered the surveyor. Pete then believes that Mamie is slowly poisoning wealthy Grandma Fleagle, who has put a vital clue to her fortune in a nonsensical embroidered sampler.

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 23rd,, 1945

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:34:25.534
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 30,641,974,210 bytes Feature: 29,597,331,456 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	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	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 30,641,974,210 bytes Feature: 29,597,331,456 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Michael Schlesinger and Film Archivist Stan Taffel • Theatrical Trailer (2:05) Blu-ray Release Date: April 7th, 2020 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 (March 2020): Kino have transferred George Marshall's Murder, He Says to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 4K Master!". The black and white, 1.37:1 image is excellent. The 1080P transfer is housed on a dual-layered disc and it has a max'ed out bitrate. It looks good - very few speckles and no major damage, a smattering of depth and consistent grain textures.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original English language. It sounds effective with few aggressive gunshot moments and a fun score by Robert Emmett Dolan (The Major and the Minor, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, The Bells of St. Mary's, My Son John, The Three Faces of Eve) sounding clean with consistent dialogue. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by filmmaker/historian Michael Schlesinger and film archivist Stan Taffel (his personal collection contains almost 1,500 prints of rare motion pictures and television shows.) They cover all aspects of the production including identifying the early-scene bit players including John Ford's brother, Francis Ford. I found it very informative. There are also some similar film trailers including one for the Murder, He Says.

One of the more outrageous comedies I've seen in a while, Murder, He Says is part black comedy and screwball comedy. If you give over to it - it's hilarious with many backwoods-inhabitant (yeah, Hillbilly) jokes. I had never seen it and am glad I did on Kino Blu-ray with the included commentary. Vintage eras fans will appreciate Murder, He Says.