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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Passport to Shame" or " or "Room 43" or "The Girl in Room 43")

 

Directed by Alvin Rakoff
UK 1958

 

A superior sexploitation thriller showcasing fiery performances from both Herbert Lom (as a sinister pimp) and Diana Dors (as one of his workers), Passport to Shame was the feature directorial debut for BAFTA-nominated Alvin Rakoff. With camerawork from Nicolas Roeg and a memorable performance from Odile Versois as the innocent caught up in a life of crime, it is presented here as a High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.

Vicki, a young French girl on the run from the Parisian police, arrives in London. Believing herself to be safe, she is horrified to discover that Nick - a violent, scheming pimp - has designs on making her the latest acquisition to his "girls of the night"...

***

 The ultimate British “B” picture.

Eddie Constantine stars (despite his 4th billing) as a London cab driver who gets in a financial pinch with a rather iffy loan company and is befriended by suave, wealthy Herbert Lom… who, it turns out, owns the Loan Company. Indebted to Lom, Eddie gladly agrees to a marriage of convenience to cute, virginal Odile Versois, who needs to marry a British subject so she can stay in the employ of a nice rich lady (Brenda de Banzie.)

It’s all a tissue of lies, of course. Odile was framed for theft by her employer back in France, who is in league with de Banzie, who is in league with Herbert Lom, who runs one of those high-overhead white-slave outfits you see only in movies...

Excerpt from Mystery*File [Dan Stumpf] located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 2nd, 1958

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:30:08.916         
Video

1.66:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 19,109,764,239 bytes

Feature: 18,989,893,632 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 Blu-ray:

Audio

LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Network

 

1.66:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 19,109,764,239 bytes

Feature: 18,989,893,632 bytes

Video Bitrate: 24.98 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Image Gallery

• PDFs of a film review and two Pressbooks


 Blu-ray Release Date: March 23rd, 2020
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Network Blu-ray (April 2020): Network have transferred Alvin Rakoff's Passport to Shame (aka "Room 43") to Blu-ray. There is some inconsistency in the image quality with some latter outdoor night scenes looking exceedingly soft and grainy. There is frame specific damage marks throughout (see samples below) but overall it is watchable in the 1080P resolution.

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Network use a linear PCM 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It sounds fine with modest depth and a few aggressive moments. I enjoyed the, occasionally unabandoned, jazz score by Ken Jones (Offbeat, Indiscreet, The City of the Dead) and the film ends with some guys singing Never Never More like he's in a Vegas lounge. Network offer optional English subtitles (see sample below) on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Network Blu-ray offers an image gallery with posters and stills and the root of the disc has 3 PDF files - a review and 2 press books.

There are some notable things about Passport to Shame (aka "Room 43"); the opening pre-amble condemning the many illegalities associated with prostitution (see the subtitled screen captures below), Nicolas Roeg is credited as the 'camera operator'!, the violently jazzy score by Jones, but mostly I was very intrigued by the extensive dream (or rather 'nightmare') sequence (see below). It's wildly art-driven with some real effort put into it. I found it pretty cool - and that it elevated the film a few notches, in my estimation. I love this type of UK B-picture - I don't know about the 'sexploitation' label but there is some salacious-ness <?>. I was happy to see this on Network Blu-ray despite the presentation imperfections (I really have no problem with damage.)  It provides a kind of awkward view of prostitution but I love Eddie Constantine, Herbert Lom (Nemo) and the sexcentric Diana Dors. Who doesn't?

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

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

 

Formal Pre-amble

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frame Specific Damage Samples

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

 

 

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

 

 

 
Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

Bonus Captures:
Distribution Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray


 


 

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