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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2020): Kino have transferred The Female Animal to Blu-ray as part of their Kino's Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema II with Thunder On The Hill, The Price Of Fear and, this, The Female Animal. It appears to be from the same master with the same damage marks as the 2015 DVD. The 1080P has somewhere around 5X the bitrate via the Kino Blu-ray, but the improvement is more apparent than the screen caps indicate in this case. It is quite thick and superior in most visual areas; details, contrast, depth, grain support... it shows a sliver more in the frame and looks pleasing, if not dynamic, in-motion.

NOTE: We have added 34 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and, occasionally dramatic, score by Hans J. Salter (Naked Alibi, Pittsburgh, Man Without a Star, The Killer that Stalked New York, The Strange Door, Cover Up, Man Without a Star, Scarlet Street, The Land Unknown, The War Lord, The Mole People, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) sounding a bit deeper with more consistent dialogue. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offer us a new audio commentary by film historians David Del Valle and David DeCouto who admit they had never seen the film previously. They make some great comments on Hedy (some good stories suing Mel Brooks etc.) and the female star's age issues relating to the plot. I enjoyed with some talk beyond the generic in terms of the cast and crew. Good stuff, guys. There is also a trailer for The Female Animal and two other films. 

While there is a certain gossipy silliness to the plot of The Female Animal so it's biggest attribute seems to be the stars; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell, Jan Sterling -  and the biting dialogue in a Noir-leaning way. In some sense - those features can be enough for many a fan. Let's not forget Russell Metty's cinematography.  The commentary tacks another bonus point to give it value. We will review the other two Blu-rays of Kino's Film Noir: The Dark Side Of Cinema II soon.

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD: The Female Animal is an attempt at a provocative brand of cinema that didn't have a long shelf life although it achieves on a few levels although the star ages were inaccurate to the plot - Hedy Lamarr (44), Jane Powell (30), Jan Sterling (38) had their more glamorous years behind. The exploitive title was an unfulfilling 'come on' but it wasn't all bad.

The disc is predictably single-layered and has no menus, or extras, and the transfer is interlaced (see combing in bottom capture.) Aside from that it was a bit soft - but consistent. There wasn't much damage or speckles. DoP Russell Metty's utilizes the black and white visuals well - with snippets of contrast brilliance.

The audio is lossy but clear and clean. The score by Hans J. Salter (Man Without a Star, Cover Up, The Wolfman, The Mole People) sounds supportive but is largely unremarkable in the presentation. There are no subtitles and the media is region FREE.

The film is weak beyond the performer appeal. I'll watch Hedy in anything on celluloid, and Jane Powell had some aggressive cuteness. Unfortunately, there isn't enough to recommend - especially an the exorbitant MoD pricing. Pass too all except die-hard fans of the ladies.  

Gary Tooze