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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2020): Kino have transferred Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo to Blu-ray. It is, also, described as being "from a brand new 4K restoration". It's on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks significantly improved from Masters of Cinema's 1080P.

In fact, Dylan from our FB Group stated: "Looks like Eureka didn’t get the 4k Master that Kino produced, but the dated Universal master that was also used in Elephant’s Blu-ray in France." and "Kino just finished their own scan in time for their own release coming out in late September. They even suggested it was unlikely Eureka had their new master. And there is no other 4k master. Look up the Elephant Blu-ray from last year. It’s from a dated hd master. They look identical.

Universal probably told Eureka they had a 4k master but there was some confusion as to the timing of it being ready, and either “accidentally” delivered the older master because they didn’t have the new one yet, or by the time Eureka realized they had the old master, they didn’t want to delay their release or change the info. Or Eureka plain just didn’t know they got an old master." (Thanks Dylan, I - and the screen captures - concur with your observations.)

Yes, the Kino has much more grain, richer black levels, no cue-blips (reel change marks - see last capture) and looks like a legitimate 4K restoration. It wins the HD image presentation hands-down.  

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original English language (with some German.) It is a notch below the Masters of Cinema's 24-bit audio transfer. There are war-related effects and a dramatic score is by the iconic Miklós Rózsa (Criss Cross, The Killers, The Lost Weekend, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Double Indemnity) sounding strong in the lossless if a notch below Eureka's 24-bit rendering. Kino, also, offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has an audio commentary by Joseph McBride (author of Frankly: Unmasking Frank Capra, Hawks on Hawks, How Did Lubitsch Do It?.) He talks a lot about Wilder and his experiences with Nazis, WWII and the loss of his mother. He gives some wonderful information about the production shot at the Mojave Desert, Arizona, and the Salton Sea, California. How the characters have deception - masquerading - a survival mechanism and how it related to Wilder's life. It was excellent. There are also some trailers including one for the feature. 

Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo is an brilliant, subtle, war-thriller. The storyline has some sneaky moral shifts (helping the war effort), great characters and I think it has been unjustly neglected and distanced from Wilder's more lauded works - possibly because of the propagandized conclusion. The commentary and film itself have value. Kino's newly 4K-restored image is the best available and the McBride commentary has essential value. It has our highest recommendation!

***

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (August 2020): Masters of Cinema have transferred Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo to Blu-ray. It is described as being "from a brand new 4K restoration". It's an obvious upgrade from the DVD, but still has some minor clunkiness and can look thin (digitized) in a few early spots. Overall though the 4K restoration is very appealing appearing bright and clear in 1080P. There is depth and texture - it settles in to be frequently impressive in-motion.

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language with some German. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by Miklós Rózsa (Criss Cross, The Killers, The Lost Weekend, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Double Indemnity) sounding a bit deeper for the aggressive effects (tank etc.) with more consistent dialogue. Masters of Cinema offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray treats us to a wonderful audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin who discusses Five Graves to Cairo as Wilder's second Hollywood feature, he refers to writer Charles Brackett's diary "It's the Pictures That Got Small", how Brackett and Wilder watched Josef von Sternberg's Morocco in preparation for making Five Graves. Adrian makes some interesting analysis extolling less-perceptible details in Bill Wilder's work (Rommel gay?). He discusses the collaboration with cinematographer John F. Seitz, Erich von Stroheim, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and much more. It is excellent. Masters of Cinema also include an hour-long "Five Graves to Cairo" episode of Lux Radio Theatre, originally aired in 1943, starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter, 11-minutes of Billy Wilder on Five Graves to Cairo. This clip is taken from the three-part documentary Billy, How Did You Do It? directed by Volker Schldndorff and the full documentary can be found on the Masters of Cinema Series release of Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend. There is also a theatrical trailer and the package has a collector's booklet featuring new writing by critic Richard Combs and an archival article from 1944 about Wilder and Charles Brackett.

With the Adrian Martin commentary, booklet and extras this Masters of Cinema Blu-ray is recommended with the caveat of having patience for Kino's BD in September!! 

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD (2012): Five Graves to Cairo has been released previously in France by Carlotta, in Germany by Universum and Australia by Madman Entertainment from their own Criterion-like "Directors Suite" lineup. Unfortunately, extra-wise those releases were light.

There is a standard Ben Mankiewicz Introduction and number of galleries, but no trailer for Five Graves to Cairo is included - it can be found on an Australian disc. A fine region 1 release that could have been much better if the films were given new HD transfers, but we can still recommend this release to any Billy Wilder fan.

  - Gregory Meshman