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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2021): Kino have transferred three films; Hands Across the Table, Love Before Breakfast and Princess Comes Across as a part of their Carole Lombard Collection II Blu-ray package. We reviewed Volume One HERE, with three earlier films - all Pre-Codes; Fast and Loose (1930), Man of the World (1931) and No Man of Her Own (1932).

The three films in this set, were offered on DVD in 2006 as part of Universal's Carole Lombard - The Glamour Collection - reviewed HERE. The 1080P image quality advances the presentation with more layered contrast although the first two films can appear 'lighter' by comparison. The aspect ratio is in the proper 1.37:1 gaining information in the right edge - with the SD transfers thinning faces by slightly vertically squeezing the image. These are all on single-layered Blu-ray discs but with the shortness of the films (and much of the 1.78 frame being blackness), they all have high bitrates. I imagine they are at the mercy of the source elements, but there are thicker, film-like, textures - sometimes a bit clunky - with an overall consistency in-motion. There are light vertical scratches on Hands Across the Table. Only Love Before Breakfast showed damage - usually in the form of frame-specific marks - often heavy - see samples below. It also had a touch of contrast flickering and warping in the last frame of scenes. Black levels perk up in Princess Comes Across. I thought they all looking very pleasing on my system - for the first two films, better than the still captures might represent.   

NOTE: We have added 78 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, For all three films in the package Kino use DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (16-bit) in the original English language. Like the first Carole Lombard Kino Blu-ray set - the films are a function of the productions limitations of the time they were made. But these three were after the ones in Volume one and the audio is clearer with more consistent dialogue. Generally, they are another advancement in the film's audio and uplifting scores by the likes of Friedrich Hollaender (The Bride Wore Boots, Bluebeard's Eight Wife, Angel, The Great McGinty, Christmas in Connecticut, Caught, Berlin Express, Background to Danger, The Verdict, A Foreign Affair), John Leipold (Christmas in July, Murder in the Zoo, The Devil is a Woman, The Flying Deuces, Duck Soup and Those Redheads from Seattle, Preston Sturges's The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels), Heinz Roemheld (The Woman on the Beach, Dangerous, The Monster that Challenged The World, The Land Unknown, The Mole People, 1933's The Invisible Man), and Franz Waxman (Sorry Wrong Number, Untamed, Rebecca, Dark Passage, Bride of Frankenstein, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard) sounding occasionally tinny in spots but supportive of the films in the lossless. Ohh there is also the concertina and singing by Fred MacMurray in The Princess Comes Across. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers new commentaries by Allan Arkush and Daniel Kremer on both Hands Across the Table  and The Princess Comes Across with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Joshua Nelson on Love Before Breakfast. These are educational and fun discussing Lombard and her early demise - sadly, her life was cut short when she died at the age of only 33 in a plane crash (taken by flip of a coin) - but she accrued an extensive and beloved film catalogue, they discuss the directors and co-stars she worked with, screwball comedies as a genre - and much more. These are great companions to re-watching the films. There is only a trailer for Love Before Breakfast included after that.

Carole Lombard was so expressive - exuding her own magnetic energy - the camera loving her every gesture. The three comedy/romance films in Kino's Carole Lombard Collection II Blu-ray; Hands Across the Table, Love Before Breakfast and Princess Comes Across represent an era and star that we deeply crave to this day. They are charming - I especially enjoyed the screwball qualities and the crime angle in Princess Comes Across. Absolutely recommended to Lombard and vintage-era cinema fans!

Gary Tooze