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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2021): Kino have transferred Robert Siodmak's The Man in Search of his Murderer to Blu-ray. It starts with a text screen describing a 2013 "restoration by the F. W. Murnau-Stiftung". The image starts out poorly but eventually settles in to look acceptable if far from stellar. There are, predictable, marks and some overly bright sequences. It is in the slightly pillar-boxed 1.18:1 aspect ratio. There is plenty of texture and the 1080P produced a serviceable viewing of this 90-year old film.

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a linear PCM dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original German language. The film's audio quality relate to its original production capabilities and so it is fairly weak with dialogue being somewhat hollow but audible. Music can sounds tinny but also clear with a score by 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). Pieces include Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte sung in by Marlene Dietrich and Greta Keller plus Am Montag hab' ich leider keine Zeit!.. It should be noted that the musical director was Franz Waxman (as Franz Wachsmann) composer of film scores including Sorry, Wrong Number, Untamed, Rebecca, Dark Passage, Bride of Frankenstein, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard etc. He also has a cameo in the film (as mentioned in the commentary.). The comic slide-whistles and "Wah Wah Wah"'s seem awkward at times but its is fairly clear without undue hiss or 'pops'. Kino offer optional English (SDH) or standard English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Australian-born Josh Nelson. He explains the dual-title of the film, the 'Siodmak touch' and the director's notable classic Noirs, that the film hasn't been discussed much - a mere footnote in cinema history, the humor of the film being ahead of its time, the Siodmak brothers work in People on Sunday with Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann, Billy Wilder and the latter's writing for The Man in Search of his Murderer as well as much more. He quotes from written sources like Ed Sikov's "On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder" and others, he discusses how Franz Waxman was given his big break by Friedrich Hollaender detailing their relationship as colleagues, comparisons of Heinz Rühmann to Harold Lloyd and more. Nelson keeps a good pace and is well-prepared. I enjoyed listening to him.   

Robert Siodmak's The Man in Search of his Murderer is very interesting. It is really based on the Jules Verne's adventure novel Tribulations of a Chinaman in China about a bored wealthy man who pays someone to murder him, in the case of the book; before his life insurance expires - simply for the thrill. There have been many film adaptations since (and before.) I did appreciate the darker aspects of the story more than the more humorous ones. Being directed by Siodmak - this is a film I am very happy to own on Kino Blu-ray with the educational commentary. Wonderful stuff - recommended!

Gary Tooze