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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (April 2021): Kino have transferred Aleksander Ford's Wages of Sin to Blu-ray. This is part of Kino's 'Forbidden Fruit' series to Blu-ray. We have already reviewed Volume One Mom and Dad, (STDs, birth control), Unashamed / Elysia (nudity, nudist camps), Volume 4 - Marihuana and/ Narcotic (also drugs) and Tomorrow's Children / Child Bride (eugenics / child marriage - Volume 5), Volume 6 1949's She Should Have Said No and The Devil's Sleep, Ingagi Volume 8 (bizarre pseudo-documentary as exploitation) and Lash of the Penitentes - Volume 9 (exploitive details of the Penitente murder case.) This is Volume 10 which tackles abortion and birth control.

There is some occasional damage (see below) and the overall image is a bit soft and waxy in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Actually it is better than I anticipated as compared to a lot of the 'Forbidden Fruit' series. It may have been brightened but it is certainly watchable with some pleasing depth sneaking through in the latter half.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a linear PCM mono track (16-bit) DUB'ed in the English language (it was originally in German.) It is occasionally fragmented - on par with the video -  with music credited to Robert Blum - who scored a number of German films from the 30's to the 60's. Like the video it has imperfections but not fatal ones. It's as good as it will likely get in the uncompressed transfer without full restoration. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (author of Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study and other books on exploitation films with a focus on Gender politics.) She discusses although packaged as an exploitation films its origins are decidedly different with its curiosity of its international release history. She uncovers many facets of the film, its era and general reaction to its sensitive subject matter. Kino also include the 1929 film "The Misery and Fortune of Women" - a portrait about abortion and the realities of women from different backgrounds notable for the uncredited director Sergei M. Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin, Strike). Next we get a 1/4 hour of Donn Davison medical lecture/book pitch with the preface that "The Wages of Sin was distributed in the U.S. by Donn Davison. The following medical lecture/book pitch features Davison himself, and was likely filmed for drive-in engagements of The Wages of Sin or screenings at which a live lecturer was not available. The lecture was followed by a screening of a short film advertised as "Life and Its Secrecies," "The Secret Miracle of Birth," or "The Secrets of Birth." Also included are the related shorts - the 11-minute Life and Its Secrecies and 7-minutes of (no audio) Triplets by Cesarean Section. Lastly, is a trailer gallery of other films in Kino's 'Forbidden Fruit' series.

Wages of Sin and the entire package oddly fit in with the weird and wonderful from Kino's 'Forbidden Fruit' series on Blu-ray. You can't shake the fascinating historical context. I appreciated the educational commentary and peering into this rarely exposed world of cinema. For the adventurous and curious cinephile.

Gary Tooze