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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (June 2021): Kino have transferred a few Mae West Films, including Henry Hathaway's Go West Young Man, to Blu-ray. As critic Lee Gambin notes in his terrific audio commentary (more on that below), this is an often overlooked gem in the brief but wonderful canon of Mae West films. It's on a single-layered disc with a high bitrate and this 1080P transfer easily outshines the Universal SD DVD of 15-year ago. Grain textures are significantly more consistent and prominent, while being small enough to not be distracting, only adding a nice texture to the picture, when in motion. Contrast and detail also both benefit from this new Blu-ray transfer. The Blu-ray has more information mostly on the top and bottom of the frame, giving the impression that the older SD release was ever-so-slightly squeezed. There is no damage nor speckles to be found, disregarding some hairline scratches for the title-card sequence. The Kino Blu-ray truly showcases the 85-year old picture in a lovely new light.

NOTE: We have added 36 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray of Go West Young Man, Kino uses a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. To nobody's surprise the key attraction of any West film is the dialogue, which is thankfully pretty crisp on this 16-bit track. There is an uncredited score thanks to the talents of George Stoll and Herbert Taylor. West performs two numbers in this picture, 'On a Typical Tropical Night' and 'I Was Saying to the Moon' (both written by Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke). There are optional English SDH subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

The Kino Blu-ray has a new commentary by author and film critic Lee Gambin. Before the opening credits have rolled, Gambin has informed us of the picture being based off of the play "Personal Appearance'', with Mae West writing the screenplay (as well as giving us a quick bio of uncredited composer George Stoll). From here Gambin covers a number of topics, the most interesting topics I found to be about West herself. Though known for her (brilliant) one-liners, West was a prolific writer that, as Gambin puts it, could have seriously thrived in the 40's with the boom of the 'women's picture'. Gambin gives context to the gender and sexuality at play, referencing Molly Haskell's feminist film criticism classic "From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies" and this brilliant quote of Haskell's, "Through no fault of her own, Harlow's toughness and intelligence were used as a weapon to clobber other women. Mae West, who shared some of Harlow's low-down lasciviousness, could not be used in the same way, for with her, as with Dietrich, there was no room for any other member of the female sex. Indeed, so complete was West's androgyny, that one hardly knows into which sex she belongs, and by any sexual-ideological standards of film criticism, she is an anomaly-too masculine to be a female impersonator, too gay in her tastes to be a woman. She was a composite of sexual types: the female impersonator that Parker Tyler has discerned (in whom the mother and gay son are reconciled); a hypothetical, sexually aggressive woman; and woman as sex object turned subject. Her tastes in musclemen, cowboys, studs-the equivalent to literary gamekeepers and Poles, are homosexual pinups rather than female fantasies..." Gambin, much like Haskell, is an invaluable critic of the often overlooked subtext of populist genre fare. I highly recommend that West fans take a chance on this commentary. Kino Lorber also include trailers for eight other Mae West trailers on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray of Go West Young Man is a worthy addition to any Mae West fan's collection. The 1080p transfer easily bests the old SD DVD release, and the addition of Lee Gambin's audio commentary makes it that much more desirable. Recommended to both Mae West, and vintage era, film fans. 

Colin Zavitz