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

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (August 2025): Imprint have transferred Sydney Pollack's This Property Is Condemned to Blu-ray. The film boasts a visually sumptuous style that bridges the opulent aesthetics of classic Hollywood with the emerging realism of the 1960s, largely thanks to the masterful cinematography of James Wong Howe (Hud, The Thin Man, Seconds, The Old Man and the Sea,) who infuses the Depression-era Mississippi setting with a burnished, elegiac glow that contrasts the town's economic decay with an almost glamorous allure. Shot in glorious Technicolor, the film's color palette is breathtaking, with vibrant hues that are brilliant against the grimy, dilapidated backdrops - making the impoverished railroad workers and faded boarding house appear like stylized movie stars rather than authentic figures of hardship, a choice that adds a layer of ironic beauty to the narrative's themes of illusion versus reality. With a bastardized aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the 1080P transfer captures the sweltering Mississippi landscapes and intimate character moments with impressive clarity, and vibrant colors, that evoke the theatrical experience of Paramount's mid-1960s productions. The HD presentation is a shade soft perhaps stemming from an updated master. It's hard to tell. There appears to be some high-frequency digitization but it's not egregious. More texture would have been appreciated. I believe this is the first time the film has reached Blu-ray status - and we will take a more discerningly comparative look should another surface.

NOTE: We have added 72 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The auditory landscape of "This Property Is Condemned" is anchored by Kenyon Hopkins' (The First Time, The Fugitive Kind, Downhill Racer, 12 Angry Men, The Hustler, Wild Rive,) haunting original score, which weaves jazz-inflected orchestral elements with melancholic motifs to underscore the film's themes of longing and despair, creating a wistful, atmospheric backdrop that enhances the emotional depth without overpowering the dialogue. A standout feature is the recurring song "Wish Me a Rainbow," composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, which bookends the film - playing over the opening and closing sequences to evoke Alva's dreamy aspirations and ultimate tragedy, with its lyrical optimism contrasting the narrative's downward spiral; the track was covered by artists like Ed Ames and Astrud Gilberto, adding a period-appropriate pop sensibility. The uncompressed transfer is a functional mono mix, prioritizing clear dialogue delivery amid the Southern drawls and ambient noises like train whistles and cicadas that subtly immerse viewers in the rural Mississippi setting, though it lacks the layered complexity of later films. Imprint offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Imprint has assembled an impressive array of new extras for this Blu-ray, starting with a fresh audio commentary by filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society,) which offers insightful analysis of the film's themes and production. The package also includes three 2025 Robert Fischer (Fiction Factory) video pieces including the 3/4 hour "Personal Investment: Sydney Pollack on American Cinema and 40 Years in Hollywood". In March 2000, Sydney Pollack welcomed German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt into the offices of Mirage, the production company he had established, for an in-depth retrospective interview about his career - a deeply touching encounter that offers insight into the acclaimed director's candid and unflinching perspective on Hollywood with an archival interview with the director reflecting on his career; "Natalie Wood: A Tribute by Peter Bogdanovich" runs shy of 20-minutes and is a heartfelt appreciation of the star's work; and "The Times of Natalie Wood: An Appreciation by Gavin Lambert" - author of Inside Daisy Clover (Midnight Classics) - who delves into her legacy for over 1/2 hour.

Sydney Pollack's This Property Is Condemned represents an early milestone in the filmmaker's career, marking his second feature film and the first of seven collaborations with Robert Redford. Adapted from Tennessee Williams' 1946 one-act play of the same name, the screenplay - co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Coe, and Edith Sommer - expands the original's minimalist framework into a full-length Southern Gothic melodrama set during the Great Depression in the fictional Mississippi town of Dodson. The film stars Natalie Wood (West Side Story, Love With the Proper Stranger, Gypsy, The Searchers) as the vivacious yet tragic Alva Starr, Robert Redford (Three Days of the Condor, Downhill Racer, The Hot Rock, The Natural, Jeremiah Johnson, All the President's Man) as the pragmatic railroad official Owen Legate, Kate Reid (The Andromeda Strain) as Alva's manipulative mother Hazel, and Mary Badham (To Kill a Mockingbird) as her younger sister Willie, with supporting roles from Charles Bronson (Death Wish) and Robert Blake (In Cold Blood.) Alva's complexity lies in the tension between her performative femininity, imposed by her mother, and her genuine yearning for authenticity, which Owen briefly awakens. It remains a hidden gem in Williams adaptations, less celebrated than "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" but equally visceral. "This Property Is Condemned" is a richly layered film through Pollack's empathetic lens. It stands as a testament to the destructive power of unfulfilled desires and societal constraints, elevated by powerhouse performances and visual poetry. In an era of Hollywood transition, it bridges melodrama and realism, offering timeless insights into human fragility. Imprint's Blu-ray of "This Property Is Condemned" - complete with a stylish slipcase - stands as an intriguing debut for this underrated Sydney Pollack film offering a visually pleasing if questionable transfer, solid audio fidelity, and thoughtful extras that make it a highly desirable for enthusiasts of classic Hollywood melodrama and Tennessee Williams adaptations.

Gary Tooze