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("Des femmes disparaissent" aka "The Road to Shame" or "Girls Disappear" or "Women Disappear")
Directed by Édouard Molinaro
France 1959
When Béatrice (Estella Blain) decides to spend an evening with a group of wealthy playboys, her working class fiancé, Pierre (Robert Hossein), follows her and exposes a gang of organized criminals. Intercepted by henchmen, Pierre is threatened, beaten, and framed for murder. But he refuses to give up, and remains determined to infiltrate the criminal stronghold, liberate Béatrice from the sex traffickers, and clear himself of murder. French genre filmmakers of the late 1950s, such as Édouard Molinaro, have typically been overshadowed by those of the nouvelle vague. But this exquisite restoration of The Road to Shame (Des femmes disparaissent), supported by the Centre National du Cinema, allows for the overdue appreciation of this fine example post-noir European hardboiled cinema. *** Pierre Rossi and Béatrice live in the same block of flats in Marseille and love each other. One night, Béatrice leaves her apartment. Pierre knows that his fiancée goes to a rendezvous, but she would not tell him more than just that. Worried, Pierre follows her but he is attacked... |
Posters
Theatrical Release: May 1st, 1959
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray | |
Runtime | 1:28:04.112 | |
Video |
1.66 :1 1080P Single-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 22,754,298,505 bytesFeature: 22,380,638,208 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.94 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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Audio |
DTS-HD Master
Audio French 1959 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1959 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48
kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps |
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Subtitles | English, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Kino
1.66 :1 1080P Single-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 22,754,298,505 bytesFeature: 22,380,638,208 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.94 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: • Audio commentary by film historian Adrian Martin
Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
NOTE: We have added 80 more large
resolution Blu-ray captures
(in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE
On their
Blu-ray,
Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the
original French language. The Road to Shame
has many aggressive conflicts - often hand-to-hand that come through
with authentically
modest bass. There is a delightfully jazz score by the American drummer
and bandleader Art Blakey (his only film composition credit) - these
include Générique (the 'Main Theme') written and performed by Art
Blakey, Jymie Merritt, Bobby Timmons, Benny Golson and Lee Morgan (as
'Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers') and include many other pieces;
Pierre Et Béatrice, Nasol, Tom, Poursuite Dans La
Ruelle, Ne Chuchote Pas etc. It's true jazz that adds a great
period French atmosphere. Kino offer optional English
subtitles on their Region 'A'
Blu-ray.
The Kino
Blu-ray
Édouard Molinaro's The Road to Shame
starts with a public service text screen that states (Google
translated) "Every year, throughout the world, and even here,
thousands of young women disappear. Perhaps more aware of the formidable
tricks of women traffickers, would it not be had they have not fallen
into their sordid traps. It is only by revealing the methods of the
bandits that it will be possible to defeat them: by showing without vain
hypocrisy how the most odious of constraints, by means of learned
temptations, followed by dramatic violence. To conceal the truth would
be to conceal the seriousness of the danger and thereby remain
defenseless against the most vile of trafficking." - Henri Torrès.
He was a French trial lawyer / politician, and a prolific writer on
political and legal matters. Despite the moralizing opening tone - the film,
itself, it quite impressive. I found it a surprisingly strong thriller. As well as
directing
La Cage Aux Folles, you may recognize Édouard Molinaro's name
from two 'French Film Noirs' that we recently reviewed (in, not
surprisingly, Kino's
French Noir Collection collection!); 1958's
Back to the Wall (Le dos au mur) and
Witness in the City (Un témoin dans la ville.) Some might
recognize innocent babe Estella Blain from
The Diabolical Dr. Z. (she sadly committed suicide on New Year's
Day 1982 at age 51) and Magali Noël from Fellini's
Amarcord. Robert Hossein went on to direct (and star in)
pasta-westerns like
Cemetery Without Crosses and portray the husband in much of the
Angelique series. I think that The Road to Shame's human
trafficking theme is lesser-addressed subtext - taking a backseat to the crime-drama and
heroic would-be boyfriend in a noir-ish actioner. So, where have I been? This
film is too good, or at the very least, too above average,
not to be a part of the French 'dark-cinema' discussion until now. Are
there more like this? Count me in. The Kino Blu-ray
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Distribution | Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
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