6.6 | / 10 |
Users | ![]() | 0.0 |
Reviewer | ![]() | 3.5 |
Overall | ![]() | 3.5 |
Newspaperman helps girl find her sister's illegitimate baby, gets mixed up in baby-adoption racket.
Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Meg Randall, Raymond BurrDrama | Uncertain |
Film-Noir | Uncertain |
Crime | Uncertain |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | ![]() | 3.5 |
Video | ![]() | 3.5 |
Audio | ![]() | 3.5 |
Extras | ![]() | 0.5 |
Overall | ![]() | 3.5 |
Joseph M. Newman's "Abandoned" (1949) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critic Samm Deighan. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Abandoned arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The film looks just slightly softer than I would have preferred, but delineation, clarity, and depth remain pleasing. It is usually the darker footage where the softness becomes most obvious, but I have to say that you won't be troubled by the presence of any serious anomalies. (You can see in screencapture #18 that detail is still pretty decent). The grayscale is quite good, too. A lot of the darker footage reveals surprisingly good shadow nuances, while the daylight footage does not convey boosted whites. Image stability is good. I did not encounter any annoying big age-related imperfections to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Clarity is good but the audio often sounded a bit too thin for my taste. From time to time I felt that the upper register was somewhat oddly compressed as well. I am not surprised that the audio isn't perfect as the release is clearly sourced from an older master, but on the other hand there have been plenty of other older masters with vastly superior tracks.
The noir genre produced a wide range of films with a social conscience that are quite interesting to deconstruct because they reveal very particular biases, concerns, and fears. I really enjoy the ones that were influenced by unique developments from the Cold War era because they are capable of placing many contemporary events in a proper context. Abandoned is one such early genre film with a social conscience that puts the spotlight on an illegal business that most definitively isn't a thing of the past. It is a bit overly melodramatic but works well because its message is very clear and two leads quite good together. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but decent master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. It is included in Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III, a three-disc box set. RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1954
1950
1948
1945
Warner Archive Collection
1951
1955
1955
1957
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1950
1948
1950
1950
1948
1948
1950
1955
The Paris Express
1952
Warner Archive Collection
1947
Limited Edition to 3000
1961
1948