Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

An Inspector Calls Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 12, 2014

Guy Hamilton's "An Inspector Calls" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The only supplemental feature on the disc is a bran new video interview with actress Jane Wenham. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"But of course you do."

The overwhelming majority of An Inspector Calls takes place inside the lavish home of a wealthy British family, the Birlings, whose members have gathered to celebrate the engagement of the eldest child, Sheila (Eileen Moore, The Green Man), to the handsome businessman Gerald Croft (Brian Worth, Million Dollar Manhunt). As they dine and discuss important matters, such as the distant possibility of a war on the Old Continent, a man knocks on the door and politely introduces himself. The man is Inspector Poole (Alastair Sim, Innocents in Paris, The Belles of St Trinian's) and he wishes to speak with everyone in the house -- preferably one by one. Rather reluctantly, the head of the family, Mr. Birling (Arthur Young, Paid to Kill), invites the Inspector to sit down and explain what brings him to his home.

The rest is broken into five uneven episodes. In each episode, a member of the Birling family and Sheila’s future husband meet a young girl named Eva Smith, who has died after taking some sort of strong disinfectant.

In the first episode, Mr. Birling meets Eva after she leads a deputation of women working in his factory to his office where they demand better wages. Mr. Birling quickly rejects their request and after consulting with his assistant fires Eva.

In the second episode, Eva loses her new job in a chic clothing store after Sheila becomes upset with her while trying a fancy hat. Before she leaves the store, Sheila also threatens to close her affluent mother’s account there.

In the third episode, Gerald meets Eva in a smoky inn. She is starving and can barely stay on her feet. Gerald treats her to a nice dinner in a nearby restaurant and then lets her stay at his bachelor apartment until she finds a new job. He promises not to bother her, but soon after the two become lovers. When eventually he decides to marry Sheila, Eva is asked to leave.

Eva and Mrs. Birling (Olga Lindo, Make Mine a Million) meet sometime after the poor girl’s affair with Gerald. As the leader of a group of wealthy women who enjoy helping the unfortunate ones, Mrs. Birling discovers that Eva fell in love with a rich and handsome man, but after she became pregnant he quickly abandoned her.

In the final episode, Eva meets the friendly but rather unpredictable Eric Birling (Bryan Forbes, The Colditz Story), who loves to drink and have a good time. On a cold and rainy night, the kind bachelor buys her fish and chips and then walks her to her place.

Based on the classic play by J.B. Priestley and directed by Guy Hamilton, An Inspector Calls is a witty and genuinely moving period drama that is guaranteed to appeal to a wide range of viewers. Indeed, it has numerous very effective twists that could easily fit in an Agatha Christie adaptation and serious social overtones that remind of David Lean’s classic romantic drama Brief Encounter. (In An Inspector Calls, right and wrong are just as successfully misplaced).

The title is rather misleading. The well-mannered Inspector very effectively manipulates his hosts and then arranges the scattered pieces of a fascinating puzzle, but the true star is the poor girl who just can’t seem to get a break. The entire cast, however, is fantastic.

Hamilton was assisted by cinematographer Ted Scaife, who lensed Robert Aldrich’s timeless classic The Dirty Dozen.

An Inspector Calls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Guy Hamilton's An Inspector Calls arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

Generally speaking, depth and clarity are pleasing. The majority of the close-ups, in particular, look very good. During the outdoor footage, shadow definition is also convincing. Contrast levels are stable, but there are areas of the film where minor inherited fluctuations are visible. Some very careful denoising corrections have been applied, but the integrity of the image has not been affected. To be perfectly clear, these corrections have targeted specific areas where damage and other age-related imperfections would have been visible (see the two very long and thin lines that appear in the middle of screencapture #10). Light grain is present throughout the entire film, but it is slightly toned down. There are no traces of problematic sharpening corrections and serious transition or stability issues to report in this review. Lastly, the encoding is good, but there is room for some minor improvements. To sum it all up, StudioCanal's recent restoration of An Inspector Calls will please fans of the film and Alastair Sim. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

An Inspector Calls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, StudioCanal have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The sound is crisp and clear and there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity. Rather predictably, however, dynamic intensity is quite limited. Clicks, pops, crackle, and background hiss have been removed as best as possible. The dialog is stable and exceptionally easy to follow.

An Inspector Calls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Jane Wenham - in this new video interview, actress Jane Wenham (Eva Smith) recalls her collaboration with director Guy Hamilton on An Inspector Calls and her interactions with the rest of the cast during the shooting of the film. In English, not subtitled. (7 min, 1080p).

An Inspector Calls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have to say that Guy Hamilton's An Inspector Calls is one of the best entries in StudioCanal's Vintage Classics series. I was very pleasantly surprised. I have seen other adaptations of J.B. Priestley's play, but somehow missed this film. An Inspector Calls has been recently restored by StudioCanal and looks lovely on Blu-ray. Do not hesitate to add this release to your collections, folks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.