Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Anna Boleyn Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 24, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Lubitsch in Berlin 1918-1921.

Ernst Lubitsch’s vaunted “touch” made him something of a rarity in Golden Age Hollywood, namely a star director in a town which more typically tended to be all about "real" stars (as in the kind up there on the silver screen). But what’s interesting about Lubitsch’s Hollywood career is that while it lasted decades and offered scores of films, when you get right down to it, the so-called “Lubitsch touch” might be best remembered for only a veritable handful of outings like Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner and To Be or Not to Be. Now, it perhaps goes without saying that with a handful like that, who really cares if not all of Lubitsch’s films have managed to penetrate into the public consciousness, but for devoted cineastes with a taste in World Cinema, and in this case World Silent Cinema, this aggregation of six silents Lubitsch made when he was still in Germany may be a bit revelatory, both in terms of subject matter but also in terms of what would soon enough become known as the “Lubitsch touch”.

Anna Boleyn may be the definite outlier in this set of six films, and in fact it might be seen by some as an outlier in Lubitsch’s oeuvre generally speaking (though diehard Lubitsch fans will be aware he did at least occasionally traffic in supposed "true life" historical pieces). This is a rather lavish telling of the tempestous, ultimately tragic, relationship between King Henry VIII (Emil Jannings) and Anne Boleyn (Henny Porten). This makes for an absolutely fascinating counterpart to arguably better known treatments of this same basic story as in Anne of the Thousand Days. If Janning’s boisterous, bawdy take on Henry VIII is at least in the same general ballpark as Richard Burton’s in the 1969 film, Porten is a much less fiery Anne in this film, something that may make her fate even more disturbing. This is a rather opulent production in any case, though it’s emotionally distant, as many of these “historical epics” can tend to be.

Anna Boleyn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Eureka Entertainment provided check discs for the purposes of this review.

Anna Boleyn is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment's Masters of Cinema imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Introductory text cards state this was restored in 2001 from a camera negative and tinted nitrate* copy, with a 2K digital version being finished in 2014. To my eyes, this is the best overall looking feature in this set, which is not to say it's without some of the same age related wear and tear seen in many of the other films in this set. That said, damage is perhaps arguably a bit less here overall, though there are still manifest nicks, scratches and other blemishes. But the overall presentation here is quite good, with generally very good detail levels throughout. There are some interesting teal like tones in both credit text and some intertitles, and some of the blue tinting is very evocative. Much of the film is in "traditional" black and white, or perhaps just slightly sepia toned. There are a couple of noticeable spikes in the grain field when the film ventures outside. My score is 3.75.

Anna Boleyn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All of the films in this set feature LPCM 2.0 renderings of musical underscore. This film features another piano score by Javier Perez de Azpeitia (he also scored Sumurun, and commendably the two scores are rather stylistically diverse). This score is given a 2006 production date in the closing credits and sounds absolutely problem free throughout the presentation.

Anna Boleyn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While there are no supplements tied to individual films included with this set, Disc Three offers the following comprehensive documentary, which does get into at least some of the films and this general era of Lubitsch's life:

• Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin: From Schönhauser Allee to Hollywood (HD; 1:26:41) is a well done piece that includes some really sweet reminiscences from some Lubitsch relatives (including his daughter, Nicola), as well as copious footage of Lubitsch's childhood and young man haunts in Berlin. There's quite a bit of information and some appealing stills and archival video of his early work as an actor, including with Max Reinhardt, and a good overview of his early film career as a director. In both German (with English subtitles) and English, depending on the speaker.

Eureka Entertainment only provided check discs for purposes of this review, and so I can't authoritatively comment on non-disc swag, though their website mentions an insert booklet with essays.

Anna Boleyn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another film that probably could have used some judicious editing (it clocks in at slightly over two hours), but it's a really fascinating film in many respects, and it certainly has a sumptuous production design. Video has some issues, as per all the films in this set, but to me looked the best overall of all the films in this set. As with the rest of the offerings in this set, audio is fine, for those considering a purchase.