Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Beau Brummell Blu-ray Movie Review

By George.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 7, 2020

Based on Clyde Fitch's popular 1890 play (which was also adapted into a 1924 silent film starring John Barrymore), Curtis Bernhardt's mostly forgotten Beau Brummell dramatizes the life and times of a historical figure known for his sharp wit, good looks, and a fashion sense that heavily influenced 19th-century style. Here, George "Beau" Brummell is capably portrayed by Stewart Granger ( Scaramouche, Moonfleet ), no stranger to suave lead characters and brisk, swashbuckling action. This film clearly favors the former, as the only real on-screen action is pretty much over before the 10-minute mark, but fear not: great dialogue, memorable supporting characters, and excellent production design are on hand to carry most of the weight, making this a surprisingly entertaining way to spend 113 minutes.

Although it attempts to chronicle our title character's life from early adulthood to his death in 1840, Beau Brummell's main focus is on his long and occasionally turbulent friendship with Prince George IV of Wales (Peter Ustinov, in fine form) and, to lesser extent, his budding relationship with lovely Lady Patricia (Elizabeth Taylor). Not surprisingly, the former ends up driving most of this film's narrative: it's largely due to excellent back-and- forth exchanges between the dashing Brummell -- always ready with a sharp dose of honesty or a quick retort -- and the surprisingly sympathetic Prince, whose crippling insecurities about his insane father King George III (Robert Morley, who almost steals the show despite very little screen time) are only eclipsed by fears of mutiny and a crumbling relationship with his wife Maria (Rosemary Harris). Brummell's own relationship struggles with Patricia push the film into a somewhat rushed but interesting third act, which interpret the real-life Brummell's hasty exile to France and unpleasant later years.

Although the film takes plenty of liberties with historical fact (including, but not limited to, the specific character Lady Patricia and a last-minute reconciliation between Brummell and Prince George), Beau Brummell is a fine-looking film that casts an immediate spell and should greatly appeal to modern audiences, even those usually intimidated by period dramas. Though somewhat hampered by that third act and a few other small roadblocks along the way, it's got a lot of fundamental strengths and, as a total package, is much better than its forgotten reputation suggests. Warner Archive Collection's new Blu-ray, to the best of my knowledge, marks the film's digital home video debut and it's a very fine one indeed, led by an outstanding 4K-sourced restoration that plays to Beau Brummell's consistent visual strengths.

Beau Brummell Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sourced from a brand-new 4K scan of the original camera negative, this 1080p transfer of Beau Brummell offers a fantastic presentation of challenging source material. Although things get off to a rocky start during the foggy opening sequence -- and periodically take a half-step backwards during select scenes* -- the majority of this handsomely-shot production is is very impressive with well-defined colors, plenty of natural film grain, and careful contrast balance that doesn't exhibit much in the way of black crush or blooming. Prolific British cinematographer Oswald Morris (Lolita, The Dark Crystal) imbues the film with a very painterly appearance, bathed in natural light and deliberate compositions that impress without calling attention to themselves. Color depth is outstanding, largely due to the ornate costume and production design. with skin tones that look accurate under natural and colored lighting alike. The transfer appears very clean with only minimal amounts of flicker and no perceptible compression artifacts or banding. Overall, a terrific effort that fans will adore; since it marks Beau Brummell's debut on digital home video, it leaves quite an impression.

* - These slight declines in clarity may very well be source-related, but the absence of a previous home video release makes a comparison impossible. In any case, it's nothing major: aside from the opening sequence, stray shots or scenes that fall into this category are rarely more than 10-20 seconds in length and hardly a distraction.

Beau Brummell Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, Beau Brummell sounds about as clean and crisp as its modest one-channel source material will allow. This DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track does a fine job balancing dialogue with background effects and the original score, which sounds relatively full and dynamic with no sync issues or major clipping on the high end. Crowded scenes even achieve a bit of depth, but everything mostly stays tightly inside a narrow sound field -- not a complaint at all, under the circumstances. Similar to the visuals, this is simply a faithful presentation that purists will appreciate.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature. This time around, they're perfectly formatted (not ALL CAPS) and look great. If Warner Archive would stick with this format already, I'd quit complaining.

Beau Brummell Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beau Brummell arrives on Blu-ray in a keepcase with cocky poster-themed artwork and no inserts. As usual, on-disc extras are extremely limited -- but seeing as how this marks the film's digital debut, it's nice to get something.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:47) - This beefy promotional piece, every bit as over-the-top as its cover artwork, is in rough but watchable shape and ever-so-slightly cropped to 1.78:1. Watch it here.

Beau Brummell Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Though it was a box-office disappointment in its day and has been woefully under-represented on home video, Curtis Bernhardt's Technicolor adaptation of Beau Brummell is a solid costume drama with great dialogue and no shortage of memorable performances. The costume and overall set design carry their own weight as well, creating an impressive atmosphere that adds a great deal of visual interest to this handsomely-shot production. Warner Archive's excellent Blu-ray breathes new life into the film with a fantastic 1080p presentation and lossless audio that should impress die-hard fans and newcomers alike. It just might be the the best sleeper catalog release of the year thus far.