Because of You Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Because of You Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 5, 2022

Joseph Pevney's "Because of You" (1952) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A 'locked".

Chased

At a chic night club somewhere in downtown Los Angeles, con man Mike Monroe (Alex Nicol) hands his blonde girlfriend Christine Kimberly (Loretta Young) a thick brown envelope and asks her to casually sneak out through the powder room and wait for him in their car. Then, while she looks at him in disbelief, he quickly assures her that there is nothing to worry about, but even if there was, she won’t be involved with it. Moments later, at the parking lot the blonde is picked up by undercover agents.

A couple of years later, Christine emerges from prison with a long dark hair and ready to start a new chapter in her life as a nurse at a large hospital which the government has been using to treat military veterans. Christine’s natural elegance, kindness, and professionalism quickly earn her the admiration of the staff, while Steve Kimberly (Jeff Chandler), a brittle patient suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, gradually begins to fall in love with her. At first Christine politely attempts to keep a distance between them, but when eventually Steve opens his heart and asks her to marry him, she capitulates and they become a couple.

But Christine’s parole officer (Helen Wallace) promptly warns that she is required by law to reveal her past to Steve, and that they can marry only after the California Board of Correction issues a special permission. Nevertheless, soon after Christine and Steve travel to Tijuana and get married by a local official who assures them that his wedding certificate will be valid on the other side of the border as well. Christine then convinces Steve to keep their wedding secret for a few months until her contract with the hospital ends. It all goes well until a couple of years later, after Christine gives birth to a beautiful baby girl, Mike reappears and forces her to do him one last favor -- escort him to Tijuana with to pick up a package and then get back to Los Angeles where he is supposed to sell its contents to an old business partner.

Even though the above plot description may seem perfect for a straightforward film noir, Joseph Pevney’s Because of You is actually a straightforward romantic melodrama. In fact, with a few minor adjustments addressing primarily the police operation in the night club and later on the quick trip to Tijuana where Mike is busted again, Because of You very easily could have been placed next to the various romantic melodramas Douglas Sirk directed during the 1950s.

At the core of the story that is told in Because of You are two seemingly different but actually very similar character transformations. On one hand, there is Christine’s evolution from a ‘doll’ with a very simplistic view of life into a ‘normal’ woman who has learned from her mistakes and is looking for a fresh start. During her recovery, she does everything right, but eventually comes to realize that even after rejecting her past it may not be possible to permanently discard it. On the other hand, there is Steve’s evolution from a jealous husband with equally simplistic understandings of commitment and love into a compassionate partner who knows how to support without being judgmental. So, both transformations require the newlyweds to meet in the middle, but while following different paths to get there.

The heavy melodrama that surrounds the two transformations certainly feels dated now, but at the same time it feels surprisingly sincere as well. It is primarily because Young brings a tremendous amount of warmth to it, and through it effectively reveals the depth of her character’s internal struggles. While likeable, Chandler’s performance isn’t as nuanced, so during key sequences where crucial decisions are made it is quite obvious that he is simply going through scripted cycles where his feelings and emotions are supposed to evolve.

Pevney and Russell Metty’s work in Because of You is a lot more attractive than in the recently released The Midnight Story. There is plenty of excellent intimate and panoramic footage that gives the film a sense of grandness, which in some ways once again reminds of Sirk’s famous melodramas.

Because of You Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Because of You arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an older but very nice organic master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. To be honest, I do not see any room for drastic improvements. For example, grain appears slightly overexposed, but it is very healthy and its consistency is actually quite pleasing. The grayscale is really good too, though you will notice that in a few areas highlights could have been managed a tad better. Darker footage typically reveals very good or excellent shadow definition (see example in screencapture #11). Density levels as well as fluidity are about as good as I expected them to be, so if you view your films on a larger screen you will like what you see. Image stability is good. I noticed a few minor nicks and flecks popping up here and there, but there are no distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, some minor cosmetic work can be done, but the current master has a very solid organic appearance. My score is 4.25/5.00. (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).

Because of You Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

The lossless track sounded great on my system. In fact, I was quite surprised to hear a very nice range of nuanced dynamics during some of the more active sequences, like the one where Loretta Young and Alex Nicol head to Tijuana. The upper register was very healthy, too. Is there any room for notable improvements? I don't think so. If the audio is completely redone, at very best there will be some insignificant cosmetic tweaks.

Because of You Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - exclusive new audio commentary by critic Samm Deighan.

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Because of You. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Because of You Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite the fact that Joseph Pevney's Because of You is not a film noir, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It shares a lot of the same qualities you would expect from Douglas Sirk's 1950s melodramas, with some fittingly elegant camerawork by the great cinematographer Russell Metty. Its two leads, Jeff Chandler and Loretta Young, are very good together, but it is unquestionably the warmth of the latter that makes the melodrama surprisingly sincere. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but very solid organic master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. It is included in Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema V, a three-disc box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.