Contraband Spain Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Contraband Spain Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 29, 2020

Lawrence Huntington's "Contraband Spain" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Network Releasing. The supplemental features on the disc include archival promotional materials for the film and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The getaway

I don’t know if the similarities are intentional, but they are there and impossible to ignore. In Bernard Borderie’s Poison Ivy (La Môme Vert de Gris) Eddie Constantine plays a special agent who is dispatched to Casablanca to figure out why after being shipped by the Department of Treasury two million dollars have gone missing. Shortly after he lands in the beautiful city, however, the agent becomes involved with a sexy cabaret singer that complicates his mission and then his life. Released two years after Poison Ivy, Lawrence Huntington’s film Contraband Spain is a much smaller production but uses pretty much the exact same blueprint to impress. In it Richard Greene plays special agent Lee Scott who heads to Barcelona to track down some quite skilled and elusive counterfeiters who have murdered his brother nearby Urdos, a small French town on the border with Spain. Once in the city, Scott quickly informs the local authorities what his mission would be and them begins snooping around in the area where the counterfeiters are supposed to be active. At a popular night club Scott meets singer Elena Vargas (a very young Anouk Aimee), who was in a relationship with his brother and knew that the people he was working with were up to no good. The singer then agrees to help Scott identify the counterfeiters by pointing out some of the men she has seen with his late brother, but as soon as the two begin meeting the tourist city becomes a big and very dangerous playground where life is cheaper than a glass of vino.

The overwhelming majority of Contraband Spain was actually shot in Riverside Studios in London, so anyone expecting plenty of specular footage from Barcelona or the French-Spanish border would be seriously disappointed. Yes, there are a few nice on-location shots, but they are from Dover, so the French-Spanish flavor which the film promotes is essentially made up.

In the grand scheme of things, however, the lack of striking authentic footage is largely irrelevant. Indeed, once Scott begins digging for clues the film becomes focused entirely on the characterizations and the manner in which a wide range of revelations impact their evolution. So, instead of betting on action and atmosphere to impress this film becomes quite talkative, a bit like an elaborate theater play with multiple nicely defined acts. (Borderie’s Poison Ivy does exactly the opposite. Once Constantine’s agent lands in Casablanca, the film takes full advantage of various spectacular locations, plus there is as much action in it as a proper film noir can handle).

Given the low-budget nature of the production, the leads actually do a rather impressive amount of good work that makes the film look quite a bit bigger than it is. It almost certainly helped that Huntington also wrote the script and was likely able to tweak certain parts where to make the most of the drama.

The producers of the film secured the services of cinematographer Harry Waxman, who later in his career did a number of much bigger and bolder exotic projects that are now regarded as cult classics, such as The Wicker Man, Vampyres, and What the Peeper Saw.

The surprisingly good orchestral score, which incorporates plenty of traditional Spanish harmonies, was composed by Edwin Astley (TV’s The Saint, Department S).

*Network Releasing’s Blu-ray release of Contraband Spain is sourced from a new master that was struck from the original 35mm camera negative. However, technical information supplied by the label confirms that the negative was in a very poor condition, which is why even after the restoration certain minor source limitations were retained on the master.

Contraband Spain 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, Contraband Spain arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Network Releasing.

The release is sourced from a new master that was struck from the original 35mm camera negative. However, technical information supplied by the label confirms that the negative was in a very poor condition, which is why even after the restoration certain minor source limitations were retained on the master. The most obvious ones are some sporadic extremely mild color pulsations, but they are not even remotely distracting. On the other hand, I saw some minor traces of degraining adjustments that were likely meant to rebalance the visuals as best as possible but appear to have introduced minor flat spots. Frankly, while these adjustments are so small that they are essentially irrelevant, I would have preferred not to have them at all -- a raw transfer with basic stability work done would have been the ideal scenario. Colors look organic and despite the source limitations also appear quite well balanced. Some extremely small black spots, dirt, and density fluctuations remain, but overall this is still a very healthy presentation of the film. (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).

Contraband Spain Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clean and clear. However, from time to time some minor dynamic unevenness can be identified, especially if the audio is turned up a bit. There are digital tools that could have been used to further improve the roundness of the audio, perhaps even its stability, but I still think that the overall quality of the lossless track is solid.

Contraband Spain Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for the Contraband Spain. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of promotional materials for the film.

Contraband Spain Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Contraband Spain will be difficult to sell to film noir aficionados because it only flirts with some of the genre's defining qualities. It is far easier to profile as an exotic crime thriller, though admittedly the exotic is just a background for its dramatic material. I enjoy viewing these types of older films very late at night, and Contraband Spain delivered exactly the sort of entertainment I expected it would. Network Releasing's Blu-ray release is sourced from a nice new master, but if you decide to pick it up for your library keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". RECOMMENDED.