7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In early 1900's England, a beautiful maid tries to blackmail her master into romancing her when she discovers he poisoned his wife to death.
Starring: Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers, Belinda Lee, Ronald SquireFilm-Noir | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.75:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available as part of
Noir Archive Volume 2: 1954-1956.
Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment mined an interesting nonet of features for their Noir Archive Volume 1: 1944-1954, and now a second volume is forthcoming, with
another nine outings that show what a reliable purveyor of noir or at least noir-ish films Columbia Studios continued to be through
the mid-fifties. As the subtitle for the first volume made clear, that collection spanned a decade, from what was arguably the apex of noir
in the mid-forties to the arguably somewhat less fertile era of Eisenhower. This second volume picks up in 1954 and continues forward two years,
assembling a rather diverse collection of writers, directors and stars, some of whom at least many would probably consign to the so-called “B list”,
though others, like Kim Novak, Jack Finney and even William Castle, certainly have claims to "A list" fame. One way or the other, though, there are
some
interesting titles in this second collection, and noir fans may well find this as appealing a set as the first outing.
Footsteps in the Fog is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As the only color feature in this set, I had high hopes when I first saw the Columbia masthead in color, for it sported pretty hefty blues, even if it was damaged with scratches, but those hopes faded, perhaps suggesting the look of this transfer itself. I will say that the presentation looked decidedly better in motion than some of these screenshots might suggest, but this does have a noticeably faded look at times, and there are also pretty wide variances in densities. Some moments look rather warm and nicely vivid, and others almost resemble a colorized black and white film. There's pretty prevalent damage at times, including quite a bit of speckling and some rather bright green scratches. A sequence starting at circa 23:05 is seriously out of alignment for a while, with registration issues and fringing (see screenshots 6 and 8 for two examples). Still, detail levels are quite enjoyable in the best looking moments of the film, and there are at least some sections that retain a reasonably saturated palette. Grain generally resolves organically.
Footsteps in the Fog features a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which rather nicely presents sometimes "minor" elements like a bird chirping in the main study where a lot of the film takes place. Dialogue and an often string drenched score are presented cleanly and without any problems whatsoever.
None of the three discs in this set feature any supplements.
I found Footsteps in the Fog to be a rather intriguing film, one filled with some really nicely done performances, and a rather sumptuous production design. Unfortunately the video side of things here is uneven, so those interested should carefully parse the screenshots. Audio is fine for those considering a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Reissue
1957
Warner Archive Collection
1953
1946
1950
1948
4K Restoration
1946
1944
1957
1945
1945
Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1949
1950
1950
1948
I Married a Dead Man
1950
1942
1946
1947
1952
1949