7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The police painstakingly track down a brilliant, elusive thief and cop killer who seems to have the ability to vanish into thin air.
Starring: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell, James CardwellFilm-Noir | 100% |
Crime | 9% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Alfred L. Werker's "He Walked by Night" (1948) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by critic Imogen Sara Smith and archival audio commentary by critics Alan K. Rode and Julie Kirgo. In English, with optional Enlgish SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, He Walked by Night arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
In America, He Walked by Night made its high-definition debut with this release from ClassicFlix in 2017. Kino Lorber's release introduces a recent 4K restoration of the film that was struck from a fine grain. I have the previous release in my library and was able to perform plenty of comparisons.
The entire film has a much more convincing and attractive organic appearance now. Despite some small density fluctuations, all visuals convey better delineation, sharpness, and depth. In areas where the density fluctuations are more pronounced, the discrepancies in quality are not as obvious, but elsewhere the superiority of the new 4K makeover is very easy to appreciate. Only clarity appears identical, but the new 4K makeover produces various sharper visuals. The grayscale is very good. Darker material looks particularly good because crushing is avoided. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections, such as degraining and sharpening. Image stability is very good. The entire film looks very clean, too. (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).
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.
I was hoping for a major upgrade in the audio department. Unfortunately, the overall quality of the lossless track is very similar to that on the ClassicFlix release of He Walked by Night. In several areas, the audio becomes extremely thin and times it is difficult to tell precisely what is being said. The upper register reveals small distortions as well. Turning the volume up helps a bit, but it is obvious that time has irreversibly affected portions of the soundtrack. No, all of this is not terribly distracting, but you will easily conclude that the audio is not as good as it once was.
He Walked by Night, The Sniper, The Lineup, and City of Fear are not just terrific film noirs but wonderful time capsules as well. These films, and the many others like them, frequently reveal cities in America that no longer exist, and I love spending time with them. He Walked by Night was the first to enter the massive sewage system of Los Angeles, which as it quickly becomes obvious was a genuine Dark City with seemingly endless very spooky areas. Kino Lorber's release introduces a wonderful exclusive new 4K restoration of Walked by Night, so even if you already have the film in your collection, consider an upgrade. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1942
Warner Archive Collection
1951
Special Edition
1947
Warner Archive Collection
1946
1941
Down 3 Dark Streets
1954
1957
1957
Reissue | Special Edition
1948
Warner Archive Collection
1944
1996
1946
Hot Spot
1941
Fox Studio Classics
1944
1996
1947
1950
Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1949
Warner Archive Collection
1953
Warner Archive Collection
1948