6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A police chief fired for brutality, tries to get evidence on a man suspected of killing 3 police detectives.
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Gene Barry, Marcia Henderson, Max ShowalterFilm-Noir | 100% |
Drama | 70% |
Crime | 21% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo verified
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Jerry Hopper's "Naked Alibi" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson; new program with critic Lucy Bolton; vintage promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Naked Alibi arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Naked Alibi made its high-definition debut via this release produced by Kino Lorber in 2019. This upcoming release is sourced from the same master, which comes from Universal Pictures. I like this master quite a lot, though on my system Naked Alibi looks a tiny bit harsher/more contrasty now. I don't know why that is because it is easy to tell that no additional work has been done on it, but there are a couple of sequences where trained eyes will easily spot the difference. Regardless, I think that the entire film still looks really good. Yes, ideally grain exposure should be a bit tighter and more even, but the current appearance of the visuals is fine with me. When the film is projected, the occasional spots where the unevenness is noticeable become extremely easy to ignore. The grading job is very convincing and the nighttime footage often looks great. Image stability is good. All in all, even though there is a bit of room for minor cosmetic adjustments that could give the film a more convincing organic look, I think that the current presentation of it is very good. (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).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The lossless track is outstanding. I think that it is pretty easy to conclude that at some point the original audio must have been either partially or fully remastered fairly recently because there are no traces of serious aging. As soon as the dramatic music kicks in around the 0:06.35 mark the strength of the track becomes indisputable. The dialog is very clear, clean, sharp, and nicely balanced as well.
In the United States, until a few years ago, Naked Alibi was impossible to purchase on DVD or Blu-ray. Some collectors speculated that there was a legit reason for its absence, but I don't think this was true. Naked Alibi was simply one of many big films that was ignored and did not get a legit home video release during the DVD era. I was very happy when Kino Lorber made it available on Blu-ray because Sterling Hayden is one of my favorite actors and I have never seen a film noir with him that wasn't solid. (For what it's worth, over the years, I managed to collect all of them, too). This upcoming release is sourced from the same master that Universal Pictures supplied to Kino Lorber and is included in Indicator/Powerhouse Films' upcoming six-disc box set Universal Noir #1. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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1946
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