No Man of Her Own Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

No Man of Her Own Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 25, 2022

Mitchell Leisen's "No Man of Her Own" (1950) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new program with critic Barry Forshaw; new audio commentary by film historian Drew Casper; vintage radio adaptation of the film; and original trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Your ticket. Leave.

Strangely, Barbara Stanwyck did not earn at least an Oscar nomination for her performance in Mitchell Leisen’s No Man of Her Own. She is sensational in this film. The quality of her performance in this film is on par with the one from Double Indemnity and unquestionably better than the one from Ball of Fire. Stanwyck plays a couple of different characters and together they set the tone of the drama and give the film its identity. She is surrounded by very good actors and a few certainly leave lasting impressions, but they do not have the same impact on the film.

In the prologue, Stanwyck quickly describes what is clearly the end of a moving story. She is in a small town in Illinois, feeling overwhelmed and awaiting the police. The film now jumps back in time, to a lousy building somewhere in New York City, where Stanwyck’s character, Helen Ferguson, is seen begging a man to give her a second chance. The man’s name is Steven Morley (Lyle Bettger) and he is a lowlife who has been lying to her that he would be her husband and father of the child she is carrying in her womb. Despite her desperate plea, the lowlife refuses to talk to her and instead hands her a train ticket. Shortly after, the heartbroken and penniless Helen boards a train bound for San Francisco.

On the train, Helen is approached by Patricia and Hugh Harkness, a newly married couple sensing that she has been hurt. While they consider grabbing a bite to eat in the dining car, the train derails. Helen barely survives, but her new friends are not so lucky.

At the hospital, where she gives birth to a beautiful baby boy, Helen is mistaken for Patricia and when she recovers Hugh’s wealthy parents welcome her with open arms. Even though she fully realizes that it is amoral, Helen permanently assumes Patricia’s identity so that her son would have a better life than her. Hugh’s brother, Bill (John Lund), then gradually falls in love with her, but she tries to keep a distance between them because of her secret and her heart insisting that she does not deserve him. Some months later, when Helen finally agrees to go out dancing with Bill at a local club, Steven reappears and demands a hefty sum of money not to reveal her secret.

In 1932, Wesley Ruggles directed another film with the same title starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, but the story that is told in it is different. The only obvious similarity between Leisen and Ruggles’ films is that both have young characters assuming new identities in desperate attempts to alter their lives.

Leisen’s film is based on a very good novel by Cornell Woolrich that tells a notably darker story with a different ending. Some of its intensity is preserved, but the truth is that the film Leisen delivered is awfully difficult to profile as a conventional film noir. (Good examples of conventional film noirs based on original stories by Woolrich are Black Angel and Fall Guy).

At the center of Leisen’s film is a woman’s struggle to permanently distance herself from her miserable past and overcome a powerful sense of guilt. The only noirish material is introduced in the final third of the film, where her secret unleashes a short chain reaction of tragic events. But even here there is sufficient melodrama of the kind that had become very popular after the end of the war, and its impact on the character arcs remains uninterrupted. In other words, the very particular profiles and ambience that film noirs utilized at the time are missing.

Stanwyck moves through the film with incredible authority, and this is essentially what makes the crucial difference. It is not that the actors around her are not as good, but she leads and legitimizes the drama in a very obvious way.

No Man of Her Own was lensed by award-winning cinematographer Daniel L. Fapp, whose credits include such grand classics as West Side Story and The Great Escape.

No Man of Her Own Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, No Man of Her Own arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by Paramount Pictures. This is a good organic master, but the surface of the various visuals reveals quite a few nicks and blemishes. They are very small, not large, and I personally do not find them distracting at all, but I am fully aware that some people would not like them. Delineation, clarity, and depth typically range from good to very good, but in some areas small density fluctuations could be easy to spot. The grayscale is good. However, in a few spots, the density fluctuations I mentioned impact its stability. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. But if the film is fully restored in 4K, grain exposure and its consistency will be superior. Image stability is good. However, some enhancements can be made. All in all, even though there is room for meaningful improvements, this release offers a fine organic presentation of No Man of Her Own. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

No Man of Her Own Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

All exchanges throughout the film are very clear and easy to follow. Balance is good too, though if there is any room for improvement, it is probably in a few areas where some very light unevenness is noticeable. The upper register is fine. Some cosmetic adjustments could be made, but they will not have an impact on the overall dynamic range of the audio.

No Man of Her Own Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for No Man of Her Own. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Barry Forshaw on "No Man of Her Own" - in this exclusive new program, critic Barry Forshaw discusses the stylistic identity of No Man of Her Own, the dilemmas of Barbara Stanwyck's character and their popularity in post-war American dramas, Cornell Woolrich's novel that inspired the film, and Mitchell Leisen's direction. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Radio Adaptation - a vintage radio adaptation of No Man of Her Own starring Barbara Stanwyck and Lyle Bettger. Presented by The Screen Directors Playhouse. In English, not subtitled. (60 min).

• Commentary - an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by film historian Drew Casper.

No Man of Her Own Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even though Mitchell Leisen's No Man of Her Own does have some noirish qualities, I do not think that it deserves to be profiled as conventional film noir. It is a powerful drama about a woman trying to escape her miserable past and secure a better future for her child. I think that Barbara Stanwyck gives an astonishing performance that is one of her all-time greatest. Via Vision Entertainment's Blu-ray release is sourced from an older and slightly rough but good organic master that was supplied by Paramount Pictures. It is included in Essential Film Noir - Collection 3, a four-disc box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.