Not Guilty Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Not Guilty Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 21, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the World Noir Vol. 3 set from Radiance Films.

Radiance has been aggregating some interesting examples of "global noir" for a few years now, starting with late 2023's World Noir Vol. 1 (which I was not sent to review) and then World Noir Vol. 2 several months later in August of 2024. Now around a year after their "sophomore" offering, the label is releasing this rather interesting trio of films, one which includes Peter Lorre's only directorial credit, a somewhat Sirkian (or perhaps more appropriately Todd Haynes-ian) take on a supposedly secret "alternative lifestyle", and a final effort featuring a star turn by the inimitable Michel Simon. As with the previous set I've personally reviewed, this set also offers some very worthwhile supplemental material. It may be of interest to some that as of the writing of this review, there is already a World Noir Vol. 4 on tap from Radiance in just a few more months.

As is discussed in some of the supplements on this disc, director Henri Decoin got rather abruptly "dismissed" by those young upstarts of the Nouvelle Vague, and he never quite recovered. Not Guilty is certainly proof that he was a craftsman of the kind of generally high order that was simply expected out of mainstream filmmakers back in the day, probably most noticeably by the "workaday" artisans who churned out countless features for the Hollywood studios during the Golden Era. And in fact it wouldn't be that hard to think of some Cahiers du cinema know it all dismissing someone like, say, Hollywood journeymen Alfred E. Green or Joseph Pevney, both of whom had a complete mastery of craft if an undeniably old fashioned approach toward not being overtly showy, or at least not in overwhelming amounts.

If Decoin is the power behind the throne in this enterprise, that throne is most definitely inhabited by Michel Simon, in one of his most interesting performances. Here he is Michel Ancelin, a village doctor with a pretty bad drinking problem, one which gets him into trouble early on when he drives drunk and kills a bicyclist in the process. In just the first of several kind of amazingly cynical turns this tale takes, this seemingly horrifying event actually sparks something in Ancelin which gives him something of a superiority complex. What happens next won't be spoiled, other than that it may have inspired Dr. Cook's Garden, Ira Levin's little remembered Broadway play (given a cynical chapter of its own in William Goldman's memorable takedown of the Great White Way, The Season), later remade into a Movie of the Week with Bing Crosby.

Not Guilty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Not Guilty is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films. Radiance sent a check disc for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any information on the transfer included in an insert booklet, but some prefatory text before the main feature states this was "restored in 4K from the nitrate film negative and the nitrate sound negative" while giving additional information about the newly discovered alternate ending. This is a really lustrous looking presentation for the most part, and despite any assertions by the Nouvelle Vague that Decoin was somehow "stodgy", his work with cinematographer Jacques Lemare is really quite evocative throughout. Hinting at noir sensibilities recurrently with some near chiaroscuro lighting choices, the film makes the most of both cloistered interior locations, like the almost grotto garret where the good (?) doctor likes to knock back a few, to some almost spookly looking outdoor material featuring deciduous trees completely shorn of their leaves in the winter. Blacks are appealingly deep and gray scale well modulated. Grain resolves without any issues. Some slight instability can be spotted in the opening credits.

Not Guilty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Not Guilty features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio in the original French. Some of the scoring choices, like cascades of tremolo strings in the opening, can sound pretty brash and bright, but less strident orchestral choices and even lower strings are more burnished sounding. Occasional very slight background noise can be discerned in some of the quieter moments, as in an early drinking scene with Michel Simon. Dialogue can sound slightly boxy but is delivered without any real problems. Optional English subtitles are available.

Not Guilty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Perfect Crime: Henri Decoin and Not Guilty (HD; 25:25) is an interesting look at Decoin by Imogen Sara Smith.


• Behind the Scenes Radio Documentary (HD; 8:27) is a fascinating archival broadcast from 1947. This plays to scenes from the film and is subtitled in English. The recording does show some signs of age related wear and tear.


• Michel Simon (HD; 13:01) is culled from another radio broadcast, this one from 1961. This plays to stills and scenes from the film, and is subtitled in English.


• Alternate Ending (HD; 3:17) was only recently rediscovered and was an obvious attempt to circumvent both Gallic and American censors. This is also accessible under the Play Menu, where the feature is authored to seamlessly branch to it during the presentation.


• Poster Gallery (HD)

Not Guilty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Not Guilty is both an intriguing character study and a kind of nifty "whodunit", in that the audience knows perfectly well "whodunit". Technical merits are generally solid (video more than audio), and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.