7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A beautiful secretary risks her life to try to find the elusive woman who may prove her boss didn't murder his selfish wife.
Starring: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis (I), Aurora Miranda, Thomas GomezFilm-Noir | 100% |
Drama | 21% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
One of the kind of interesting if tangential data points that was covered in Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers was how the venerable Universal Studios was “manned” quite liberally by women in director’s chairs and other executive positions like producing in the early years of the 20th century. Things had changed rather dramatically by the 1940s, which is why it’s perhaps notable that Joan Harrison received the sole producing credit (pointedly as Associate Producer, though she's the only one listed) for Universal's Phantom Lady. Harrison had made her reputation as an assistant to Alfred Hitchcock (she later co-produced Hitch’s long running anthology series), and she also had a number of (co-) screenwriting credits to her name, including a number of well remembered Hitchcock films including Rebecca, Foreign Correspondent, Saboteur and Suspicion. It’s obvious that Harrison and probably the rest of the creative team behind Phantom Lady wanted to bring a Hitchcockian atmosphere to this particular outing, but despite some florid flourishes along the way, Phantom Lady doesn’t really provide a lot of suspense and it features none of the almost patented stylistic proclivities that often defined Hitchcock’s best work.
Phantom Lady is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Arrow's insert booklet doesn't offer a ton of information on the provenance of whatever element was utilized for the transfer, stating only that:
Phantom Lady is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 [sic] with 1.0 mono audio [sic]. The master was prepared in High Definition by Universal Pictures and delivered to Arrow Films.The back cover of the release provides at least a little more info by stating that the transfer is from "original film elements", though as I've discussed in other reviews, what that means can be highly variable, including everything from a negative to a print. Generally good fine detail levels, and a well resolved grain structure, lead me to believe we're probably further back in the production chain than a duplicate print, but as can be plainly seen in several of the screenshots included with this review, whatever element was utilized has some fairly recurrent damage, suggesting that no major restoration efforts have been undertaken. There are a number of small nicks, specks and pieces of dirt (along with the occasional hair in the gate) that show up, but late in the film there are some pretty major scratches that run virtually the entire length of the frame and stick around for quite a while (see screenshots 18 and 19 for examples of this damage, but I also highly recommend carefully parsing the other screenshots, as other age related wear and tear is clearly visible). All of this said, Phantom Lady looks rather good generally speaking, with deep blacks and nicely modulated gray scale, all of which contributes to a nicely evocative rendering of Woody Bredell's chiaroscuro infused cinematography. Potentially problematic elements like the tweedy patterns on suit jackets resolve with no issues whatsoever.
Phantom Lady features a decent sounding LPCM 2.0 mono track which reveals a hint of brashness in some of the orchestral cues (for some reason the standard "I'll Remember April" is utilized for underscore). The big production number where Estela spies the duplicate hat sounds robust if just a little boxy. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly and there are no major issues with dropouts or similar damage.
How can you totally discount a film that contains a special credit for a "mystery hat designer"? That said, Phantom Lady kind of weirdly undercuts its own potential suspense by positing a kind of passive "hero", and by not playing its cards closer to its veritable vest. When even the police are saying the hero is innocent, it makes any urgency to find the "real" killer seem, well, less urgent. Still, this is an interesting if lesser noir that has some interesting stylistic touches, and Raines is a lot of fun as the "chief investigator". Video has some intermittent age related problems, but is never less than watchable, for those considering a purchase.
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1950
Arrow Academy
1946
Warner Archive Collection
1951
Warner Archive Collection
1947
Hot Spot
1941
Includes They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! and The Organization on standard BD
1967
1946
1944
Fox Studio Classics
1944
Warner Archive Collection
1953
1945
Limited Edition to 3000
1954
Limited Edition to 3000
1950
1947
Warner Archive Collection
1946
1942
1947
1951
1946
1946