6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
Film-Noir | 100% |
Drama | 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 Mono
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Joseph Losey was actually relatively sanguine about having been blacklisted just when his film directing career was set to shoot into the stratosphere. Late in his life he expressed no regret, averring that had he not been blacklisted he no doubt would have been a millionaire many times over, but one without a soul. Losey was a self made exile for the vast bulk of his directing career, choosing to emigrate to Europe rather than face the hostile intrusions of the House Un- American Activities Committee. Interestingly, his proto-neorealist film Stranger on the Prowl (released in Italy as Imbarco a mezzanotte) was not made during his long period in England, but instead during a relatively brief stint in Italy, where Losey had gone to escape an impending HUAC subpoena. Losey actually returned to the United States after this film was released, only to find out his career in his native land was completely dead. Stranger on the Prowl traffics in a lot of the same cinematic vocabulary of better known neorealists like Roberto Rossellini or Vittorio De Sica, and Luchino Visconti. Like the best known works in this genre, Stranger on the Prowl depicts the travails of a poor vagrant stumbling through the ruins of post-World War II Italy, a landscape that in its destitute, bombed out state seems to echo a similar “geography” of the focal character’s psyche. Stranger on the Prowl also utilizes a trope that informed one of the best known neorealist films, De Sica’s The Bicycle Thieves, by pairing an older man with a younger child. However, despite a surface similarity to many iconic neorealist outings, Stranger on the Prowl never quite works up the emotional heft of some of its genre siblings. The film is notable for having provided the inestimable Paul Muni with a very rare appearance during this era, and it’s certainly never less than entertaining, but Stranger on the Prowl utilizes a few too many plot devices for its own good and ultimately seems a bit too contrived to warrant the “realism” label in neorealism.
Stranger on the Prowl is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. This is one of the more problematic catalog titles we've seen from Olive, one which is hampered by elements in pretty badly damaged shape some of the time. Along with quite a few (at times rather large) scratches, flecks, dirt and the like, the elements used for this transfer also suffer from frame misalignment and even a missing frame or two. There are inconsistencies in both contrast and sharpness as well. When the film looks good—which it does at least some of the time— it looks quite good, with nicely deep blacks and decently modulated gray scale, as well as some well above average fine detail, as can be seen in many of the screenshots accompanying this review. When it looks a bit shoddier—which, unfortunately, is quite a bit of the time—things are decidedly less pleasing. All of this said, there's nothing horrible about this release, and a film of such niche allure probably will never warrant the full scale restoration that would be needed to bring it back to its original glory.
The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track for Stranger on the Prowl is sadly in even worse shape than the video. Not only is there some overbearing hiss evident virtually throughout the film, there are speed fluctuations that repeatedly hamper both the dialogue and (especially) the music (those of you who are old enough to remember LPs might compare the sound of some of the cues here to listening to a warped record album). There are even a couple of brief moments of missing audio. All of this said, the bulk of the film is at least listenable, if never much more than that. Dialogue is generally well delivered, to the point that no serious lapses in continuity occur.
No supplements of any kind are offered on this Blu-ray disc.
Stranger on the Prowl is an interesting, at times quite moving, film, but it simply doesn't rise to the top levels of Italian neorealism. Part of this can be attributed to a too pat screenplay, one which relies on a few too many conventions to ever feel ostensibly "real", neo or otherwise. That said, the performances are exceptional, and this provides a rare late career field day for Muni, an actor who managed to triumph repeatedly during the studio system (he was one of a very few actors who could pretty much name his own tune during that era), only to see his later career improbably implode. Losey's direction is firm and assured, and the Italian locations are amazing—not necessarily in a "good" way, given the post-War setting. Unfortunately, though, this high definition presentation has significant deficits in both video and (especially) audio that keep me from being able to recommend it with any confidence. Those with an interest in either the genre or the cast who are willing to set their expectations accordingly may find this a worthwhile purchase, however.
1948
4K Restoration
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Warner Archive Collection
1949
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4K Restoration
1947
Warner Archive Collection
1948
1932
1947
4K Restoration
1948
Special Edition
1953
1949
1949
1955
1945
1949
I Married a Dead Man
1950
Warner Archive Collection
1951
Warner Archive Collection
1952
1945