7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
After an ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged playwright and marries her, he plots with his mistress to murder her.
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett (I), Mike ConnorsFilm-Noir | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Joan Crawford had what was probably inarguably one of the steelier personae of major film stars of her era, but it’s not all that unusual to find the legendary actress essaying roles that have at least a hint of vulnerability. Think about Crawford’s sympathetic turn as the wheelchair bound sister in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? or even the emotionally distraught mother in her Oscar winning title role in Mildred Pierce for just two examples (which is not suggest either role didn't also offer Crawford opportunities to show that steely side), but if you wanted to actually see (and hear) Crawford scream in abject terror at some unseen menace, look (and listen) no further than the strangely underappreciated Sudden Fear. Why exactly this film has fallen into a kind of (perhaps appropriately noir-ish) miasma is a bit of a head scratcher, for upon its release in 1952 it was generally acclaimed, did great business at the box office, and ended up with four Academy Award nominations, including Crawford for Best Actress (competing against her once and future arch nemesis Bette Davis, though neither won), Jack Palance for Best Supporting Actor, and two other nominations for Charles Lang’s lustrous black and white cinematography and Sheila O’Brien’s costume design (a perhaps somewhat questionable nomination, given the film’s buttoned down propensities, though pay attention during the credits for one of the most absurdly long list of “managers” for various elements of Crawford’s costumes ever seen in a film of this type). Perhaps Sudden Fear hasn’t fully resonated with some noir fans because it eschews the blonde bombshell trope (at least with regard to its leading lady), and furthermore doesn’t posit a wily female leading a hapless male schlub to his demise. Instead, the film is an increasingly tense cat and mouse game between a sociopathic actor named Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) and the woman who becomes his wife, successful playwright and heiress Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford), though Blaine’s amorous attentions toward Hudson are not exactly honorable or particularly romantic.
Sudden Fear is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Cohen is touting a new 2K restoration without specifying what elements were utilized, but this has the British censor board card, for what that's worth (I haven't been able to track down authoritative information on whether the BFI had elements or not). This is a huge upgrade over the old Kino Lorber DVD, with a much more detailed image and better accounting of Charles Lang's Oscar nominated black and white cinematography, as well as a lack of age related issues like tears, scratches and speckling. Blacks are very deep and convincing and gray scale is nicely modulated. There are a surprising number of opticals scattered throughout the film, including the kind of quasi-hallucinatory sequence (see screenshot 18), and detail levels understandably fall along with an uptick in grain. Occasional stock footage (see screenshot 19) is also a bit more ragged looking than the bulk of the presentation. Grain resolves nicely throughout, but is often on the gritty side. My only (minor) complaint is that I wish contrast could have been just a bit more forceful. At times things look a trifle wan in terms of delineations between lighter gradients and grays and blacks.
Sudden Fear features a robust sounding LPCM 2.0 mono track, one which offers great support from the sometimes blistering cues of Elmer Bernstein (sometimes hinting at but not quite getting to the jazz inflected work that would be one of his hallmarks a bit later in the decade). Occasional ambient environmental sounds resonate realistically, and the film's dialogue is rendered very cleanly and clearly. There are no problems with distortion or dropouts.
I'm not quite sure Sudden Fear rises to the level of "masterpiece" that commentator Jeremy Arnold and some guy named Truffaut quoted on the cover of this release both agree it is, but this is certainly an often taut and exciting film, one which offers both Crawford and Palance great roles. The increasing aggregation of coincidences that propel the plot forward become a bit hard to swallow (including the apparel choices that lead to the film's supposedly shattering climax), but that perhaps niggling qualm aside, the film develops a nice mood of increasing angst and features some really beautiful black and white cinematography. Technical merits are strong, the commentary is very enjoyable, and Sudden Fear comes Recommended.
1955
1955
1945
Warner Archive Collection
1947
1946
1956
1952
Warner Archive Collection
1948
1955
1948
1944
4K Restoration
1946
1949
1957
I Married a Dead Man
1950
1990
1949
The Boulting Brothers Production of Brighton Rock / Young Scarface
1947
1942
Special Edition
1953