Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Boss Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 16, 2022

Byron Haskin's "The Boss" (1956) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by author and film historian Alan K. Rode as well as vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

It ain't enough to be greeted as a hero. What do I have now?

In the beginning it is quite easy to like John Payne’s character, Matt Brady, because all of his frustrations are legit. He is a WWI veteran who has just returned home and is getting ready to propose to the girl (Doe Avedon) he loves and plans to spend the rest of his life with. But it has suddenly dawned on him that he may not have what it takes to be successful as a civilian. During the welcome back parade, his brother, Tim (Roy Roberts), who is one of the city’s most influential aldermen, and everyone else that was out on the streets greeted him as a hero, but now he is just another penniless veteran who has to learn to survive in a strange new world. He is terrified, already a little angry, too. To suppress the feelings raging inside him Brady gets drunk in a bar, but has his face bloodied and ends up marrying a completely random girl (Gloria McGehee) after she agrees to take a walk with him and listen to his incoherent ramblings. When on the following morning Brady’s brother visits his hotel room and learns about the spontaneous wedding, he has a massive heart attack and drops dead.

But the tragic event gives Brady his greatest break and immediately after his brother is buried, he takes his spot on the city’s governing board. Soon after, while abusing his powers and using of dirty money, Brady becomes the most prominent politician in the city. To solidify his status, Brady then strikes a pact with the most powerful underworld figure, Johnny Mazia (Robin Morse), who assures him that so long as he gets to pick the Chief of Police and continues to grow his business, his grip on the city would remain unchallenged.

The blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo completed the screenplays for The Boss under the alias Ben Perry. When Byron Haskin went to work with it in 1956, apparently the original intent was to recreate the true story of Tommy Pendergast, the powerful Chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party, who took over Kansas City in the early 1920s and later on launched the political career of future President Harry S. Truman. But even though The Boss properly depicts various historic events -- such as Pendergast’s partnership with top criminal figures, troubles with the Federal Government, indictment on tax evasion charges and imprisonment -- it is awfully difficult to describe as a historically accurate film. There are a couple of reasons why. First, The Boss does not even have the courage to identify the city that Payne corrupts and conquers, so virtually all of the key relationships he establishes on the way up look quite random. In other words, the rot that begins to spread during Payne’s reign is practically impossible to compare to the one that Pendergast's machine carefully manufactured. (The scope of Pendergast’s machinations in Kansas City was quite incredible, which is why later on his relationship to President Truman became a very big deal). Second, The Boss brushes politics aside and instead spends all of its energy on Payne’s struggle to come to terms with the fact that the girl he wanted to create a family with ended up in the hands of his best friend. As a result, even the crime material in it, which ought to be closely linked to the politics of Payne’s reign, feels oddly overshadowed.

Payne gives a good but quite uneven performance. For example, his clashes with Roberts and macho blabbering are so over the top that it becomes practically impossible to take his drunk troublemaker seriously. Later on, after he conquers the city, he looks much better, though the exchanges with Morse are off as well. McGehee is outstanding as the unwanted wife who has to find a way to coexist with her powerful husband if she wants to stay away from the gutter.

The best material in The Boss is the one where Payne describes what it takes to be successful and how he would have prospered more in a city like Chicago. It is cynical talk, but it is the classic blueprint that countless of other corrupt individuals like him have used over the years.

Haskin shot The Boss with cinematographer Hal Moor, who shortly after went to work with Don Siegel on The Lineup and The Gun Runners.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Boss arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The film has been remastered in 2K and looks quite good in high-definition. However, you should not expect it to have the consistent healthy appearance proper 2K restorations deliver. What does this mean exactly? It means that different parts of the film reveal minor but noticeable surface wear, plus some of the same areas can have less than optimal density levels because of inherited source limitations. There are even a few shaky transitions. But the overall appearance of the visuals is still very good, so the type of organic qualities that we expect to see are definitely there to be seen and appreciated. For example, many close-ups boast good to very good delineation, clarity, and depth. Shadow nuances are usually pretty good, too. Some small ranges of grays and whites can be somewhat uneven, but the grayscale is convincing as well. So, while there is definitely room for various cosmetic improvements, the new 2K master that was struck for this release offers a fine organic presentation of The Boss. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

Clarity, sharpness, and stability are very good. Dynamic intensity is quite good too, but the only notable contrasts emerge during the big shootout at the end and in a couple of areas where the music has a prominent role to play. Most unfortunately, the audio track has a pretty big flaw. I do not know whether it is inherited or a byproduct of some encoding anomaly, but it is the type of flaw that makes viewing and enjoying the film almost impossible. What is this big flaw? It is a heavy thumping sound that reappears in various areas. I like to have the volume of my system turned up quite a bit so that I can clearly hear everything that is being said and found this thumping sound seriously distracting. It felt as if someone was constantly hitting my coffee table with a shoe. The thumping sound does not affect clarity and sharpness. It does not produce any distortions in the upper register either. Perhaps some viewers will be able to tolerate it, but I found it extremely annoying. There are digital tools that could be used to remove such flaws, so this master should not have been approved for Blu-ray before the thumping was effectively removed.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for The Boss. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by author and film historian Alan K. Rode.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even though The Boss isn't the film I think it was supposed to be, I like it quite a lot. I think that its biggest flaw is the lack of courage to go deep in the rabbit hole that Tom Pendergast's machine created, but for a number of very obvious reasons this was probably an unavoidable scenario. Kino Lorber's release of The Boss is sourced from a good exclusive new 2K master, but there is an audio issue on it that I found quite annoying. It is included in Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VII, a three-disc box set.