Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Breaking Point Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 13, 2017

Michael Curtiz's "The Breaking Point" (1950) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with actress Julie Garfield; new video essay created by filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos; new video interview with biographer and film historian Alan K. Rode; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Stephanie Zacharek's essay "All at Sea" and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

It's a good deal, you can trust me

The main point of Michael Curtiz’s thriller The Breaking Point is that you should never give up on life -- ever. You’ve got to fight, and then fight more, until you crawl out of the dark pit that you have been stuck in and begin to see the light.

The film follows closely Harry Morgan (the great John Garfield in one of his final roles) who has a terrible time providing for his family while operating a small boat in the San Diego area. Harry works hard but just isn’t making enough and there are too many damn bills that need to be paid. He is even behind with his installments for the boat and has already been warned that unless he clears his debt he is going to lose it.

When the aging playboy and avid gambler Hannagan (Ralph Dumke) and his flirty mistress Leona Charles (Patricia Neal) book the boat for a fishing trip and then a quick run to Mexico, Harry tells his wife Lucy (Phyllis Thaxter) that this will be the gig that will help them bounce back. He then uses all of his money to buy gas and asks his pal Wesley Parke (Juano Hernandez) to get the boat ready. Shortly after they arrive in Mexico, however, Hannagan refuses to pay Harry and instead unloads all of his cash in a local gambling saloon. The cheating loser then dumps his mistress and disappears without a trace, and literally leaves Harry and Wesley stuck in Mexico without enough money to even pay the port fees. While having a drink and trying to figure a way out of the terrible mess Harry is convinced by another shady character, F. R. Duncan (Wallace Ford), to meet Mr. Sing (Victor Sen Yung) who is ready to spend a good chunk of money to get eight Chinese travelers smuggled into the States. Fully aware of the huge risks involved Harry agrees to do the job, but again gets cheated when Mr. Sing and his group board his boat. In the ensuing brawl, the Chinese businessman is accidentally shot dead and the wannabe immigrants told that the deal is off. Eventually, Harry returns home and in a desperate move to preserve his marriage and save the boat decides to bet everything on a new, even riskier job. This time in order to get paid he must quickly transport a gang of robbers to a nearby island after they empty the vaults of a popular race track.

It is a shame that Garfield passed away so young because with a bit of luck he probably would have left a prolific legacy of films as impressive as Robert Mitchum’s. Indeed, even though their styles were quite different, like Mitchum Garfield had a striking presence in front of the camera that could single-handedly define the identity of an entire film.

Unsurprisingly, Garfield’s powerful performance is what makes The Breaking Point a special film. The story about the struggling captain is very straightforward and it does not take a genius to figure out that a man as desperate as he is will eventually snap and make a serious mistake that would either irreversibly damage his life or end it. And yet, Garfield takes over the character and brings to the story this casual and at the same time electrifying authenticity that instantly pulls you in and you basically begin to experience the downfall with him.

The film also looks very stylish without actually trying. There is some great on-location shooting, especially with the boat leaving and returning to the port, but cinematographer Ted McCord never seeks to create superfluous contrasts to further enhance the tense ambience.

*The Breaking Point is based on Ernest Hemingway's famous novel To Have and Have Not, but Ranald MacDougall's script actually introduces a very substantial amount of new material.

The Breaking Point Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Curtiz's The Breaking Point arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from a 35mm safety fine-grain positive made from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm original soundtrack positive.

Transfer facility: Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging, Burbank, CA.
Colorist: Russell Smith/Criterion Post, New York."

The transfer is completely free of age-related imperfections. If there ever were any areas of the film that were severely damaged it is impossible to tell now; only during reel transitions where there are momentary drops in density it is obvious that some aging has occurred. Depth and clarity are consistently very pleasing. The overall density levels could be just a tad better, but the current appearance of the film is still very convincing. The grading has produced nicely balanced blacks and whites, with a very good range of nuanced grays. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Lastly, there are no general stability issues to report in our review. (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 Breaking Point Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Bu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio has been meticulously cleaned up and almost certainly restabilized because there are no awkward dynamic fluctuations. The mid/high registers also are not plagued with the type of 'thinning' that is frequently present on older films. The music is nicely rounded as well, though it does not have a very prominent role. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report.

The Breaking Point Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - an exclusive restored trailer for The Breaking Point. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Alan K.Rode - in this new video interview, biographer and film historian Alan K. Rode (Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film) discusses Michael Curtiz's incredibly diverse body of work, his professional relationship with Warner Bros., the evolution of his style (with some great information about some popular but false myths), the production history of The Breaking Point, and John Garfield's career. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080p).

• Fluid Style - in this new video essay, filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos (Every Frame a Painting) discuss the visual style of The Breaking Point, as well as some of the similarities and differences between Ernest Hemingway's novel To Have and Have Not and Ranald MacDougall's script for the film. The essay was created exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080p).

• On John Garfield - in this brand new featurette, actress Julie Garfield, daughter of John Garfield, discusses her father's acting career, his political activism, and his contribution to The Breaking Point. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Ernest Hemingway's House - presented here is a report from an archival episode of NBC's Today show which was filmed at the Key West, Florida, home of Ernest Hemingway a year and a half after his death. The report was broadcast on December 19, 1962. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Stephanie Zacharek's essay "All at Sea" and technical credits.

The Breaking Point Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is impossible not to compare Michael Curtiz's The Breaking Point and Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not because they were both inspired by Ernest Hemingway's popular novel, and even though they are quite different films, I think that there is plenty in the former that actually works much better because of John Garfield's powerful performance. It is very unfortunate that he passed away so young, because had he been around longer, he undoubtedly would have left a truly remarkable legacy of films. Criterion's Blu-ray release of The Breaking Point is sourced from a very nice new 2K master and has a good selection of exclusive supplemental features. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.