The Man in Half Moon Street Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Man in Half Moon Street Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 31, 2023

Ralph Murphy's "The Man in Half Moon Street" (1945) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The only bonus feature on the release is an exclusive new audio commentary by author and critic Tim Lucas. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Is it still science? We've gone too far.

Dr. Julian Karell (Nils Astner) has been around for a very, very long time, but he has not aged. He has managed to maintain a youthful appearance exactly like the one he had several decades ago when he began working on a formula for a special concoction that would keep him alive forever. It was hard, at times maddening work, but it was all worth it. Now, Dr. Karell has it all -- all test results carefully documented, all the correct data extracted from the test results and arranged in proper order.

But for the concoction to work as intended, Dr. Karell needs to constantly recharge his adrenal glands, which is why over the decades he has secretly hunted for ‘donors’ willing to supply what he needs. This was the only drawback of his sensational invention -- he had to kill, over and over again. His partner, Dr. Kurt van Bruecken (Reinhold Schunzel), could not do it, so even though he kept working with him, he never took the concoction and lost his youth.

Guaranteed immortality. Can life get any better now? Absolutely. Dr. Karell has met and fallen in love with Eve Brandon (Helen Walker), a young, intelligent, and very classy young lady who has discovered in him the perfect man she always wanted to complete her life. Did fate have a plan for them? They have talked about it, multiple times too, and it sure looked that way to them.

But Dr. Karell’s seemingly idyllic reality unexpectedly begins to crumble when his latest ‘donor’, a suicidal medical student, defies his expectations of him, and then a veteran art historian examines a brand new portrait of his future wife and declares that must have been done by a painter who passed away decades ago.

It is a bit strange that Ralph Murphy directed The Man in Half Moon Street at approximately the same time Albert Lewin did The Picture of Dorian Gray, but despite some undeniable thematic similarities these films are quite different. Indeed, even though it has a lot of dark material, The Man in Half Moon Street embraces humanity and wraps up its story with a positive message. The Picture of Dorian Gray does not do any of these things. It makes a point that some human beings have their souls corrupted by evil and cannot be helped.

The other very interesting element of Murphy’s film is its rationality. It is very contemporary and produces several terrific questions about science and its relationship with morality. For example, how far can a scientist go in the name of progress? What happens if a scientist’s definition of progress becomes synonymous with madness? And who gets to determine what science is? The rationality is not one-sided either. Once Dr. Karell’s dilemmas are formulated, the film shifts it around to highlight the vulnerabilities of the logic that his opponents use as well.

The balance between the suspense and drama, which quickly evolves into melodrama, is maintained very well. After Dr. Karell becomes a suspect, it begins to look like the film is heading down a familiar path, but the effective overlapping of the suspense and melodrama produces several good surprises. They are not twists and turns that redirect the film, but changes in the seemingly complete character arcs that make the film appear more authentic.

The leads and the supporting cast are very good and quickly create the impression that the production was quite a bit bigger. Unfortunately, the outdoor footage, which was done on Paramount’s lots, has the exact opposite effect. It is by no means terrible, but it is very easy to tell that it was done quickly and with limited resources.

Murphy’s director of photography was Henry Sharp, who lensed Allan Dwan’s The Iron Mask and Fritz Lang’s .Ministry of Fear The great Oscar-winning maestro Miklos Rozsa scored the film.

The Man in Half Moon Street Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Man in Half Moon Street arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

The overall quality of the presentation is very, very good. Apparently, The Man in Half Moon Street was remastered in 2K at Universal, and I think that it is very easy to tell that the work was done rather recently, too. Despite a few softer areas, delineation, clarity, and depth are always very pleasing. The grayscale is managed very nicely, too. Blacks are solid but do not appear boosted, while the different ranges of grays and whites have solid natural qualities. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is good. I noticed a couple of cue dots, but the rest looked very healthy. All in all, I think that The Man in Half Moon Street has a very attractive organic appearance that is quite close to being its optimal appearance. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Man in Half Moon Street 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.

All exchanges are clear and easy to follow. Miklos Rozsa's score produces some good contrasts as well. However, some extremely light background hiss can be noticed if the volume is turned up lightly higher than usual. It is never distracting, but it is there and probably could have been eliminated with modern digital tools.

The Man in Half Moon Street Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by author and critic Tim Lucas. The bulk of the observations in it addresses the production history of The Man in Half Moon Street, its stylistic identity, Barre Lyndon's play that inspired it, and the work of the people who made the film.

The Man in Half Moon Street Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

How far can a scientist go in the name of progress? What happens if a scientist's definition of progress becomes synonymous with madness? And who gets to determine what science is? The Man in Half Moon Street asks these questions while telling a very good story about a scientist who has discovered the secret of immortality but somewhere along the way lost his humanity. Imprint Films' release introduces a recent 2K restoration of the film with a brand new audio commentary by Tim Lucas. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.