HTF REVIEW: The Keys of the Kingdom - Studio Classics #39

Michael Osadciw · 07-01-2006, 01:22 PM

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
STUDIO CLASSICS COLLECTION #39

Studio: 20th Century Fox
Film Year: 1944
Length: 137 minutes
Genre: Drama

Aspect Ratio:

1.33:1

Colour/B&W: B&W

Audio:

English 2.0 mono

English 2.0 stereo

Spanish 2.0 mono

French 2.0 mono

Subtitles: Spanish
Canadian Film Rating:
U.S. Film Rating:
U.S. SRP: $11.98
CDN SRP: $16.98

Release Date: July 11, 2006.

Film Rating:

/

Starring: Gregory Peck (Father Francis Chisholm), Thomas Mitchell (Willie Tulloch), Vincent Price (Angus Mealey), Rosa Stradner (Reverend Mother Maria-Veronica), Roddy McDowall (young Francis Chisholm), Benson Fong (Joseph) Leonard Strong (Mr. Chia)

Novel by: A.J. Cronin
Screenplay by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz & Nunnally Johnson
Directed by: John M. Stahl

The Keys of the Kingdom is the second entry of this newest wave of Fox’s Studio Classics. It’s a much slower film than The Black Swan (one of the other three titles release on July 11) but does carry a credible cast. Familiar faces such as Gregory Peck and Vincent Price will certainly draw a crowd. I am not particularly fond of this title, but I am surprised to see Peck receive such a heavy lead role for his second film release. He pulls it off with ease and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Peck plays Father Francis Chisholm, a priest with somewhat unorthodox beliefs. Having lost his family to tragedy and later his childhood sweetheart to some unknown condition, Father Chisholm agrees to accept a challenge to rebuild an abandoned mission in the most remote place in China. When he arrives, he sees that the mission was truly abandoned; the land is scarred and the Church was left in a condition of rubble. All who took part had left and never held onto the Christian belief. Leading a life of service to the Church, Father Chisholm is dedicated to rebuilding and hopes people will come to the church and convert. But the people of China aren’t so welcoming to foreigners making it difficult for Father Chisholm to establish himself. He does what he can with the help of a local missionary boy named Joseph, a prominent Chinese figure, a friend from the past, and others, he can win over the people and save his parish.

I found the movie to be heavily scripted and too rehearsed. It’s a slow moving drama and it was difficult to stay attentive. The dialogue didn’t feel real; it was spoken as if it were read directly out of the pages of the book. At 137 minutes this epic seems twice as long. There wasn’t enough “in between” to make me care. As an aside, I also found it comical to see Gregory Peck’s tall height contrasted with the much shorter Chinese. For this reason, it does make Peck look like a foreigner and out of place in this world so different from Europe.

VIDEO QUALITY

/

After seeing the quality of The Black Swan, I admit I was a little disappointed with the presentation of this film. I know that not all films will be delivered equally. In today’s world, some studios do their best to restore films have been lost or neglected. It’s safe to say that throughout the decades studios haven’t been kind to their old titles leaving them to rot or disintegrate. Thus, not every film can be saved to look pristine again based on the remaining elements. Though, restoration work on bad elements can be impressive.

I’m not sure of what work was done on this film. It doesn’t look like it’s been cleaned up as much as other titles I’ve seen. There is still a fair amount of dirt, streaks (scratches?) throughout the film. I am assuming that using areas of good frames and fixing spots on bad frames was used to a minimal degree here. Virtually all shots in this film are still and there is little camera movement. Yet, spots exist constantly (they are small). There are some scratches that probably can’t be removed because they appear on screen for many seconds consecutively. The image is also shaky from opening to closing credits; I do think a lot of the shakiness has been stabilized.

Film grain is noticeable in the bright skies as well as on the white paper Father Chisholm wrote his notes in. It’s not too bad in other places. What I find seriously objectionable is the amount of edge enhancement applied somewhere in the process. Whether it was intentional or gained unintentionally during some transfer process, it’s there throughout the film. There is a bright white outlining in every scene in this film. It is most noticeable along both sides of Father Chisholm’s black priest’s robe that he wears through the majority of this film. Many other “hard” edges are affected by this too. Unfortunately it is not used moderately or for only a few scenes and I found it unacceptable. Compression artefacts aren’t objectionable.

Viewed at 5400K, the image has moderate contrast. Both white levels and black levels are weakly delivered at the extremes showing little steps between shades. Thus the darkest blacks appear crushed and the brightest whites look clipped. Again, since I have no other reference, I can’t say for sure if this has something to do with the available film or the film to tape to DVD transfer. I’m rating the video as O.K., but my gut feeling says more could have been done.

AUDIO QUALITY

/

There are two English soundtrack options: Dolby Digital mono (original) and Dolby Digital stereo (newly created). The stereo option is fake like most “remastering” attempts; and the audio is thinner, undefined, and splashed around the soundstage. This is not stereo to me.

Stick with the Dolby Digital 2.0 mono recording. It has better bass, better midrange, and a less aggressive treble. The dated recording is still thin sounding and all sounds, including dialogue, lack resolution of soundtracks many years later. It’s odd that soundtracks sound so different with films during these years. This film is two years younger than The Black Swan yet seems miles behind it in terms of audio quality. I guess like picture quality, the audio can suffer the same fate when preservation wasn’t important years ago.

Dialogue is clear and I’m impressed about how much the “environment” comes through in the recording. Interior and exterior dialogue segments sound different and carry the ambience of the room or outdoors.

I did like Alfred Newman’s score in this film; it was menacing, gripping, and even made my heart jump once or twice. It was perfect to match up with the strange and hostile environment of China. Thankfully, this time, it knows when to stop rather than playing continuously throughout the film. The sad thing is the limited quality of the recording; it’s limited in dimension and many instruments sound mashed together rather than distinct from one another.

SPECIAL FEATURES

/

The disc includes an audio commentary from actor/producer Chris Mankiewicz (appearing on left channel), son of this film’s writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Together with author and film scholar Kenneth Geist (appearing on right channel), they not only talk about the film but also about a wide range of stories of people involved with the film. I found the commentary a little more interesting than the film. I like history, and commentaries always fulfill the need to know.

The film’s theatrical trailer and trailers from other Peck films are found in the Gregory Peck Theatre feature. You will find trailers for The Bravados, David and Bathsheba, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, The Omen, Twelve O’Clock High, and Yellow Sky. These titles are all available on DVD from Fox Home Entertainment.

IN THE END…

I have mixed feelings on this film and DVD. I can’t say watching this slow picture was a pleasure, but I was delighted to view one of Gregory Peck’s earlier films. Now this Studio Classic can be owned on DVD.

Michael Osadciw
July 01, 2006.



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