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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Passage to Marseille -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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The latest from the Warner Archive Collection is a great WWII drama, photographed in startlingly beautiful black & white by James Wong Howe.

The cast may seem familiar from another WB project, a couple of years previous.

Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet.  Victor Francen who left France during the war has a superb role.  He was the lead in Abel Gance's great anti-war film, J'Accuse, which can be found used on DVD.  Do not purchase the South Korean bootleg.

The credits on Passage read like a who's who of film in 1944.  Supporting the cast is director Michael Curtiz, Hall B. Wallis produced, with music composed by Max Steiner.

I'll not go into the story, but it's interesting, as the basis is a flashback within a flashback.

What I find astounding here, is the quality of the black & white imagery, especially uprezzed to 4k.  Think you've seen how highly resolved a mid-1940's b/w production can be?

Think again.  Perfectly rendered grain structure.  Rich blacks, with wonderful shadow detail.  A clean, stable image.  Perfect!

This one is worth picking up for any number of reasons.  Supporting continued film restoration is merely one of them.

One of the most perfect black & white Blu-rays to come down the pike.  For under $20, it's yours.

Image - 5

 

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 5

 

Pass / Fail - Pass

 

Highly Recommended

 

RAH

 

smithbrad

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While I've never heard of the film before, based on the cast and this glowing review I will surely pick it up in my next WB order. Thanks.
 

JoeDoakes

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Robert Harris said:
What I find astounding here, is the quality of the black & white imagery, especially uprezzed to 4k. Think you've seen how highly resolved a mid-1940's b/w production can be?


Think again. Perfectly rendered grain structure. Rich blacks, with wonderful shadow detail. A clean, stable image. Perfect!


This one is worth picking up for any number of reasons. Supporting continued film restoration is merely one of them.


One of the most perfect black & white Blu-rays to come down the pike.
In addition to the great cast, it sounds like a very important release for conveying what a quality, well budgeted b&w film might have looked like on opening night in the 1940s. Thanks for letting us know!
 

David_B_K

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I first saw this film a few years ago on TCM. The James Wong Howe photography was the main thing that jumped out at me. I will be picking this one up for sure.
 

Conrad_SSS

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I'm so thoroughly excited to have this on pre-order for next week. It is going to be a delightful dilemma next week as to which Warner release to watch first...this or "Deep in My Heart"...I expect to stay up late and savor both.

What is particularly encouraging for me with Mr. Harris' review is the continued high quality of Warner Arcive Blu-ray releases. In this era when we see so many older films turning up on the format with less-than-stellar quality, it is refreshing to see WB's continued commitment to the high quality that the format warrants. :)
 

Mike Boone

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Robert Harris said:
The latest from the Warner Archive Collection is a great WWII drama, photographed in startlingly beautiful black & white by James Wong Howe.


The cast may seem familiar from another WB project, a couple of years previous.


Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet. Victor Francen who left France during the war has a superb role. He was the lead in Abel Gance's great anti-war film, J'Accuse, which can be found used on DVD. Do not purchase the South Korean bootleg.


The credits on Passage read like a who's who of film in 1944. Supporting the cast is director Michael Curtiz, Hall B. Wallis produced, with music composed by Max Steiner.


I'll not go into the story, but it's interesting, as the basis is a flashback within a flashback.


What I find astounding here, is the quality of the black & white imagery, especially uprezzed to 4k. Think you've seen how highly resolved a mid-1940's b/w production can be?


Think again. Perfectly rendered grain structure. Rich blacks, with wonderful shadow detail. A clean, stable image. Perfect!


This one is worth picking up for any number of reasons. Supporting continued film restoration is merely one of them.


One of the most perfect black & white Blu-rays to come down the pike. For under $20, it's yours.


Image - 5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 5


Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH

Thank you for your review, and for highlighting Passage To Marseille, RAH. Remember really liking the film when seeing it many years ago. My next purchase.
 

Alan Tully

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Well slowly but surely we're getting a nice little library of 30's & 40's b/w films, mostly thanks to the Warner Archive, plus the Universal horrors & a few Sony films (but why don't Sony just release them themselves). The important thing is that these films look great. It's not enough just releasing these films on Blu-ray, they have to look really good, or what's the point.
 

davidmatychuk

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Billy Batson said:
Well slowly but surely we're getting a nice little library of 30's & 40's b/w films, mostly thanks to the Warner Archive, plus the Universal horrors & a few Sony films (but why don't Sony just release them themselves). The important thing is that these films look great. It's not enough just releasing these films on Blu-ray, they have to look really good, or what's the point.
Agreed. I already have the Bogart DVD box with "Passage To Marseilles", and I have the "Warner Bros. and the Homefront" DVD box with "Thank Your Lucky Stars". It's not like they're reissuing the entire contents of either of those boxes in a Blu-Ray box. In fact, generally the new Blu-Rays offer less of the extras that were on the DVD's. Having said that, the feature quality of the recent Warner Archive Blu-Rays I've bought, such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy", have been superior to the DVD's. As long as they're being released individually, I'll keep deciding whether or not I want them individually.
 

Matt Hough

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I've never owned a copy of Passage to Marseille in any format (don't know why that is, but it's true). I will eventually pick this up.
 

Alan Tully

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Me neither. I had the first Bogie box set, but the second box set wasn't released in the UK, & I didn't import it, & that one contained Passage, but I did see it many times on the telly growing up.

I read over at blu-ray.com that Amazon Germany (& France I think) have The Big Sleep & Key Largo Blu's listed for next February 4th, which could be all wrong, but it seems about right to me.
 

Douglas_H

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Wow! Didn't know this was coming.

I've only seen it once years ago.

My neighbors ran the Ridgemont Theater in Seattle and would regularly run festivals by a single actor or director.

I'd always loved movies but this was where my real appreciation of older films began.

They did John Wayne, Bogart, Woody Allen, Dana Andrews, Todd Browning, etc.
 

Randy Korstick

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Its interesting the Archive continues to release the highest quality Blu-Rays from the Warner catalog. Higher Quality than WHV. It makes me wish Warner would give more of their higher tier catalog titles to the archive.
 

atfree

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Billy Batson said:
Me neither. I had the first Bogie box set, but the second box set wasn't released in the UK, & I didn't import it, & that one contained Passage, but I did see it many times on the telly growing up.

I read over at blu-ray.com that Amazon Germany (& France I think) have The Big Sleep & Key Largo Blu's listed for next February 4th, which could be all wrong, but it seems about right to me.
Amazon/de also have Cat on a Hot Tin Roof showing with a February 4th release date:


http://www.amazon.de/Die-Katze-hei%C3%9Fen-Blechdach-Blu-ray/dp/B017JVM35M/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1446824104&sr=1-1&keywords=Die+Katze+auf+dem+hei%C3%9Fen+Blechdach+%5BBlu-ray%5D
 

Spencer Draper

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Overall it's an odd picture, and when viewed amongst the other WWII Bogie efforts from WB it falls somewhere in the middle. It lacks the energy of All Through the Night or the drive of Action in the North Atlantic. But with a cast and crew like that, who really cares?

When they get to Devil's Island...be ready to pick your jaw up off the floor. There may not be a finer shot of Peter Lorre than in the darkness lighting a match.
 

TheSteig

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I watched the movie and I wasnt into it, one of the few Bogie films that just didnt do it for me. Im not really into war films or war in general .. It had the same cast as in Casablanca and yet this film just didnt interest me go figure.


I hope The Big Sleep , Key Largo, All through the Night are coming at some point :)
 

davidmatychuk

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I watched everything on the DVD yesterday, and enjoyed it all. The movie itself is very similar to several other Warner Brothers World War 2 era action films that are very skillfully made and entertaining movies intended to boost anti-Nazi resolve. Does the Blu-Ray contain all of the extras on the DVD? That 10-minute "Jammin The Blues" musical short was fantastic.
 

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