There were nine productions that should be considered in this group, and slowly they’re being released on Blu-ray after the earlier DVD collection – mostly by Warner Archive, Shout! / Scream Factory and one via Criterion.
Here’s how they currently break down:
Cat People – 1942 – Criterion
I Walked with a Zombie – 1943 – Japanese – OOP
The Leopard Man – 1943 – Shout!/Scream Factory
The Seventh Victim – 1943 – MIA
The Ghost Ship – 1943 – Warner Archive (with Bedlam)
The Curse of the Cat People – 1944 – Shout!/Scream Factory
The Body Snatcher – 1945 – Shout!/Scream Factory
Isle of the Dead – 1945 – Warner Archive
Bedlam – 1946 – Warner Archive (with Ghost Ship)
The one that doesn’t quite fit the mold is The Ghost Ship, a lessor psychological drama that was involved in a copyright dispute and unseen for millennium.
Completists like myself are waiting patiently for Zombie and Seventh, which I presume will arrive in due course.
I watched Ghost Ship and Bedlam, by far the finer of the two. Both are magnificent on Blu-ray. One thing that I noted – these are both scanned from the original nitrate negatives and are pristine – is that both (and presumably others in the series) are cut and conformed in single strand format, with all printer functions (fades and dissolves) built-in as dupes.
But rather than go the normal route of cutting the dupes short, ie a couple of frames of handle for each function, they’re all cut long – for example, as in Giant, so that entire shots involved in the functions are third generation dupes.
This isn’t good or bad, although I personally prefer the alternative. It just is.
As noted above, the presentations are meticulous, with proper grain, shadow detail, full resolution and terrific black levels.
Both are directed by Mark Robson.
Image – 5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Highly Recommended
RAH
Robert has been known in the film industry for his unmatched skill and passion in film preservation. Growing up around photography, his first home theater experience began at age ten with 16mm. Years later he was running 35 and 70mm at home.
His restoration projects have breathed new life into classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, My Fair Lady, Spartacus, and The Godfather series. Beyond his restoration work, he has also shared his expertise through publications, contributing to the academic discourse on film restoration. The Academy Film Archive houses the Robert A. Harris Collection, a testament to his significant contributions to film preservation.
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