388 The Kiss Before the Mirror

[MichaelB]

THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR
(James Whale, 1933)
Release date: 20 March 2023
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK premiere)

Pre-order here.

Director James Whale (Frankenstein) directs Nancy Carroll (Broken Lullaby) and Frank Morgan (The Wizard of Oz) in this mysterious and atmospheric drama.

Whilst defending a man who stands accused of murdering his wife, attorney Paul Lukas comes to suspect that his own wife is being unfaithful. Following her through the streets of Vienna, he becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea of her infidelity.

Made in between Whale’s Universal horror classics The Old Dark House and The Invisible Man, The Kiss Before the Mirror is a ravishingly staged pre-Code classic.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with film historian Nora Fiore (2023)
• Mirror Images (2023): video essay comparing The Kiss Before the Mirror to James Whale’s 1938 remake, Wives Under Suspicion, which was produced in the era of the Motion Picture Production Code
• Classification of Enlisted Men (1943): War Department documentary short, directed by James Whale and focusing on four inductees into the US Army
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay on the film, archival interviews and articles, and full film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies

All extras subject to change

#PHILE385B
BBFC cert: PG
REGION B
EAN: 5060697923124

[MichaelB]

Final specs:

[rapta]

The Kiss Beaver the Mirror.

[Finch]

According to Gary, the Indicator not only has significantly more and better extras plus booklet, but better audio, too (and Indicator's larger subtitle fonts are easier on my eyes). I am grateful to Kino for the sheer volume (and often quality) of titles they release but for the self-proclaimed "best label in the world" they're often bested by the competition.

[tenia]

I'd be surprised that the tracks really aren't the same. I don't have the Kino US disc but have the Elephant French one. PQ wise, it looks like they're sharing the same source, I'll compare the soundtracks spectrums through Spek and see if Indicator uses anything different. Elephant however also included Wives Under Suspicion, though in a quite poor looking SD master.

[ChunkyLover]

Knowing DVDBeaver, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was “better” only because of codec. Also, considering FiM’s audio mastering history “louder” equals “better”.

[MichaelB]

I don't think we did anything to the sound of this one - I don't remember doing it myself, and there's no evidence in the form of a V2 soundtrack in my files.

Broken Lullaby, on the other hand, did undergo quite a bit of manual cleanup - not hiss reduction/removal (anyone attempting that on a 1932 film is frankly a vandal), but there were a lot of clicks, pops and thumps that I was only too happy to remove. I suspect the source was a rather dirty optical soundtrack - this stuff is the audio equivalent of dust spots, scratches and tramlines.

[tenia]

Considering how is the PQ on Broken Lullaby, I wouldn't be surprised the audio elements indeed weren't in good shape.

[Godot]

The Kiss Beaver the Mirror.

This made coffee come out my nose.

Bravo, even among the normally clever Beav wordplay on this forum.

[MichaelB]

Mondo Digital.