The Kiss Before the Mirror
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Synopsis
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.
Picture 8/10
James Whale’s The Kiss Before the Mirror is presented on Blu-ray by Indicator in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on a single-layer disc. The 1080p/24hz high-definition presentation is sourced from a new 2K restoration performed by Universal. It is sourced from a scan of the 35mm composite fine-grain.
Universal looks to have given the film a quick clean-up, but nothing too in-depth; scratches and other marks (including mild flickering) still pop up at regular intervals. Happily, it's all still reasonably light. Despite their age, the materials look like they're in superb condition, and the picture remains stable throughout.
What ends up being most surprising is just how clean and sharp the digital presentation is. The base scan has picked all the fine details and textures, along with grain, and Indicator’s clean encode renders it all out gorgeously. Black levels are also incredibly rich, and grayscale is impeccable, leading to incredible shadows (I was amused to learn from the included commentary that Whale more than likely reused sets from Frankenstein for a few scenes in this film, and they also look to be lit similarly).
Minor flaws aside, this comes out looking extraordinary.
The Kiss Before the Mirror - Screen Captures
Audio 5/10
Presented in lossless PCM 1.0 mono, the soundtrack is decent but (like Broken Lullaby) still shows its age. Nothing severe ever pops up (no pops, cracks, drops, or anything else of that sort), but voices sound very flat, and there is a slight bit of distortion to the track on the whole. Dialogue is still easy to hear, at least.
Extras 8/10
Indicator, as expected, throws together a great little special edition for the film, starting things off with a fantastic new audio commentary from Nora Fiore. With her usual high energy, Fiore talks about the film’s production, story, and characters and even takes the time to break down actions, shots, and editing regarding what it means for those characters. She also brings up Whale’s remake of the film, Wives Under Suspicion. However, she doesn’t dig too deeply into that area, yet still provides in-depth profiles on the key performers (Carroll and Morgan) and even manages to throw some fun details around some of the other performers in the film. Sadly, some of the research she shares will almost assuredly destroy some childhoods when she brings up some (putting it nicely) unflattering details about the voice of Geppetto in Disney’s Pinocchio, Christian Rub. It’s even more fast-paced than usual for Fiore, almost certainly due to the film’s short running time, but her track is still well-researched and organized, moving naturally from one subject to another.
Expanding on the remake that Fiore mentions in her track, a new 11-minute essay, A Fractured Reflection, picks up where she leaves off. As it turns out, Whale only remade the film because Universal was looking to rerelease the original one in theaters, but the newly implemented “Production Code” would not allow it. What follows in this text essay (paired with photos and clips) is a wild ride through some of the crazy standards and rules of the Code as it draws comparisons between the two versions to show what had to be changed, from character arcs being reversed so that they come out “good” in the end to any suggestions of sex or even affairs (the driving force of the whole story!) being swept under the rug. Even possible “queer coding” is done with, as is anything against the sanctity of marriage. It’s disappointing that Indicator couldn’t include the remake on the disc as an extra (despite the footage used here looking rough) so that one could see the finished product. Still, based on the changes shown here, it’s a wonder Universal and Whale even bothered, as anything remotely interesting about the film looks to have been done away with. It's a fascinating addition to this release.
Indicator then includes an image gallery featuring a small collection (around 22) of photos, lobby cards, and posters. The disc also features a military propaganda film directed by Whale, Classification of Enlisted Men. The 12-minute program explains how the army collects data from their enlistments and then uses it to determine where to place them. It even gets down to the cards filled out and how appropriate codes are calculated to inform officers where to place them. It should be no surprise that the film is ultimately very mechanical in structure. However, I still found it a fascinating historical document and a relatively great inclusion to the release, even if it has very little to do with the feature outside of it being directed by Whale. It also looks to come from a recent restoration and looks quite good.
Indicator’s limited edition also includes one of their superb booklets, which starts with an excellent essay from Philip Kemp running down the film, addressing its absurdities but why they all ultimately don’t matter. Following that are a couple of rather impressive finds, including a reprint of an article from The Dudley Evening Dispatch chronicling director Whale’s return to his hometown of Dudley between the releases of The Kiss Before the Mirror and The Invisible Man, followed by a 1996 reprint of an interview by David Del Valle with director Curtis Harrington (Night Tide), who recalls his friendship with Whale. The booklet then concludes with a couple of excerpts from reviews of the film (the notes pointing out they could be hyperbolic) and a short message about Classification of Enlisted Men.
Not a packed edition by any means, but the features are all excellent and well worth going through, with the booklet wonderfully capping things off.
Closing
A small but impressive release of the film sporting a strong new presentation and excellent new special features.
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