The Big Knife is an over-the-top soap opera-like drama but incredibly fun if only for the weight of Jack Palance’s presence as well as Rod Steiger who has a few great scenes.
The Big Knife
(1955)
Genre(s): Film Noir, Drama
Arrow Video | NR – 111 min. – $39.95 | September 5, 2017
Date Published: 09/15/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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PLOT SYNOPSIS
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| Charles Castle (JACK PALANCE), one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, looks like he has it all. But his marriage is falling apart and his wife (IDA LUPINO) is threatening to leave him if he renews his contract. Studio boss Stanley Shriner Hoff (ROD STEIGER) isn’t taking the news too well, and he’ll do anything he can to get his man to sign on the dotted line… even if it means exposing dark secrets. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5 |
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This release comes housed in a clear HD Keep Case with reversible artwork and inside a 39-page booklet. Audio Commentary – Film critics Glenn Kenny and Nick Pinkerton bring us a decent enough track who work well off of one another giving tid-bits on the film, the background, acting and other critical elements. Bass on Titles (33:46; SD) is a 1977 documentary with Saul Bass, who was responsible for the opening titles on The Big Knife, discussing his most notable work. Television Promo (4:59; SD) is rare footage of a program featuring Jack Palance and others made to promote the film. Theatrical Trailer (2:28; HD) |
VIDEO – 4.75/5 |
| The black & white presentation of The Big Knife looks amazing. The movie is shown in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer culled from a 2K restoration from the original film elements and made for this release. I was rather impressed as detail is amazingly sharp throughout, the fine grain only adds to the theatrical realism and I didn’t notice any obvious signs of aliasing, artifacts or major film damage. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The PCM Mono track was taken from the same source as the video, the fine grain element, and as singular channels go, it sounds rather good. The vast bulk of the film, though, is dialogue driven which comes through with excellent clarity and there were no pops, hisses or other flaws in this lossless track. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, The Big Knife is an over-the-top soap opera-like drama but incredibly fun if only for the weight of Jack Palance’s presence as well as Rod Steiger who has a few great scenes. The Blu-ray released through Arrow Academy offers great video and audio transfers and a fine selection of bonus features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.