Review: Where the Sidewalk Ends BD + Screen Caps

Where the Sidewalk Ends isn’t the most well known film noir from the era or even from Otto Preminger’s resume, but it’s a compelling drama with solid performances from Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney.

 

 

Where the Sidewalk Ends
(1950)

REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall

Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Film Noir
Twilight Time | NR – 95 min. – $29.95 | February 16, 2016

Date Published: 02/20/2016 | Author: The Movieman

MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Otto Preminger Writer(s): William L. Stuart (novel); Victor Trivas, Frank P. Rosenberg, Robert E. Kent (adaption), Ben Hecht (screenplay) Cast: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed, Tom Tully, Karl Malden, Ruth Donnelly, Craig Stevens DISC INFO: Features: Commentary, Theatrical Trailer Digital Copy: No Formats Included: Blu-ray Number of Discs: 1 Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 1.0) Video: 1080p/Full Frame 1.33 Subtitles: English SDH Disc Size: 23.7 GB Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A, B, C

PLOT SYNOPSIS

The superlative director Otto Preminger reunites Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney—stars of Laura (1944)—in Where the Sidewalk Ends, a film noir about a brutal cop (DANA ANDREWS) who accidentally kills a man, then gets in even more deeply when he tries to cover up his crime.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.0/5

This release comes with the usual 8-page Essay Booklet. Audio Commentary – Film Historian Eddie Muller provides a scholarly track giving bits of trivia about the movie, its stars and, of course, director Preminger. Original Theatrical Trailer (1:47; HD)

 

VIDEO – 4.5/5

Where the Sidewalk Ends arrives on Blu-ray shown in its original 1.33 full frame aspect ratio and given a more than respectable 1080p high-definition transfer (MPEG-4 AVC codec). The black & white film looks fantastic with stark dark levels throughout and I didn’t notice any major instances of dust marks, scratches, aliasing or artifacting making for a pristine looking picture; I doubt it’s ever looked better.

 

AUDIO – 4.0/5

The movie comes with a well done DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which offers clear dialogue levels while other elements, such as the score or ambient noises, come through the center channel fairly well. For what it is, and the age of the film, it’s a rather impressive job done.

 

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Overall, Where the Sidewalk Ends isn’t the most well known film noir from the era or even from Otto Preminger’s resume, but it’s a compelling drama with solid performances from Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney. The Blu-ray released from Twilight Time offers good video/audio transfers and while more features would’ve been welcomed, the commentary at least is worth a listen.

 

 

 

 

Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.