The Lodger (1944) – Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1944
Director: John Brahm
Writers: Barré Lyndon, Marie Belloc Lowndes
Cast: Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Cedric Hardwicke, Sara Allgood, Aubrey Mather, Queenie Leonard, Doris Lloyd, David Clyde

Release Date: December 13th, 2016
Approximate Running Time: 83 Minutes 57 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"After a mysterious young man named Slade (Laird Cregar, I Wake Up Screaming) rents a London flat, a murder spree begins nearby and the landlady suspects her new lodger to be Jack the Ripper. Kitty (Merle Oberon, Wuthering Heights), a talented singer ignores warnings about the crimes from her new love interest, Inspector John Warwick (George Sanders, Hangover Square) who’s assigned to the case - or the man who may have committed them and soon she becomes Slade's object of obsession in this pulse-pounder that packs an unsettling punch." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

The Lodger comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.4 GB

Feature: 16.1 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Any print debris is minimal. Also, this transfer is sourced from the same restoration that was used for Fox’s DVD release. The image looks crisp, the contrast and black levels look very good, and there are no compression issues.

Audio: 3.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and included with this release are removable English subtitles. Though the dialog comes through clearly and everything sounds balanced, things are limited range-wise.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an animated montage of images, a restoration comparison (16 minutes 17 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), an archival featurette titled The Man In The Attic: The Making of The Lodger (15 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Lodger vintage radio show performed by Vincent Price and Cathy Lewis (29 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with film historian Gregory William Mank, and an audio commentary with film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini.

Other extras include trailers for The Undying Monster and The Black Sleep.

Summary:

Though John Brahm’s The Lodger is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s film of the same name, comparing the two films would be doing both films a great disservice since their only connection, besides sharing the same name, is that both films have a Jack the Ripper-like character.

When discussing a film like The Lodger, it is hard to look past the contributions of its lead actor, Laird Cregar (Hangover Square), in the role of Mr. Slade, a Jack the Ripper-like character who finds lodging one evening after his latest kill. He delivers a nuanced performance that makes his character more than a one-dimensional caricature. Other performances of note are Merle Oberon (The Dark Angel) in the role of Kitty Langley, an actress whom Mr. Slade becomes infatuated with, and George Sanders (Rebecca) in the role of a Scotland Yard inspector named John Warwick.

Although there have been numerous films about Jack the Ripper or have used his story as a starting point. The Lodger is an interesting take on a familiar story that does a great job of retaining the core elements of Jack the Ripper’s story.

From a production standpoint, there is not an area where The Lodger does not excel. A well-executed narrative builds tension and momentum that culminates in a very satisfying climax. Other strengths include solid costume and production designs and striking cinematography. Ultimately, The Lodger is a riveting film that, for its time, pushed the boundaries of what could be on screen or even suggested.

The Lodger gets a good release from Kino Lorber that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a trio of informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer