SARATOGA (1937)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Jack Conway
Cast: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore
The romantic comedy Saratoga (1937) is notable for not just the terrific cast, which re-teamed Jean Harlow (Dinner at Eight) for the sixth time with Clark Gable (Gone with the Wind), but for being the last film she starred in, as she dies shortly before it's completion, and it had to be completed without her, as she succumbed to kidney disease at the age of 26, with actress Mary Dees (Gold Diggers of 1935) standing in for the star in a few scenes. In it Gable plays bookie Duke Bradley who is deeded the horse breeding farm previously owned by horse breeder Frank Clayton (Jonathan Hale, The Cat Creeps), who has just died. Frank’s nightclub singer daughter Carol (Jean Harlow), who has long ago tired of the horse racing life has been in Europe where she has been engaged to millionaire Hartley Madison (Walter Pidgeon, Forbidden Planet). Carol returns to America before her wedding date to tidy up some loose ends following her father's death, looking to buy back the farm. After meeting Carol Duke finds himself intrigued by her, much to the chagrin of Duke's former lover Fritzi (Una Merkel, The Maltese Falcon). Carol and Duke trade barns in typical roman tic comedy fashion before the sparks predictably begin to fly. This has never been one of my favorite Gable/Harlow pictures but it is a pretty snappy rom-com with not just Gable/Harlow sharing some easy-to-see chemistry, but a terrific supporting cast with loads of subplots involving two competing horse jockeys (Henry Stone, Frankie Darro), George Zucco (House of Frankenstein) as a funny doc, Frank Morgan (The Wizard of Oz) as Fritzi's husband, and of course Lionel Barrymore (Mark of the Vampire) as Carol's grandfather.
Audio/Video: Saratoga (1937) arrives on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive in 1080p HD framed in the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. This is another knockout restoration and HD presentation from WAC with well-managed grain levels, wonderful grayscale and deep blacks, without a hint of blemish, it's a superlative bit of work they did here. The film is quite attractively nicely lensed and this new HD transfer does it proper service. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. For an 86 year old film this sounds quite wonderful. for the most part dialogue is crisp and direct, and the score from Edward Ward (Great Expectations) sounds wonderful. It's not perfection, the source shows some age-related anomalies from time to time but nothing that detracted from my enjoyment.
Extras include the 11-min MGM Short "The Romance of Celluloid", and the 2-min Original Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster, which is also excerpted for the disc artwork.
Special Features:
- MGM Short "The Romance of Celluloid" (10:45)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:36)
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