THE WALKING DEAD (1936)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating; Unrated
Duration: 66 Minutes 6 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn
In the Michael Curtiz (Doctor X) directed gangster-thriller The Walking Dead (1936) Boris Karloff (The Invisible Ray) stars as musician John Elman, who has just gotten out of jail after a stint for manslaughter, having accidentally killing a man after punching him too hard during an altercation. Having served his sentence he's finding it hard to find a job, until he meets the shady Trigger Smith (Joseph Sawyer, It Came from Outer Space) who hires him to keep tabs on Judge Roger Shaw (Joseph King, Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum), the same judge who sentenced Elman to prison year earlier, supposedly because he's a philanderer and he;s being investigated, but Elman is unaware that Trigger is a hitman for the local mafia who have it out for the judge, and he's being set-up as a patsy for the judge's murder. Sure enough the mob kill the judge and dump his body in Elman's car, and not surprisingly given his history with the judge, he's railroaded during a court trial and sentenced tot he electric chair for the murder he did not commit. The wrinkle is that a young couple, Nancy (Marguerite Churchill, Dracula's Daughter) and Jimmy (Warren Hull, Night Key), witness the gangsters dumping the body in the car and know that Elman is innocent, but are too scared to come forth after being threatened by the gangsters. They do make a 11th hour attempt to come forward with information to clear his name on the night of his execution, but it's too late to save Elman. Realizing their mistake after the fact officials allow Dr. Evan Beaumont (Edmund Gwenn, Them!) to take possession of the corpse and he uses an experimental mechanical heart to revive Elman, who is miraculously resurrected but seemingly has no memory of his life before the execution. The experience has changed him, leaving him partially crippled with a white streak through his hair, but stars to sense and understand that it was the local crime syndicate that set him up, those being Loder (Barton MacLane, Cry of the Werewolf), Blackstone (Paul Harvey, Waterfront at Midnight), and Merritt (Robert Strange, The Mad Monster). He sets about visiting them one at a time, confronting them about why they killed him, and strangely they each die, not by his hand directly but by their own actions, fueled by the guilt of their actions and fear, which leads to them shooting themselves, getting hit by a train, falling out a window and dying a horrific car accident.
It's a solid thriller, basically a gangster revenger with some chilling semi supernatural elements, stylishly directed by Curtiz with his usual visual flourishes, moody sets steeped in shadow, plenty of atmosphere, and the action is well-staged including a finale car chase and wreck, plus a couple of terrific looking sequences in a rainy cemetery.
Karloff gives a strong and rather haunted performance, at times I was getting a definite Frankenstein vibe from the performance, and of course his look with that white streak certainly brought to mind Elsa Lanchester from The Bride of Frankenstein from the year before. At just 66-minutes this one flies by with a brisk pace, it's well-crafted, and the action is quite enjoyable and there are some chilling moments as well. While I was watching it I was also getting vibes of Dead and Buried (1981) with Karloff's character as someone who should be dead, and seems to realize that towards the end.
Audio/Video: The Walking Dead (1936) arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Archive with a restoration sourced from a new 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, presented in the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The source looks immaculate, loving restored and cleaned-up, it's also quite filmic looking with a lush layer of natural film grain throughout. Grayscale and contrast look nicely dueled in, there's some inherent softness that creeps in occasionally and blacks are not quite inky black, but regardless, this is a phenomenal looking presentation. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. There's some light hiss and crackle present on the track but all things considered, a solid track, and the score by Bernhard Kaun (Frankenstein) sounds great.
Warner Archive's disc features a new Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Author Alan K Rode, which I appreciated as Warner Archive Blu-ray rarely feature new bonus content. We also get a wealth of archival materials by way of an Audio Commentary by Film Historian Greg Mank; the 37-min documentary Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You've Never Heard Of featuring input from Ben Burtt, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, Rudy Belhmer, George Stevens, Jr., and Alan K. Rode. This one is not new and has previously been issued on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD edition of Curtiz' Casablanca; plus we ger a pair of classic Friz Freleng produced cartoons, both from '36, by way of the 8-min The Cat Came Back and the 8-min Let It Be Me; plus the Original Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring what looks to be an theatrical poster artwork.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Greg Mank
- New Audio Commentary by Film Historian and author Alan K. Rode
- Documentary-Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You've Never Heard Of (37:20)
- Classic Cartoons The Cat Came Back (8:01) 1a+and Let It Be Me (7:54)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:13)
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