From Ernst Lubitsch, the iconic director of Trouble in Paradise, The Merry Widow, Angel, Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife and Ninotchka, comes the Pre-Code drama Broken Lullaby, the most emotionally powerful film in the master’s extraordinary oeuvre. French violinist Paul Renard (Phillips Holmes, An American Tragedy) has returned from World War I triumphant, but is haunted by the death of a German soldier at his hands. Determined to make amends, he travels to the dead man’s hometown and meets his former fiancée, Elsa (Nancy Carroll, The Kiss Before the Mirror), and grieving father (Lionel Barrymore, Duel in the Sun). Rather than reveal his true identity, Paul tells the two that he was a former friend of the deceased soldier. As Elsa and Paul draw closer and the family embraces him as one of their own, Paul’s conscience is torn between revealing his past guilt and embracing a future he never knew possible. While Lubitsch put his sophisticated touch on many of filmdom’s greatest comedies, he also showed his brilliant command of drama with the beautifully crafted, profoundly moving Broken Lullaby.
For thoughts on Broken Lullaby, please check out my colleague Mike Vaughn’s thoughts here.
Video Quality
Broken Lullaby makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p master from a 2K scan. For a film that is nearly 90 years old, this is a very fetching presentation. The gorgeous black-and-white photography shot by Victor Milner shines in high definition with natural grain intact. There is a pleasing amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and within the production design. The new transfer shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Black levels are very deep with no overwhelming occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. That is not to say the track is without its faults, though. The contrast is mostly well defined, but the track experiences a minor amount of flicker at times and a pretty steady stream of minor damage to the print throughout. There are also stray, faint vertical lines that make quick appearances without ruining the overall aesthetic of the film. Kino Classics has given this film a pretty solid presentation, but some additional cleanup on the damage would have done wonders for the film.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a solid enough DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this movie well considering its place in early sound recording. Dialogue and background noises are represented in pleasing harmony with all competing elements. This track does present with a minor amount of age related wear and tear including some faint hissing and crackles that likely date back to the source elements. The music from W. Franke Harling never overpowers the dialogue or other important information. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. The good folks at Kino Classics have done their best to prove the most stable track possible for this one.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Film Historian Joseph McBride, author of How Did Lubitsch Do It?, delivers a very informative commentary track in which he discusses how this film stands out in the Lubitsch filmography, how the personal history of the director influenced the narrative, the background of the performers in the film, attitudes that were held at the time of release and more that goes toward putting much of this film into context.
- Trailers: There are trailers provided for Supernatural, Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife, Since You Went Away, Duel In The Sun, Four Frightened People and The Eagle And The Hawk.
Final Thoughts
Broken Lullaby is an emotionally nimble and tragic tale that once again showcases the genius of Lubitsch. The way he weaves in his anti-war sentiments with the more personal dynamics between the characters results in something that thematically resonates to this very day. There are a couple of performances that veer a bit overwrought, but overall the film is well balanced and composed very well. Kino Lorber has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a great commentary track. If you are a Lubitsch fan, this will be a great addition to your collection. Recommended
Broken Lullaby is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
