‘By Candlelight’ Blu-Ray Review – A Charming Pre-Code Romantic Comedy From James Whale

Universal’s finest horror director James Whale (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Old Dark House) brilliantly shifted genres with the dazzling Pre-Code romantic comedy By Candlelight. Josef (Paul Lukas, The Kiss Before the Mirror) is the ultra-dutiful butler to a Casanova-like prince (Nils Asther, The Bitter Tea of General Yen). Falling in love with Marie (Elissa Landi, The Sign of the Cross), whom he assumes to be a countess, Josef masquerades—quite convincingly—as his rakish master. The catch: Marie is herself a poseur, a mere maidservant of nobility. Based on P.G. Wodehouse’s (Anything Goes) adaptation of a Siegfried Geyer play, By Candlelight is a delightfully sophisticated farce of class privilege and mistaken identity that ranks as one of Whale’s most extraordinary achievements.

For thoughts on By Candlelight, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:  

[youtube https://youtu.be/K3T1XmtSqXo?t=982]

Video Quality

By Candlelight makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p master from a 4K remaster from 35mm original film elements. For a film that is just shy of 90 years old, this presentation is simply stunning throughout. The shimmering black-and-white photography impresses in high definition with the lovely natural grain intact. The contrast is firmly defined without much of anything in the way of flicker or density fluctuation in the print. Black levels are deep with no obvious occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The new transfer shows off a fantastic amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. You are sure to be bowled over by the detail present with nice textures on the outfits and within the high-class production design. This transfer has eradicated most of the fine nicks and scratches you might expect for a very clear overall presentation. This is one of the finest from Kino Classics this year. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a fairly strong DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this movie as well as could be expected considering its place in early cinema. With this being a title of a certain age, it does show its limitations at times when it comes to fidelity. The track can sound a bit thin which is an issue that dates back to the source elements. Dialogue and background noises work in harmony with all competing elements. Music never overpowers any important information, but it can sound a bit weak at its peaks. This track only presents with a minor amount of age related wear and tear and some hissing and crackles. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. Kino Classics has done their best to provide a stable track for this one. 

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Film Historian Troy Howarth delivers a really informative and fun commentary track in which he discusses the origins of the film, how it fit into the pre-Code era, the background of the performers involved, the art direction of James Whale, how this works as an adaptation and more. 

• Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Sign Of The Cross, The Ghost Breakers, I’m No Angel, Four Frightened People and Supernatural. 

Final Thoughts

By Candlelight feels somewhat out of character for the great James Whale on the surface, but once you experience it you will see that the filmmaker has his fingerprints all over it. This romantic comedy is very charming and amusing as the characters attempt to avoid being exposed within their web of lies. The entire ensemble makes a great impression, but Paul Lukas especially pulls off a nimble act of comedy and tenderness. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports both a lovely A/V presentation and an entertaining commentary track. Fans of pre-Code rom-coms will especially like this one, but even James Whale fans who typically stick with his more serious options should give this one a gander. Recommended 

By Candlelight 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.