An exotic adventure set among ivory traders and military officers in Colonial East Africa, MAMBA stars Jean Hersholt as a corrupt land-owner who battles a German officer (Ralph Forbes) over the honor of a young woman (Eleanor Boardman). But the romantic triangle is shattered when the indigenous population mounts an epic assault upon its oppressors. Billed as the first feature-length all-talking Technicolor drama, MAMBA was an bold attempt by the low-budget Tiffany Productions to compete with the major studios. For decades it was considered a lost film, until an original print was discovered in Australia. Photochemically preserved and digitally restored, this edition reveals that MAMBA is much more than a curiosity item; it is a film of remarkable artistic ambition, with such diverse influences as Erich von Stroheim’s sexually frank melodramas and the “unchained camera” of the German silent cinema.
For thoughts on Mamba, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
This sparkling new 1080p Blu-Ray from Kino Classics is derived from a recent restoration led by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation. It is truly amazing to view a film that is over 90 years old and thought to have been lost for most of its existence and still have it look so visually pleasant. The transfer is respectful of the original Technicolor process with some very strong contrast levels. There is a very nice amount of natural film grain with a nearly imperceptible amount of debris or damage to be found. There is the expected flickering throughout, but the stability is pretty impressive overall. The black levels look great and hold up well throughout, and there is no evidence of any compression artifacts. The level of shadow detail present here is a wonder to behold. Considering the aged print that the restoration team was working with, this effort is something truly magical. This transfer is a thing of beauty.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray presents the film with an LPCM 2.0 track, and it thankfully honors the original single channel presentation. The exotic score is well balanced with the dialogue and background noises throughout even if it does expose its age. Dialogue is rendered mostly clear, but some of the accents coupled with the early sound equipment can make certain moments a bit difficult to hear. There is a minimal amount of age related hiss, but for the most part the audio presentation is pretty spectacular and free of issues. There are no signs of sync issues or anything else of the sort. Kino Classics does provide optional English (SDH) subtitles. Once again, considering the state of the original elements, it is great to have this original track sounding so great.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Filmmaker Brian Trenchard Smith provides a very informative commentary track in which he discusses the history of the film, the ways in which it was almost lost, the innovative camera techniques, the social context in which this film was made and released, the history of the creative figures involved, the censorship in Australia, and more. This does a nice job of putting some elements into greater historical context.
- Interview with Paul Brennan: A nearly eight-minute deleted excerpt from the documentary Splice Here: A Projected Odyssey from Rob Murphy in which Paul Brennan and Mike Trickett discuss the rediscovery and restoration of Mamba. This is an amazing story that shows how lucky we are that this even exists.
- Theatre Of Dreams: An eight-minute documentary short which shines a spotlight on Murray and Pat Matthews, the Australian film collectors who discovered the sole surviving print of Mamba. This is a nice, personal piece which gives the story of the discovery from this other point of view. It is especially amusing to hear that Murray does not care about movies, he just loves the technology behind film projection.
- Slideshow: A slideshow which gives you some additional history behind Mamba and a look at some of the behind-the-scenes material.
Final Thoughts
Mamba would be enough to appreciate simply for its place as an early example of Technicolor and sound filmmaking, but it also holds up as a pretty entertaining movie. The racism in the film can be hard to watch, but there are other elements that were very progressive such as the rebuke of viewing women as the property of a man. The use of the camera in the film is pretty groundbreaking and paves the way for what would be commonplace in the future. If you can contextualize this film with the period in which it was made, there is a lot you can gain from it. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty wonderful A/V presentation and some lovely supplemental features. It is not often that you get to witness such a unique piece of film history, so those who are even the slightest bit interested should make time for this one. Recommended
Mamba is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital.
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.