The ravishing and radiant Jean Seberg (Breathless) and Honor Blackman (Goldfinger) star in this deliciously twisted affair of illicit lovemaking and mysterious murder, all set in the exotic French Riviera. “He’s dead!” Thus begins the story of the beautiful Mrs. Kay Stanton (Seberg), left alone in the paradise of Cannes, France, as her husband, a globetrotting psychiatrist, lectures across Europe. As much as she resists, she can only simply surrender into the arms of a forbidden lover, a handsome, young American ensign. But their night of passion has deadly consequences—or does it? Not all is as it seems as the unfolding drama becomes evermore intriguing and intense. Based on a story by Alec Coppel (Vertigo), this romantic neo-noir thriller features the lush music of Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil, The Pink Panther) accompanied by the remarkable direction of Hollywood veteran Mervyn LeRoy (Little Caesar, Mister Roberts).

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Video Quality

Kino Classics presents Moment To Moment with a sumptuous Blu-Ray in 1.85:1 from a new 2K master. This transfer retains the natural film grain of the presentation with no major moments of fluctuation. The picture does showcase minor moments of softness, but the gorgeous shades of the French Riviera sparkle and great detail is easily noticeable in closeup. Instances of print damage such as nicks and lines have not been completely eliminated, but there are signs that there has been significant cleanup with overall clarity and detail appearing strong. The presentation is often stunning with image stability and delineation being handled well. Black levels hold up well with not much in the way of crush. Kino Classics has done a standout job with this presentation.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a pretty enjoyable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this film well. The fidelity of the alluring Henry Mancini score never falters as it complements the narrative. Despite the strength of this element, nothing ever overshadows the dialogue or other important information. Dialogue comes through favorably and works in harmony with all competing elements. All of the sound effects and music appear to be accurate to the intent of the creative team. This track shows no major age related wear and tear such as hissing, drop outs or popping. Kino Classics keeps up the quality here. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Film Historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson provide a very informative commentary track in which they discuss how this functions as a swan song for Mervyn LeRoy, the work of Henry Mancini, how this film compares to other pictures of the time, the cinematography, the background of the ensemble players, the scarcity of the film on home entertainment and much more.

Moment to Moment with Mancini: A three-minute vintage featurette which takes a look at the work of composer Henry Mancini on this feature along with basic details about the narrative.

Trailers: There are trailers provided for Arabesque, The Night of the Following Day, A Lovely Way To Die, Secret Ceremony, Diabolically Yours, Midnight Lace, The Champagne Murders and P.J.

Final Thoughts

Moment To Moment can be a bit messy from a narrative standpoint, but it delivers pretty capably when it comes to entertainment. There are numerous moments when you want to scream at the characters for making stupid decisions, but otherwise you are kept engaged in the drama of the situation. The performances help this one out a bit, especially the great Jean Seberg. Mervyn LeRoy deserved more chances after this one was released, but it does not make for a terrible send-off for the talented director. Kino Classics has released a new Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and an informative commentary track. If you appreciate a low-key mystery-drama, there are worse ways to spend your time. Recommended

Moment To Moment 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.