Kitty Carlisle (A Night at the Opera), Jack Oakie (The Eagle and the Hawk), Victor McLaglen (Klondike Annie) and Carl Brisson (Hitchcock’s The Ring) star in Murder at the Vanities, an artfully audacious Pre-Code musical comedy and murder mystery. An opening night of a new musical leads to real behind-the-scenes drama when the play’s leading lady (Carlisle) is the target of a brutal murder plot. Producer Jack Ellery (Oakie) hires detective Bill Murdock (McLaglen) to solve the crime and chase down a killer while staying out of the spotlight. Directed by Hollywood ace Mitchell Leisen (Death Takes a Holiday, Hands Across the Table) and featuring Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, this delightfully entertaining film has it all: music, melody, mirth—then murder!

For thoughts on Murder At The Vanities, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic here.

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Video Quality

Murder At The Vanities makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p master from a 2K master. For a film that is nearly 90 years old, this presentation is very impressive. The new transfer shows off a strong amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Black levels are fairly deep with no overwhelming occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is well defined, and the track only experiences a slight amount of flicker and density fluctuation in the print. The luminous black-and-white photography shot by Leo Tover dazzles in high definition with natural grain intact. There is a lovely amount of detail present with nice textures on the outfits and within the opulent production design. There is still a pretty distinct layer of minor nicks and scratches, but there is no doubt that it has been cleaned up immensely. Kino Classics has brought new life to this title.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a pretty decent DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this movie well considering its place in early cinema. With this being a vintage title, it does show its age at times when it comes to the music elements. This is magnified by the fact that this is a musical and it is so forefront to the experience, but it is never aggressively harsh. At worst, the track sounds a bit thin which is an issue that dates back to the source elements.Dialogue and background noises are balanced well with all competing elements. The music seldom overpowers the dialogue or other important information. Outside of the aforementioned elements, 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 the most stable track possible for this one.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Film Historian Anthony Slide delivers a really informative 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 public reception of the film, the deficiencies in some of the storytelling aspects and more.

Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Eagle and The Hawk, Death Takes A Holiday, Arise My Love, No Time For Love and Golden Earrings.

Final Thoughts

Murder At The Vanities feels somewhat underbaked in the grand scheme of the narrative, but for the most part it delivers a fine amount of intrigue and fun. The spectacle on display keeps you rapt with attention, and the underlying mystery never feels stale. The ensemble makes an impression throughout with charismatic performances, especially the vibrant Kitty Carlisle. While it could have been fine tuned to be even stronger, this is an entertaining viewing experience all around. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports both a strong A/V presentation and an entertaining commentary track. Fans of pre-Code musicals will especially like this one, but anyone with a soft spot for old Hollywood razzle dazzle should check this one out. Recommended

Murder At The Vanities will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on October 11, 2022.

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.