Bedridden and ailing for several years, it was no surprise when death came to wealthy dowager Edwina Black. The late Mrs. Black, however, will not be mourned by most of the community in the small English village where she resided—certainly not by her henpecked husband Gregory (Farrar), the town’s schoolmaster, nor her female companion Elizabeth (Fitzgerald), both of whom are relieved at finally being free to express their love after conducting a not-so-secret affair for some time.

But when the town doctor (Harcourt Williams) conducts a post-mortem, death by natural causes is ruled out as he found large traces of arsenic in Edwina’s remains. Inspector Martin of Scotland Yard (Roland Culver) suspects that the couple engaged in a bit of foul play and patiently plays a game of cat-and-mouse in hopes of implicating them in the crime. Ellen (Jean Cadell), Edwina’s fiercely loyal housekeeper, also figures in and makes no secret of her contempt for the two lovers and their likely roles in the death of her mistress.

For thoughts on Obsessed (1951), please check out my piece on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/29CHE2dwxcA?t=2191]

Video Quality

Obsessed (1951) makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to ClassicFlix with a 1080p master from a 4K restoration that is quite wonderful. The sterling black-and-white photography shot by Stephen Dade shines in high definition with natural grain intact and not much in the way of density fluctuations outside of a handful of softer shots and opticals. There is a commendable amount of detail present with nice textures on the fancy clothing and within the production design.

The transfer shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Black levels are deep with no blatant occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is well defined, and the track experiences very little in the way of damage outside of a few anomalies here and there. ClassicFlix has done some very pleasing work here in a way that should please most fans.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a pretty good DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that achieves what is asked of it. Dialogue and background noises are balanced well with all competing elements, even when some of the swirling elements can become a bit cacophonous. The music is a bit overbearing at times, but it rarely flounders when it comes to fidelity. This track does present some brief moments of age-related wear and tear. There are also certain instances of dialogue that sound a bit hollow, but typically it sounds natural and clear. Even with some source issues, ClassicFlix has done their best to provide a stable experience for this one. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Trailers: There are trailers provided for Black Magic, I, The Jury, Michael Shayne Mysteries, O. Henry Playhouse Clip – The Reformation Of Calliope and T-Men.

Final Thoughts

Obsessed (1951) is a pretty riveting drama which creates a great amount of intrigue among a small number of characters. The drama does not come only from who may have committed a murder, but how the seeds of distrust flourish and warp the dynamics between characters. The influences of Hitchcock are apparent, but the film never feels like a blatant ripoff of the master’s work. This one holds its own in cinematic history. ClassicFlix has released a Blu-Ray featuring a perfectly solid A/V presentation but next to nothing in the way of special features. If you are a fan of the mystery-thriller genre, ClassicFlix has once again rescued a lesser known gem.

Obsessed (1951) 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: ClassicFlix 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.