‘Saratoga’ Blu-Ray Review – Gable & Harlow Light Up The Screen In Amiable Golden-Age Rom-Com

Clark Gable was re-teamed with the beautiful Jean Harlow for the sixth time, in this delightful M-G-M romantic comedy. On screen, Jean Harlow was pure platinum: white-blonde, rare glamourous and tough. But she was fragile off screen, succumbing to kidney disease at the achingly early age of 26, just as this film was about to complete production. So Saratoga became what it was never intended to be: a farewell to the great star. Gable and Harlow share the screen with a superb cast of M-G-M’s best supporting players. The story with its colorful racing-circuit setting is a hoot: a snappy, sexy tale of a horse breeder’s daughter (Harlow) who is engaged to an upstanding millionaire (Walter Pidgeon), but drawn to a brash bookie (Gable). Saratoga opened a month after Harlow’s death and grieving fans made it a box-office smash.

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

[youtube https://youtu.be/LyoMrkNRyV4?si=gPyFXv2AVgsOYuQI&t=2209]

Video Quality

Warner Archive presents Saratoga for the first time on Blu-Ray with 1080p transfer sourced from a 4K restoration of preservation elements that serves the film immensely well. While the full Original Camera Negative might not be intact, Warner Archive has once again worked its magic as this disc stands out as a stunning achievement. This black-and-white feature has clearly resolved natural film grain throughout providing a meaningful amount of detail to the image. Print damage is never an issue as you avoid any nicks, scratches or flicker. A few moments of softness reveal the source limitations, but these instances are short-lived. The presentation allows for a fine amount of depth in every location with no evidence of any black crush. Warner Archive has delivered the level of quality you expect from the label. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray release comes with a newly restored DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that presents this film as well as its age and source will allow. There appears to be very little in the way of damage or age-related wear and tear to the track outside of some light humming in the background. This film embraces rapid-fire exchanges of dialogue which never fail to emanate clearly throughout the progression of the story. The environmental effects and the music are balanced well so that the dialogue rarely struggles for prominence. The score comes through with a nice fidelity without seeming harsh or thin. This is a good audio presentation that gives the material a rich second life. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles available on the disc. 

Special Features

• The Romance Of Celluloid: An 11-minute documentary short film is provided here which showcases how a film comes to be through many efforts including how film stock is made from cotton, the construction of sets, makeup work, costumes, musical scores, and more. This is presented with a content warning before the film for the film being a “product of its time”. 

• Original Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half trailer is provided here. 

Final Thoughts

Saratoga is somewhat weighed down by the fact that it serves as Jean Harlow’s final film in her tragically short life. The burgeoning starlet was destined for bigger and better things, but she made quite an impression while we did have her talents, especially when opposite Clark Gable. This effort proved to be a welcome romantic comedy that features some amusing banter and snappy direction, not to mention a stacked ensemble. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a fabulous A/V presentation and a brief selection of special features. If you are a fan of any of these performers or simply delight in Old Hollywood romantic comedies, this is an easy one to suggest. Recommended 

Saratoga can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive 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.