The only Golden Age 3-D feature photographed in Great Britain, The Diamond Wizard (also known as The Diamond) packs suspense and surprise into a supremely exciting film noir thriller. While in London trying to nab the crooks who stole a million dollars from a U.S. Treasury vault, American federal agent Joe Dennison (Dennis O’Keefe, T-Men, Raw Deal) joins Scotland Yard Inspector McClaren (Philip Friend, Buccaneer’s Girl, Spy Hunt) in his search for a missing atomic scientist. They discover that the key to solving both cases may rest with the scientist’s daughter (Margaret Sheridan, The Thing from Another World, I, the Jury) and her fascinating diamond. Co-Directed by star Dennis O’Keefe (Angela) and Montgomery Tully (Query).

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Video Quality

The Diamond Wizard makes its Blu-Ray debut courtesy of Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p transfer from a new restoration by the 3-D Archive. This disc offers both 2-D and 3-D versions of the film. You get two 3-D viewing options: 3-D polarized and 3-D anaglyphic (red/cyan), the latter of which you can view with the included 3-D glasses. My current equipment does not allow me to review the 3-D polarized version, but the 3-D anaglyphic was viewed to the best of my abilities. Even with the 3-D glasses placed on top of my regular glasses, the 3-D effects were very convincing and impressive. The presentation makes good use of depth in every scene in a way that rarely feels gimmicky. Even nighttime scenes were able to convey the extra dimension favorably. The 2-D option is a fine way to view this one, but the 3-D enhances the experience in a notable way.

Judging the transfer outside of the perspective of 3-D, this restoration looks really great. Outside of a few minor deficiencies that remain after the cleanup, this presentation is quite a sight from beginning to end. With this transfer, you will be treated to a stellar amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Even watching in 2-D, the picture is given a three dimensional feel that allows the world to feel more fully realized and textured. Black levels are healthy with no obvious instances of black crush or compression artifacts.

The contrast is pretty firm outside of a minimal amount of density fluctuation in the print. Both the clothing and the production design delivers an admirable amount of detail and texture. Nicks and scratches have all but been eliminated completely, but eagle-eyed viewers may still spot a few spots of slight damage or faint vertical lines. The lovely natural film grain remains intact within the moody black-and-white photography. Kino Classics has done an excellent job with this one.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a decent DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that handles the material mostly effectively. This track does present a small amount of age related wear and tear and some faint hissing, but it ebbs and flows with no instances of audio drop outs. These shortcomings are slightly more apparent in the music which can sound a bit thin, but even that likely dates back to the age and condition of the source elements. The score does not overwhelm the dialogue or other important information. Dialogue and environmental noises are presented in harmony with all competing elements so that nothing gets drowned out in the mix. Kino Classics has provided a fairly stable track for this one. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Alternate Opening (2-D Only): A two-minute version of the opening credits where the film is officially titled The Diamond Wizard instead of The Diamond.

Audio Commentary: While listed as a commentary, this 12-minute featurette from Mike Ballew, author of the upcoming book Close Enough to Touch: 3-D Comes to Hollywood, does not find the historian speaking over the film like a traditional track. Instead, you get some brief history about 3-D exhibition and technology before delving more into the film at hand and its significance in the cinematic landscape.

Restoring The Diamond Wizard in 3-Dimensions: A three-minute look at restoration efforts to get The Diamond Wizard up to the level of its former glory with a focus on the myriad of problems addressed along with how they were fixed.

Trailers: The minute-and-a-half long 2-D trailer is provided for The Diamond Wizard.

Final Thoughts

The Diamond Wizard is not groundbreaking film noir, but it provides an engaging enough narrative journey to prove worthy of your time. The real treat of this experience is viewing it in 3-D, which helps add a grand amount of depth and texture that most straightforward dramas do not get to showcase. The finale of this one especially benefits from the format with its fiery set pieces which make a big impression. The performances are all serviceable in their way, and the feature does not overstay its welcome. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that shows off a fetching A/V presentation complete with 3-D options and a couple decent special features. If you are interested in classic 3-D or just want a fine film noir, give this one a shot. Recommended

The Diamond Wizard 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.