When Béatrice (Estella Blain) decides to spend an evening with a group of wealthy playboys, her working class fiancé, Pierre (Robert Hossein), follows her and exposes a gang of organized criminals. Intercepted by henchmen, Pierre is threatened, beaten, and framed for murder. But he refuses to give up, and remains determined to infiltrate the criminal stronghold, liberate Béatrice from the sex traffickers, and clear himself of murder. French genre filmmakers of the late 1950s, such as Édouard Molinaro, have typically been overshadowed by those of the nouvelle vague. But this exquisite restoration of The Road to Shame (Des femmes disparaissent), supported by the Centre National du Cinema, allows for the overdue appreciation of this fine example of post-noir European hardboiled cinema.

For thoughts on The Road to Shame, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/T7jBM3kHH9s?si=_sn5myvB9gHJD8yR&t=3570]

Video Quality

The Road to Shame makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p transfer courtesy of Centre National du Cinema that looks incredible. The striking black-and-white photography dazzles in high definition with natural grain intact. You get a fantastic amount of detail present with textures on the clothing and within the production design. The new transfer shows off a significant amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. Black levels are very deep with no obvious occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The restoration has eradicated nearly everything in the realm of nicks or scratches. The contrast is firmly defined, and the track does not experience any major instances of flicker and density fluctuation in the print. Kino Classics has delivered a first-rate presentation here.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray offers up a really good DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mono track in the original French that serves this movie well. This track emanates with the slightest amount of age-related wear and tear and some faint hissing. The score maintains a fine fidelity with not much at all in the way of strain or weakness at its peak. The music never overshadows the dialogue or other important information. Dialogue and environmental elements are represented in pleasant harmony with all competing sounds. Kino Classics has done a standup job on the audio side of the spectrum. There are optional English subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Film historian Adrian Martin delivers a really informative commentary track in which he talks about how this film fits into the filmography of Édouard Molinaro, how this tackles social issues, the background of the performers, the tone of the film, and much more. This is a well-researched track that is worth checking out.

Final Thoughts

The Road to Shame is a very entertaining crime drama that oozes atmosphere as characters slip in and out of shadows along their mysterious journey. The attempt to tackle the topic of sex trafficking is an admirable one, even if the results might be a bit broad to appeal to the masses. The ensemble all fit well into their roles, and director Édouard Molinaro leaves no moment feeling like an afterthought as you make your way through this propulsive narrative. This is a film that will hopefully enjoy a rich second life. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports a powerful A/V presentation and a great commentary track. Recommended

The Road to Shame 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.