Barbara Stanwyck, the legendary actress who defined the film noir femme fatale in 1944’s Double Indemnity, returns to the role of the deadly seductress in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. When streetwise gambler Sam Masterson (Van Heflin, Shane) returns to his hometown of Iverstown, childhood sweetheart Martha (Stanwyck) assumes he has come to blackmail her over the suspicious death of her aunt, which he witnessed years earlier. Thus begins a dangerous game of cat and mouse, in which the wealthy and powerful Martha, whose husband is the local district attorney (the film debut of Kirk Douglas, I Walk Alone), tries to threaten, connive and seduce the truth from Sam’s clenched lips. Lizabeth Scott (Pitfall) co-stars as a hard-boiled woman on probation whose attempts to go straight land her, ironically, in Iverstown’s vortex of circling sharks. Directed by Lewis Milestone (The General Died at Dawn), scripted by Robert Rossen (The Hustler) and scored by Miklós Rózsa (Spellbound), Martha Ivers is a razor-witted dance of death that represents Hollywood suspense at its most sublimely entertaining.
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Video Quality
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers appears on Blu-Ray newly remastered courtesy of Paramount Pictures from a 4K Scan of the 35mm Fine Grain which largely looks excellent. The film was previously released on Blu-Ray a decade ago through its status as a public domain title, but by all accounts that release was severely lacking in nearly every respect. This Kino Classics release eradicates nearly all traces of dust specks or print damage that showed up on previous releases. Nearly every shot presents with some excellent depth to the image which makes each location feel more three dimensional, from spacious mansions to the cramped hotel rooms. Although, some shots do look a bit soft, which most likely can be attributed to the use of a Fine Grain rather than the Original Camera Negative.
The moody black and white cinematography has never looked better with stable gradients and distinct textures in the backgrounds. This transfer retains the desired filmic quality of the picture with the natural film grain that resolves well which gives way to rich details. It always looks natural with nothing veering into noise or compression artifacts. Black levels are appropriately deep without any pesky nuisances such as crush or banding even during the darkest portions of the film. This transfer also treats you to some fetching textural details in the costumes and production design. Public domain films are often seen as not worth the effort of restoring for major studios, so it is always great to see one treated so well all the same. Kino Classics has delivered a great presentation for fans.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a great DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that delivers exactly in the ways it needs to. The environmental effects are well executed and crisp, such as instances of gunfire and the rain that opens up the film. Every element is delineated nicely to keep things from becoming a sonic mess. The track does not fall victim to much age related wear and tear such as hissing and crackles. Dialogue holds up exceedingly well and comes through clearly even with some of the more stylized noir-ish dialects. It complements the background noises well so everything comes through in perfect harmony. Music also mostly avoids instances of distortion along the way as fidelity rarely dips. There are optional English subtitles included for the feature film.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode provides a deeply informative commentary track in which he discusses how this film fits into the careers of the talent involved, the ways in which this film plays within the genre, the censorship issues that arose for the feature, the background of the performers, the music from Miklós Rózsa, the legacy of the film and so much more that provides some great context to the feature. Rode provides a track with a sly sense of humor that pops in from time to time.
- Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Turning Point, All I Desire, Witness To Murder, There’s Always Tomorrow, Lonely Are The Brave, Desert Fury and The General Died At Dawn.
Final Thoughts
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a very engaging film noir which knows how to use its core cast perfectly. Each of the four main leads are given moments to shine, so much so that it is hard to choose a standout. The hard-boiled narrative retains quite a bit of nastiness even under the rule of the Production Code, which allows the film to play with your emotions like a great conductor. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a really great commentary track that adds some nice context. If you are a film noir fan, consider this one a strong addition to your collection. Recommended
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on September 20, 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.