At the turn of the century, dentist Biff Grimes (James Cagney) recalls his association with politician Hugo Barnstead (Jack Carson). The men meet over their romantic rivalry for striking strawberry blonde Virginia Brush (Rita Hayworth). Despite Biff’s efforts, Virginia pushes her friend, nurse and women’s rights advocate Amy Lind (Olivia de Havilland), on him and elopes with Hugo. After Biff and Amy fall in love, Biff joins Hugo’s firm, only to learn that his rival is still a double dealer.

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Video Quality

Warner Archive presents The Strawberry Blonde for the first time on Blu-Ray with 1080p transfer sourced from a 4K scan of the Original Nitrate Camera Negative. Warner Archive has once again done some stellar work as this disc stands out as a highlight of classic cinema. This black and white feature has impeccably resolved natural film grain throughout that provides a momentous amount of detail to the image. Print damage is never an issue as you avoid any nicks, scratches or flicker. The presentation allows for a good amount of depth in every location, even at night in the park where there is no evidence of any black crush. Warner Archive has made all James Cagney fans very happy with this one.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray release comes with a newly restored DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that handles this material perfectly. This film survives on rapid-fire exchanges of dialogue which never fail to come through clearly throughout the duration. The environmental effects and the music are properly balanced so that the dialogue never struggles for prominence. There does not appear to be anything in the way of damage or age related wear and tear to the track. The titular tune comes through with a nice fidelity without seeming harsh or thin. This is a formidable audio presentation that gives the material the life it deserves. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles available on the disc.

Special Features

Tortoise Beats Hare: An eight-minute Merrie Melodies short featuring Bugs Bunny angrily challenging Cecil Turtle to a race. This is presented in HD and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Polo With The Stars: A nine-minute live-action short detailing the training of polo ponies is presented here in HD.

Lux Radio Theater Broadcast: A 59-minute radio broadcast featuring Rita Hayworth, Don Ameche and Gail Patrick.

Screen Guild Radio Broadcast: A 29-minute radio broadcast featuring James Cagney, Jack Carson and Olivia de Havilland reprising their roles in this performance.

Theatrical Trailer: The three-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

The Strawberry Blonde is a joyous romantic comedy which finds star James Cagney storing away his tough guy persona for something a little more tender and warm. The actor presents as a bit gruff at points, but the movie always returns to the fact that he is working with a good heart. Olivia de Havilland is beguiling as his independent love interest who has more personality than many underwritten women of the time. The film is spritely paced and features an ensemble not to be trifled with. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a reference quality A/V presentation and a nice array of special features. If you enjoy old-school Hollywood charm, this is a pure delight. Highly Recommended

The Strawberry Blonde 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.