DEAD
RINGER ($20) is a wonderfully over-the-top, melodramatic thriller
featuring the incomparable Bette Davis in a juicy dual role. In DEAD
RINGER, Davis portrays the wealthy Margaret DeLorca and her
financially challenged identical twin sister Edith Phillips. After not
having seen each other for two decades, the sisters are reunited by the
death of Margaret’s husband. As it turns out, Margaret stole the only
man Edith ever loved and Edith returns the favor by murdering her and
assuming the identity of the wealthy Mrs. DeLorca. While Edith is
generally up to the challenge of pretending to be her sister, the arrival
of Margaret’s lover, Tony Collins (Peter Lawford), causes serious
complications for our little murderess. The cast of DEAD RINGER
also features Karl Malden, Philip Carey, Jean Hagen, George Macready and
Estelle Winwood.
Warner
Home Video has made DEAD RINGER available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide
screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
This is a really nice black and white transfer of this forty-year-old
movie. The image almost always looks sharp and well defined. There are
some processed shots that appear somewhat soft, but this is certainly not
a flaw in an otherwise fine transfer. Black are accurate, whites are crisp
and the grayscale produces a good range of variation. The film elements
used for the transfer are in very good shape for its age, showing only a
smattering of blemishes. A grain structure is present during much of the
proceedings, but it is relatively fine and unobtrusive. Digital
compression artifacts are never a cause for concern.
.
DEAD RINGER comes with a solid Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack. Most
of the background hiss and noise have been cleaned up in the mastering
process, leaving the film with a smooth sonic quality. Fidelity is good
for a film of this vintage, with André Previn’s fun, harpsichord
flavored musical score coming across in a pleasant enough manner. Dialogue
sounds crisp and is always totally understandable. A French language track
has also been encoded onto the DVD, as have English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
. Music underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access
to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few very
cool supplements. First there is an informative and very entertaining
audio commentary featuring Davis aficionados- entertainer Charles Busch
and author Boze Hadleigh. Double Take: A Conversation With Boze
Hadleigh is a twelve-minute program in which the author talks
about Davis, the production and the supporting cast of DEAD RINGER.
The vintage featurette Behind The Scenes At The Doheny Mansion
and a theatrical trailer close out the supplements.
DEAD
RINGER is pure cinematic entertainment, thanks to Bette Davis, who
makes this melodramatic thriller so much fun to watch. Warner’s DVD
looks and sounds really good, plus the disc features some very enjoyable
supplements. If you are a movie buff or Davis fan, you’ll want to add DEAD
RINGER to your film library. Recommended.
DEAD
RINGER ($20) is a wonderfully over-the-top, melodramatic thriller
featuring the incomparable Bette Davis in a juicy dual role. In DEAD
RINGER, Davis portrays the wealthy Margaret DeLorca and her
financially challenged identical twin sister Edith Phillips. After not
having seen each other for two decades, the sisters are reunited by the
death of Margaret’s husband. As it turns out, Margaret stole the only
man Edith ever loved and Edith returns the favor by murdering her and
assuming the identity of the wealthy Mrs. DeLorca. While Edith is
generally up to the challenge of pretending to be her sister, the arrival
of Margaret’s lover, Tony Collins (Peter Lawford), causes serious
complications for our little murderess. The cast of DEAD RINGER
also features Karl Malden, Philip Carey, Jean Hagen, George Macready and
Estelle Winwood.
Warner
Home Video has made DEAD RINGER available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide
screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
This is a really nice black and white transfer of this forty-year-old
movie. The image almost always looks sharp and well defined. There are
some processed shots that appear somewhat soft, but this is certainly not
a flaw in an otherwise fine transfer. Black are accurate, whites are crisp
and the grayscale produces a good range of variation. The film elements
used for the transfer are in very good shape for its age, showing only a
smattering of blemishes. A grain structure is present during much of the
proceedings, but it is relatively fine and unobtrusive. Digital
compression artifacts are never a cause for concern.
.
.
DEAD
RINGER is pure cinematic entertainment, thanks to Bette Davis, who
makes this melodramatic thriller so much fun to watch. Warner’s DVD
looks and sounds really good, plus the disc features some very enjoyable
supplements. If you are a movie buff or Davis fan, you’ll want to add DEAD
RINGER to your film library. Recommended.
