2
(nothing substantial)
6
(suggestions of violence)
2
(barely worth bothering to see)
"Bluebeard" sounds like it ought to be a pirate movie right? That’s what I thought, but I was wrong. Evidently a “bluebeard” is a cultural reference to a serial killer or something along those lines. The movie itself never gives any indication of where the name originated or why it fits the villain of this story so if you don’t already know you still won’t know when the movie is over. By the way, I’m talking about the 1944 black-&-white picture by Edgar Ulmer. There are other movies under this title.
Rather than pirating and sailing the movie revolves around painting and puppeteering. The killer is a painter with a hangup about women. He likes to paint portraits of women then remove them from this mortal coil (kill them in other words). His life of villainy is thrown into disarray when he meets a girl that changes his sensibilities. Bluebeard vows to give up his murderous ways for love, but such a lifestyle is not so easily put away.
When the portrait of one of his victims accidentally ends up in a collector’s stash the police take notice and begin building a snare that could spoil any benevolent plans Bluebeard may have. Which of his natures will win out? Or will the cops render the decision moot?
This is a pretty horrible movie. I didn’t find the story or characters particularly engaging. This isn’t helped by the very poor acting. John Carradine, AKA Bluebeard, is the only one worth being on screen, but he isn’t good enough to save the rest of the effort. The flow of the story is weak worsened by overly long musical numbers (no this isn’t a musical, but the puppet show within the movie is), and the plot offers little of interest.
The only bright spot really is the backstory of the killer. We get to find out the origin of his psychosis which I found logical and interesting, but it is one bright thread in a tapestry of dull ones.
Would the production be saved by improved acting? Not entirely, though it might make some of the other elements easier to overlook. Despite liking the killer’s backstory that is a small portion of the whole. The larger portion is taken up by the development of the relationship between Bluebeard and the woman he can’t murder (whose name boredom has driven from my mind), then by the police’s attempt to ensnare him which isn't as exciting as it sounds.
Morality
There is some violence in the murders, but they are bloodless and very tame by modern standards.
There is no strong language, sex, or nudity.
Spirituality
Can love drive evil from a man's heart? I suppose it depends on what context we're discussing. A passing infatuation with a pretty girl is not going to set a dark heart on a positive path, but people can and do change. We never get to that point in "Bluebeard," nor is there any spiritual change discussed here.
Final Thoughts
I wouldn't bother with "Bluebeard" unless you are a Carradine enthusiast. It isn't worth the time.
Buying Guide
Yes, you guessed it, like its other old public domain peers "Bluebeard" has enough releases to turn you blue.
There are any number of stand-alone DVD's that offer nothing to set them apart from any of the others. There is an even larger number of combo packs with various other movies. The only exception is one from Producers Releasing which is remastered and offers some extras. Unfortunately, reviews of this exact version are scarce.
All of the releases I saw have the same specs, make no mention of remastering, and list no extras with the one exception.
I did read that the transfer for the Madacy version is particularly bad, but I can't say if it's really any worse than what others offer since they tend to be pretty awful.
The exception, as I mentioned, is the Producers Releasing version which touts being remastered and offers a short documentary with some rare footage and a gallery of still shots as extras. I couldn't find any comments on the quality, unfortunately.
Final Recommendation:
The Producers Releasing DVD sounds like the only decent bet at getting a fair quality transfer. Honestly, I don't think the movie itself is worth the expense and recommend seeing it in a budget pack like the 50 Horror Classics before dropping any amount of cash on a better version.
I got mine in a pack of 50 “Horror Classics.”
Video
1.33:
This is the TV standard “full-screen” ratio. This is weak even by the standards set by its peers. It's barely tolerable with the amount of trash, the shaky image, the lines, and the general weak image quality.
Audio
2.0 mono:
The audio is no better. It's full of white noise and is low quality with distortion. I could make out the dialogue for the most part, but it is bad enough to be unpleasant.
Packaging
This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box. It's more recently bee repackaged in plastic.
Extras
There are none.