When the name James Whale is mentioned, cinephiles will automatically think of Frankenstein when identifying the legendary director, and rightfully so. He will always be known for his outstanding direction on the Frankenstein films and other classic horrors from the 1930’s such as The Old Dark House and The Invisible Man. Obviously, his resume goes beyond the horror genre as he directed some other dramas during the pre-code era. One such film, The Kiss Before the Mirror, is a perfect example of the greatness that is James Whale.
In this pre-code thriller a famous doctor, Dr.Walter Bernsdorf (Paul Lukas, Strange Cargo) shoots and kills his adulterous wife Lucy (legendary actress Gloria Stuart, Secret of the Blue Room, Titanic), after catching her with another man, and calls the police to admit what he has done. He is then defended in court by his best friend, lawyer Paul Held (Frank Morgan, The Wizard of Oz). Calling it a crime of passion, Bernsdorf is somehow found not guilty and is free to go. While this has been going on, Held himself has suspicions that his own wife Maria (Nancy Carroll, Broken Lullaby) is having an affair. He observes her applying make-up in front of her vanity (reminiscent of what happened with Walter’s wife), turns down his romantic advances and goes out. Herd decides to follow her to discover his suspicions were correct. He finds himself wondering if he should do to her what Dr. Walter Bernsdorf did to his wife which is kill her. Maria, despite having an affair, claims that she still loves Herd making the situation even more complex. Should he kill his wife in cold blood for having an affair? Will that solve the problem?
The Kiss Before the Mirror is a thoughtful suspenseful drama with cheating wives and their husbands being able to kill them without penalty. It is a dark drama about morality, adultery and how one copes with it. Paul’s defense of Walter as the backdrop for him to murder his own wife for the same reason. The acting for the film is superior, lifting this picture up a notch. The angst in Paul’s eyes, his body movements as he is torn about murdering his cheating wife Maria. Like Walter, he feels justified but at the same time you can tell he is struggling to go through with murdering her.
Kino Lorber debuts James Whale’s The Kiss Before the Mirror on Blu-ray. Given a brand new 4K Master and presented on a dual-layered BD-50 disc, The Kiss Before the Mirror in 1080p looks downright fantastic. The image is clean, with rich textures, deep black levels, and a balanced grey scale. There is film grain throughout, and the image is without any signs of print damage. The boost in contrast has given the film a well-polished appearance.
Kino applies their standard English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 for this release. The audio quality is perfectly fine, with the dialog and great musical score by W. Franke Harling coming in clear throughout without audio drops, hissing or popping sounds. Optional English subtitles are available for this offering.
The Kino Blu-ray offers a new audio commentary track by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, sharing her thoughts about the film.
Trailers for Supernatural, The Spiral Staircase, The Lodger, The Undying Monster, and The Queen of Spades round out the extras.
I had never seen this movie before today and was happy to have given the film a spin, as The Kiss Before the Mirror is an excellent, moving picture with brilliant direction and acting. The audio and video quality for this Blu-ray is top-notch to go with a couple of extras, making this release highly recommended!
The Kiss Before the Mirror
Director- James Whale
Cast- Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Paul Lukas
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 3/27/2021