Several months ago, when Arise, My Love was announced and researched it, I became immediately interested in seeing this film. How can a classic film fan resist viewing a movie with two screen legends in Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland?
This film is directed by Mitchell Leisen, who many may know was responsible for several classic melodramas To Each His Own, Death Takes a Holiday and Hold Back the Dawn. With Arise, My Love he blends drama with comedy.
Taking place in 1939, Spanish Civil War pilot Tom Martin (Ray Milland, Frogs, The Premature Burial) is about to be executed by the victorious Spanish Fascist army when reporter Augusta “Gusto” Nash (Claudette Colbert, Sleep, My Love, Imitation of Life) rescues him by pretending to be his wife. She astonishingly pulls it off, however the guards learn of her deception and chase them. Her coup earns a front-page story and compliments of her boss, Mr. Phillips (Walter Abel, Mr. Skeffington).
Safely away in Paris, Tom then unsuccessfully tries to win the love of Gusto. They are attracted to each other, but, despite the attraction, both are conflicted because of their careers. Romance takes a back seat again as tragedy is about to hit them, the start of World War II.
Arise, My Love is a wonderful film with superb performances, a great story and excellent direction. There is plenty of chemistry between Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland. The rest of the cast, including Dennis O’Keefe, known for starring in Film Noirs, and horror legend George Zucco also play their parts perfectly. The comedic aspect of the film was amusing, but it is easily more of a drama than a comedy. The excellent score by Victor Young earned him an Oscar nomination as did Charles Lang for his outstanding cinematography.
Mitchell Leisen’s Arise, My Love arrives on Blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber. While there are some speckles here and there, and minor print damages, the black and white 1080p release looks stellar with the boost in contrast. Scenery also looks sharp and detailed. Grey levels are balanced along with deep, rich black levels. Film grain is present, keeping the film looking organic. No DNR or other image enhancements were detected. While not perfect, the video quality overall is easily above average.
For the audio, Kino uses English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 for their Blu-ray, and everything sounds crisp with easy-to-follow dialog, and with more aggressive action sounds such as gunfire, explosions, and the musical score.
This release offers a new commentary by Kat Ellinger who lends her wealth of knowledge about the film. There is also a trailer for Arise, My Love and at least 15 other Kino Lorber studio releases that include Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland and Mitchell Leisen.
As far as Blu-ray releases go, the more Claudette Colbert the better. I am thankful to Kino Lorber who continue to release her films on quality Blu-rays. Arise, My Love is one of several films with the great actress now available on Blu-ray. Ray Milland is no slouch either! There’s nothing more satisfying than watching a great classic film with excellent audio and video quality which is what we have here. Recommended!
Arise, My Love
Director- Mitchell Leisen
Cast- Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-8/9/21