Hot Saturday is a 1932 pre-code drama film which is based on the novel Hot Saturday by Harvey Fergusson. The movie is about a pretty girl who works at as a bank clerk who becomes the victim of a terrible rumor.
In the small town of Marysville, Ruth Brock(Nancy Carroll, The Kiss Before the Mirror) is a bank clerk who often gets propositions from men. One day, she agrees to go out on a date with Connie Billop(Edward Woods, The Public Enemy) at the wealth estate of Romer Sheffield (screen icon Cary Grant, Suspicion, To Catch a Thief)
Connie makes a pass a Ruth away from the crowds. She rejects Connie’s advances and leaves her behind. She walks over to Romer Sheffield’s place. She stays for awhile and heave a heart-to-heart talk.
When she gets home childhood friend Bill Fadden (Western screen legend Randolph Scott, The Tall T, Seven Men from Now) arrives, professing his love to her. Meanwhile, Ruth’s friend Eva Randolph (Lilian Bond, The Picture of Dorian Gray) saw Ruth coming home in Roman’s car, asks Connie what happened and that’s where the ugly rumors begin with Ruth and Roman. She loses her job, and eventually her engagement to Bill because he won’t believe her side of the story either. Why everyone is so pig-headed about what Ruth did not do is beyond me.
Hot Saturday is another great classic with the dreaded we will only listen to one side of the rumor type of gossip, where nobody believes poor Ruth, not even her own mother who doesn’t think very highly of her daughter anyway. This has a great cast with, at the time, up and coming actors who later became legends.
Kino Lorber debuts Hot Saturday on Blu-ray and the image for starters looks great. The black-and-white image sparkles throughout with rich whites and blacks and a balanced greyscale. The film sports some great shadow details as well. Scenery and characters look superb with the boost in contrast shows a lot more detail. Film grain is present throughout, and no use of DNR has been applied. There is one blip around the 35-minute mark that lasts for one second. I didn’t think it was anything too serious.
Kino uses English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono which is perfectly fine with optional English subtitles. The dialogue and other sounds are crisp and clear without any defects. The audio to me wasn’t aggressive or too passive and made for a pleasant listening experience. The fun music by John Leipold is also clear and flawless.
This release offers a commentary track by Author and Film Historian Lee Gambin, who discusses the film and characters. Commentary aficionados should not be disappointed with Lee Gambin’s work on this release.
Rounding out the extras are theatrical trailers for Supernatural, The Eagle has Landed, Pittsburg, and I’m no Angel
It’s time to replace another DVD, with this wonderful Blu-ray of Hot Saturday. This is another fine release of a classic black and white film, now available on Blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber. It’s another recommended release!
Hot Saturday
Director- William Seiter
Cast- Nancy Carroll, Cary Grant, and Randolph Scott
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –11/14/2021