Torch Singer is a pre-code film from 1933 that features a solid cast with screen legend Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez, David Manners and Lyda Robert. The film is based on the short story Mike by Grace Perkin.
When Sally Trent (Claudette Colbert, Imitation of Life, It Happened One Night) is unable to support her illegitimate child, she puts it up for adoption and pursues a career as a torch singer. A few years later, as Sally Trent has become Mimi Benton and is a success. Later she does an “Aunt Jennie” program with songs and bedtimes stories to, what she hopes is reunite with her daughter.
This is another amazing feature with the great actress that was Claudette Colbert who also sang in this picture. The story of a woman looking for her long lost child makes has been done many times, but this movie was made during the pre-code era when there weren’t any restrictions to making a film like this and could pull out all the stops. It might seem tame now, but in 1933 mothers who gave their children away, only to be found later was not a household topic. The picture reminded me of Madame X due to its similar themes. Another pre-code screen legend Ricardo Cortez (The White Cockatoo, Is My Face Red?) also hands in a superb performance as Sally/Mimi’s agent. David Manners (Dracula, The Black Cat) also stars as Michael Gardner, the father of Sally / Mimi’s child, also named Sally who has decided to find her daughter and have a family.
Torch Singer debuts on Blu-ray release courtesy of Kino Lorber, who must be fans of Claudette Colbert, as there’s plenty of her films now available on home video thanks to them, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that. The film is on a single layered disc. This is a strong release as the black and white image looks sharp. The greyscale is balanced with deep black levels and great shadow detail. Film grain is present throughout the presentation. Details look strong for both characters and various scenery. There was one minor jump cut at the end, and outside of some speckles here and there, the video quality for this release is splendid!
Kino goes with English DTS-HD Master 2.0 dual-mono track which is modest. The dialogue and other noises such as the music by Ralph Rainger are clear, and easy to understand. Nothing is all that aggressive sounding in this picture. No drop-offs, hissing or other issues were detected. English subtitles are available for this offering.
This release has an audio commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger who talks about the film and its pre-code themes of unwed pregnancy, Claudette Colbert and how insecure she was with her own appearance among other information about the cast and crew. It is certainly worth a listen! Also included in the extras package are several trailers for various other Kino Lorber releases that feature Claudette Colbert.
Torch Singer was a pleasure to watch and thoroughly enjoyed the viewing. With above average audio and video quality, and because this is a Claudette Colbert film, there is no reason not to have this movie on your shelf!
Torch Singer
Director- Alexander Hall and George Somnes
Cast- Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez, David Manners
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –11/14/21