Also known as East of Shanghai, Rich and Strange is a 1931 classic romantic drama directed by the iconic Alfred Hitchcock. This is a tale of how being wealth doesn’t equate to being happy.

The film is about Fred Hill (Henry Kendall, Shadow of the Cat) and his wife Emily (Joan Barry, Rome Express) who lead a rather dull life in London. When the Hills come into an inheritance from a wealthy uncle, Fred quits his job, and he and his wife embark on a world cruise to get a taste of the finer things in life. They catch an ocean liner from Marseille to the Orient.  But things, as they often tend to do, does not go as planned as the couple’s voyage becomes complicated, as Fred, who gets seasick and bedridden, leaving Emily to enjoy the cruise without him for a short period of time. She finds romance with another man, Commander Gordon (Percy Marmont, Young and Innocent). Fred recovers and he also finds romance with another woman, a German princess (Betty Amann, Asphalt). She isn’t really a princess as it turns out and is nothing more than a gold digger out to get Fred’s money, and then dump him!

Rich and Strange is a decent film, far from Hitchcock’s best work but certainly enjoyable. The cast does a wonderful job in their roles. Watching the great director use techniques that he would master later in his career is fascinating. I do think Hitchcock fans should give this movie a spin to see his early work.

After a lengthy well over a year wait, Rich and Strange has arrived on Blu-ray. The film has been giving a beautiful new 4K restoration from the British Film Institute (BFI). The image is just flawless, looking perfectly clean with a smooth, polished look to it. Print damages are at a bare minimum with this offering. The picture quality offers rich inky black levels, crisp whites, and a balanced greyscale. The outdoor and indoor scenery so rich details and textures. The film has never looked any better than this Blu-ray release!

The film’s audio for this release, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 comes in clearly. There isn’t much in the way of dialogue, but it sounded fine to me, with some minor age-old anomalies. The musical score by Adolph Hallis comes in clean consistently. English subtitles are offered for this release.

There have been reports of an audio issue that runs around 19 minutes in and goes on roughly for 30-60 seconds. The complaint is you can hear audio from a previous scene in this film, but I’m here to tell you it really isn’t anything that major and did not bother me at all. I only heard it because when I became aware of the issue, I tuned specifically in to hear the background noise. I didn’t think it was a big deal and blended in just fine. Casual viewers might not even notice and think the audio is just background to the current scene. This issue also appears on the DVD release.

The Blu-ray has an audio commentary by film historian Troy Howarth who provides another entertaining, enthusiastic commentary track for the film.

Other extras include Hitchcock/Truffaut : Icon interviews icon, a 5 minute audio interview, an introduction to the film by French actor and writer Noel Simsolo and trailers for Rich and Strange as well as other Alfred Hitchcock films that Kino Lorber has released.

Kino’s Blu-ray of Rich and Strange, with the superb video quality, and extras to me is a recommended release. I wouldn’t let that “audio issue” deter from adding this movie to your collection!

Rich and Strange

Director- Alfred Hitchcock

Cast- Henry Kendall, Joan Barry

Country of Origin- UK

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date –2/8/2022