Based on the short story “Love Lies Bleeding” by playwright John Patrick, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a film noir drama from 1946 that features the great acting talents of screen legends Van Heflin, Barbara Stanwyck, Lizabeth Scott, and the iconic Kirk Douglas, who made his film debut with this very picture.
The story starts out with two teenagers, Martha Ivers (Janis Wilson, Now Voyager, Watch on the Rhine) and Sam Masterson (Darryl Hickman, Leave Her to Heaven, Alias Nick Beal) are caught running away from the city of Iverstown, Pennsylvania. Martha cannot stand her wealthy, suffocating, controlling and incredibly snobbish aunt (Judith Anderson, Rebecca, Laura, Edge of Darkness) and decided to run away from home with Sam. Back at home, and utterly miserable, young Martha winds up murdering her aunt because she was attacking her pet kitten with a cane. Martha’s friend Walter O’Neil, Jr. (Mickey Kuhn, Red River, Broken Arrow) is a witness, but did Sam also see the murder?
Seventeen years later, by pure chance, Sam Masterson, now a former soldier and currently a drifter who gambles (Ven Heflin, Possessed, Shane, Johnny Eager), ends up back in Iverstown as his car broke down and must wait for it to be fixed. While in Iverstown, he meets Antonia “Toni” Maracheck (Lizabeth Scott, Pitfall, Dead Reckoning, Paid in Full), who was just released from prison and is on probation. She winds up getting arrested again shortly after just being released! Not wanting to serve anymore jail time, she is blackmailed by Walter O’Neil (Kirk Douglas, Out of the Past, Tough Guys, Ace in the Hole), now the city’s district attorney. Walter is worried about Sam being back in town and might spill the beans about the murder of Martha’s aunt, so he uses her as a pawn to get Sam out of town. But Sam doesn’t back down, and ultimately, he, Martha and Walter have a dramatic showdown about the secrets shared on that faithful evening seventeen years ago.
I am a huge fan of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. The acting is phenomenal, with fluid direction by Lewis Milestone and is a film loaded with atmosphere. One of my favorite parts is the beginning of the film which takes place during a thunderstorm. That scene alone should hook those that haven’t had the opportunity to watch this movie. The movie has several subplots, including one with Martha who we learn is unhappily married to Walter, as she doesn’t love him, and wants Sam! Then there’s Toni with her being released from jail and just wants to lead a normal life with Sam, who is torn between her and Martha. Barbara Stanwyck as the cunning, manipulative Martha Ivers is one of her most powerful parts. I can easily say that that The Strange Love of Martha Ivers and Double Indemnity are two of her best roles. Van Heflin has a meaty part as Sam Masterson and has several subplots to deal with. Kirk Douglas debut as the often-drunk Walter O’Neil was the first of many, many superior performances by the great actor. Lizabeth Scott was also excellent in this film as the victim, a role that she excelled at!
Kino Lorber has released The Strange Love of Martha Ivers on Blu-ray and beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is the best-looking HD release that I’ve ever seen for this film. Given a 4K scan, the picture has an ultra-clean image, looking as polished as I’ve ever seen. Blacks are inky and bold with crisp whites to go with a balanced greyscale. Details to the characters and scenery are just fantastic, with the boost in contrast helping to add to the clarity of the image. Kino’s Blu-ray absolutely bests the other Blu-ray releases from other companies by a wide margin. I did not see any print damage defects to the picture, such as vertical lines and speckles. Even though the movie is public domain, Paramount has the best film elements, as even their DVD was much more attractive than the previous Blu-rays. This release from Kino more than makes up for those previous subpar Blu-ray releases!
For their Blu-ray, Kino uses a DTS Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack, which is also clean without any issues or defects like hissing or popping songs. The dialogue is easy to follow; the excellent musical soundtrack by Miklos Rozsa and other action noises such as fistfights and gunshots are perfectly balanced with nothing really coming in all that aggressive. No complaints whatsoever! English subtitles are available for this release.
Extras include a commentary track with Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode where he discusses the film and shares a few tales about the making of this film.
Trailers for other Kino Lorber releases including The Turning Point, All I Desire, Witness to Murder, There’s Always Tomorrow, Lonely Are the Brave, Desert Fury and The General Died at Dawn round out the extras.
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers now has a definitive Blu-ray release in the United States and is something we as collectors should be thankful for. We can thank Kino Lorber for finally giving this great film the treatment that it so richly deserves with top-of-the-line audio and video, plus a commentary track to boot. Very highly recommended!
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Director- Lewis Milestone
Cast- Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas
Country of Origin- USA
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –9/23/2022