Jack The Ripper — Jack The Ripper( UHD & Blu Ray)
Jack The Ripper is a late 1950s cinematic adaptation of the infamous Whitechapel Murders of 1888. The black and white film sits somewhere between whodunit, period drama, and hammy mystery, with some nice eerie to tense street-bound shots, and light touches of nudity and violence, with a bloody colour climax. Here from Severin is a double UHD/Blu-ray- taking in European and US versions of the film, both with a new 4k scan, a commentary track, and a few extras.
Jack the Ripper is from the year 1958- it’s a UK production, which got a US release by the infamous distributor/ producer Joseph E. Levine. It was filmed between Shepton studios and the streets of Isleworth. It was jointly directed by London-born Robert S. Baker, and Whitechapel-born Monty Berman. With the screenplay by Jimmy Sangster, who, of course, worked with Hammer, and the film has a proto-Hammer horror feel to it.
The one-hour and twenty-four-minute film opens on the fog-bound streets of Whitechapel, as we see our first female victim exiting a pub, out into the night. As she walks along through the haze, she drops something, reaching down to pick it up- a top-hatted and cloaked figure appears from the street shadows, asking her in a creepy whisper, ‘ Are you Mary Clark?’- before opening his medical case, pulling a glinting knife and stabbing her.
As the film unfolds, we meet the man in charge of the murders Inspt. O’Neil( Eddie Byre), a moody to fiery Irishman. He’s joined by just-in-from-the-US and qiffed-haired NYC cop Sam Lowry(Lee Patterson).
We get a nice selection of characters/ possible murderers- taking hunched back/ scared face/ dumb hospital orderly Louis Benz(Endre Muller), balding and sleazy Music Hall Manager O'Reilly(Philip Leaver), tubby rebel rouser street crim Sims( Denis Shaw), pompous slightly shifting surgeon Dr. Tranter(John Le Mesurier), outspoken/ work focused lead surgeon Sir David Rogers(Ewen Solon), and ward of Dr Tranter/ love interest/ damsel in distress Ann Ford(Betty McDowall).
The film's action largely moves from the police station officers, the gated hospital Tranter & Rogers work in, the smoky & brash music hall, and of course, the streets of Whitechapel, which move between being thick fog-bound & shadowy.
The figure of Jack himself is eerily or tensely portrayed- either slowly stalking his victims through narrow streets, or suddenly appearing from out of the shadows in his top hat and cloak. With the low whisper nicely adding another chilling edge to the proceedings.
The investigation itself is fine, though yank cop Patterson doesn’t add much to the sleuthing. Clearly, he’s here to appeal/ satisfy the stateside audience, and to be honest, he’s not a great actor- seemingly just been eye candy/ love interest, and his quiff is clearly not of the time.
The rest of the cast is largely fine, and the reveal of who the killer was did surprise me, with it being nicely tied into why he never got caught.
As for the violence and nudity side of things, the killings themselves largely show Jack grabbing/ pushing his victim down, knife appearing, killing off screen- though I guess for the late 50’s this was quite risky. The nudity side is certainly more pronounced- in one particular dressing room set scene, we see multiple topless women.
I’d say Jack The Ripper, is a good but not great addition to Ripper cinema- yes, it has its creepy/eerie moments, and the mystery of it all is compelling enough. I just wish there had been fewer office-based/ talky moments, the killings had been a touch more intense, and it had stuck to the true/ original story more, as the victims are not those of the real-life killer.
This dual UHD and Blu-ray release includes two versions of the film. European and U.S. versions both have the same runtime of eighty-five minutes, with the only difference, I believe, being that the US version has new credits and a different score. I only watched the euro version. Both feature a new 4k scan, and this looks nice and crisp in its black and white colourings.
On the extras side, I was initially unsure what is new/ what is brought over from a old release- so as far as I can gather the only two new things here are- The Reel Jack The Ripper (10.42) interview with Denis Meikle, Author Of Jack The Ripper: The Murders And The Movies. He moves from talking about film adaptation before this film of the Ripper story, onto discussing Jimmy Sangster's script for the film/its influences. We find out the film started filming in the autumn of 1958, exactly fifty years after the murders, largely being shot on the standing sets in Shepton studios, with a cost of fifty thousand pounds. He talks about the three different versions of the film- the original UK version, the European version with nudity, and the US version. We find out that when it was shown in the US, it made two million dollars at the box office. The other new extra is Choice Cuts: The Two Faces Of Jack The Ripper (14.42) Interview with Alain Petit, Ripperologist Extraordinaire- this is in French with English subtitles.
On the archive side, we get a 2005 commentary with Co-Director/Co-Producer/Co-Cinematographer Robert S. Baker, Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster And Assistant Director Peter Manley, Moderated By British Horror Historian Marcus Hearn. And Gentleman Jack – The Whitechapel Murders Revisited( 13.33), a 2017 interview with one of the key guides of London’s Jack The Ripper tours.
Having never seen this take/ version of the infamous crimes of Whitechapel 1888, it was certainly great to see Severin reissuing it. With the crisp and clean new 4k scan, and a decent selection of extras.