The Citadel Blu-ray Review

The Citadel’s video presentation benefits from a brand-new HD master sourced from 4K scans of the best available preservation elements, yielding a notably clean 1080p/AVC MPEG‑4 encode in the film’s original 1.37:1 framing. Grayscale is impressively rendered, with rich, stable blacks, crisp whites, and finely stepped midtones that produce a natural sense of depth. The intact, unobtrusive grain structure preserves the film-like texture and the integrity of Harry Stradling Jr.’s cinematography, while shadow delineation is strong, lending clarity to nocturnal passages and the sootier mine interiors. Fine detail in faces, fabrics, and background architecture is consistently distinct, and visible print damage is effectively neutralized.

There is occasional, source-related softness that never undermines overall sharpness, and a brief instance of missing frames (one or two) appears mid-to-late in the feature—momentarily noticeable but discreetly handled. Otherwise, stability is high, contrast remains balanced, and the image holds together well across bright and low-light scenes, with close-ups retaining pleasing texture and dimensionality. Authoring is clean, and the feature is divided into 26 chapters. Overall, this transfer represents a significant restoration lift for the title, offering a refined, film-faithful presentation that maximizes the strengths of the 4K-scanned elements within the 1080p format.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono presentation is clean, well-modulated, and impressively full for a period track. Dialogue is consistently prioritized and easily intelligible, riding a stable center with no sibilance or congestion. Louis Levy’s score exhibits excellent fidelity, scaling confidently to room-filling levels without strain, while bass extension—within the constraints of a mono mix—adds palpable weight to set pieces. Sonic accents, from train whistles to the delicate tick of a clock, register with crisp precision, preserving transient detail and maintaining strong separation within the mono field.

Effects-heavy passages retain composure and impact: explosions in the sewer and the rumblings in the mine arrive with convincing low-end presence and controlled decay, free of muddiness. The noise floor remains admirably low, with no intrusive hiss, pops, crackle, or flutter, and the track shows no age-related distortion or warble. Overall balance among dialogue, music, and effects is thoughtfully engineered, yielding an authentic, period-appropriate experience that feels lively, textured, and artifact-free while respecting the film’s original mono intent.

A compact, well-curated extras suite balances historical value with variety. Two 1938 one-reelers—both directed by Jacques Tourneur—arrive in SD and hold contextual interest, while a crisp HD Looney Tunes short adds levity and early-series significance. The original SD trailer rounds out the package. Runtimes align with archival sources, and transfers are clean for their age, with the cartoon receiving the sharpest presentation.

Extras included in this disc:

• The Ship That Died: SD, ~10 min (1938). Tourneur “historical mystery” speculating on the Mary Celeste.
• Strange Glory: SD, ~11 min (1938). Tourneur short on the Civil War’s Tennessee Plan; includes a Byron Foulger bit.
• The Daffy Doc: HD, ~7 min (1938). B&W Looney Tunes; Porky stars, early standout turn for Daffy.
• Theatrical Trailer: SD, ~5 min. Lengthy original preview.

Adapted in 1938 from A.J. Cronin’s National Book Award–winning novel, The Citadel charts Dr. Andrew Manson’s arc from rigorous idealism to corrosive materialism and back, using a Welsh coal-mining community—and later London society—as clinical case studies in medical ethics. Early passages are vivid and propulsive: Manson confronts measles, typhoid, and a stillbirth revival while probing the health dangers of coal dust, running afoul of miners, quacks, and bureaucrats. King Vidor’s Oscar-nominated direction delivers harrowing set pieces—a descent into an unstable mine, tense board hearings that jeopardize Manson’s license, and a fraught operation on his colleague Dr. Philip Denny—anchoring the film’s critique of profit-driven practice with procedural rigor. The episodic structure both clarifies the professional fault lines and saps momentum once Manson succumbs to London’s hypochondriac elite, though the film’s moral recalibration remains sharply observed.

Performances are uniformly strong and carefully modulated. Robert Donat’s nuanced turn captures a principled physician seduced by status, earning an Academy Award nomination; Rosalind Russell, playing against her later screwball profile, gives Christine a steadying intelligence and emotional ballast. Ralph Richardson’s Denny is incisive and combustible; Rex Harrison deftly embodies the seductive ease of fashionable medicine. Produced by MGM in partnership with Denham Studios, the film retains a distinct British sensibility and was a major commercial success, taking in roughly $2.5 million and earning four Academy Award nominations (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay). Its impact extended beyond cinema, with Cronin’s exposé frequently cited as influential in the evolution of Britain’s National Health Service. A studio disclaimer foregrounds respect for medicine, yet the film’s candid portrait of misconduct and institutional complacency feels strikingly contemporary, balancing censure with genuine admiration for clinicians who uphold the vocation’s core obligations.

Enduring both as a prestige drama and an incisive look at medical ethics, The Citadel remains potent decades on. King Vidor’s direction keeps the narrative lean and urgent, while Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell anchor the film with nuanced, empathetic performances that underscore its still-relevant critique of professional compromise. The film’s historical stature—nominated for four 1938 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor—aligns with its continued resonance and accessibility.

The Blu-ray presentation is thoughtfully executed. Sourced from a 4K scan of the best surviving preservation elements, the image exhibits strong detail, stable grain, and convincing grayscale, yielding a clean, film-like presentation without over-processing. Remastered audio delivers clear dialogue, balanced dynamics, and low noise, supporting the dramatic intensity without distortion. A small but welcome selection of vintage supplements contextualizes the production and era. Taken together, this disc offers an attractive facelift and a respectful archival treatment, making it a fitting addition for classic cinema collections.