The Strange Woman Blu-ray review
Oct 26, 2025- Permalink
Film Masters presents The Strange Woman on Blu-ray in a limited edition version as part of its Archive Collection. The 1946 historical melodrama was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and stars Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, and Louis Hayward. Lamarr plays Jenny Hager, a woman who’s as evil and manipulative as she is beautiful. Set in the 1800s, Hager sees nothing wrong using men to achieve her goals of wealth and security even if lives are lost or ruined along the way. Think of it as a Civil War noir. Thanks to Allied Vaughn Entertainment for making this review possible.
The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The restoration of this film looks excellent. It’s a public domain film and has been around online and on various DVDs for years, but here the print has been cleaned up and any old film damage is practically non-existent. The detail and clarity is stunning, from the fabrics and set pieces to the facial features or a glint of light off a wine glass. There’s very little film grain present, except intermittently partway through the film, which suggests that DNR was used but it’s done with a light hand so I find the people never appear waxy.
On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack and a commentary track by Professor Bernard M. Prokop. Subtitles are available for English SDH and there’s also a commentary subtitle track. Once again, Film Masters does an excellent job with the soundtrack. Dialogue is clear and the score by Carmen Dragon sounds good too on a soundtrack absent of his and crackle.
The Blu-ray of The Strange Woman, as mentioned, comes with a commentary track by Bernard M. Prokop, who is also the author of the booklet that is found in the case. The booklet delves into the moral character of Jenny as well as the history of Hedy Lamarr. Besides the commentary and booklet, the disc contains no other extras.
In The Strange Woman, Hedy Lamarr gives us an amazing character portrayal as Jenny Hager. This Film Masters Archive Collection Limited edition provides us with a great audio and video restoration and an informative booklet and is a worthy addition to your library.