The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1958) {Liberation Hall DVD Review}

Reviewed by Jason Lockard

Liberation Hall have been releasing classic TV plays on DVD. They released The Paul Newman Trilogy, The Power and The Glory and Harvey.

Now it's time for the next classic TV production that is getting its home video release. On January 21, 1958 The Bridge of San Luis Rey adapted from Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize winning novel.

A friar is tried by the Inquisition for questioning God's intentions when five die in the collapse of an Andean bridge. In early 18th century Peru (1714), an old Inca rope bridge over a gorge in the Andes, collapses, plunging five travelers to their deaths. Brother Juniper, who was within minutes of being on the bridge himself, becomes obsessed with discovering how five people of differing class and circumstances came to be on the bridge at that moment. The Catholic friar wants to know if it was mere existential happenstance or part of God's cosmic plan. After researching the lives of the victims for five years and publishing his findings in a book, he is accused of heresy by the worldly Archbishop of Lima and put on trial for his life by the Inquisition.

While this is a TV production in my humble opinion I feel this is a great adaption of this novel. Robert Mulligan directs this TV production just a few short years before he would direct the great film To Kill A Mockingbird. As for the performers, it is so cool to see the great Hume Cronyn as a young actor and I loved seeing Judith Anderson whom I remember from one of my favorite Edward G. Robinson films The Red House.

On this DVD release the production runs 1 hour and 28 minutes. However it is good to note that, this runtime includes the classic TV commercials that have not been removed from this production.

The film has been transferred in it's original full screen format in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The audio is a Dolby Digital 2.0. Now looking at this production it is not crystal clear. But you have to remember these TV broadcast only survive on a kinescope. We are lucky they survive at all! So to me being able to see this production is almost a miracle.

If you are a fan of early TV, or Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey this DVD is going to be one you are gonna want to add your collection head over to Amazon.com


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