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Rainbow Jacket (The) (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (4th August 2025). |
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The Film
 Robert Morley (Hammer Films’ The Old Dark House), Kay Walsh (David Lean’s Oliver Twist), Bill Owen (The Ship That Died of Shame), and Honor Blackman (Jason and the Argonauts) lead the cast of The Rainbow Jacket, a thrilling exposé of the horse racing world from Ealing Studios. Disgraced champion jockey Sam (Owen) takes eager young racing enthusiast Georgie (Fella Edmonds) under his wing. As Georgie’s talent becomes evident, Sam sees a chance of redemption... if he can resist temptation. From the celebrated director-producer team of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph (The Gentle Gunman, Saraband for Dead Lovers), and scripted by T E B Clarke (Passport to Pimlico, The Blue Lamp), The Rainbow Jacket is a thrilling tale of ambition and integrity.
Video
A fairly routine sporting melodrama with a top notch cast and a luscious Techicolor look, one of the last films made by Ealing using the process. From the booklet: The Rainbow Jacket was sourced from Studiocanal’s HD remaster. The film’s original mono soundtrack was remastered at the same time. Although the best available three-strip Technicolor film elements were used in Network's HD remaster, varying degrees of warping and shrinkage in each of the 35mm YCM (yellow, cyan, and magenta) colour separation masters have given rise to some slight but evident colour registration issues throughout the presentation. Young Veteran was supplied in HD by the Imperial War Museum.When set against Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) which also used Technicolor but seems to have had flaws corrected The Rainbow Jacket (1954) looks as stylised but the warping issues mentioned above show their hand with some incredibly mild reddish tinting in skies (and in whites) with some very mild pulsing; checkout the scene with Bill Owen and Fella Edmonds watching a race at 14:21 to 15:09: The sky at the top of the frame. Generally however everything looks wonderful with a richer quality still evident when sat next to Studiocanal's master for Out of the Clouds (also 1954) but shot using Eastman Color, which was a cheaper single negative format (Techicolor had three see the booklet note on restoration). This being a more naturalistic film than Saraband for Dead Lovers with more everyday, prosaic locations and interiors the overall effect although just as stylised when set against reality, looks much more natural. It also has a cooler general look. Black levels and contrast are as well managed as other films of the era with good underlying film elements with plenty of shadow detail, highlights etc. Detail is strong on all focal planes and near constant grain is beautifully handled by the encode. I noticed no damage nor any digital messing about; as filmic an image as I've seen. This is another film (like Out of the Clouds) released at a time when widescreen was coming in force so I'd have though .the Rainbow Jacket would've been designed to have been matted to between 1.66:1 up to 1.85:1 but IMDB lists the aspect ratio as 1.37:1, as we have here. Out of the Clouds made just after this is listed as 1.66:1. Another strong transfer despite the Techicolor mumps ('A-'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.37:1 / 101:38
Audio
English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English HoH My comments for Out of the .clouds apply here: Sound is solid and professional with clear representation of dialogue, mild analogue hiss at higher volumes and score and effects know their place with the greatest presence in ambiance and big crescendoes respectively. Hard of hearing subtiles are comprehensive ('B+').
Extras
"Sweet Redemption: James Dearden Introduces The Rainbow Jacket" 2025 interview (9:01) "Racing at Ealing: The Making of The Rainbow Jacket" 2021 featurette (12:24) "Jockey of the Jacket" 2021 interview with Fella Edmonds (20:47) All three featurettes are presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) with no subtitle options. In a new interview produced for this disc, Dearden does his usual introduction that covers his dad's involvement and plenty of trivia about the film. We then have two legacy featurettes ported over from the UK Network BD from 2021. The first features interviews with2nd assistant director Christopher Barry (1925-2014), focus pullers Neil Binney & Herbert Smith, Ealing Studios staffer Michael Burkett, producer's secretaries Kay Atkinson & Marcia Dawes, dubbing mixer Rex Hipple (died 2016), publicity secretary Yvonne Homan (1928-2018) and draughtsman Tony Rimmington (1928-2014). All of whom share their memories of The Rainbow Jacket. The final piece is an interview with actor and former child star Edmonds who gives us the lowdown on the making of the film from his perspective. Theatrical Trailer (3:02) Vintage promo presented in 1080p24 1.37:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, The Rainbow Jacket Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (117 images) The Rainbow Jacket Image Gallery: Behind the Scenes (71 images) The Rainbow Jacket Image Gallery: Dialogue Continuity Script (98 images) 286 images. Let that sink in; a very substantial HD still gallery <>"Young Veteran" 1940 short film (23:19) Vintage short film restored by the Imperial War Museum and presented in B&W 1080p24 1.37:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) with optional English Hard of Hearing subtitles. Produced at Ealing by director Alberto Cavalcanti and assisted by Basil Dearden. Plenty of speckles but is otherwise well encoded and restored. A crisp, pure monochrome image with no colour bias. A propaganda short that showcases new military recruits in the early months of WWII. 36-page liner notes booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival profiles of Honor Blackman, Bill Owen, and Fella Edmonds, an archival production report, extracts from the film’s pressbook, and full film credits You know the score, a chunky hardcopy companion to the film.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
Another gem from the Ealing back catalogue that uses the 2021 Network master and even ports over its extras. The image is as good as be with some Techincolor mumps still in evidence that restoration couldn't eliminate but we still have a fine image. Sound is also as good as we can expect for a mono track from 1954. Extras are engrossing and choice; highly recommended ('A-').
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