Out of the Fog (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Anatole LitvakRelease Date(s)
1941 (October 28, 2025)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
Out of the Fog pits innocent working-class people against a small-time racketeer who demands protection money and threatens their property and lives if they don’t pay up.
Loan shark Harold Goff (John Garfield) runs his own private protection racket in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay. He intimidates boat owners to pay for protection or see their boats go up in flames. Chef Olaf Knudsen (John Qualen) and tailor Jonah Goodwin (Thomas Mitchell) are partners in a small fishing boat docked at Sheepshead Bay. Goff forces the men to pay him $5 a week for protection. He even covers himself legally by having them sign a phony promissory note indicating that the money is to repay a large loan from him.
Jonah’s daughter Stella (Ida Lupino) is an unhappy young woman who works as a telephone operator and wants more out of life than a dead-end job and working-class boyfriend George (Eddie Albert). When Goff makes a play for her, she’s cautiously receptive, but his snappy clothes, swagger, and free spending make her think that he’s her way out of dullness and drudgery.
Lupino conveys Stella’s dissatisfaction and desire for excitement. Goff represents that and, even though she becomes aware of his strong-arm tactics to get what he wants, she’s exhilarated by the night life and good times he provides. George no longer interests her.
Garfield, good-looking, confident and self-assured, is perfect casting for the no-good Goff. When he shakes down Jonah and Olaf, Garfield clearly conveys an unstated threat beneath Goff’s smooth business-like words.
The chemistry between Garfield and Lupino is initially tense. Their first meeting has some snappy dialogue as they size each other up. Later, Stella is torn between her father’s warning to steer clear of Goff and Goff’s promise to take her to Cuba. Goff wears confidence like one of his tailored suits, whether soaking frightened people for their hard-earned cash or showing a pretty young woman a good time.
Character actors Mitchell and Qualen nearly steal the picture with their camaraderie. Mitchell is excellent as defiant tailor Jonah with an innate sense of right and wrong whose first impulse is to stand up to Goff and get the police involved. Qualen adopts a quavery Nordic accent as Olaf, a timid soul who looks to Jonah for guidance. Both actors are outstanding and their complementary characters have strong screen rapport.
Adapted from Irwin Shaw’s play The Gentle People, the screenplay by Robert Rossen, Jerry Wald and Richard Macauley is brisk, with some nice touches of humor to balance the melodramatic plot. Lupino’s dialogue crackles when she first meets Goff. Their repartee foreshadows many male-female relationships in film noir. Scenes between Jonah and Stella are touching and authentic, projecting genuine love between father and daughter.
Out of the Fog was shot by director of photography James Wong Howe on 35mm black & white film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Warner Archive brings the film to Blu-ray with a new 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative. Studio-filmed scenes of the Sheepshead Bay waterfront aren’t that convincing, though the fog machines must have done double-duty to create the misty milieu. Clarity is excellent and details well delineated. Production design suggests a working-class neighborhood with a local restaurant, the dock, and Jonah’s modest home the primary locations. Garfield’s attire is tailored while the outfits on the other characters are simple.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an option. Dialogue is clear and distinct. John Qualen speaks with a slight Scandinavian accent. Sound effects include water lapping against Jonah and Olaf’s boat, body pummeling, a face smack, and music from a radio.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- The Heckling Hare (7:26)
- Hollywood Steps Out (7:44)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:44)
The Healing Hare – In this 1941 Technicolor Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery, Bugs Bunny is being hunted by a dim-witted dog that falls victim to every trap Bugs sets for him until they both tumble off a cliff. Voice talent is provided by Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny) and Kent Rogers (the dog).
Hollywood Steps Out – This Merrie Melodies cartoon from 1941 shows celebrities enjoying Hollywood’s night life. Caricatures of movie stars of the period include Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart, Johnny Weissmuller, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert, Norma Shearer, Edward G,. Robinson, George Raft, Harpo Marx, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Judy Garland, and Ann Sheridan. The Technicolor cartoon was directed by Tex Avery.
With its sly humor and Biblical sense of justice, Out of the Fog is an absorbing film, with strong performances by Garfield and Lupino in an engaging tale of extortion among the working poor. Though its stage origins are reflected in a sizable amount of dialogue, director Anatole Litvak moves the action around to avoid visual monotony. With strong hints of noir, it deals with simple people whose lives are threatened by a small-time thug.
- Dennis Seuling