Only after their numbers dwindle to eight to the remaining members of the group realize that none of them are expected to survive the weekend. However, the wonderfully witty screenplay is filled with humor that alleviates the tension, but never breaks the mood of the film. Director Ren Clair also uses a sly visual style to lighten the darker aspects of the story. The black and white film element has a number of markings, yet it isn't bad for a movie from 1945 that wasn't maintained by a major studio. However, the black and white transfer seems to be a few years old and doesn't show off the DVD format to its best advantage.
Blacks are pretty faithful, and the picture offers fairly consistent level of contrast.
The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is always intelligible, however a bit of age related noise creeps up here and there. Interactive menus are fairly basic, yet offer the standard scene selection feature, plus cast biographies. VCI is a newcomer to the DVD arena and seems to be interested in giving consumers some bang for the buck. However, there is room for improvement. The listing is only available through the interactive menus.