Blu Ray review: Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)

Daniel Mann’s screen version of William Inge’s play continues to maintain its powerful impact in a newly released blu ray from Kino Lorber.

Shirley Booth (best known as TV’s Hazel) reprises her Tony Award winning role into an Academy Award winning performance in her film debut.  Burt Lancaster is cast against type, being a tall handsome man in his late thirties and playing a frumpy, sagging, unkempt middle-ager. Daniel Mann had directed the play on Broadway and was summoned by producer Hal Wallis to make his directorial debut with this film.

The drama is a character study of a middle aged couple at a dead end in life, struggling through each day with no enthusiasm, until a pretty young lady (Terry Moore) moves into their home to rent a room. Having lost their only child years before, the couple look upon the woman as a daughter, but when she takes up with a young man (Richard Jaeckel) it brings out lustful jealousy from Lancaster’s character.

This powerful drama still radiates from the screen with the same impact it had upon its initial release, when it also won awards for Ms. Booth from the Golden Globes, National Board of Review, and the New York Film Critics.

Kino’s blu ray is a 2021 HD Master from Paramount Pictures from 4K scans and contains a commentary track by film historian Scott Harrison.

The blu ray can be ordered at this link:  SHEBA