Because I was in my early 20s at the time, I remember 1990's Narrow Margin. Because I was negative 15 at the time, I never enjoyed awareness of 1952's The Narrow Margin, the film the 1990 edition remade.

Not until a 2026 Blu-ray for the 1952 Margin showed up on my door! Given I only saw the 1990 version, I felt curious to watch the original.

After mobster Frankie Neall dies, his widow (Marie Windsor) agrees to testify in court against criminal bigwigs. This requires her to travel a long distance by train.

Unsurprisingly, the gangsters want to prevent Frankie from spilling various beans. On the journey, Det. Sgt. Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) endeavors to keep her safe from potential assassins on board with them.

At the start, I implied that I would compare/contrast the 1952 and 1990 versions of Margin. Alas, I don't believe I've seen the 1990 flick in 35 years and maintain such a faint memory of it that such a discussion becomes impossible.

Maybe that's a good thing, as it can be tough to objectively view an older movie when one knows the newer take well. This allowed me to go into the 1952 Margin with an unbiased POV.

Perhaps I should watch the 1990 movie so I can see how it updated the tale. I find myself especially interested because the 1952 Margin offers a pretty lively little affair.

At a mere 72 minutes, Margin comes without an ounce of flab. Director Richard Fleischer cranks the story along at a nice clip and makes sure that we stay involved from start to finish.

Margin clearly takes Hitchcock as an influence. While not a blatant ripoff of that filmmaker, the movie definitely leans that way.

We get a mix of threats and colorful secondary characters as well as a lively mix of tension and dark humor. Heck, a portly train passenger who butts heads with Det. Sgt. Brown even bears a probably not coincidental resemblance to Hitchcock.

In some hands, this faux Hitchcock could seem contrived and derivative, but Fleischer manages to give Margin enough of his own stamp to avoid copycat status. Margin leans more film noir than we’d expect from Hitchcock, especially in the depiction of Brown and Mrs. Neall.

Both interact in the sassy manner typical of the noir genre. We also get dialogue delivered at such a rapid clip that many viewers will want to activate subtitles to catch it all.

Maybe I can see if the 1990 version matches up to this one, but I suspect it won’t. The 1952 Margin becomes a tight and vivid thriller.

The Narrow Margin appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a typically solid Warner Archive transfer.

Sharpness usually looked tight and concise, as only a few instances of softness marred the presentation. These didn’t distract since most of the film appeared well-defined.

Jagged edges and shimmering remained absent, and no edge haloes appeared. The movie also lacked any print flaws.

Blacks looked deep and rich, while shadow detail was smooth as well. I felt happy with this quality presentation.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, it seemed suitable for its age. Speech was a little tinny at times, but the dialogue remained easily intelligible and I noticed no edginess or other problems.

Effects also showed good delineation, as they brought perfectly decent replication. These elements were reasonably clean and full, and they lacked any noticeable flaws.

Margin lacked a score and only came with sporadic instances of stock music. Nothing here dazzled, but the audio satisfied.

As we shift to extras, we locate an audio commentary from filmmaker William Friedkin with audio excerpts from Margin director Richard Fleischer. Across Friedkin’s running, screen-specific track, he talks about the film noir genre as well as this movie’s story/characters and cast/crew.

Don’t expect much from those Fleischer clips, as he appears infrequently. I doubt we get more than five minutes of content from the director and the remarks don’t bring lots of insight.

Neither does Friedkin, as he delivers some basics about Margin’s genre and those involved but he doesn’t shed a lot of real light. Add to that his tendency to whine about how “movies these days” can’t hold a candle to older flicks and this becomes a somewhat tedious track.

Along with the film’s trailer, we find two shorts. We locate So You Never Tell a Lie (10:52) and The Super Snooper (7:11).

Part of the “Joe McDoakes” series, Lie follows the clumsy misadventures of McDoakes (George O'Hanlon, later famous as the voice of George Jetson). Joe schemes to get a watch for his wife and needs to endure a bunch of cover-ups and misunderstandings.

The McDoakes reels tend to be up and down, and this one follows suit. It comes with some laughs but it endures so many cheap sexist clichés that it loses points.

With Snooper, we get a Daffy Duck film noir parody in which he investigates a murder. It provides a good genre spoof.

A tight thriller in the Hitchcock vein, The Narrow Margin delivers an engaging affair. It crackles and keeps us invested from start the finish. The Blu-ray comes with solid visuals, age-appropriate audio and a smattering of supplements. This becomes a strong effort.