Review By: Rob Sibley
Twilight Time is becoming one of my favorite labels. They continue to release everything from Peckinpah classics to Bruce Campbell B-movie shlock fests and even the classics. "The Eddy Duchin Story" starring two legends of the silver screen, Tryone Power & Kim Novak. With such legends as the great James Whitmore in supporting roles.
I personally felt ashamed that I never saw this film because it's that good. I consider myself a huge Tyrone Power fan. Even in films with weak screenplays his performances were always top notch. He never pay-checked it even when he was in a turkey. Then we have Kim Novak another legend. A woman who starred in two of my favorite films of all time. "Man with the golden arm" the grim Sinatra classic and Hitchcock's Vertigo (My personal favorite).
The director George Sidney is one of my all time favorites of classic Hollywood cinema. If you don't know his name you've seen his work. To list all the classics he did would take a life time. But let's name a few of my favorites. "The Three Musketeers" the Gene Kelly classic. Annie Get Your Gone, Show Boat (a fav). Not to mention the amazing Dick Van Dyke classic "Bye Bye Birdie". Even his film "The Swinger" with Ann-Margret is a guilty pleasure and a film way ahead of it's time.
Now what's about "Eddy Duchin"? Well it's not a hard sell, no need to sell this. One of the few good quotes that float around from Troma "The movies sell themselves". Hopefully this will be the case with this gem. It tells the story of Eddy, a Boston townie who travels to the big apple to pursue his dreams of being a pianist. In a classic bit of movie magic Eddy runs into a wealthy gal Marjorie Oelrichs (Kim Novak) who helps him with his career.
We then cut to two years later... I really can't say anymore. Even the IMDB plot synopsis spoils the entire film. But it's a gem. It's a funny, touching, heart warming and heart breaking all at the same time. You get to watch Eddy through his life, from his humble beginnings to becoming a WWII vet, to hating his son (for interesting reasons). You watch the man's life unfold before your life.
The film is certainly a tear jerker. It's not an action film, or a crime drama or anything like that. If you dig the classics or dig films like Love Story then this is the proper film for you. It's a film that deserves to be seen by everyone!
NOTE: The screen captures were taken from an old DVD release, currently my comp isn't letting me take screen captures from the actual Twilight Time Blu-ray which is perfect.
Twilight Time brings Eddy Duchin to Blu-ray for the first time and the results are nothing short of spectacular. The film is presented in it's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio in glorious widescreen. The film was shot in CinemaScope by a master D.P. and director so the results are mind blowing. I would say out of all the Twilight Time releases, this is by far the best in terms of picture quality. The image is sharp, contrast on skin tones is spot on. The black levels and charming warm cinematography. Manhattan never looked so good.
The audio doesn't disapoint either, we are treated to a 2.0 DTS-HD track. It's crisp clear and probably as the director would like you to hear it in the comfort of your home.
Extra's are skimp but good. As per usual with T.T. you get an isolated track of the music and sound FX. I'd usually complain but this is a film that warrants an isolated track. So much time was put into the sound design that I very much recommend you watch the film the second time with just the Isolated track on so you can fully appreciate the splendor this film has to offer you.
Also included is the films theatrical trailer and English subtitles.
This is one of the few MUST BUY'S. The release is limited to three thousand copies, so snatch up your own hard copy before they are gone!
No comments:
Post a Comment