Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

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General		Extras
Category	Romance	Main Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Blake Edwards Interviews-Cast-Jack Lemmon Theatrical Trailer-2
Rating
Year Of Production	1962
Running Time	112:30
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (43:04)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Blake Edwards
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Jack Lemmon Lee Remick Charles Bickford Jack Klugman Alan Hewitt Tom Palmer Debbie Megowan Maxine Stuart Jack Albertson Ken Lynch
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	Henry Mancini

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English French Spanish Dutch Portuguese Croatian Slovenian Hungarian Danish Icelandic Swedish Czech Greek Romanian Arabic English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    A few years ago Warner conducted an online poll in the US to decide on 5 classic films to be released on DVD. Days of Wine and Roses obviously has many fans because it was one of the films voted to be released.

    Joe Clark is an unhappy Public Relations man whose job appears to be more focused on pleasing his clients and their associates than actually providing spin doctoring for their companies. As the film opens we find Joe organising the procurement of female companions for a party of one of his wealthy clients. Whilst making his way to the yacht where this party will take place we find Joe surrounded by these ladies on a small run-about boat. Also on board is Kirsten, the secretary of his client, whom Joe mistakes for one of the escorts. Despite a rough beginning they begin a relationship and whilst on their first date Joe convinces Kirsten, who has been a teetotaller, to try a Brandy Alexander cocktail. She discovers that she not only enjoys the taste but also the way it makes her feel.

    As their relationship intensifies, so does the drinking. They marry and have a child. The film then charts their descent to rock bottom and the effect that alcohol dependence has on their relationship, personal lives, work lives and so on. Once reaching rock bottom Joe is determined to mend his ways. Kirsten however is in denial that she even has a problem. I won't give away any more of the story except to say that this film really rings true with its subject matter so don't expect some happy ending where everything gets tied together nicely at the conclusion of the film. Alcoholism is never that simple in life and this film never tries to pretend it is.

    This film contains stellar performances by Jack Lemmon as Joe and Lee Remick as Kirsten and they both received well deserved Oscar nominations for their efforts. This was obviously a film that resonated very personally with Jack Lemmon. In one of the most memorable moments on the show Inside the Actor's Studio, hosted by James Lipton, Lemmon admitted publicly for the first time when discussing this film that he himself was an alcoholic. Charles Bickford as Kirsten’s stern father and Jack Klugman as Joes’s AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) buddy reprise the roles they first established in the live television version of this film and both do a fine job as their respective characters, although Jack Klugman’s character occasionally comes across a little as a talking brochure for AA.

    John Frankenheimer was originally considered to direct the film but ultimately that task was given to Blake Edwards. Edwards is often better known for his light comedies such as The Pink Panther films and Breakfast at Tiffany’s which he directed the year before. It was partly for his abilities as a comedy director that he was given the director's reins on this film. Despite the serious subject matter, Edwards deftly injects comic moments very successfully into the film.

    The original music is provided by legendary film composer Henry Mancini and while the score may not be as instantly recognisable as some of his other work it is nonetheless notable and adds wonderfully to overall effect and atmosphere to the film.

    Despite the age of this film (it was released in 1962), this is still powerful and often disturbing viewing. While watching it I felt it was sometimes a little heavy-handed with its morals but it still holds up fairly well today. The direction by Blake Edwards is very good and the acting performances are universally excellent. I can highly recommend Days of Wine and Roses.

Video

    Warner has given us a gorgeous black and white transfer. As a fan of classic cinema I have many black and white films in my collection and this is definitely one of the better ones I have seen. This is how black and white movies should look on DVD.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 which is very close to the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    The image is generally sharp and nicely detailed throughout while still retaining a wonderfully smooth film-like appearance. Shadow detail is excellent throughout. Some film grain is present but this seemed to fit in nicely with the feel of the film. There is no low level noise and no edge enhancement.

    Being black and white there is no colour but the grey scale is excellent, displaying a superb range of tones all the way from bright whites to silky blacks.

    The film print is quite clean with only the occasional white specks and flecks of dirt noticed but I never found these distracting.

    The transfer is free of aliasing and MPEG artefacts.

    There are 16 subtitle streams on this DVD. I sampled the English subtitles which are white and easy to read. The subtitles match up virtually word for word with the dialogue on the screen.

    The transfer is presented on a dual-layered disc with RSDL formatting. The layer change occurs at 43:04. This occurs at a cut in a scene when an elevator door closes and then the next shot after the layer change is in the elevator. This should go past little noticed by most viewers.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The soundtrack is provided in Dolby Digital 1.0 mono at 192Kb/s which is appropriate for a film of this age and was really quite good and one of the better mono soundtracks I’ve listened to.

    Dialogue was always clear and easy to understand. There was no noticeable issues with the audio sync.

    The original music of Henry Mancini is mixed flawlessly into the soundtrack and while subtle adds wonderfully to the overall effect and atmosphere of the film.

    Since this is a mono soundtrack the surrounds were never used, nor was the subwoofer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    A small but interesting collection of extras is provided, the best one being the informative audio commentary by director Blake Edwards.

Menu

    The main menu is a static image with the theme song from the film playing and is 16x9 enhanced. There is a scene selection menu to access the 27 chapters, a menu to choose audio and subtitle options and a Special Features Menu.

Commentary: Blake Edwards (Director)

    This audio commentary is a little dry and has regular gaps but does contain quite a bit of interesting information about the making of the film. Edwards is always very frank in his discussions which includes talk about his and Jack Lemmon’s own battles with alcoholism. Well worth a listen.

Interview: Jack Lemmon (5:06)

    This is an unusual vintage interview with Jack Lemmon where the left of the screen shows Jack Lemmon on a telephone answering unheard questions while the right of the screen is completely black, presumably so local television stations could insert their own “interviewer” onto the screen. This style of promotional interview must have been popular at the time as similar “interviews” are included on the Dr Strangelove DVD. Presented at an aspect ratio of 1:33, this is not 16x9 enhanced.

Theatrical Trailer #1 (3:24)

    Presented in Black and White this is a fairly typical trailer of the day. It includes an appeal at the end by Jack Lemmon for people to come and see the film. It is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

Theatrical Trailer #2 (0:42)

    Presented in Black and White this is essentially a shortened version of the first trailer. It is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The Region 4 and Region 1 releases appear to be identical except for the PAL and NTSC formatting respectively. Our version also contains a Spanish dub and more subtitle options.

    Despite its age, Days of Wine and Roses remains a powerful film that can still pack a punch. Extraordinary acting performances from Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick combined with deft direction from Blake Edwards make this a film well worth seeking out.

    The Black and White video transfer is simply gorgeous.

    The soundtrack is mono only but a pretty good one.

    A small but interesting package of extras rounds out this worthwhile release. Highly Recommended.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall