Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

A Woman for All Men Blu-ray Movie Review

Make Room for Daddy's New Bride

Reviewed by Michael Reuben March 23, 2015

For an introduction to director Arthur Marks, please see the review of The Roommates, which is the first half of this double-feature Blu-ray from Gorgon Video.

Marks's 1975 release, A Woman for All Men, is a cut above even his own work in the exploitation field, for several reasons. One reason is the script by Robert Blees (Magnificent Obsesssion), a member of the Writers Guild with substantial credits in both film and television. Blees's script has a sufficiently coherent structure that one could easily envision a successful remake of the film, with appropriate adjustments for a different era. The underlying themes and motivations are timeless. A second reason is the quality of the cast. The two male leads were played by veteran character actor Keenan Wynn and by Andrew Robinson, who had recently gained attention as the Scorpio Killer in Dirty Harry; he would later achieve permanent cult fame as "Garak" on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. A third male character was played by Alex Rocco (The Godfather and Get Shorty), whom Marks has said is his favorite actor. These three performers significantly upped the dramatic ante in a feature that was otherwise primarily about sex and nudity.

But Marks was lucky in that department as well. For the woman of the title, he cast Judy Brown, who not only performed her many nude scenes with an apparent lack of self-consciousness, but also brought a kind of femme fatale intensity to the role that gave the film an unexpected weight. A Woman for All Men is trash, but it's surprisingly interesting, in a kitschy way. It was a good choice for the second half of Gorgon's double bill.

The two sons of self-made construction magnate Walter McCoy (Wynn), Paul (Peter Hooten) and Steve (Robinson), have labored long and hard under their father's resentful gaze. They earn a laborer's wage, but their father thinks they have it easy, because they live in his beachfront mansion, drive fancy cars he bought them, and never have to worry about the next meal. Meanwhile, Steve and Paul wonder when Walter will ever promote them to the executive level (which may be never). The old man appears to dote on his youngest, a daughter named Cynthia (Patty Bodeen).

Into this fraught situation sails Karen Petrie, a beautiful and much younger lady who returns with Walter from a trip to Las Vegas as his new bride. The brothers are shattered, as they see their future inheritance slipping away into the hands of a gold digger. The daughter is shocked and suspicious; she keeps trying to speak to her father alone, and he keeps putting her off. The family's long-time housekeeper, Sarah (Lois Hall), maintains a placid surface. One suspects that it's a skill she's needed to survive in this household all these years.

A confirmed camera nut, Walter loves nothing more than photographing and filming his new wife, then showing the results to his own sons and their girlfriends. The images of Karen become a form of power play within the family (not to mention a repeated opportunity to display her nude body repeatedly throughout the film). But just as Walter cannot resist lording his position over everyone, including his new wife, Karen also finds it hard to restrain her impulse to control situations using the very effective means at her disposal. Before long, she and Steve are enmeshed in a torrid affair that triggers a cascade of consequences.

Blees's script has several interesting turns, including the surprise appearance of a man from Karen's past and an ambiguous role for Walter's attorney (Don Porter). A drama aimed at a mass audience would explore these subplots in more depth, but Marks rushes through them, because his main focus is on Karen's body in all it seductive attraction. At a certain point, though, even the lovely Karen must be abandoned to the mechanisms of the plot, which I won't spoil. Suffice it to say that one never knows where real power lies.

A Woman for All Men Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The source for Gorgon Video's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray of A Woman for All Men was not identified, but the company has provided a surprisingly well-defined and detailed image for a low-budget film from forty years ago. As one might expect, there is major damage in the form of scratches and blotches in the opening titles, where optical printing often locks in such issues, but the bulk of the film is in remarkably good shape. Colors are a mix of soft earth tones (for the McCoy home and construction site) and bright hues (mostly for Karen's wardrobe and occasionally for that of other women). The image has natural grain to it, although I cannot discount the possibility that some light degraining may have been applied to certain shots. Fortunately no artificial sharpening has coarsened the grain or otherwise marred the image.

Because Gorgon is supplying A Woman for All Men on a double-feature Blu-ray with a second Arthur Marks film, the 95-minute feature has been mastered with an average bitrate of only 21.99 Mbps. While this is somewhat low for a feature originated on film, A Woman for All Men does not involve many edits or major action, so that a skilled compressionist can accomplish a lot with a little. Even with print damage, the image appeared to be free of artifacts.

A Woman for All Men Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The original mono soundtrack for A Woman for All Men is presented in lossless PCM 2.0 with identical left and right channels. The dialogue is clear, but it is frequently quite loud relative to the sound effects. However, this appears to be a function of the original recordings, in which such effects as wind, waves and construction equipment are fairly weak and distant. From a storytelling perspective, the soundtrack gets the job done, and in the days when the effects were pumped through a drive-in loudspeaker attached to a car door, I suspect no one noticed any deficiency.

A Woman for All Men Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Certain Kind of Woman: Featurette with Arthur Marks and Judy Brown (1080p; 1.78:1; 11:41): Interviewed separately, Marks and Brown ("Karen") reflect on the experience of making A Woman for All Men. Both are effusive in their praise of Keenan Wynn.



• Trailer (480i; 1.78:1, enhanced; 2:24): "From the first moment I saw Karen Petrie, I knew I would never forget her."



• TV Spots (480i; 1.78:1, enhanced).
• 1 (0:32).
• 2 (0:22).

A Woman for All Men Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Woman for All Men is like some trashy pulp novel that feels almost modern. What was titillating or shocking in 1975 may be yawn-inducing today, but the film's core themes are timeless. Generations still fight over property and inheritance. Sexual rivalry still splits friendships and families. Power, sex and money are routinely used as both currency and weapons of battle. A Woman for All Men may frequently be ludicrous, but it's about something. Gorgon Video's presentation is unlikely to be improved upon and is, on that basis, recommended.