7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Upon learning their maid will be leaving to earn an education, the son of the family decides to set her up with a man.
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln, Beau Bridges, Nan Martin, Lauri PetersDrama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
1558 kbps
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Director Daniel Mann's (Butterfield 8) For Love of Ivy (1968) was a significant production for two reasons. First, it was the maiden feature for Manhatten-based Palomar Pictures International whose president, Edgar J. Scherick, was previously vice president in charge of programming at ABC-TV. (ABC Pictures International also was a backer of this picture.) Cinerama Productions Corp. (named after the widescreen process) became Palmoar's distribution arm. The second reason it was important is that Hollywood insiders considered it the industry's first black romance. Owners of the Criterion disc of In the Heat of the Night will know Aram Goudsouzian for the excellent interview he gave about Sidney Poitier and Jewison's Oscar winner. In his 2004 biography Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon, Goudsouzian wrote that Poitier spent three weeks of isolation in his study working on a nineteen-page outline called Ivy. According to Goudsouzian, future producer Martin Baum (The Wilby Conspiracy) took that treatment to three major studios, who rejected it on grounds that an all-black romance wouldn't be that enticing to audiences. In March 1967, Baum pitched it to Palomar, which took a chance on it. The production company hired Robert Alan Aurthur (Grand Prix) to pen the screenplay, which he re-titled For Love of Ivy. In his 1980 book, This Life, Poitier recalled that the big-city love story "was made from my own original idea" (p. 295).
For nine years, Ivy Moore (Abbey Lincoln; Nothing but a Man) has worked as a maid for the Austin family in a well-kept house off Long Island. She's reached an age where she wants to assert her independence so she tells Doris Austin (Nan Martin) and Frank Austin (Caroll O'Connor) that she intends to leave them and head to New York City for secretarial school. Mr. and Mrs. Austin love Ivy and would like to keep her anyway they can. While the feeling mutual, Ivy wants to get on her own. Motorcycle-riding hippie Tim Austin (Beau Bridges) and his sister Gena (Lauri Peters), who manages a family-owned clothing boutique, hatch a scheme to keep Ivy in their living quarters. Tim contacts Jack Parks (Sidney Poitier), a business associate and friend of the Austin's. Jack runs Partal Trucking Co. with Billy Talbot (Leon Bibb) in the day. In the evening, they operate it as a casino on wheels. Tim essentially blackmails Jack into becoming a suitor for Ivy. Since neither Jack nor Ivy intend to get married, Tim and his sister consider it an effective way to keep their favorite domestic at home. Jack and Ivy are friendly with each other but the first meeting doesn't result in romantic interest. "He's not my type," Ivy tells the Austin siblings. Gradually, though, the two grow to like each other more and more.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics' standard edition of For Love of Ivy comes on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-25. Daniel Mann's sixteenth feature appears in its presumed original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Anchor Bay's 1999 DVD was DS-SL with a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 on one side and full frame on the other. In 2004, MGM apparently issued the same letterboxed transfer on its DVD-5. Kino's 2K transfer is a big improvement over those two as well as the MRA Entertainment DVD released in Australia. It boasts a wonderful saturation of colors. It mostly looks sharp and clean but damage marks show up on occasion. For example, see the small scratch between Bridges and Poitier in Screenshot #20. In addition, see the scratch over Lincoln in the frame grab following that one and the scratch in the upper-right corner in the last screen capture. My video score is 4.25/5.00. Kino has encoded the feature at a mean video bitrate of 24450 kbps.
Kino has provided eight scene selections for the 101-minute film.
Kino has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono (1558 kbps, 16-bit). The mix is clean with no audible hiss. Delivery is solid with clearly spoken words. Poitier's friend Quincy Jones composed a breezy jazz that nicely accompanies the movie's comical moments and romance.
Optional English SDH are available to select on the menu and via remote.
The black romance in For Love of Ivy was something of a milestone when it came out in 1968 but it looks a bit pedestrian today. I'd regard the picture as a relatively minor work in Poitier's long career. It would be a great occasion to revisit it in the wake of Apple+'s recent documentary, Sidney. Kino's image displays excellent colors with the only drawbacks being some scratches and minor blemishes on the transfer. Sadly, there are no extras. It's too bad Kino couldn't have interviewed Poitier before his recent death as well as the still-going Beau Bridges. RECOMMENDED to the fans of Poitier and Bridges, who should add it to their collections at a price tag of around $15 or less.
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