6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Widower and hamburger restaurateur Harvey Howard decides to go to college at 51 years of age. Resisting the easy path, he insists on not receiving preferential treatment, and lives in a dorm like the other students despite the disapproval of his grown son and daughter. As the years pass, and he gets involved in study sessions, fraternity initiations, and sporting events, he begins falling in love with Professor Gautier, the French teacher, but doesn't consider re-marrying appropriate.
Starring: Bing Crosby, Fabian, Tuesday Weld, Nicole Maurey, Richard BeymerMusical | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Many major film stars of the thirties and forties had seen the writing on the wall and had moved over at least some of the time to television by the time the fifties and sixties came along. Some of Bing’s former Paramount colleagues like Fred MacMurray crafted a whole new way of working where they filmed their scenes for their series in one fell swoop, leaving lots of time for what really interested them, like golf. Bing Crosby was still a holdout in 1960, even though it was clear he was no longer the top box office draw he had been a couple of decades previously. While Der Bingle would ultimately give in to the siren call of the sitcom in 1964 (rather unsuccessfully, it should be added), his forays into television in the early sixties were either relegated to his own guest appearances on variety shows or hosting his own specials, while his production company offered sizable hits like Ben Casey and Hogan’s Heroes. Still, there’s a whiff of sitcom pilotry about High Time, a genial enough little comedy that is best remembered today, if it’s remembered at all, as having introduced the Cahn – Van Heusen standard “The Second Time Around”. (It’s indicative of Bing’s falling star that the song, while sung quite amiably by the iconic crooner in the film, actually became a hit for the songwriting team’s preferred vocalist, Frank Sinatra.) Rather incredibly, High Time was based on a story by the usually incredibly witty Garson Kanin, but the film is more like a quaint early sixties version of Animal House, sans togas and beer but with Bing in drag dancing at a big society ball where everyone is dressed up in Civil War regalia. This was Blake Edwards’ directorial follow up to his vastly more successful (and better remembered) Operation Petticoat, and while it offers a certain workmanlike affability, it’s a rather mild mannered comedy in the overall Edwards oeuvre, one without the manic slapstick offerings of the Pink Panther movies or even the scabrous verbal humor of some of Edwards’ later efforts like S.O.B.
High Time is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The image is nicely sharp and well detailed, but the color shows signs of what I might term "DeLuxe Color yellow syndrome", where everything is slightly skewed toward the saffron side of things, which in several cases has aged slightly to the brown end of the spectrum, especially with regard to flesh tones. The color in fact is kind of pallid throughout this enterprise, popping occasionally (especially with regard to reds, as can be seen in Bing's sporty compact or the fire truck on the football field in the screencaps included with this review), but never quite approaching a true "wow" factor, and without any really zesty looking saturation. There is some very minor age related wear and tear that the elements display, but generally speaking this is a solid if not totally spectacular offering from Twilight Time and Fox.
High Time's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 soundtrack is, like the film itself, amiable and workmanlike but seldom spectacular. The Mancini score fills the surrounds rather well, but dialogue and effects rarely stray from the front channels. Fidelity is excellent, and the track really shows no signs of damage or age related wear and tear. There's not much dynamic range to speak of here, but some of Mancini's source cues (listen to that "groovy" cha-cha cue early in the film) provide a little punch and sonic energy.
Every month when Twilight Time announces their upcoming slate, there are reactions that run the gamut from "Huzzah!" to "Why in heaven's name would they want to release that?" My hunch is most people are probably going to be in the second camp with regard to High Time, for the film doesn't seem to have a lot to offer contemporary audiences. Bing was frankly getting to be past his prime by the time this film came out, and there probably aren't scads of people demanding to see Fabian, Tuesday Weld and Richard Beymer waiting in the wings to snatch up copies of the film. But High Time, while unprepossessing, is charming and congenial, if seldom really the laugh fest that it aims to be. Bing wouldn't go the sitcom route for another four years after High Time came out in 1960, but this film shows Der Bingle in a comfortably relaxed setting and plays much like a long form sitcom, replete with zany supporting characters. Even though this release has a slightly faded looking transfer, for those wanting a little peek into what filmmakers thought kids were like in 1960 (whether or not that was actually the case), High Time comes Recommended.
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