Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Intermezzo: A Love Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson September 18, 2022

In the late Thirties, producer David O. Selznick attended a screening of the Swedish film Intermezzo (1936), which starred a 21-year-old Ingrid Bergman. Selznick was so impressed by the Swede's magnetic screen presence that he wanted to bring her over to America and make an international star out of her. The story of how Bergman first caught Selznick's attention is chronicled in Rudy Behlmer's edited collection, Memo from David O. Selznick, Ronald Bowers's 1976 book, The Selznick Players, and David Thompson's 1992 biography, Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick. A Swedish elevator man at 230 Park Avenue (the Selznick International Pictures/Whitney offices in New York) told Katherine "Kay" Brown, Selznick's Story Editor and East Coast Representative, and Elsa Neuberger, Selznick’s Assistant Story Editor, about Intermezzo. They obtained a print and enjoyed the picture, which they sent over to Culver City. Additionally, casting director Jenia Reissar saw and recommended Intermezzo, and praised Bergman's performance, from London. By August 1938, Selznick decided to remake it—with Swedish director Gustaf Molander's blessing—and Bergman agreed to reprise her role. Originally, William Wyler was set to direct. Accounts differ on why Wyler departed the project. He reportedly told one of his biographers that it was due to delays in script development. Thompson claims that Wyler was fired after a week of filming. Also, cinematographer Harry Stradling was let go after a couple weeks. The Russian-born actor/director Gregory Ratoff was hired to replace Wyler and Gregg Toland went behind the camera.

The Selznick-produced Intermezzo: A Love Story (US release: 1939; released as Escape to Happiness in the UK) is a beautifully mounted romantic drama about two musical virtuosos. Holger Brandt (Leslie Howard) is a concert violinist returning home after a performance. He has a doting wife in Margit (Edna Best), a bright teenage son named Eric (Douglas Scott), and a perky and precocious 8-year-old daughter named Ann Marie (Ann Todd). For her birthday party, Ann Marie invites over her music teacher, Anita Hoffman (Bergman), who performs on piano for the Brandts. Anita can practically play like Rachmaninoff. Holger becomes enchanted and enamored of Anita's musical gifts and her beauty. Anita and Holger later perform together on a trip where they also fall in love.

Intermezzo runs just sixty-nine minutes long, which befits its title. This is essentially a musical and romantic interlude between Holger and Anita. Selznick wanted a small love story unlike the behemoth romantic epic he also was filming that year (Gone with the Wind). Holger's friend and Anita's teacher, Thomas Stenborg (John Halliday), often acts as a go-between. On the one hand, he wants them to each enjoy as much professional success as they can. But on the other hand, he's concerned about how the tryst is personally impacting Holger and his marriage to Margit. Thomas is an instrumental supporting player. I would have liked to have seen a longer film with an additional act that featured more of Bergman's Anita.

According to Thompson, Intermezzo: A Love Story was completed in less than five months. It premiered on October 5 prior to the last retakes on GwtW. Intermezzo (1939) cost $850,000 (roughly the same as Citizen Kane would two years later) but lost $300,000. But it's rightly considered one of Hollywood's timeless love stories. In her memoirs, A Quite Remarkable Father (1959), daughter Leslie Ruth Howard wrote of her father: "Leslie was delighted with the work of this beautiful girl [Bergman] in Intermezzo."

Intermezzo: A Love Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber Studio Classics' release of Intermezzo: A Love Story comes on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-25. The disc carries a healthy bitrate for the feature, which averages 34301 kbps. I'm pleased and impressed with how good the film looks. There are no major damage marks on the 2K-scanned DI presented on this Blu-ray. There are some thin vertical tramlines in the scenes represented in Screenshot #s 3 and 8. Fortunately, those are not too conspicuous. The most noticeable damage appears in a cafe scene where you can spot blots on Bergman (see frame grab #11). Luckily, that's the only scene I picked out a few of these small blotches. Contrast and grayscale are both very good, though not exceptional. Director of photography Toland masterfully incorporates low-key lighting and hard lighting (see screen capture #s 16 and 17). He also frames a deep focus shot (#12). My video score is 4.25/5.00.

Eight chapters accompany the nearly 70-minute film.

Intermezzo: A Love Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kino has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono track (1559 kbps, 16-bit). The lossless presentation of the monaural mix is a step below the video. Dialogue is often along the lower register on this recording. You will want to have the volume turned up. Pitch improves somewhat during the second half. Louis Forbes's Oscar-nominated score, which also contains some music by Max Steiner, fares better along the three front channels. Ditto for the diegetic performances in the concert hall. I learned from one of Leslie Howard's offspring that Bergman learned every note of Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A, Op. 16 for her role as the concert pianist.

Kino has provided optional English SDH.

Intermezzo: A Love Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger - in this feature-length track, Ellinger delves into the backgrounds of David Selznick, Leslie Howard, and Ingrid Bergman, placing Intermezzo: A Love Story in the context of their respective careers. She recites some of Selznick's memos and talks about how the producer's marketing campaign capitalized on Bergman's sexuality. Ellinger also discusses the original Intermezzo (1936) and explains how Bergman's character differs from that version to this one. In English, not subtitled.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (2:23, 1080p) - United Artists' original trailer for Intermezzo: A Love Story. This is an unrestored trailer that's displayed with rounded corners.

• Bonus Trailers - additional trailers for KLSC titles: The Young in Heart, I'll Be Seeing You, and The Paradine Case.

Intermezzo: A Love Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am glad that Kino has continued to release more of Selznick's productions. Intermezzo: A Love Story was Bergman's first American film. She doesn't struggle at all with her English or acting opposite of one of England's finest thespians. Structurally, I thought the film could have been elongated with more screen time for Bergman. Kino's transfer is quite fine. The mono sound track could use some additional restoration work if another BD edition is planned. In Ellinger's commentary track, the viewer will learn a lot about the film's production as well as the contributions to it by Selznick, Howard, and Bergman. A SOLID RECOMMENDATION.