Jennie, Wife/Child Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		1.5

Jennie, Wife/Child Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 26, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Film Masters' double feature release of Common Law Wife and Jennie, Wife/Child.

If you've ever wondered if there's a through line connecting Mae Marsh to Judy Canova to Ferlin Husky to Burt Reynolds (and who amongst us hasn't?), look no further than the rather convoluted but fascinating history of so-called "Hicksploitation" given by C. Courtney Joyner in a supplement included with the latest cult double feature from Film Masters. The actual films included in this set may admittedly come across as extremely low rent bus and truck versions of, say, Baby Doll , though in this case any perceived comedy is of the unintentional variety, and any provocative material probably tends to be a bit more on the sleazy side than the sort of literary imprimatur that a writer like Tennessee Williams could bring to the subject of so called child brides.

Somewhat hilariously given the plot points that both the films in this double feature set offer, this film like its release mate was evidently cobbled together, though not necessarily from two completely different shoots, but evidently two different directors trying to shape the material. That evidently in turn contributed to the frankly odd use of intertitles (see screenshot 9) to help "spice up" this pretty standard tale of elderly curmudgeon Albert Peckingpaw (Jack Lester), his "child bride" Jennie (Beverly Lunsford) and hunky farm hand Mario (Jim Reader). Two crew data points may be at least as interesting as what's on screen. The first is that this was rather incredibly lensed by Vilmos Zsigmond, which gives the visuals a certain flair. And as the commentary on this disc gets into, the music by Harley Hatcher with on screen contributions from Davie Allan and the Arrows gives the film some energy. Also rather incredibly there actually was a soundtrack album released for this film.

Jennie, Wife/Child Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jennie, Wife/Child is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Masters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Film Masters tends not to provide a whale of a lot of technical information on their releases, and that's once again the case here, but the element used for this transfer was either in relatively good shape or has been cleaned up considerably. While there are some variances in clarity and grain structure that occasionally crop up, and a few minor signs of age related wear and tear, this is a surprisingly strong and generally consistent looking presentation. With only a couple of passing anomalies, contrast is strong and Zsigmond's nice and dare I say even evocative at times cinematography is well rendered, offering good, if slightly variable, detail levels throughout. My score is 3.75.

Jennie, Wife/Child Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jennie, Wife/Child features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio that can be a little brash on the high end and somewhat boxy, but which provides surprisingly robust support for the score, which is arguably one of the more memorable things about the film. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Some persistent background hiss is discernable in the few quieter moments. Optional English subtitles are available, and commendably Film Masters has provided optional English subtitles for the commentary track as well. My score is again 3.75.

Jennie, Wife/Child Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Per their standard operating procedure, Film Masters has packaged these films as a double feature, with supplementary content that may not be exclusive to any individual film, so I'm including the complete supplemental package on both discs:

Disc One: Common Law Wife

• New Commentary with Millie De Chirico and Ben Cheaves is accessible under the Setup Menu.


• Archival Commentary with Larry Buchanan and Nathaniel Thompson is accessible under the Setup Menu.


• Restored 1963 Trailer for Common Law Wife (HD; 2:44)

Disc Two: Jennie, Wife/Child

• Commentary for Jennie, Wife/Child with Millie De Chirico is accessible under the Setup Menu.


• That's Hicksploitation! (HD; 50:30) is an interesting look at this peculiar subgenre with host C. Courtney Joyner. And, yes, I promise you'll get from Mae Marsh to Burt Reynolds faster than you might think.


• New 2024 Jennie, Wife/Child Trailer (HD; 2:06)

Additionally Film Masters provides a nicely appointed insert booklet with an essay by Lisa Petrucci.

Jennie, Wife/Child Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Considering the "old timey" intertitles, Jennie, Wife/Child could have easily been camped up and played for laughs, which frankly might have been better. This still has some serious trivia cred for its Vilmos Zsigmond cinematography and score. Technical merits are surprisingly strong, and the supplements over the two discs are engaging.