Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.5

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 1, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Mary Millington Movie Collection.

MM.

For film fans, those redolent initials might unavoidably call up images of a gorgeous blonde who was one of the top box office stars of her day, who it was said had bedded at least one of the most powerful politicians in the country, and one who tragically died young from an apparent suicide, though there are still rumors of foul play swirling around her demise. Marilyn Monroe, you say? Well, sure, her, too, but for fans in the United Kingdom in particular MM could just as easily make them think of a woman who was completely notorious in her native land but whose fame is a bit more sparse on this side of the pond, Mary Millington. Millington was the face (and body) of British porn in the 1970s, becoming one of the biggest ticket sellers of her era in England. That UK renown accounts for what may strike some as a perplexing aspect of this Region A release: it comes from Screenbound Pictures, a label located in England, and its cover also clearly features a British Board of Film Classification rating. It turns out MVD Visual is distributing a limited number of copies of the original Region B release (which offered region free discs, in case anyone is/was worried) for sale here in “the colonies” and other Region A markets. The release offers a grab bag of Millington’s often provocative work in porn, as well as a documentary about her.

It's perhaps fitting that this unrepentant exploitation outing is listed as a supplement (on Queen of the Blues), since it's a kind of smarmy feeling "tribute" to the deceased star fashioned by David Sullivan. While the film attempts to deliver snippets from some of her films and at least a few biographical data points, the inclusion of questionable things like her suicide note can make this a discomfiting viewing experience some of the time.

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Screenbound Pictures with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. This is the least pleasing looking transfer of the bunch in this set, though it's not overly problematic by any stretch. The many film clips utilized look like dupe elements, and as such colors can be faded, grain can be pretty chunky and yellow, and detail levels are not at their optimal levels. If you spend time with the "real" presentations of some of the films that are excerpted here which are presented in their entirety on other discs, you'll be able to note pretty significant downturns in overall quality in the snippets seen here.

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions features an LPCM 2.0 mono track which suffices perfectly well for this quasi-documentary which features a lot narration. The audio from the film clips also generally sounds fine. As with all of the features in this set, there are no subtitles available.

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions is itself deemed a supplement on the disc containing Queen of the Blues, and so has no bonus material itself.

Mary Millington's True Blue Confessions Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's an undeniably smarmy quality to this piece, and those interested in Millington's life would do better to focus on Respectable: The Mary Millington Story, also included in this set. Video encounters some hurdles, but audio is fine, for those who are considering a purchase.