7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
An American entertainer impersonates a wealthy aviator and flirts with his lookalike's neglected wife.
Starring: Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney, Corinne Calvet, Marcel Dalio, Jean MuratComedy | Insignificant |
Musical | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
If as you watch the Danny Kaye comedy On the Riviera you get that creeping feeling of déjà vu, it could be because you’ve either seen one of two previous versions of the same story, namely 1935’s Folies Bergère or 1941’s That Night in Rio, or in fact at least one other Danny Kaye film which appeared about a decade after On the Riviera, 1961’s On the Double (recently released on Blu-ray by Olive Films). As I mentioned in the review of On the Double, there seemed to be almost a template at the major studios at times, where various comedians could be inserted into prefab plot structures, with hilarity supposedly ensuing. That’s why all four of these films bear resemblances to any number of other outings, like the Bob Hope feature My Favorite Spy, which, like On the Riviera, also debuted in 1951. On the Riviera has its own genuine comedic charm, but the film is perhaps better remembered for some of its ebullient musical numbers, which include a cameo by a very young Gwen Verdon and dashing choreography by Jack Cole. Kaye’s wife Sylvia Fine contributed several songs, offering Kaye a chance to strut his stuff vocally and verbally, something that Fine was always able to craft perfectly to suit the talents of her husband. Very much like in On the Double, Kaye is cast as a talented mimic who is asked to impersonate a famous individual with whom he shares a near identical appearance. And like in the 1961 film, he has to deal with his doppelganger’s wife, though in this iteration, he actually has his own girlfriend, causing some humorous mixups and passing jealousies.
On the Riviera is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p 1.37:1. Things start out rather swimmingly (pun intended considering the waterside footage) with this transfer, with those deep, lustrous Technicolor blues, and so some might be hoping On the Riviera had somehow escaped the "Fox curse" of discarded Technicolor elements. Alas, that appears not to be the case, for soon the color starts fluctuating rather dramatically, sometimes rather oddly. Flesh tones often assume either an ugly yellow-brown or, even weirder, a kind of ghastly green ambience, and even weirder than that, the discoloration tends to be in splotches here and there, rather than any uniform situation covering the entire frame (take a look at Corinne Calvet's arm and Danny Kaye's hands in screenshot 7, and then compare them to screenshot 8, for just one example of this phenomenon). Aside from this often distracting anomaly, the rest of this presentation looks pretty good, all things considered. The elements are in great shape from a damage perspective, and the high definition presentation affords some nice fine detail, especially with regard to some of the glamorous costumes. Things appear decently crisp and clear throughout this offering, and there are no serious signs of over aggressive digital tweaking.
On the Riviera's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track exhibits none of an analogous sort of damage to the video presentation, though its boxiness is unmistakable, especially in the luscious choral arrangements of Jeff Alexander. (Alexander is a sadly underappreciated talent from both the tail end of the Golden Age of Hollywood—any beyond—as well as television. He's due for a major reassessment from some enterprising doctoral student or archivist who might want to detail his rather impressive accomplishments over the course of a long if not especially well known career.) Dialogue fares quite a bit better than at least the choral elements here, as frankly does the solo singing. Despite the narrowness of this track, there's no real damage to speak of, and fidelity is fine if taken in its proper historical context.
On the Riviera is a middling piece which simply suffers from a kind of tired, lethargic feeling, something perhaps inescapable given the film's previously done source material. Kaye is his usual ebullient self, and Calvet and Tierney are certainly decorative, even if they're not given a whale of a lot to do. The Fine songs are quite nice as well, and the entire production is incredibly handsome. But there's a distinct lack of laughs here which may be the most peculiar thing about the film. While this is certainly far from Kaye's most charming film (where or where is The Court Jester on Blu-ray?), there's probably enough here—if only just barely—to satisfy the versatile actor's many fans. Even those fans should be aware of this Blu-ray occasionally problematic video presentation, however.
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Warner Archive Collection
1943
Laurel & Hardy
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