Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Otley Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 5, 2019

Dick Clement's "Otley" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include new interviews with actor Tom Courtenay and scenarist Ian La Frenais; new audio commentary by the director; gallery of original promotional materials for the film; and more. The release also arrives with a 40-page illustrated booklet featuring new essay by Laura Mayne, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

More pepper?

If you think that the plot of Dick Clement’s hilarious spy comedy is beyond ridiculous it is pretty obvious that you have not been paying attention to the recent news cycles. Right now, there are quite a few people that are in a lot of trouble precisely because at one point they incorrectly assumed that the ‘ridiculous’ could never ever happen to them. The truth is, there are some really, really twisted minds out there that can imagine a lot of ‘ridiculous’ things, and some actually belong to powerful people that can just as easily make them happen too.

Gerald Otley’s (Tom Courtenay) ridiculous troubles begin on the same day when his landlady makes love to him and then abruptly throws him out of his apartment because on top of not paying the rent he has sold all of her furniture. Shortly after, the stunned Otley ends up at a party where an old friend agrees to let him spend the night at his place, as a one-time favor only. But someone murders the host and two days later Otley wakes up with a headache and a mark on his back. Some shady characters then kidnap the clueless Otley, beat him up, and demand that he explains his relationship with the dead man and their clandestine dealings. When Otley attempts to make them understand that he has no idea what they are talking about, they hurt him some more. Otley gets a chance to recover when the beautiful stranger Imogen (Romy Schneider) intervenes and his captors release him, but it is not long before a veteran assassin (Leonard Rossiter) tracks him down and forces him to meet a nameless contact at the subway. This time it is fate that intervenes and Otley once again begins looking for a logical explanation of his misery, but the more he attempts to understand what is happening to him, the more confused and paranoid he becomes.

There are couple of different factors that make Otley quite enjoyable. Perhaps the most crucial one is the casual manner in which the serious and the hilarious constantly overlap, making the exact nature of the adventure that Courtenay’s character is on quite elusive. This is trick that essentially eliminates many of the predictable contrasts that usually define the good and the bad characters that clash in these types of period spy spoofs. Then there is Courtenay’s ability to appear genuinely lost and clueless while his adventure gets wilder by the minute. Indeed, it never feels as if he is following a script that requires of him to get to the right place where the next important twist ought to occur, and this actually strengthens the legitimacy of the film’s bizarre reality. Also, the flavor of 'Swinging London' is very easy to detect, especially when Courtenay begins looking for help from people whose lives are supposed to be in much better order than his. However, the majority of them turn out to be colorful characters that panic just as easily as he does -- but for a variety of hilarious reasons -- which quickly creates the impression the whole city has gone slightly bonkers.

Clement made his directorial debut with Otley, after previously working on different TV productions. The value of his TV experience is easy to recognize because the film looks very nicely polished and quite a bit more expensive than it apparently was. Also, Austin Dempster, who had lensed Stanley Donen’s classic comedy Bedazzled, was a very good choice for cinematographer because the film’s got the ‘swinging’ edge but does not evolve into a straightforward time-capsule.

There is a nice funky soundtrack from Stanley Myers, who would eventually go on to score Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter and the classic TV mini-series The Martian Chronicles.

Otley Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dick Clement's Otley arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from a remaster that was prepared by Sony Pictures in the United States. The bulk of it looks quite nice, but it is inconsistent and in some areas there are some very noticeable drops in density and color stability. The most obvious example is the subway footage where Otley gets very lucky after he passes the suitcase to the assassin. It almost looks as if the footage comes from a different source as delineation and color stability instantly become quite weak (see screencaptures #12 and 13). Some of the darker footage also looks softer and lacks the depth that is present elsewhere (see screencapture #5). However, the rest I like quite a lot. Indeed, overall this remaster has much better organic qualities than the ones that were used for the recent releases of A Dandy in Aspic and The Virgin Soldiers, and on a larger screen routinely reveals very pleasing fluidity. Some finer nuances are missing, but on the positive side there are no heavy halo effects of the kind that are present on the two releases that are mentioned above. Overall color balance is also more convincing. Last but not least, it is quite easy to tell that serious age-related imperfections have been removed as well. All in all, even though there are some inconsistencies that could have been addressed, the current technical presentation is actually quite good. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Otley Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

On my system the lossless track delivered everything that I would expect from a period project like Otley. The sound was stable, clean, with a decent range of nuanced dynamics -- and during the driving test actually woth surprisingly good oomph -- and clean. If previously there were any serious issues like distortion in the upper register and heavy background hiss, it is impossible to tell now.

Otley Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Trailer - original remastered trailer for Otley. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Gallery - a large collection of vintage promotional materials for Otley.

• Ian La Frenais on 'Otley' - in this new video interview, writer Ian La Frenais recalls his involvement with Otley, and discusses the main concept behind it as well as its production history. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Tom Courtenay on 'Otley' - in this new video interview, actor Tom Courtenay mentions the alternative title that he preferred for Otley and recalls his contribution to the film. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• The Guardian Interview with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais - in this archival interview, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais discuss their professional relationship and the evolution of their careers, various projects they worked on and obstacles that they overcame (with plenty of rather specific observations about the production history of The Likely Lads), different people they worked with over the years, etc. The interview was conducted by Dick Fiddy at the National Film Theater in London on June 17, 2008. (77 min).

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, director Dick Clement explains in great detail how various segments of the film were shot, how and where he trusted his tech crew to pick the right locations o angles, (Otley was his directorial debut), why initially he preferred to have Charlotte Rampling play Romy Schneider's character, etc. Also, there are good observations about Tom Courtenay's performance, the structure of the narrative and the film's style, some changes that were made to the original screenplay, etc. The commentary, which is moderated by critic Sam Dunn, was recorded exclusively for Indicator/Powerhouse Films in 2018.

• Booklet - 40-page illustrated booklet featuring new essay by Laura Mayne, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film.

Otley Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The character that Tom Courtenay plays in Dick Clement's spy spoof Otley is everything that Richard Johnson's Bulldog from Ralph Thomas' Deadlier Than the Male isn't. I found this quite refreshing because a lot of the stereotypes that these genre films utilized after the cinematic introduction of James Bond are pretty much unrecognizable here. I also have to give Courtenay a lot of credit for his ability to appear genuinely lost and clueless during his wild adventure because it is the 'glue' that for a very long time actually keeps it together. Lastly, while I was going through the supplemental features on this and other releases where Ian La Frenais mentions Otley, I was left with the impression that some of the people that conceived it concluded that it did not turn out quite as well as it could have and that is why its critical reception wasn't enthusiastic. Well, Otley may not be a masterpiece, but I thought that for a directorial debut it looks very nicely polished and has a very smart sense of humor. RECOMMENDED. (If these types of absurd spy films appeal to you, also consider Yves Robert's The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe and The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, both of which offer even more outrageous situations but with stronger doses of conventional humor).