6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Clayton Poole is a small town TV repairman who is still in love with his former hometown sweetheart, Carla Naples, who is now a famous movie queen. When Carla becomes pregnant due to a hasty marriage in Mexico, which she has forgotten about, the studio tells her a baby will ruin her career so she turns to Clayton, the only person she can trust, and he agrees to care for the baby when it is born. Carla gives birth to triplets and Clayton finds he must get married before he can adopt them. He marries Sandy, Carla's younger sister who has always loved him...
Starring: Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Maxwell, Connie Stevens, Ann McCrea, Gary Lewis (I)Comedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis parted ways in July 1956 the common wisdom of the time was that it was certain doom for Lewis and surefire success for Martin. This might seem odd, even in hindsight, as Martin had become more and more marginalized as Martin and Lewis mania swept the United States, with Lewis’ shenanigans both on- and off screen seemingly capturing the public’s fancy more than Martin’s understated straight man character and smooth crooning. Martin, for better or worse, was seen as at least a double threat, an agreeable enough actor and a more than agreeable enough singer who could probably parlay a solo career into greater profit making than Lewis’ assumed narrower focus on slapstick and outrageousness. Of course common wisdom is more often than not utterly wrong, and that certainly turned out to be the case with regard to the duo’s individual careers. While Martin certainly wasn’t unsuccessful, it took Dean a while to get his solo sea legs and to establish himself as a solo property. Lewis, on the other hand, came out of the gate at a decided gallop, and by the time Rock-a-Bye Baby was released in 1958, he was a bonafide box office phenomenon, something that would continue unabated for many years to come. Rock-a-Bye Baby is a tailor made reworking of Preston Sturges’ inimitable farce The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, one custom designed for Lewis’ patented blend of mugging and pathos. The Sturges film has become legendary for how artfully it pushed the envelope of the Production Code, dancing precariously just this side of what could be depicted on screen. Rock-a-Bye Baby has little of the nuance of the Sturges original, but it’s surprisingly sweet and good natured, with a couple of very funny set pieces that still will evoke guffaws in most audiences now some fifty five years after the film’s original release.
Rock-a-Bye-Baby is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Anyone who's seen the Blu-ray release of White Christmas is well aware of what a pristine high definition presentation VistaVision films can offer. The difference in this case is that White Christmas was sourced from the original camera negative while this release, as with all Olive releases, has reportedly been sourced from an interpositive. There's a rather substantial downtick in sharpness as a result. The image does have generally good quality, with only a few scratches, white flecks and other minor distractions entering the fray. Colors are really excellent, with especially vibrant reds and purples. But the overall image, while certainly crisp and appealing, doesn't quite pop the way one would hope for with a VistaVision release.
Rock-a-Bye-Baby has a perfectly serviceable lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono soundtrack that show little signs of being over fifty years old, even if it's simultaneously not very bombastic. The best thing here is the Warren-Cahn song score, which still packs quite a bit of punch, especially with Walter Scharf's brassy orchestrations. Dialogue sounds clear and crisp, but occasional effects, both in dialogue and the songs, have an overly reverbed, boxy sound (a good example is Stevens' "duet" with herself late in the film). The track has surprisingly full sounding highs and lows, and the expected hefty midrange sounds great. There's really no damage of any kind to report here, and even hiss is not overly audible.
There are no supplements of any kind on this Blu-ray.
Is Jerry Lewis an acquired taste? Undoubtedly, but even non-Lewis fans will probably get a kick out of at least parts of Rock-a-Bye Baby. Preston Sturges fans are best advised to forget that this film has anything at all to do with The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, for Rock-a-Bye Baby most certainly botches at least a few elements in the transition to a Lewis vehicle. But there are some other very funny bits sprinkled in here, not all of them dependent upon Lewis' patented brand of mayhem. The video here isn't quite at the level one would hope for with a VistaVision release, but having been sourced from a print it looks rather good overall. The soundtrack also sounds great, and even though this release has no supplements (an unfortunate Olive trademark), this release comes Recommended.
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