Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Savannah Smiles Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 22, 2018

As perhaps as unbelievable as it may sound, Mark Miller, the writer, co-producer and (maybe not so coincidentally) co-star of Savannah Smiles, mentions in one of the supplements included on this new Blu-ray that his inspiration for the film came from none other than Jean Renoir’s legendary classic La Grande Illusion. That may seem like a bit of wishful thinking on Miller’s part, at least in terms of overall gravitas, profundity and lasting impact, but there’s at least a kernel of understandability in Miller’s anecdote since Grand Illusion does feature a convict on the lam interacting with a child, albeit somewhat tangentially to the main arc of the story. Miller’s conceit was to make that aspect the whole story, with an unhappy little rich girl named Savannah (Bridgette Andersen) running away from a home where she feels unappreciated, and almost by chance ending up in the orbit of two sort of bumbling criminals named Alvie (Mark Miller) and Boots (Donovan Scott). Miller, who may be best remembered by Baby Boomers for his two season stint as the Dad on the television sitcom version of Please Don't Eat the Daisies (as well as being real life father to Penelope Ann Miller), may have called in a few chits for Savannah Smiles, since the film is filled with exactly the sort of character actors you’d expect with a co-producer steeped in sixties television, including the likes of Peter Graves, John Fiedler, Philip Abbott, Pat Morita and Michael Parks. The fact that most of these folks have little to do other than ham it up pretty spectacularly at times may be the best evidence that for all its perceived subtext (some of which may be a little troubling), Savannah Smiles wants to play things mostly on the light side, with an admittedly considerable amount of schmaltz thrown in just for good measure.

While there’s an undeniable lightness to much of Savannah Smiles, the sweetness factor gets pushed to near mawkish levels at times, and the element of little Savannah easily bonding with her (more or less) captors may strike some as a little problematic. The film tends to ping pong between vignettes involving Savannah and the “dastardly” pair she’s hanging out with, and other scenes documenting the efforts of Savannah’s politically ambitious father and her social climbing mother to retrieve their daughter, if only for public relations purposes. A whole host of supporting characters enter the fray, including a consultant played by Graves and a priest (!) played by Morita. The scenes with the convicts and Savannah tend to work best here, with the convicts ending up playing like a cross between Laurel & Hardy and The Odd Couple.

This is exactly the kind of genial if not overly inspired fare that used to populate cable television in its early years, and I’m sure there’s a cult audience that was probably introduced to this film as children and who continue to love it to this day. Seen objectively, the film is mid level entertainment, never overly provocative, and similarly never really overly funny. There’s a certain melancholic aspect that accrues to the film for contemporary viewers due to the short, sad life of Bridgette Andersen (she passed away from a drug overdose as a 21 year old).

Savannah Smiles Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Savannah Smiles is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's MVD Rewind imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The back cover of this release touts that this is culled from a "brand new 2K high definition transfer from 35mm original release film print provided by the Library of Congress". I'll simply defer to the knowledgeable David Storhmaier, who, in the restoration featurette on the new version of This Is Cinerama, mentions that luckily that new version didn't need to be sourced from Library of Congress elements. As undeniably commendable as the Library of Congress collection is, the imprimatur of the vaunted library doesn't necessarily guarantee an element in excellent condition, and for a pretty salient example you need look no further than Savannah Smiles. This is almost always a pretty "dupey" looking transfer, with chunky, yellowish grain (which is easily visible in many of the screenshots accompanying this review), middling clarity and a fairly consistent bluish tone that underlies a lot of the imagery, especially in darker moments. There's also considerable damage at play throughout this presentation, with at times rather large (usually green) vertical scratches and other fairly ragged looking signs of age related wear and tear. There's even a missing frame or two, noticeably in the closing moments, when one of Ken Sutherland's tunes is missing a snippet due to the issue. Some of the Utah cinematography still looks passably decent, but this is a niche cult item that will probably never have the cachet to warrant a full bore restoration. The "plus side" to this presentation (if it can be called that) is there is obviously no aggressive digital tweaking that's been done.

Savannah Smiles Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately, things fare no better for Savannah Smiles's LPCM 2.0 mono track. The track is hobbled by persistent hiss and crackling and (as indicated above) a couple of missing moments that are affected by missing frames. There's midlevel distortion at times in everything from dialogue to Ken Sutherland's rather enjoyable country inflected song score.

Savannah Smiles Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Savannah Smiles (1080p; 28:44) has some sweet reminiscences with a number of folks, including Mark Miller and Bridgette Andersen's mother.


• Memories of Bridgette (1080p; 20:53) is kind of unavoidably melancholic, with Bridgett's mother recounting details of her daughter's short life.


• Songs and Music (1080p; 16:28) features composer and songwriter Ken Sutherland, along with Mark Miller. The two kind of hilariously disagree on their memories of various items.


• Trailers includes Savannah Smiles (480p; 2:55) along with a couple of other MVD Rewind releases.

Additionally a (folded) poster is included in the keepcase.

Savannah Smiles Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Savannah Smiles is a kind of interesting release for MVD Rewind. It doesn't seem to have the instant cult cachet of something like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! or even the more recent The Return of Swamp Thing. The film boasts a sweet lead performance from little Bridgette Andersen, and there's a kind of goofy element to the putative "bad guys" that kind of reminded me of lesser Disney fare like The Apple Dumpling Gang, but overall the film is a bit listless, drifting from comedy bits with Savannah and the convicts to at times pretty slow moving scenes involving those trying to get her back. (Kind of interestingly if tangentially, Bridgette Andersen evidently co-starred in a short lived sitcom called Gun Shy which was based on the Apple Dumpling Gang films.) The film also flirts precariously with melodrama in its closing act, something that tends to chafe against whatever comedic sensibility has been established up to that point. Fans of the film will no doubt enjoy the supplements MVD Rewind has provided, but the element used for this transfer is badly in need of both video and audio restoration.