Something Wild Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Something Wild Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 15, 2025

Jack Garfein's "Something Wild" (1961) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The only supplemental feature on the release is an exclusive new program with author and film scholar Foster Hirsch. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Carroll Baker plays three different women despite the fact that the identity of her character is never altered. What changes is the personality of her character after a terrible event that takes place at the very beginning of the film.

Shortly after the opening credits disappear from the screen, the young and lively Mary Ann (Baker) is brutally raped in a park somewhere in New York City. It happens at night, in a dark alley where no one can see or hear Mary Ann desperately trying to reject her attacker. He overpowers her, and she surrenders under his heavy body.

The woman who emerges from the shadows and then quietly walks back to her family’s apartment is different. She looks at least ten, possibly even fifteen years older. All of the energy has left her body, and now she can barely function like a normal human being. She enters her room, and then her body and mind shut off at once.

In the days after the rape, Mary Ann does her best to look and act as if nothing in her life has changed, but she fails to hide the effects of the post-traumatic stress, and eventually her clueless mother decides to call the family doctor to examine her. The doctor, who is also completely clueless, tells Mary Ann to rest so that she can regain her strength. And eventually she does, but her mind refuses to restore her emotional balance. It begins rebelling, and after a while, it turns against her, punishing her with an onslaught of maddening ideas, uncontrollable anxiety, and a suffocating sense of guilt. In a desperate attempt to put an end to her misery, Mary Ann decides to commit suicide.

Moments before she jumps off the Manhattan Bridge, Mary Ann is saved by a stranger (Ralph Meeker, Kiss Me Deadly) who has quietly followed her from afar. The man then takes her to his place, offers her a meal, and invites her to stay for as long as she wants. When later that night he returns intoxicated and attempts to touch her, she hits him and seriously injures his left eye. On the following day, the man apologizes for harassing her, not realizing that now he has to wear a black patch over his eye because of her. They eat together, exchange a few words, and he invites her to stay a few more days. Eventually, Mary Ann decides to leave but discovers that her savior isn’t willing to let her go.

There is an interesting twist in Mary Ann’s relationship with the man that basically permanently forces her out of her misery and she becomes a different person. In this final phase of Mary Ann’s recovery, the film produces some very interesting observations about the way a victim (or a sufferer) can overcome the effects of the trauma that has irreversibly altered his life.

Something Wild is one of only two films directed by Jack Garfein, a Holocaust survivor who became involved with the notorious Actors Studio in New York City. Garfein and Baker, who was also a member of the Actors Studio, were already married when he shot the film in 1961.

What makes the film unique is the fact that it openly embraces the concept of method acting that Lee Strasberg and his followers at the Actors Studio promoted during the 1950s and 1960s. Essentially, there is a wide range of unfiltered emotions on display, and the situations that engage the actors are allowed to naturally evolve. So, instead of being overly concerned with the eventual dramatic resolution, Garfein shifts the focus of attention exclusively to the emotional state of the main characters.

A wide range of unfiltered emotions also defined the work of the directors that formed the Dogme movement during the 1990s (see Festen, Open Hearts). In these films, there was also a similar emphasis on the natural progression of the events they chronicled. However, they were bound by very specific technical restrictions that ultimately gave them a very precise structure. In Garfein’s film style, not structure, is of paramount importance because the city in which Marry Ann undergoes her transformations also becomes a key character.

Despite protests from local union leaders, Garfein shot the film with European cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan (Eyes Without a Face, Le Quai Des Brumes). The opening titles were created by the legendary Saul Bass (Psycho, Vertigo).

Something Wild Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Something Wild arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

In America, Someting Wild entered the Criterion Collection with this release in 2017. Something Wild was fully restored in 2K for its transition to Blu-ray. This Australian release appears to have been sourced from the same 2K master. Last night, I revisited Something Wild and could not see any meaningful discrepancies in quality. This is great news because the 2K master is excellent. In fact, Something Wild looks so good in 1080p that I just do not see any room for meaningful improvements in any of the major areas we scrutinize in our reviews. Indeed, delineation, clarity, and depth are already either excellent or outstanding, and in the few places where minor fluctuations are noticeable, it is very easy to tell that they are introduced by the original cinematography. Grain exposure can be slightly more convincing, but it is already very, very good, and there are no traces of anomalies. The grayscale is excellent. Blacks are strong but natural, not crushed, while grays and whites are wonderfully balanced. Many areas of the film are darker and feature various ranges of shadow nuances that look great. Image stability is excellent. (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).

Something Wild Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Something Wild has an unusual score composed by Aaron Copland. I have an old DVD release of the film that has a difficult time revealing the unique strengths of the score, but on this release (as well as on the Criterion release), the music sounds rich and healthy, as it should after a proper restoration. The dialog is very clean, sharp, stable, and easy to follow.

Something Wild Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Foster Hirsh - in this exclusive new program, author and film scholar Foster Hirsh explains why Something Wild is a special film and the interesting relationship between Jack Garfein and Carroll Baker's survivor. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

Something Wild Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jack Garfein's Something Wild would have been considered a masterpiece of American cinema if the style it promotes had evolved and matured in the same manner the French New Wave did. I saw it for the first time a few years before the folks at Criterion restored it in 2K and released it on Blu-ray, and thought that it was quite incredible. This release is sourced from the restored 2K master and is included in Film Focus: Carroll Baker, a three-disc box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.