Spanish Fly Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Spanish Fly Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 10, 2022

Bob Kellett's "Spanish Fly" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Network Releasing. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new interview with actress Nina Zuckerman; alternate version of the film; extensive vintage promotional materials for the film; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Twice this year I learned about the passing of actors whom I greatly admired as I was finishing articles about films they had done a long time ago but had been recently remastered and made available on Blu-ray. In late September, I was working on an article about Code Red’s Blu-ray release of Andrea Bianchi’s Cry of a Prostitute, a very wild action thriller, when news broke that Henry Silva had passed away. I knew that Silva was not well, but the news genuinely surprised and saddened me. Silva was one of the great but criminally underrated American character actors of the last century whose body of work I think is quite extraordinary. Simply put, without him, a lot of genre films would not enjoy their cult status.

A week ago, I stayed up very late and revisited John Irwin’s Raw Deal and Bob Kellett’s Spanish Fly. I think that both films are very funny but for different reasons. I know that not a lot of people will describe Raw Deal as a comedy, and perhaps rightfully so, but I find Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tough ex-FBI agent irresistibly hilarious. Schwarzenegger’s zingers and macho attitude are pure gold and can just about convince that with Raw Deal Irwin tried to kneecap his newly launched acting career. Spanish Fly features predictably brilliant performances by my two favorite British comedians, Terry-Thomas and Leslie Phillips. I initially picked up Spanish Fly on an R2 DVD from Network Releasing in 2013, but earlier this year the boutique label finally produced a Blu-ray release and I immediately upgraded because the film is wonderful. Well, it is very, very silly, but it is perfect to see very late at night when the mind just wants to relax. I have a huge library of such late-night pleasers and in recent years these films have been the ones that I keep revisiting the most. So, as I was formatting this article the other day, a dear friend, who knows how much I like Phillips and his work, emailed me to let me know that he had passed away. I knew that Phillips had been ill for a long time, but once again the news surprised and saddened me. He was an incredibly charismatic actor with a very special sense of humor.

Spanish Fly is set on the beautiful island of Minorca, a place that many wealthy Brits have started calling home. Sir Percy de Courcy (Terry-Thomas) and his personal assistant and driver Perkins (Graham Armitage) have relocated there too, but the former has exhausted his line of credit in a local bank and is now facing the possibility of not being able to enjoy his favorite afternoon drink, an ice-cold gin and tonic, and having his Rolls-Royce repossessed. In a desperate attempt to replenish his finances, Sir Percy uses his last savings to acquire a large load of extremely cheap wine, invents a very French-sounding name for it, and begins offering it to local restaurants at a discounted-yet-proper price. Much to Sir Percy’s disappointment, however, no one falls for the scam.

But instead of giving up, packing his bags, and going back to gloomy England, Sir Percy orders Perkins to find a way to ‘improve’ the wine. While experimenting with different herbs and spices, Perkins smashes a couple of flies from the garden and drops them in a bottle of wine which soon after proves to be the greatest aphrodisiac ever invented. The doctored wine becomes a particularly big hit with Sir Percy’s childhood friend Mike Scott (Phillips), who has just landed in Minorca to oversee a series of lingerie commercials featuring four very attractive and frisky models – Julie (Nadiuska), Annette (Jaleh Haddah), Francesca (Sally Farmiloe), and Bruce (Andrea Allan). But in the middle of the fireworks and while planning to begin importing Sir Percy’s wine back home, Mr. Scott is reunited with his feisty wife (Sue Lloyd).

Making Spanish Fly should be ranked amongst the most pleasurable gigs in the history of British cinema because from start to finish it looks like a beautiful summer vacation captured on film. It is a very colorful, incredibly relaxing, and full of warmth film that just wants to make its audience feel good.

Old reviews have argued that Spanish Fly is a sex comedy, but this is a very misleading description. Indeed, Spanish Fly does not even come close to matching the revealing visuals of some of Federico Fellini’s greatest films, so if you do not want to be disappointed by it, see it with the right expectations.

Predictably, Terry-Thomas and Phillips lead with authority and give Spanish Fly its identity. Armitage is good too, but when he is away from his master the quality of his acting immediately drops. The female actresses do exactly what was expected of them, which was to appear very, very beautiful.

If you have a good time with Spanish Fly, you should consider spending a night with Stanley Donen’s Blame It on Rio. While the latter comes from a different decade, it was clearly conceived with the same blueprint that was used to make the former.

Spanish Fly Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Spanish Fly arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Network Releasing.

I have the original R2 DVD release of Spanish Fly that Network Releasing produced in 2013 and think that it offered a pretty good presentation of the film. Obviously, it was a standard definition presentation with numerous limitations. This Blu-ray release is sourced from a recent master that was struck from the film's original 35mm camera negative at Silver Salt Restoration. I like how the film looked on my system a lot. Some small encoding optimizations could have been made to ensure that grain exposure is as strong and convincing as it could have been, but I cannot write that I was troubled by the presence of any serious anomalies. On the contrary, I thought that the entire film had a pleasing organic appearance with very fine ranges of primaries and supporting nuances. Image stability is very good. A few minor blemishes pop up, but there are no large cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. All in all, I wanted this Blu-ray release to deliver a solid upgrade in quality and I am happy to report that it met my expectations. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Spanish Fly 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.

The dialog is always clear and very easy to follow. However, the sharpness is a tad below what you would typically expect from a 1970s film. I think that this is how the original soundtrack for Spanish Fly was finalized because the exact same limitations are present on the lossy audio track from the DVD as well. Some minor rebalancing work could be done, but there are no serious age-related anomalies to report in our review.

Spanish Fly Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Fun in Menorca - in this exclusive new program, actress Nina Zuckerman recalls what it was like to work with director Bob Kellett and stars Leslie Phillips and Terry-Thomas during the shooting of Spanish Fly and what the experience taught her about comedy, and explains why the film still works quite well. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Fullscreen Version - presented here is an alternate fullscreen version of Spanish Fly. English LPCM 2.0. With optional English SDH subtitles. (86 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Spanish Fly. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Image Gallery with Music Suite - a very large collection of vintage promotional materials for Spanish Fly with original music. (56 min).

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Adrian Smith and technical credits.

Spanish Fly Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some of the greatest British comedies that I have seen over the years feature the two stars of Spanish Fly, Leslie Phillips and Terry-Thomas. Spanish Fly is pretty silly and does not deserve to be placed among them, but it oozes tremendous warmth and I find it incredibly relaxing. Earlier this week, shortly after I had started preparing this article, a friend reached out to let me know that Phillips had passed away. I admired him and his work tremendously and collected as many of his comedies as I could get. This Blu-ray release of Spanish Fly is sourced from a lovely recent master struck from the OCN and offers an all-around solid upgrade in quality over the previous R2 DVD release of the film. If you can play Region-B Blu-ray releases, consider adding it to your library. (If you wish to supersize your laughs, bundle it with School for Scoundrels, which features one of Terry-Thomas' greatest performances). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.