Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.0

Take It Out in Trade Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 14, 2018

Mention the name of Ed Wood to many casual film fans, and chances are they will think of either Plan 9 from Outer Space or Ed Wood, Tim Burton’s biopic of the would be auteur which ended up winning Martin Landau an Academy Award for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi. Those who therefore understandably tend to associate Wood with his fifties output like the aforementioned “science fiction spectacular” or more supposedly “mundane” fare like Glen or Glenda may be surprised to find out that Wood actually lived until 1978 and continued to produce material into the early seventies. Take It Out in Trade was long considered a “lost” film, and in fact when even just outtakes with no audio were discovered and released some time ago, that was enough to get some Wood fans’ hearts palpitating, as if some Holy Grail in a cape (so to speak) had been found. Now AGFA and Something Weird have turned that “lost” into “found” by providing fans with a 2K scan of what the label is stating is the only 16mm theatrical print in existence. This is a film which combines that certain Woodian “je ne sais quoi” that is part childlike naif and part demented weirdo with a supposedly salacious aspect that features lots of naked women and sex scenes which are perhaps only slightly less awkward than those seen in another AGFA offering, Bat Pussy.

Unlike some other Wood offerings which are often unintentionally hilarious, the comedy (or at least some of the comedy) in Take It Out In Trade seems positively willful, with an eager private investigator Mac McGregor (Michael Donovan O’Donnell, who bears a passing resemblance to Ron Jeremy, not that I would know what he looks like) on the hunt for a missing girl named Shirley Riley (Donna Stanley). Shirley’s distraught parents are unaware their daughter has actually fallen into a life of “ill repute”, though at least it’s at a supposedly “upscale” establishment. All of the supposed “plot mechanics” will probably evaporate into dust, though, at least for certain Wood fans when Wood himself shows up as “Alecia”, a semi-lovely creature in a lime green knit dress and blue pearls (?). Take It Out In Trade is downright psychedelic at times, and may (like many Wood films) not make a ton of sense, but for diehard Wood aficionados, this may indeed be the Holy Grail.

Take It Out in Trade Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Take It Out in Trade is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of AGFA and Something Weird with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. As with many AGFA releases, this is a "two-fer", and so the insert booklet contains the following information on the transfers of both films included on this release:

Take It Out In Trade is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics film scanner from the only 16mm print in existence.

The Love Feast is presented in its original aspects ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics film scanner from an original 35mm theatrical print. Color grading was performed with DaVinci Resolve. Every efoort has been made to retain the original theatrical experience of the films. The monaural soundtracks were remastered using Pro Tools HD. The digital transfers were performed by the American Genre Film Archive in Austin, TX.

Considering what appears to be the rarity of Take It Out In Trade, I have to say I'm rather impressed by the results of this transfer. Yes, there are still tons of signs of age related wear and tear as well as what was properly less than state of the art curation over the intervening decades, but on the whole the viewing experience here has a lot to recommend it. The palette still pops with considerable authority, though there are still some signs of fading. The smaller format can tend to mask some fine detail levels in midrange and wide shots, but as can hopefully be gleaned in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, many of the close-ups provide rather admirable detail and fine detail levels. Grain generally looks natural, if not quite as coarse as some might expect from a 16mm source. I'm assuming some stock footage was utilized, or at least perhaps less artfully shot second unit footage (as in the shots of the airport and plane, seen in screenshots 12 and 14), and some of that material has rather large scratches, as can again be seen in the screenshots.

Take It Out in Trade Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Take It Out in Trade features a decent sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix, one that is more or less in the same league quality wise as the video element, though with some attendant hiss and an overall pretty shallow, boxy sound. The film has a score exactly like what you would imagine a soft core Ed Wood film from 1970 would, and that makes it through the gauntlet fairly well, but seems mixed kind of low. Dialogue (such as it is) is also consistently problem free.

Take It Out in Trade Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary Track with Filmmaker Frank Henenlotter, Ed Wood's Biographer Rudolf Grey, and AGFA's Joseph A. Ziemba


• Take It Out in Trade: The Outtakes (1080p; 1:10:04) offer a glut of material, often with things like clapper boards or booms in evidence, all without audio.


• The Love Feast (1080p; 59:35) is another soft core extravaganza featuring Wood, culled from a pretty badly damaged print.

Take It Out in Trade Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm sure there are some cult film fans out there looking at my 2.0 score and wondering what is wrong with me (get in line, please). I unabashedly agree that for a certain niche of the public, this release is going to be a flat out 5.0, while for those with more prudish sensibilities, the shock value of typical lo-fi Wood production values mixing with soft core pornography may simply be too much to stomach. For Wood fans, though, this AGFA release is going to be a must have, and the good news is, considering the technical issues inherent in transferring a rare element, the results here are surprisingly solid.