The Day of the Locust Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray Movie Review

D'oh.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 30, 2020

Some unschooled data miners who roam the nooks and crannies of IMDb might have a momentary bit of shock if, when looking over Donald Sutherland’s credits, they see that he played a character named Homer Simpson. Those unacquainted with Nathaniel West’s now legendary novel The Day of the Locust could well pause for a second at this “revelation”, wondering if there had been some kind of live action film featuring The Simpsons, but of course this Homer Simpson is a far cry from the addled nuclear plant employee created by Matt Groening (in one of the supplements on this Blu-ray disc, Kim Newman repeats an assertion that Groening admitted basing the character’s name at least in part on the West character, though as your resident Portlander, where of course Groening grew up and where the city has all sorts of streets bearing the (sur)names of various characters in the franchise, I can state with some authority that the prevailing wisdom here at least is that Groening was mostly referencing his own father Homer). As William Atherton gets into in another supplement included on this Blu-ray disc, the film version of The Day of the Locust was expected to be a very big deal, with an inflated budget and A-listers both in front of the camera and perhaps even more so behind it, in the form of then relatively recent Academy Award winner John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) in the director’s chair, who reunited with Midnight Cowboy’s score composer John Barry, and who also hired the cinematographer who had won an Academy Award for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid the same year as Schlesinger won his, Conrad Hall (Hall ended up getting one of the two Academy Award nominations The Day of the Locust received).

Tod Hackett (William Atherton) is a recent Yale graduate and an aspiring artist who decides to chase the American Dream in Hollywood, plying his trade at a studio in various capacities. Finances force him to take a room at a less than luxe establishment called the San Bernardino Arms, where among the other residents he forges a friendship with bit player Faye Greener (Karen Black), whose father Harry (Burgess Meredith, who received the film's only other Academy Award nomination) was a clowning vaudevillian back in the day. If Tod has nascent eyes for Faye, he has a bit of competition in the form of Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), a tamped down accountant who would seem to be an odd fit for the often hyperbolically emotional Faye. A number of other residents of the apartment house waft in and out of the story, including a "little person" named Abe Kusich (Billy Barty), and Adore Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley), a potential kid star being "managed" by a harridan stage mother (Gloria LeRoy).

As Atherton alludes to in the interview included as a supplement on this disc, Hackett serves as something of an "observer" of all these outré types, and that "outsider" status may be one reason why an emotional tether between the audience and the characters may not be firmly enough established for some. West's novel is often described as "Impressionistic" or even "surreal", with a vignette driven structure that may have inherently worked against an adaptation as a more or less traditional narrative film. As such, there's a peculiar distance at play throughout much of the proceedings, even if the film features some really interesting performances. Meredith is absolutely heart breaking as Harry, a guy who unlike some of the other starry eyed characters in this film at least seems to realize what a failure he is, and Sutherland really does fine work in an extremely difficult role.

The film builds to a chaotic, almost Grand Guignol inflected, climax which is probably the closest things come to the gut punch that was obviously being aimed for. Richard Macdonald's production design in combination with Conrad Hall's cinematography more than adequately depict the grimy underbelly of a supposedly glamorous location, and the film is filled to the brim with engaging supporting performances from a pretty starry cast including Geraldine Page, Richard Dysart, John Hillerman, Natalie Schafer and (in a bit of cheeky stunt casting) William Castle. But there should have been a more desperate edge to the film's proto-horror aspects. Instead, kind of like one character accuses another of being, it's like the audience is a virtual "Peeping Tom", with the disconnect that implies.

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Day of the Locust is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision and Imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. My hunch is this is an older master and has not undergone much if any restoration, as aside from some issues I'll discuss in a moment there are also recurrent if frequently minor signs of age related wear and tear, including small nicks, scratches and other anomalies including what looks like one brief chemical stain. Conrad Hall shot this film in an intentionally soft, diffused style, and I also have a hunch that some may find that stylistic choice a "flaw", though even given the almost gauzy ambience to many of the scenes and an understanding of what Hall and Schlesinger wanted to achieve, this transfer doesn't always offer much in the way of substantial fine detail levels where you might at least expect it to, in some close-ups (see screenshot 1). Some of the brightest outdoor material probably pops the best and offers some relatively more precise looking fine detail (look at the straw hat in screenshot 2 for one example), and there can be pops of color even in some of the darkest material. The palette intentionally tends to let beiges, ochres, tans and other kind of neutral tones predominate, and so there can be fairly long swaths of the film without much in the way of vivid hue. Contrast and grain structure tend to fluctuate throughout the presentation, but there don't appear to be any signs of digital tweaking toward either grain reduction or artificial sharpening. I found this to be a superior presentation to the old DVD (which I'm frankly solely remembering, as it's no longer in my personal collection), but I also think this could certainly be improved. The likelihood of that ever happening is probably pretty slim, all things considered.

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Day of the Locust features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. The surround track occasionally opens things up, notably in the calamitous climax sequence, and also with regard to both John Barry's score and some source cues, but the LPCM 2.0 track certainly suffices more than well enough, for those who aren't equipped to handle a surround offering. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly and I noticed no signs of damage of any kind. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Martini Shot: William Atherton and Day of the Locust (1080p; 21:44) is an appealing interview with the actor.


• Exclusive video interview with film critic Kim Newman on The Day of the Locust (1080p; 20:02) is another engaging analysis by Newman.


• Exclusive Audio Commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger features a typically wide ranging discussion from Ellinger, who attempts to place the film in its production era milieu.


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 2:16)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:25)

The Day of the Locust Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Day of the Locust just frankly leaves me kind of cold, something that has always surprised me, given the visceral intensity of the West source novel and the undeniable power of the general story and especially the performances in this film adaptation. I've known people who consider this film an unrecognized classic and others who insist it's basically a piece of high-falutin' garbage, so this obviously at least provokes some strong reactions. Video has some obstacles, but audio is fine, and the supplementary package very enjoyable, for those who are considering a purchase.