Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

The Fortune Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 26, 2018

Mike Nichols' "The Fortune" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include a vintage promotional materials for the film; audio commentary by critic Nick Pinkerton; archival Q&A session with Mike Nichols and Elaine May; and more. The release also arrives with a 32-page exclusive booklet featuring a new essay by Martyn Conterio, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Two cheaters and a girl

One of my favorite releases this year, Aloha, Bobby and Rose, came from Scorpion Releasing, which specializes in bringing forgotten gems to Blu-ray. The label is very small and while it is clear that it does not have the financial resources that many of its competitors have to produce lavish releases, the main man there, Walt Olsen, genuinely cares about quality. I mention this because in addition to a beautiful new remaster the recent release of Aloha, Bobby and Rose offers three fantastic exclusive interviews, and one of them actually contains interesting information about the box office fate of Mike Nichols’ The Fortune. So, if you view the new interview with Paul Le Mat that Olsen produced, you will learn that in the summer of 1975 The Fortune was expected to become one of the year’s biggest hits, but instead the film bombed rather spectacularly at the box office and its top spot was claimed by the tiny independent charmer Aloha, Bobby and Rose. The entire segment where Le Mat reveals how utterly wrong the big industry pundits were in their predictions is very entertaining because he basically confirms that not a single one of them actually had a clue just how average The Fortune was. The pundits were justifying its ‘inevitable’ future success with the fact that the producers of the film had contracted some serious star power.

A couple of nights ago I sat down to view The Fortune for the first time ever -- how I missed it over the years I don’t know, but I did -- and less than fifteen minutes into it I already knew exactly why it bombed. Now, let me explain what I saw and why I thought that the failure was justified. Immediately after the opening credits there is a short note that clarifies a ridiculous ancient law that apparently made a lot of men and women do a lot of stupid things in the early 1920s, which is when the film is set. Next, in New York City, the cultured Nicky (Warren Beatty), the slightly dimwitted Oscar (Jack Nicholson), and the elegant and very wealthy socialite Freddie (Stockard Channing) board a train bound for LA. The three have a plan that is supposed to make them happy, but Freddie does not realize that that the boys actually want to be a little happier after they steal her massive fortune. Freddie’s version of the plan is much simpler and ends with her marrying Oscar and then enjoying a beautiful affair with the already married Nicky. So after the two versions of the plan are clarified, Nichols essentially points the camera at the leads and begins shooting what should be glorious fireworks. However, something very different follows. The film immediately begins stumbling and then breaks down into multiple segments, each featuring a good deal of improvising between Beatty and Nicholson’s characters that was undoubtedly meant to be charming and hilarious but instead only produces seemingly endless fights for superiority that reveal total lack of chemistry between the two. This truly is the entire film in a nutshell, a sequence after sequence of pointless bickering and improvising, and nothing clicks -- what should be hilarious looks dull, the energy is totally mismanaged, and all of the ‘subtle’ revelations about the games that the two sexes love to play completely miss the mark.

The period settings and decors, the costumes and Nicholson’s wild hair look great. But all of this isn’t enough to hide the obvious -- the film’s box office fate was well-deserved.

The Fortune Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mike Nichols' The Fortune arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

The release is sourced from a very nice remaster that was prepared by Sony Pictures in the United States. Indeed, excluding some light but obvious black crush and the presence of sporadic density fluctuations that a higher quality remaster would have handled better, the rest of the film looks lovely. Detail, for instance, is consistently impressive and even during sequences where light is restricted it is very easy to see that the remaster preserves plenty of nuances. It also helps that there are no traces of digital tinkering, so even on a very large screen there is a nice organic fluidity that keeps the visuals looking very pleasing. The primary colors are stable and properly balanced, with decent ranges of supporting nuances that also look very healthy. Image stability is excellent. There are no large debris, cuts, stains, or torn frames to report. (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).

The Fortune Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio was almost certainly remixed because it is exceptionally clean -- really, there isn't even a whiff of background abnormalities or other less-common age-related imperfections -- while stability is outstanding. Clarity and depth are also very good, and even the existing range of dynamics is rather impressive. As it is the case with older films from the era, however, the native sound design cannot compete with what you will hear from a big-budget contemporary production.

The Fortune Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• Music and Effects Track - presented as LPCM 1.0.

• Image Gallery - a collection of original vintage promotional materials for The Fortune.

• Professor Kyle Stevens on The Fortune - in this new video interview, professor Kyle Stevens explains why The Fortune might be a misunderstood film and the impact its box office fate had on its creator's career. The interview was conducted exclusively for Indicator/Powerhouse Films in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (6 min, 1080p).

• Mike Nichols and Elaine May in Conversation - presented here is an archival Q&A session in which Mike Nichols and Elaine May discuss their experiences with the studio system as well as the films they made and some of the themes that were prevalent in their work. The session was recorded after a screening of Ishtar at Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City in February 2006. In English, not subtitled. (69 min).

• Nick Pinkerton - in this audio commentary, critic Nick Pinkerton offers a very good historic analysis and deconstruction of The Fortune that does highlight many of the film's flaws. There are also good observations about the film's critical reception.

• Booklet - a 32-page exclusive booklet with a new essay by Martyn Conterio, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film.

The Fortune Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You can add me to the long list of people who consider The Fortune to be a genuine bomb. At one point Mike Nichols apparently thought that it was his best work, but as far as I am concerned it is a prime example of a high-profile project where a lot of very talented people are completely out of sync. Carole Eastman's script is almost certainly responsible for a lot of the misfires throughout the film, but there is also an awful lot of improvising going on that is simply horrendous. Frankly, it is anything but surprising that it turned out to be a massive box office disaster. If you have a drastically different opinion of The Fortune, you should be glad to hear that Indicator/Powerhouse Films' recent release is sourced from a nice remaster that was prepared by Sony Pictures and happens to be Region-Free.