The Long, Long Trailer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Long, Long Trailer Blu-ray Movie Review

Ball buster.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 26, 2023

A likable road comedy starring the irresistible husband-and-wife team of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball -- right in the thick of I Love Lucy's landmark run, no less -- Vincente Minnelli's The Long, Long Trailer plays to the couple's considerable strengths by rolling along with plenty of laughs from start to finish. It's not nearly as smooth a ride for their on-screen personas, Nicky and Tacy Collini, though: after investing in a luxury mobile home instead of a house down payment, the newlyweds' honeymoon ends early when the high-end purchase tests the limits of their new marriage.

Things start off innocently enough. Nicky's new civil engineering job includes lots of travel time, so Tacy's proposition of buying a trendy luxury trailer seems almost sensible: they'll be able to travel and see the country in style, and with few restrictions. Sadly, the $1,800 model she's been excitedly eyeing up turns out to be much smaller in person, but that's when they see... it. A monstrously oversized 40-foot behemoth with all the comforts of home and, before they know it, they're making the first of several payments with a $5,000 finish line. (More than ten times that, in today's numbers.) If that wasn't enough, they also need a new, more powerful car to tow it. Plus a custom welded hitch to keep it secure. It's a veritable money pit on wheels... but hey, at least the lovebirds will have fun on the road, right?

Nope. Nicky and Tacy's episodic adventures include nosy trailer park neighbors interrupting their wedding night, a tip-over disaster on an old logging road (which includes a fun extended "slanted room" sequence that serves up plenty of top-notch physical comedy), disastrous parking at a relative's house, general traffic woes, a failed attempt at cooking gourmet food in motion, and a precipitous cliffside drive that ain't too far off something out of Steven Spielberg's Duel. Come to think of it, The Long, Long Trailer may be one of the most nail-biting "road comedies" I've seen to date -- if you don't have an extremely high tolerance for second-hand anxiety, it might ne a long 96 minutes.

It's still plenty fun, and if nothing else could probably be best described as an unofficial feature-length I Love Lucy episode in color. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course: The Long, Long Trailer was a reasonably big hit in 1954, presumably because that's exactly what fans wanted to see. (It also ties in to a fun little bit of trivia involving Desi Arnaz's successful $25,000 bet with a studio executive who doubted it would connect with audiences.) And yes, it is a pretty thin -- and certainly unconventional -- plot to frame an entire feature-length film around, yet Arnaz and Ball's sky-high chemistry and raw comedic talents are enough to keep everything rolling smoothly. The film's weakest element is a rather limp bookending narrative that presents the entire film as one extended flashback... but that's a pretty small price to pay for what's otherwise a perfectly enjoyable little slice of time capsule cinema.

The Long, Long Trailer arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Archive, fully equipped with yet another of the boutique label's reliably great restorations and a few carryover DVD-era bonus features too. With any luck, we'll get two more Arnaz and Ball features on Blu-ray soon enough: Forever, Darling and Too Many Girls, which were also part of Warner Bros.' 2006 boxed set, The Lucy and Desi Collection, and later re-issued on DVD by Warner Archive in 2018.

The Long, Long Trailer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Originally shot on Ansco Color film stock (a relatively unpopular format that was a favorite of director Vincente Minnelli for its speed and color reproduction), The Long, Long Trailer is chock full of picturesque locations including California's Pines to Palms Scenic Byway and Yosemite National Park. It's a great-looking film that shines brightly on Blu-ray thanks to Warner Archive's restoration efforts, which in this case begin with a recent 4K scan of the color negative and a little help from a duplicate, reportedly less than a minute's worth of footage. This new scan from (mostly) first-generation elements, combined with Warner Archive's usual meticulous attention to manual cleanup, results in a jaw-dropping 1080p transfer featuring excellent color saturation, crisp fine detail, and a purely film-like appearance that remains clean and blemish-free. One particular scene -- a pre-disaster backyard meeting with Tacy's relatives at their Colorado home -- looks so perfectly crisp and natural that it supports that time-honored HDTV cliché of "looking out a window". Even mundane traffic jams appear picture-perfect here. It's just one of many well-handled Warner Archive transfers deserving of the full five-star rating, and an absolutely spectacular way to welcome this film to Blu-ray.

One added bonus is that WAC's Blu-ray presents The Long, Long Trailer in its original 1.75:1 aspect ratio for the first time on home video. An unconventional shape, to be sure, but one that translates well to 16x9 displays.

The Long, Long Trailer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unavoidably less showy but still outstanding is the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix, an equally flawless split presentation of the film's one-channel mix. Obviously its source format doesn't translate to much depth or directionality but this is still a rich and dynamic presentation overall, from standard back-and-forth dialogue to a few unexpected song breaks, claustrophobic traffic jams, wide-open roads, and a few stylish sonic touches like the swarm of worries swimming in poor Nicky's head. It's basically a pound-for-pound perfect presentation of well-kept source material, equally deserving of a full five-star rating despite the lack of bells and whistles present in stereo and surround films.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, but not the extras. This is annoying since the DVD that they were sourced from did in fact have optional subtitles available. It's perhaps my only ongoing hang-up regarding Warner Archive releases, and one that I hope is finally addressed at some point.

The Long, Long Trailer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts. All bonus features are ported over from Warner Bros.' earlier DVD editions, although a few A/V upgrades have been made.

• Ain't It Aggravatin'? (8:20) - Part of MGM's long-running Pete Smith Specialty series, this 1954 short captures a few everyday annoyances in glorious black and white. It's at least upscaled to 1080p with a high bit rate (and lossless audio) but has unfortunately not undergone any restoration work.

• Dixieland Droopy (7:47) - This 1954 Tex Avery short depicts the pup (as "John Pettibone") annoying anyone and everyone with his Dixieland record... until it breaks and he enlists the help of a flea jazz combo fronted by Pee Wee Runt. Previously issued on Blu-ray as part of Warner Archive's Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2, this oddball outing a bit atypical of the usual Droopy fare but still worth watching.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:10) - In comparison, this one's a little shorter. *rimshot*

The Long, Long Trailer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Vincente Minnelli's The Long, Long Trailer, starring the unstoppable husband-and-wife team of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball near the height of I Love Lucy's popularity, plays off the strengths of that landmark TV series. But this (frequently nail-biting) road comedy still feels like something a little bigger and different, even if most of that notion is achieved by its widescreen, full-color presentation. Still, "extended unofficial I Love Lucy episode" is no complaint by any stretch, and this likeable crowd-please inarguably entertains almost 70 years later. Warner Archive's Blu-ray edition shines like new with another top-tier restoration and a few decent DVD-era bonus features. Highly Recommended.