Thoroughly Modern Millie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Thoroughly Modern Millie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 22, 2021

There are manifold mysteries of existence, to be sure, but for some (ahem) there's perhaps no greater enigma known to man than how Elmer Bernstein was afforded his only Oscar in any category for Best Original Score in 1968 for his work on Thoroughly Modern Millie, becoming in fact the only member of the cast and crew of the film to take home a statuette, despite a number of nominations. That's obviously said at least somewhat in jest, but it's still a rather confounding part of Academy Awards lore and legend, at least for those who pay attention to things like underscoring. Now, I have mentioned this perplexing situation before in my Hawaii Blu-ray review, among other passing references, as it has struck me as patently bizarre from any number of angles for years. I unapologetically think Bernstein should have taken home an Academy Award for his work on Hawaii, but there was simply no stopping the almost zeitgeist level acclaim for the score of Born Free, a situation which was kind of oddly reminiscent of Bernstein's snub in 1962 for his completely gorgeous, haunting work on To Kill a Mockingbird, which couldn't overcome the popularity of Maurice Jarre's work on Lawrence of Arabia. And so the Oscar Bernstein was awarded for Thoroughly Modern Millie might have been one of those "career awards" granted to those who have been passed over too many times previously (by 1968, when Bernstein got this award, he had already been nominated eight times), but even so there's one salient piece of information touching on just how strange this is: it was André Previn who adapted Thoroughly Modern Millie's song score (and who was in fact nominated but didn't win in the Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score category, along with collaborator Joseph Gershenson), and if you listen to Bernstein's so-called "original score", there's not a whole lot of "original scoring" going on, since a lot of the underscore at least alludes to the songs in the film.

Now that we have that rant out of the way, there's a whole movie to discuss! In a manner of speaking, the craziness surrounding Bernstein's nomination and eventual win is perhaps an apt symbol of an overall goofy ambience that suffuses Thoroughly Modern Millie from the get go, as this "musical" begins with a kind of frightening pre-credits vignette involving a white slavery ring in the flapper era of the early 1920s being operated by a nefarious sort named Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie). Mrs. Meers is "den mother" (so to speak) at a boarding house for single young ladies which is the home of recent transplant to the big city Millie Dillmount (Julie Andrews), who is seen in the credits sequence "raising her skirt and bobbing her hair", to paraphrase the ebullient Oscar nominated title song by James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn. Millie is a "modern", as a new arrival at Mrs. Meers' abode named Miss Dorothy Brown (Mary Tyler Moore) avers. And in fact the character of Millie might be thought of having been part of The Boy Friend: The Next Generation (again, so to speak), in terms of offering a riff on a flapper- esque character Andrews so memorably played on the stage. Millie is also on the hunt for a boss whom she has already decided she will marry. That plan gets thrown for a bit of a loop when an eager young man named Jimmy Smith (James Fox) shows up at a dance and instantly sweeps Millie off her feet.

A number of subplots play out simultaneously during the first hour or so of the film, with Mrs. Meers repeatedly trying to kidnap Dorothy, who is an orphan (Millie's large family means she isn't a suitable candidate for a white slavery ring, since Mrs. Meers doesn't want any nosy relatives looking into mysterious disappearances). Millie also gets hired by Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), a staunch guy who could have been a model for one of the 1920 era Arrow Shirt ad illustrations. Millie is of course convinced she'll marry Trevor, but Trevor seems to think of Millie as "just one of the boys", down to calling her "John". Jimmy's continued pursuit of Millie ultimately gets her invited to a "society do" hosted by a friend of Jimmy's named Muzzy Van Hossmere (Carol Channing, Academy Award nominated for this performance), who turns out to be a "jazz baby" and who is definitely on the eccentric side.

It's obvious that Thoroughly Modern Millie was meant to be a loving throwback to a bygone era and in fact to films that came out during that time period. There are, for example, a series of interstitial title cards that rather than offer dialogue disclose the inner workings of Millie's mind, and there's also an obvious tip of the (straw?) hat to Harold Lloyd and Safety Last! in the second half of the film. The film is arguably a bit too slight to sustain a roughly two and a half hour running time, but at its best it's breezy and at least wryly amusing if not flat out hilarious. There are some issues that probably weren't overly part of the cultural zeitgeist of 1967 which may strike contemporary eyes and sensibilities as un-PC, including the whole white slavery angle, which involves a number of Asian characters, two of whom are unfortunately listed in the credits as "Oriental #1" and "Oriental #2". In a perhaps less objectionable but still questionable sequence, Millie sings at a seemingly Orthodox Jewish wedding that has men and women dancing with each other, which would have at least been discouraged, if not outright forbidden.

There are a couple of interesting tethers to Julie Andrews' musical follow-up to Thoroughly Modern Millie, the behemoth 1968 Robert Wise (supposed) biography of Gertrude Lawrence, Star! (still kind of oddly missing on Blu-ray even at this late date). As they did with Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cahn and Van Heusen wrote another Oscar nominated title song for Star!, and perhaps even more interestingly, Beatrice Lillie, who is so memorably evil in this film, reportedly wanted to portray herself in the Lawrence biopic, which was evidently nixed (if it was ever even really considered).

Thoroughly Modern Millie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Thoroughly Modern Millie is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (mostly) in 1.85:1. The back cover advertises this as the "Roadshow Edition - fully restored in 4K by Universal Pictures". There's a lot to like about this transfer, notably some really excellent fine detail levels throughout that help to highlight the beautiful costumes and props, but also things like the crags and weathering on Beatrice Lillie's oh, so evil face. The palette is generally nicely suffused, though there are definitely some ebbs during things like opticals (the film has a bunch of "old school" effects like split screen, wipes and irises), where both densities falter and grain understandably spikes. The increased resolution of this presentation can better reveal literal seams in some matte work or greenscreen moments, as can be gleaned from several of the screenshots that I've uploaded to this review. There's no real damage to report that I spotted. There are a couple of curious variances from the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Right before intermission, there's one of those aforementioned interstitial title cards that is suddenly pillar boxed, which continues with the Intermission card (see screenshot 21). Even weirder, if you pay attention starting at circa 2:25:23, just as the film is wrapping up, you can actually see those oft mentioned "black bars" slowly move in to establish a new, narrower aspect ratio for the final credits sequence (see screenshot 22).

Thoroughly Modern Millie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Thoroughly Modern Millie is another vintage musical that was exhibited theatrically both in 70mm (with 6 track sound) and 35mm (with 4 track stereo), and so some audiophiles may be a bit disappointed that this release features only a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. That disappointment may be amplified by the fact that the track is frankly pretty center heavy a lot of the time, and it does appear per some comments on our Forum, a User Review and to my personal ears that some of the "interstitial" or "introductory" cues like the Overture are either in mono or very narrow stereo. That said, I frankly don't hear a huge spike in stereo engagement throughout this track, though occasional width can be ascertained, to my ears more in terms of some of the sound and/or foley effects than in the actual scoring. There are some nicely spacious moments in the scoring, however, notably the big party scene where Muzzy struts her stuff, or in some of the orchestral accompaniment to the dance sequence in the Jewish wedding scene. All of this said, fidelity is generally excellent, though there's some very slight distortion in upper registers, probably most noticeably in some sung moments. Optional English subtitles are available.

Thoroughly Modern Millie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Lee Gambin and Art Historian Ian McAnally


• Thoroughly Modern Millie - Trailer 1 (HD; 2:39)


• Thoroughly Modern Millie - Trailer 2 (SD; 2:35)

Thoroughly Modern Millie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If I had been Elmer Bernstein, I would have calmly taken home my Oscar, gotten a Post-It Note and scrawled "Hawaii" on it, affixed it over the title inscribed on the actual award, and called it a day. If the Bernstein weirdness doesn't really matter to you, you may still have to dodge various "woke" proclivities to totally enjoy what is in essence a farcical goof of a story. This kind of gonzo film arguably just shoehorns in its musical moments, but Andrews sounds great and the orchestrations for both the Cahn and Van Heusen originals and evergreens utilized are outstanding. There are a couple of minor passing hurdles in the video and audio department, but overall Thoroughly Modern Millie comes Recommended.