Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 4, 2010

Frank Tashlin's "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include a video introduction to the film, shot exclusively for Eureka Entertainment in 2010, by filmmaker Joe Dante; short archival piece showing Jayne Mansfield on a promotional bus tour in Washington D.C.; alternate music & effects track; and the film's original theatrical trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Bubbles

Here’s a film that fits perfectly into the "they don’t make them like they used to" category. Hilarious yet deadly serious, Frank Tashlin's Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is a terrific satire of America’s obsession with television, glamor, status, and, well, just about everything else America is obsessed with these days – sans Internet pornography.

Frustrated with her playboy lover Bobo Branigansky (Mickey Hargitay, Three Graves for a Winchester), Hollywood star Rita Marlowe (Jayne Mansfield, The Girl Can't Help It) heads to New York City where she hopes to relax and have a good time. There she meets Rock Hunter (Tony Randall, The Odd Couple), a disillusioned commercial writer, who has been told that unless he convinces Rita to endorse Stay-Put Lipstick, he will be out of a job. Rita agrees to do the endorsement but not before she takes advantage of Rock – she tells the media that Rock is her new lover in order to make Bobo jealous.

The stunt immediately makes Rock a star in his company and he is awarded with a private restroom, but upsets his fiancée Jenny Wells (Betsy Drake, Intent to Kill). Rock attempts to explain to her that there is nothing between him and Rita, but Jenny concludes that like all men he is a natural born cheater.

Rock's life changes. He becomes a celebrity and, like Rita, eventually discovers that money and status cannot replace happiness. Rock’s success also affects the lives of those around him - his boss Irving La Salle Jr. (John Williams, Double Trouble) realizes that he should have pursued his passion to grow flowers and leaves the company, Rita’s aging secretary Violet (Joan Blondell, The Cincinnati Kid) decides that it is time to have an affair, while Jenny eventually figures that she should learn to walk and talk like Rita.

Before director Tashlin migrated to feature films, he worked as a cartoonist at Warner Brothers and MGM. In the late 1940s, he also did work for the likes of Bob Hope and Red Skelton. During the 1950s, a series of films, amongst them The Girl Can’t Help It and Hollywood or Bust, gained him international recognition, and his reputation soared. Director Tashlin was particularly well received in France, where Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut followed closely his work and covered it for the prestigious Cahiers du Cinema magazine.

What makes Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? a fascinating film to behold is its ability to entertain and at the same time criticize everything that is wrong about America. Tashlin’s subtle jabs at corporate culture, for instance, feel anything but dated. The same could be said about his excellent observation that in America people are constantly and carefully brainwashed to consume and idolize.

Mansfield looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe, well aware of her sex appeal and manipulating everyone around her as best as she could. She is certainly a product of her environment - and as such she is nothing more than a soulless and arrogant sex symbol.

Randall is fantastic as the typical underachiever who struggles with the system. He gets lucky and quickly, and much to his surprise, realizes that it is easier to get his point across when he mistreats and abuses people. He does not seem to like it much, but it is how the system works - you either abuse or get abused.

In 1958, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? was nominated for two awards: Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy (Tony Randall) and WGA Award for Best Written American Comedy (Frank Tashlin).

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Frank Tashlin's Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

This is a strong high-definition transfer. Naturally, there are significant improvements in all key areas that we typically address: fine object detail is pleasing throughout the entire film, clarity very good, and contrast levels consistent. The color-scheme is also dramatically improved - reds, yellows, blues, greens, browns, and blacks look richer and better saturated when compared to the SDVD release of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? found in the Jayne Mansfield Collection 20th Century Fox released in the U.S. quite some time ago. I did not see any traces of excessive DNR manipulations. Generally speaking, the film's grain structure is very much intact. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are also not a serious issue of concern. During a couple of scenes, however, I noticed traces of light compression artifacts. Additionally, I spotted a few tiny flecks popping up here and there; however, large scratches, cuts, damage marks, and stains are not present. To sum it all up, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is yet another competent addition to the Eureka Entertainment/Masters of Cinema already very impressive catalog of classic films. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is strong. Naturally, its dynamic amplitude is rather limited, but the sound has pleasing depth. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Cyril J. Mockridge's music score either. While viewing the film, I also did not hear any pops, cracks, excessive hissing, or dropouts to report in this review.

In addition to the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, Eureka Entertainment have also provided an alternate music & effects track. This alternate track for the film carries a different music score for the opening of the picture, along with other 'temporary' placements for effects throughout.

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Joe Dante on the film - a video introduction to Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, shot exclusively for Eureka Entertainment on August 10 2010 in Los Angeles, by filmmaker Joe Dante (Gremlins, Gremlins 2, The New Batch, InnerSpace, Looney Tunes; Back in Action, The Hole). In English, not subtitled. (7 min, 1080p).

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

Movietone piece - a short archival piece showing Jayne Mansfield on a promotional bus tour in Washington D.C. tied in to the release of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? that was sponsored by 20th Century Fox. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frank Tashlin's Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? is a fantastic film to introduce through the Masters of Cinema Series. Arguably one of the most original American directors from the 1950s, Tashlin's films have been very much ignored by local distributors for years. I don't have an answer why, but I hope that serious film afficionados will take notice of this wonderful Blu-ray release of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, courtesy of Eureka Entertainment, so that more of the director's films could get the treatment they rightfully deserve. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.