Days of Wine and Roses Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Blake Edwards
USA 1962

When Blake Edwards' powerful film of J.P. Miller's heartrending teleplay Days of Wine and Roses hit movie screens, it won critical raves and box-office success and shone brightly as a career highlight for its two Oscar®-nominated stars, Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, who play a couple caught in alcoholism's web. A San Francisco public-relations hotshot is a "social" drinker...who never stops socializing. His vivacious wife starts drinking to keep him company. They live for good times. But eventually good times turn bad. Days of Wine and Roses earned a total of five Academy Award® nominations and a 1962 Best Song Oscar® for its haunting Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer title tune. A poignant, harrowing portrait of human lives at their lowest, it also reflects filmmaking at its height.

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In this addiction melodrama, Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon), a promising adman, meet his future wife Kirsten (Lee Remick) at a party. Once married, the pressures of his business lead Joe to seek solace in liquor. Kirsten joins him in his nocturnal drinking sessions, and before long both are confirmed alcoholics. After several frightening episodes, Joe is able to shake the habit thanks to AA, but Kirsten finds it impossible to get through the day without liquor. The two split up, although Joe clings to the hope that someday he and Kirsten will be reunited, if for no reason other than the sake of their young daughter. J.P. Miller adapted the screenplay from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 television script. Though nominated in several categories, Days of Wine and Roses won only the Best Song Oscar for Henry Mancini's title tune.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 25th, 1962

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Comparison:

Warner - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:57:08	1:57:17.280
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.73 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 37,825,038,136 bytes Feature: 36,319,875,072 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1976 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1976 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1984 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1984 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by director Blake Edwards • 2 Theatrical trailers • Vintage interview with Jack Lemmon • Widescreen anamorphic format (5:05) DVD Release Date: January 6, 2004 Snap Case Chapters: 27	Release Information: Studio: Warner Archive 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 37,825,038,136 bytes Feature: 36,319,875,072 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary by director Blake Edwards • Theatrical trailer (3:32) • Vintage interview with Jack Lemmon (5:06) Blu-ray Release Date: October 29th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 28

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner Archive Blu-ray (November 2019): Warner Archive have transferred Blake Edwards' Days of Wine and Roses to Blu-ray. It is a notable advancement over the SD transfer with almost 7 times the bitrate. The 1080P is brighter, shows much more depth and a higher level of detail. Contrast advances the black and white visual and there is some appreciated film grain textures. It really does look nice.

NOTE: 48 more full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray captures for Patrons are available HERE.

On their Blu-ray, Warner Archive use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and highly notable main theme and score by Henry Mancini (and Johnny Mercer) (Oklahoma Crude, Wait Until Dark, Operation Petticoat, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Experiment in Terror, Charade) that plays in various arrangements throughout the film. Warner Archive offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray has the same extras as their DVD from 2004. Repeated are the Blake Edwards commentary, an oddly conceived, short, interview with Lemmon that comes across more as a promo and a trailer.

Days of Wine and Roses remains one of the most touching films that I have ever seen. I always watch the entire second half with a baseball-sized lump in my throat. Lemmon and Remick are marvelous and the story is a devastating melodrama. It's a film I am so pleased to own on Blu-ray with its dramatically improved image and audio - plus retaining the director commentary. I consider this an essential film and this BD is the best way, by far, to view it.