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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Boeing Boeing aka Boeing (707) Boeing (707) [Blu-ray]

 

(John Rich, 1965)

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Paramount

Video: Olive Films

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:43:09.183

Disc Size: 22,178,325,031 bytes

Feature Size: 22,018,437,120 bytes

Video Bitrate: 26.10 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: February 14th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 918 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 918 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

None

 

Extras:

• None

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: American Bernard Lawrence is an International Press correspondent based in Paris, where he lives with his fiancée, British national British United air hostess Vicky Hawkins. Or is it German national Lufthansa air hostess Lise Bruner? Or is it French national Air France air hostess Jacqueline Grieux? In fact, it's all three, but none of the three know about the other two. With a master airline schedule in hand, Bernard is able to schedule time separately with each of his three fiancées in the same apartment at different times - when one is in Paris, the other two are off flying around the world. Helping Bernard is his acerbic-tongued, efficient but slightly tired live-in maid, Bertha, who has to manage three sets each of photographs, clothing (two of which are always locked up) and bed linens, and has to remember that it is Vicky who eats kidneys, Lise who eats knockwurst and Jacqueline who eats soufflés. Trouble ensues when a rival reporter acquaintance, Robert Reed, comes to Paris. Upon finding out about Bernard's personal situation, Robert blackmails Bernard, the ransom for not exposing Bernard's secret to any of the three women being being able to stay at the apartment while in Paris. But Robert sees somewhat of a good thing, as when he learns that Bernard may be relocated to New York, Robert has dreams of taking over Bernard's Paris situation. But worse for Bernard is that British United, Lufthansa and Air France have all purchased new jumbo jets making air travel faster, which in turn means a whole revamp of their respective airline schedules and the schedules of the three fiancées.

- plot summary from Huggo at IMDb located HERE

 

 

The Film:

The movie opens promisingly, in this adaptation by Edward Anhalt of a French play. While Hal Wallis's production has the young people sprinting around Paris streets and airports, the plot is primarily anchored to Mr. Curtis's apartment, a lavish lair for any foreign correspondent—not that the actor ever hits a typewriter.

Here's the pitch, Mr. Curtis is happily operating a woman-juggling turntable that whisks the three beauties in and out on schedule, abetted by Miss Ritter, as his bleakly understanding housekeeper. Now enter Mr. Lewis, his arch rival, who takes one look at the layout and muscles in, as the girls spill in and out, off and on schedule. That's the attenuated joke, with predictable turntable humor but very little in the way of sparkle or wit, under John Rich's direction.

Excerpt from Howard Thompson at the NY Times located HERE

Old friends Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis played opposite one another for the first and only time in Boeing, Boeing (1965), a door-slamming sex farce set in the City of Lights where the two stars share top billing (in a revolving credit that favors neither one of them). Though based on the French stage comedy by Marc Camoletti, the winking smart-alecky cynicism and mercenary scheming has a decidedly American feel in its attitudes toward American anti-heroes in love and war. Mostly love. Or at the very least sex on tap.

Tony Curtis was the quintessential romantic rascal of his day, a smooth smart-aleck of a ladies man whose Brooklyn charm is completely American: no discretion, no valor, just unbridled girl-crazy lust that rides roughshod over his conscience. Who else could play brazen American in Paris Bernard Lawrence, a foreign correspondent whose appetites have made him cocky enough to think he can not merely juggle three air hostess girlfriends, but keep them all happy, living in his apartment, convinced that their wedding day is just around the corner, and shuffled through so carefully that they are utterly ignorant of one another?

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

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

Boeing, Boeing looks better on Blu-ray to my eye than SD could relate. This is 1080P but only single-layered and there is nothing to extol visually. The image is clean (a few, infrequent, speckles). This Blu-ray looks a shade thin but provides a consistent presentation without much depth.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Less dynamic but lossless mono track. The authenticity is appreciated and there is nothing here to critique - dialogue is clear and there are no subtitles offered. Neal Hefti's score is light but not memorable. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

Typical of Olive Films - especially with their Paramount titles - there are no extras at all. It's another totally bare-bones package.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
There is some wit to Boeing. Boeing. But maybe not enough to carry the film beyond a kind of 'Three's Company' milieu. This is embodied in the film's tagline 'The Big Comedy of Nineteen-Sexty-Sex!'. Yeah - sure. Lewis is subdued and Curtis never tested outside the parameter of his good looks. The Blu-ray benefits over SD in a few areas but I doubt this will be a film I watch again. Fans of the leads will get more out of Boeing Boeing than anyone else. 

Gary Tooze

February 11th, 2012

 


 

About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.

Gary's Home Theatre:

60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD

Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD Player
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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