Say Hello to Yesterday - Jean Simmons

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

directed by Alvin Rakoff
UK 1971

An unemployed young man only identified as The Boy (Leonard Whiting, ROMEO AND JULIET) has just turned twenty-two the day he meets The Woman (Jean Simmons, BLACK NARCISSUS), an unhappy forty-something well-to-do housewife who has come to London to do some shopping after having quarreled with her husband. She resists his overtures (he describes her as “Mata-Hari, Barbarella and Candy all rolled into one”) as he follows her through London and she tries to lose him. He even follows her to her mother's (Evelyn Laye) house (and she is shocked when her mother is less than scandalized at the situation). An uncredited Susan Penhaligon appears briefly early one and Rod Stieger does a cameo walk-through. Riz Ortolani provides the very sixties score (he also scored the Josef Shaftel/Cinerama pic THE STATUE) and the film was shot by Geoffrey Unsworth (who also shot the Shaftel/Cinerama release GOODBYE GEMINI but is best known for Kubrick's 2001). Not as dreary as the trailer suggests and actually quite funny at times with spirited performances from Whiting, Simmons, and Laye.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 31 January 1971 (USA)

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DVD Review: Scorpion Releasing - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Scorpion Releasing Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:31:27
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.91 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Scorpion Releasing Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary with director Alvin Rakoff with UK historian Anthony Sloman • Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 2:41) • Trailers for VOYAGER (16:9; 1:37), CHANGES (16:9; 2:34), and THE GIRL IN BLUE (16:9; 1:07) DVD Release Date: June 29th, 2010 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

Mastered in HD, Scorpion Releasing's DVD presents a single-layer, anamorphic and progressive transfer with clean English mono audio. The opening credits opticals are of course in grainier condition.

Director Alvin Rakoff provides an audio commentary with the participation of UK film historian Anthony Soloman. Rakoff is very forthcoming about the film's origins (as well as getting fired off of the Bette Davis/Hammer pic THE ANNIVERSARY) and mentions that co-star Evelyn Laye broke her arm during her dance scene with Whiting and kept her coat over the cast for the subsequent scenes. Soloman is, however, a little annoying when he enthusiastically launches off into quick bio/filmographies of the cast members. The theatrical trailer and trailers for three other romantic Scorpion releases (well, VOYAGER is debatable) round out the package.

- Eric Cotenas

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