The Secret of Santa Vittoria Blu-ray

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

Directed by Stanley Kramer
USA 1969

An enjoyable, albeit somewhat leisurely adaptation of author Robert Crichton's best-selling Second World War comedy from veteran director Stanley Kramer. Anthony Quinn plays Zorba the Italian (whoops! that should be Bombolini the Italian), a raucous drunk whose anti-fascist beliefs lead him to be elected mayor of a small wine-growing town, and who then conspires to hide a million bottles of their finest vintage from the occupying Nazis.

Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE

Lost without a message to sledgehammer home, Kramer turned to bombastic comedy with this World War II yarn of an Italian village's attempts to hide a million bottles of wine from the occupying Germans. Just to keep the irritation factor of his movies constant, though, he hand-picked a full-throttle cast more than adequate to the task of previewing the effect of Sensurround.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 29th, 1969

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Comparison:

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Covers		Coming to Blu-ray in June 2023 by Sandpiper:
Distribution	MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Twilight Time Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:19:45	2:19:58.431
Video	2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.19 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	Disc Size: 40,625,551,473 bytes Feature Size: 38,658,091,008 bytes Average Bitrate: 31.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray 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 2.0), English (mono), DUBs: Spanish, French (mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1079 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1079 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit / DN -1dB) Isolated Score: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1721 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1721 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -8dB)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: May 13th, 2008 Keep Case Chapters: 32	Release Information: Studio: Twilight Time Disc Size: 40,625,551,473 bytes Feature Size: 38,658,091,008 bytes Average Bitrate: 31.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Isolated Music & Effects Track • Original Theatrical Trailer (3;32) Liner Notes by Julie Kirgo Limited to 3,000 copies! Blu-ray Release Date: August, 2014 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Twilight Time Blu-ray - September 14': The Twilight Time Blu-ray advances in all the expected areas. Contrast and colors improve - looking more film-like. There is a touch of depth and a minor amount o additional information in the frame. As frequently happens - I liked the film in SD - but more-so in 1080P. This is dual-layered with a very high bitrate. I liked the texture - all good, really.

DTS-HD master mono track. A solid score by Ernest Gold (Cross of Iron, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, On the Beach) and it seems to benefit from the uncompressed rendering sounding subtly impacting. There are optional English subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras are only a trailer and an isolated score and effects track access. As with all twilight Time packages this is limited to 3,000 copies and has some liner notes by Julie Kirgo.

Great film - a lot of fun and plenty of impressive performances. Recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Another bare-bones issue from MGM but this is a fun Kramer film that many have patiently awaited. The dual-layered DVD represents the film adequately. It is anamorphic (2.35:1 aspect ratio), progressive and coded for region 1 in the NTSC standard. Appearance is acceptable but not stellar - the image is not pristinely sharp and shows some noise in monochromatic dark sequences. It is very clean with only some very minor scratches and speckles. There are optional subtitles (Eng./ Spanish), an English stereo track (and mono) and mono DUBs - and there are, unfortunately, no extras.

Quinn is typically great and the gals are sexy are supportive. It's not a serious DVD effort (MGM after all) but it is certainly worth the $11 - amusing with some culture-crossing Italianisms that give it some life. Kramer adds his efficiency and competent detail. Certainly worth watching, in my opinion.