Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Edward Small Productions

Video: Kino Lorber

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:43:06.180

Disc Size: 22,277,743,542 bytes

Feature Size: 21,797,345,280 bytes

Video Bitrate: 24.94 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: June 23rd, 2015

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1740 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1740 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

None

 

Extras:

• Trailer (1:59)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: In this engaging crime drama with an undercurrent of subtle humor, James Coburn stars as Harry, a "cannon" a top-flight pickpocket, who works in association with Casey Walter Pidgeon, an older career criminal with a fondness for cocaine. Ray Michael Sarrazin and Sandy Trish Van Devere are two aspiring thieves who meet when he tries to steal her watch; eventually, they both come under Harry's tutelage, as he teaches them both the finer points of lifting people's wallets. Harry in Your Pocket was the sole theatrical film for television director and producer Bruce Geller, who died in a plane crash five years after this film was released.

 

 

The Film:

Below the glossy surface of things, this is also a film with something to say about crime and morality, jealousy and loyalty, youth and age and the pleasures of craftsmanship in a world where everyone wants to start at the top and no one wants to serve an apprenticeship.

For those who know nothing of the art of picking pockets, the movie is a kind of a vocational school and a type of Berlitz school. The vocational school offers an education in the techniques of picking pockets—the work of cannons (master pickpockets), steerers (victim spotters) and stalls (who distract victims). From the Berlitz comes a language of kicks (pockets) and holding (retaining possession of a poke, or wallet.).

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

Indeed, there is little by way of plot in Harry in Your Pocket, but to see the gang in action under Geller’s direction is a thing of beauty. Sure, it may not be a great film, but Harry in Your Pocket is an extremely solid pickpocket picture in the tradition of Robert Bresson’s definitive Pickpocket (1959). Not only do you get the obligatory training sequence, in which a master of the trade trains an ambitious youth in the way of thievery to the delight of the audience, but with so much of the film’s running time devoted to wholesale pickpocketing, it is downright bloated with the inherent suspense such endeavors offer on screen.

Excerpt from FilmMonthly located HERE

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

The world of the 'pick-pocketing' is romanticized in Harry in Your Pocket which comes to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber under their 'KL Studio Classics" marquee.  The single-layered transfer seems adept - a full notch above SD but nothing that will turn heads. There is a tightness and depth - but nothing stands out as remarkable. Colors (flesh tones) look accurate and the presentation is consistent in-motion. There are a few speckles here and there but essentially it is quite clean. This Blu-ray provides a 1080P presentation without any lows... or highs. It sits firmly in the indecisive middle for the format quality.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1740 kbps. Effects are sparse and nothing is remarkable except the score by Argentinean Lalo Schifrin (famous as the guy behind the Mission: Impossible theme as well as The Osterman Weekend, Day of the Animals, Hit!, Man on a Swing, Tango and many other films.) It sounds quite strong in supporting the film. There are no subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

Only a trailer - nothing more.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I've liked Harry in Your Pocket for years. I've watched this Blu-ray twice so far. I find the pickpocket world a dangerous and exciting one as portrayed in the film. The performances are very good and they work well together. I actually wish it was longer. It's a bare-bones disc, but a film I enjoy and can recommend despite the lack of supplements.  

Gary Tooze

June 18th, 2015