Mickey One Blu-ray - Warren Beatty

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

directed by Arthur Penn
USA 1965

Considered ahead of its time — and perhaps it still is — this unusual drama, inspired by the French New Wave, brought Warren Beatty and producer-director Arthur Penn together for the first time — two years before their landmark Bonnie and Clyde. Beatty stars as a Detroit night club comic who incurs the wrath of The Mob (he doesn’t know why) and flees to Chicago to start life anew — but still living in fear. But the plot is secondary to the look and sound of this film (a favorite of Martin Scorsese), which boasts a score by Eddie Sauter and stunning photography by Academy Award®-winner Ghislain Cloquet (1980, Best Cinematography, Tess). Alexandra Stewart, Hurd Hatfield, Franchot Tone and Jeff Corey co-star in this one-of-a-kind motion picture. Incidentally, much of it was shot in what is now Oprah Winfrey’s studio. Newly remastered.

Posters

Theatrical Release: 27 September 1965 (USA)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Sony Pictures (Screen Classics by Request) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the DVD Review!

1)Sony Pictures - Region0 - NTSC LEFT

2) Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers		Reissued in April 2020 without the booklet: Without the booklet in the US, May 20220 or directly from:
Distribution	Sony Pictures Region 0 - NTSC	Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:32:30	1:32:40.596
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 4.32 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,119,839,990 bytes Feature: 20,076,648,000 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.99 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	Dolby Digital 2.0 (English)	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Guardian Interview: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Sony Pictures Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (3:01) DVD Release Date: September 21st, 2010 Keep Case Chapters 10	Release Information: Studio: Indicator Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1080P / 23.976 fps Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,119,839,990 bytes Feature: 20,076,648,000 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.99 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New interview with star Alexandra Stewart (2017, 18:35) • New interview with Matthew Penn, son of director Arthur Penn (2017,19:31) • The John Player Lecture with Arthur Penn (1981): archival audio recording of an interview conducted at the National Film Theatre, London • Joe Dante trailer commentary (2013, 3:26): a short critical appreciation • Original theatrical trailer (3:03) • Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography • Limited edition exclusive booklet featuring a new essay by journalist Nick Pinkerton, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film • World premiere on Blu-ray • UK DVD premiere • Limited Dual Format Edition of 3,000 copies Blu-ray Release Date: July 24th, 2017 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments

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

ADDITION: Indicator - Region FREE Blu-ray - July 2017: The Indicator transfer is on a single-layered disc with a supportive bitrate (almost 5X that of the SD). The source was obviously in great shape - utilized by both formats - as the 1080P is of similarly strong quality - but showing more consistency, better grain texture and superior layered contrast. The Blu-ray image is a shade brighter, crisper with more detail and has a sliver more information in the frame. It's a curious film and creatively shot.

NOTE: "Mickey One" was shot by Ghislain Cloquet, who did "Au hasard Balthazar" the following year. He shot several Bresson films, and many other notable works. (Thanks Doug!)

Indicator use a linear PCM, mono, track (24-bit) which sounds excellent - notable in the score by Eddie Sauter (some may note his music on Vincent Gallo's Buffalo 66') Indicator include optional English (SDH) subtitles and their Blu-ray is region FREE playable worldwide.

As usual, Indicator go the extra-mile with th supplements. We get a new, 19-minute, interview with star Alexandra Stewart recalling her memories of the film and her involvement. There is a new, 20-minute, interview with Matthew Penn, son of director Arthur Penn who describes his initial reaction to the film and how he later grew to appreciate it. We get The John Player Lecture with Arthur Penn from 1981: archival audio recording of an interview conducted at the National Film Theatre, London running to the film in rough shape at times. There is a Joe Dante trailers-from-hell commentary and a short critical appreciation from 2013 plus the original theatrical trailer and an image gallery of on-set and promotional photography. The package contains a limited edition exclusive booklet featuring a new essay by journalist Nick Pinkerton, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film and has a second disc DVD. This is limited dual format edition of 3,000 copies.

What a great release. Cinema aficionados and film students should be so grateful to be able to see it at all - let alone in 1080P with all these extra features. It's a fascinating film - one to reflect on. Indicator's Blu-ray has our strongest recommendation!

***

ON THE DVD: Influenced by the French New Wave and film noirs, Arthur Penn, already being nominated for an Oscar for The Miracle Worker, constructs Mickey One as a tale of a man on the run, making this his first teaming with Warren Beatty, two years before Bonnie and Clyde. Unfortunately, the film was not released on DVD until now, joining 99 other titles in a new program from Sony Pictures called Screen Classics by Request. Taking a note from Warner Archive Collection, these releases are pressed on DVD-R discs and available exclusively through Sony Pictures web site or at several on-line retailers (no Amazon listings yet).

The single-layered progressive anamorphic transfer is excellent, with no visible damage on the print and no pixelization or other strong defects. The film is slightly letterboxed on the top and the bottom to keep aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English mono soundtrack is fine, but like Warner Archive discs, there are no subtitles available. The only extra is a 3-minute trailer for the film. The menu design is basic and the film is divided to 10 chapters, each one every ten minutes. With the recent passing of Arthur Penn, this release marked the last theatrical film he directed to be released on DVD. The excellent transfer provided by Sony Pictures marks this disc as recommended, if the price is right.

- Gregory Meshman