H D - S E N S E I

A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

The Young in Heart [Blu-ray]

(Richard Wallace, Lewis Milestone, Gilbert Pratt, Richard Thorpe, 1938)

Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Theatrical: Selznick International Pictures

Video: Kino Lorber

Disc:

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

Runtime: 1:31:17.388

Disc Size: 22,276,425,204 bytes

Feature Size: 20,075,243,520 bytes

Video Bitrate: 26.14 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: January 9th, 2018

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

Subtitles:

English, None

Extras:

• Trailer (3:25)

Bitrate:

Description: A family of con artists accidentally work their best scam ever... on themselves... in this pleasantly fantastic romantic comedy. Starring Janet Gaynor (A Star is Born), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Gunga Din) and Paulette Goddard (Modern Times) - The Young in Heart is an irresistible tale that's shot through with laughter. The Carleton family will do anything for money... except work. Taken in by a rich, lonely old lady, George-Anne Carleton (Gaynor), the savvy and cynical baby of the family, hatches the perfect plan: pretending to be decent hardworking people in the hopes that old lady will rewrite her will in their favor! But how long can you play a role before you actually become it? Richard Wallace (The Fallen Sparrow) directed this David O. Selznick (Since You Went Away) production, featuring a strong supporting cast that includes Roland Young (Topper), Billie Burke (The Wizard of Oz) and Richard Carlson (The Maze).

The Film:

Selznick's The Young in Heart goes for quiet chuckles rather than bellylaughs. Adapted by Paul Osborn and Charles Bennett from a short story by I. R. Wylie, the film concentrates on a family of confidence tricksters. Paterfamilias Roland Young poses as a veteran of the Bengal Lancers in order to insinuate himself into high society; his birdbrained wife Billie Burke willingly goes along with any scheme her husband cooks up; and their work-resistant offspring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Janet Gaynor scheme to marry into weatlth. Right now, Janet's target is Scottish millionaire Richard Carlson (making his screen debut) to fill the family's coffers. The whole family teams up to fleece a wealthy old lady called Miss Fortune,played with showstopping relish by Broadway veteran Minnie Dupree. Through Miss Fortune's sweet, unassuming example, everyone in the family begins to reform. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. makes the supreme sacrifice of taking a job-which has the salutary effect of winning him the affections of poor-but-honest Paulette Goddard. Young in Heart originally ended with Miss Fortune passing away while surrounded by the repentant family; preview audiences hated this denouement, obliging Selznick to film a new ending, with Minnie Dupree joyously tooling about on a motorcyle! Our favorite scene: Roland Young and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. at a construction site, comparing the workers to insects.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

A comparatively little-known entry in the "screwball comedy" genre, David O. An inexplicably neglected film from producer David Selznick, The Young in Heart (1938) was Janet Gaynor's last film before she retired from the screen to marry MGM costume designer Adrian (Gaynor made one last big screen appearance in 1959's Bernardine, starring Pat Boone). In The Young in Heart, Gaynor plays the daughter in a family of con artists, the Carletons, who meet a sweet old lady, Miss Ellen Fortune (Minnie Dupree), on a train. At loose ends after being driven out of Monte Carlo, the family learns that Miss Fortune is rich, and sets out to bilk her, moving into her London home. To allay her lawyer's suspicion about their motives, the Carleton men go to work. The father (Roland Young) becomes a salesman for the "Flying Wombat," a futuristic car, and son Richard (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) gets a job as a mail clerk. But soon Miss Fortune's goodness and generosity make them re-think their scheme.

Gaynor was fresh from her triumph in A Star is Born (1937), which had earned her an Academy Award nomination (her second - she was a winner in the first Oscar® year, 1928) and revived her faltering career. Gaynor had been the top star at Fox in the silent and early sound years. Yet the studio had apparently lost interest in her as a new generation of stars like Loretta Young got the best roles. A Star is Born was Gaynor's first film after she left Fox.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

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

The single-layered Kino Lorber Blu-ray of The Young in Heart looks very good in 1080P. The image is grain-rich with pleasing contrast and some surprising detail. The source is, relatively, clean, and I noticed prominent scratches or speckles. This Blu-ray gave me a very watchable, and pleasurable, viewing in regards to the picture quality.

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

Audio :

Kino Lorber use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track at 1554 kbps in the original English language. The lively Franz Waxman (Dark Passage, Rebecca, Bride of Frankenstein, Rear Window, Sunset Boulevard) score, plus some other pieces arranged by Waxman (The Campbells Are Coming, Long, Long Ago, Chopin's Funeral March, Verdi's "Il Trovatore", Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, Strauss' The Blue Danube) sound superb - light with an air of comic urgency. There are optional English subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

Extras :

Only a trailer for the film - and some other trailers.

BOTTOM LINE:
The Young in Heart is really fun. I was very impressed. It doesn't have the pace or silliness to be labeled a 'screwball comedy'. Sentimental familial love, relationships, situational, con-artist, humor and outrageous, bitter, and warm characters make for a super film experience. The Young in Heart is an, unjustly, forgotten gem. The bare-bones Kino Lorber Blu-ray seems the only way to see this in 1080P - which is, no doubt the best. I think the film deserves a commentary but I was thoroughly entertained by the film itself. NOTE: At the writing of this review it is 55% OFF at Amazon. At that price this is strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze

January 3rd, 2018

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