Blue (1968)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Film: B-

 

 

Blue, not to be confused with the Polish film Bleu from the Three Colors Trilogy, stars Terrence Stamp as the title character trying to lead a civil life in the old west.  Problem is, he once lived the life of a gangster who stole and killed to get by.  He has now turned soft and wants to grow crops in his new settlement, but his old gang soon comes through trying to take out the town that Blue is now part of and it’s only a matter of time before he must return to his roots to put the violence to a rest.  This 1968 Western is finally out on DVD from Paramount.

 

The storyline here is fairly simple, the cast is casual, and it squeaks by as a western, but really Stamp’s performance is the real treat here and probably the only reason to go all out and buy this particular film on DVD.  The film also has a few other knowns such as Karl Malden and Joanna Pettet, which are a nice addition. 

 

The film was shot in Panavision’s self-named Scope process and has been anamorphically enhanced for this particular DVD release at 2.35 X 1.  One other saving grace is that the film was handled properly by cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who provided a nice look for the film that is quite noticeable even to an untrained eye. His work here after a few good films with Sam Fuller (The Naked Kiss, Shock Corridor), plus also the classic The Night of the Hunter (1955), made him a suitable choice for this film and to work in Technicolor instead of black & white.  As far as this DVD is concerned the film looks good and being that the film is from 1968 there are certain graces that do apply.  Also given that this is a lesser-known film it is doubtful that too much attention was given when it came to the transfer, so what we are left with is certainly good under those circumstances.  Softness is never too bad, in fact some scenes almost seem to have too much contrast and even a bit dark, but this could have been intentional. 

 

The Dolby Digital mono is about as good as mono gets and is adequate in this particular case.  A 5.1 remix may not have brought much to fruition either, so staying with standard mono might have been a good choice.  This DVD also has NO extras to be found, not even the trailer, so the bottom line is that if you aren’t buying it for the people involved or the storyline, you are setting yourself up for a dust magnet.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo