A Few Words About A few words about...™ Two for the Seesaw -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Robert Wise's Two for the See Saw, based upon the play of the same name.

Photographed in beautiful black & white by Ted McCord (Treasure of the Sierra Madre, East of Eden), an otherwise nice looking film element loses points because of typical MGM dirt, which is liberally sprinkled throughout.

The image appears to be either from a less than stable dupe, or an older transfer, as it tends to slightly twitch within the frame.

These, which should be apparent to all, are not Kino Lorber induced problems, but rather, come from the source.

Overall, black levels,  and gray scale, along with overall resolution are decent, with no other problems noted.

Some of those credited are worth noting.

The score is from Andre Previn.  

The film was edited by Stuart Gilmore (Sullivan's Travels, Unfaithfully Yours, The Alamo), with the production design of Boris Leven (Giant, Anatomy of a Murder, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles, The Color of Money), and a screenplay by Isobel Lennart (Love Me or Leave Me, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Funny Girl)

You get the picture.

While Two for the Seesaw didn't achieve stellar reviews on release in 1962, it's one of those films that seems to have gained a bit, with age.  It's certainly worth seeing Mr. Mitchum and Ms MacLaine in roles that are outside the norm.

Image - 3.5

Audio - 4

4k Up-rez - 3.5 (the minus density dirt looks great up-rezzed)

Pass / Fail - Pass

RAH

 

[haineshisway]

Owning the overseas anamorphic DVD I knew what this would be like - I'm sure it's the same transfer and it deserves better. I do love the film, though, and will probably get it. It may be my favorite Previn score and I had the pleasure of issuing it on CD. They could only find one side of the album master in stereo, which is why it hadn't come out in all those years. I pulled all the tapes and not only found the side B stereo album master (in a mislabled box), I found the three-track original masters and used those - the resulting sound was and is amazing.

 

[Dick]

Owning the overseas anamorphic DVD I knew what this would be like - I'm sure it's the same transfer and it deserves better. I do love the film, though, and will probably get it. It may be my favorite Previn score and I had the pleasure of issuing it on CD. They could only find one side of the album master in stereo, which is why it hadn't come out in all those years. I pulled all the tapes and not only found the side B stereo album master (in a mislabled box), I found the three-track original masters and used those - the resulting sound was and is amazing.

Great work as usual on your Kritzerland releases. I haven't this one yet, but it is on my list.

 

[Race Bannon]

I can't wait for this to arrive. Two of my favorite stars, an era that I love, and I've never seen it.

 

[BarryR]

Interesting (at least to me) how Robert Wise directed two relatively low key black & white movies (the other being the classic, THE HAUNTING) between WEST SIDE STORY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. How many directors nowadays can have that kind of variety within just five years?

 

[Robin9]

Interesting (at least to me) how Robert Wise directed two relatively low key black & white movies (the other being the classic, THE HAUNTING) between WEST SIDE STORY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. How many directors nowadays can have that kind of variety within just five years?

. . . and wouldn't it be good to have a really high-quality disc of his 1959 film Odds Against Tomorrow?

 

[Flashgear]

I have TWO FOR THE SEESAW on pre-order, it's been years since I've seen it, but I am a Robert Wise completeist, and love the Previn score...I also admit to having an infatuation with this young Shirley MacLaine, in proximity to the girl we all fell in love with from THE APARTMENT...I'll accept a somewhat faux and romanticized Hollywood depiction of beat culture and Greenwich Village in the early '60s...as well as a hangdog Robert Mitchum as her love interest...I'd have preferred somebody like Paul Newman in that role, although he was way too busy in 1962 anyway...or James Garner..come to think of it and better yet, Jack Lemmon and a bid to recapture their magic together!

 

[Race Bannon]

..I also admit to having an infatuation with this young Shirley MacLaine, in proximity to the girl we all fell in love with from THE APARTMENT...I

Me, too. I love Gambit and Yellow Rolls Royce, too.

 

[Walsh61]

Robert Mitchum is the only reason I watch this movie. Not his best performance, but good enough to make the film interesting - to me at least. I love Shirley MacLaine and she's a doll in this, but she's not a favorite actress for me. She said in an interview that because of an affair her and Mitchum were having at the time they made this film it put a strain on their performance especially for Mitchum who she said was too self conscious to the point that it interfered with his acting.

 

[Flashgear]

I didn't know that Garth...thanks for the info...I like Robert Mitchum in a lot of other films that I believe more suited his persona...we got some great ones recently in Kino's The Wonderful Country and Criterion's Friends of Eddie Coyle...and of course, Warner Archive's Out of the Past...


I agree with you Jay about The Gambit and The Yellow Rolls Royce...those are both fun and entertaining films that I'd like to see get a blu release...not just for the delightful and alluring Shirley MacLaine, but for Michael Caine and Herbert Lom in the former and that all star cast in the latter...


I'm sure glad that Kino Lorber is on the scene and this active...although I might not want to tally up what I've spent on their product just in the last year alone...

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Interesting (at least to me) how Robert Wise directed two relatively low key black & white movies (the other being the classic, THE HAUNTING) between WEST SIDE STORY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. How many directors nowadays can have that kind of variety within just five years?

I think Wise's entire career was a testament to his versatility. Early on, he directed westerns, too, such as Blood on the Moon and Two Flags West.

I've thought before, just for my own pleasure, that possibly only Howard Hawks was more versatile than Wise. Today, Hawks seems to be better remembered and/or more highly regarded, and I've also thought about that.

I've wondered if perhaps critics and academics still harbor a grudge against Wise for his role vis a vis The Magnificent Ambersons.

 

[bujaki]

Perhaps it would be good to remember that the original B'way leads were Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft. The play, directed by Arthur Penn, closed on 10/31/59, not too far from the film's production date. As much as I like this film and its stars, think how much more suited to the part of Jerry Henry Fonda would have been.

 

[Race Bannon]

Blasphemy

 

[Dave B Ferris]

In another note regarding Wise's versatility, will any of the other posters (besides me) be acquiring the *second* Wise-directed film to be released on Blu next week?


"The Captive City" (either noir, or crime-drama, or - probably - overlapping).

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I've never seen this, though I really like both its stars, especially Robert Mitchum. And the fact that they were having an affair at the time (and for years after) does add a certain frisson to the movie...