A Few Words About A few words about... Two for the Road (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

"They don't look very happy do they?"

"Why should they? They just got married."

Two for the Road is a delightful, deceptively complex and witty romantic comedy, which follows a couple as their relationship grows and then self-destructs, until they come to realize why they're together in the first place.

Make no mistake.

I don't like panning DVD releases.

And Two for the Road makes up for the shortcomings in two other Fox releases for which I could not be as kind as I would have liked.

I've been waiting for the release of Two for the Road since my 16mm print faded over the past couple of decades.

This brilliantly written film (Frederic Raphael), directed by the great Stanley Donen, is one of the few films which I'd chose to have with me if marooned on a deserted island with a handful of DVDs.

Perfect filmmaking.

A DVD which cannot get a higher recommendation from these quarters, and which I wholeheartedly suggest as a blind buy.

RAH

 

[Bradley-E]

I've been waiting forever for this DVD also. I found it on sale early this past weekend and watched it Saturday. It truly holds up after all these years. There is no one like Audrey Hepburn in films today. She is truly missed and one of a kind. I watched ROMAN HOLIDAY immediately after this film.

Robert is correct when he suggests it as a blind buy. You will not be disappointed. Now I am afraid that Hollywood may decide to remake it. Hopefully they will leave well enough alone.

 

[JohnMor]

Ah, someone else who would take this on a desert island. I thought I was alone! And I'm very glad to hear that the DVD I've waited so long for is a worthwhile representation. 2005 has been VERY good to me!

Some of my favorite dialogue: "I *do* want a child. I just don't want THAT child."

 

[nolesrule]

My wife has been waiting for this one for a long time. She's an Audrey Hepburn fan and this is her favorite Audrey Hepburn movie. She wore out the VHS tape to the point where it is unwatchable.

I will be picking this one up for her tomorrow so she can have it as soon as she walks in the door from work.

 

[Marty M]

I, too, have been waiting since I got my first DVD player in 1998 for the release of this movie. It has always been a favorite of mine.

I remember seeing this movie when it first came out in 1967. These were the days when they would let people enter a movie while the feature was running. I remember coming in on this movie in the middle and was thoroughly confused until I sat through the entire next running.

 

[Robert Harris]

The editing of TftR is extraorindary... based of course, on the screenplay, which has been published in book form.

Anyone who attempts to view this film on commercial television, interrupted by advertising and station breaks is in for a truly bad experience.

RAH

 

[GerardoHP]

This is an extraordinary film, with Hepburn and Finney at their shining best. Can't wait, either.

 

[Greg Black]

I haven't seen the movie, but I ordered the DVD for my mother and father, who have frequently referenced it as their favorite movie since seeing it theatrically. They've asked me for several years now when it was coming to DVD, and I'll be very happy when I'm able to hand it to them.

 

[Stas T]

Thrilled this romantic comedy/drama masterpiece is finally on DVD! It's been on my list of top ten favorite films since the day I first saw it (which, fortunately, was a pretty good -- if slightly faded -- 35mm print on the big screen).

 

[Roger Rollins]

It's a superb film, but it's success is bittersweet for me.

Genius and boy-wonder Stanley Donen, who directed his first movie (with Gene Kelly) in 1949 at the age of 25 (ON THE TOWN), had his last commercial and artistic success with TWO FOR THE ROAD in 1967. He was 43 years old.

Since that time he made several more films, notable flops
(THE LITTLE PRINCE), ridiculous films beneath him (SATURN 3, BLAME IT ON RIO), and a comic delight that no one saw (MOVIE, MOVIE). He directed some stage works that didn't work.....

His brilliance and genius in musicals was equalled by his gift for comedy and drama as seen in such films as CHARADE
and most notably TWO FOR THE ROAD.

We'll never know what Donen vs. Kelly did on their 3 musical collaborations, with SINGIN' IN THE RAIN the obvious masterpiece, but on his own Donen gave us such gems as 7 BRIDES FOR 7 BROS. and FUNNY FACE within the genre.

I was overjoyed that the Acadamy gave him a much deserved special Oscar a few years ago...

..and I am overjoyed that Fox got the smarts to give us Donen's last, and greatest (non-musical) film. EVERYONE should buy TWO FOR THE ROAD!

 

[Mark VH]

Thanks for the Donen history, Roger. Stanley Donen always seems to have been cast in Vincent Minelli's shadow, but I'd take Donen as the preferred director any old day of the week. Don't get me wrong - I love Minelli, but Donen's work, at its best, transcended form and became a living expression of cinematic joy. I've never seen Two for the Road, but it's on order from Amazon and should be arriving tonight. I can't wait.

 

[DeeF]

I'm very happy about Two for the Road too. But where is Bedazzled?!

 

[Garysb]

Loved this film. Loved the location filming . I have spent several vacations touring the French countryside which I first saw in this film.

 

[Stas T]

Picked up the disc today, though I was dismayed to discover upon looking at the cover in the store that it doesn't appear to be anamorphically enhanced. (The packaging says "Presented in a letterbox widescreen format..."). I don't have a 16x9 display so I can't be sure, but if it were anamorphically enhanced, wouldn't it say so on the package? I think "letterbox widescreen format" is Fox's lingo for a non-anamorphic transfer.

As thrilled as I am to finally have this masterpiece on DVD, I'm disappointed that Fox didn't do an anamorphically enhanced transfer. Did they just port this transfer over from the laserdisc?

 

[Al (alweho)]

Don't worry, it's anamorphic.

 

[GerardoHP]

Of course it's anamorphic. And it looks GORGEOUS.

 

[Jefferson]

And the score is gorgeous, too.

 

[GerardoHP]

Yes, it is. One of Henry Mancini's most haunting and romantic scores.

 

[Citizen87645]

So...mono or stereo?

This is one of my favorites too, but it's very bittersweet. I remember when I first saw it it made me rather melancholy and since Hepburn had recently passed it made it that much worse. I think Donen's early words in the commentary are quite interesting when he says people either think the film is romantic or very painful, and how that's a reflection of the dichotomy of marriage itself.

And I love the editing transitions. So clever and "low tech." The theme is also one of my favorites and evokes the film so well.

 

[Dick]

Indeed, one of Mancini's best. Incidentally, even if you could locate the out-of-print LP "soundtrack," it was a re-orchestrated version of the music, as was typical of Mancini albums in those days. The music actually heard in the film is infinitely better in tempi and arrangements, and I'd love to see it get commercial release.