A Few Words About A few words about...™ That Touch of Mink -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

That Touch of Mink, Delbert Mann, 1962, is a dirty picture.

It wasn't in 1962, although it had it share of possibilities, none of which came to fruition. But today, yes.

Dirty.

The Olive release is quite decent looking for the body of the film. Dupes are faded, and need to be attended to. Minus density is an embarrassment of riches, for those who love minus density while viewing their Blu-rays.

Wonderfully entertaining film, without many layers of detail. Just fun watching the incomparable Mr. Grant, and the generally entertaining Ms Day make faces. I'm a sucker for Calamity Jane.

Been waiting for this on Blu for decades, and now that it's here...

Same old, same old...

Image - 3

Audio - 4.5

RAH

I found Doris Day's remembrances of Grant in her book to be quite illuminating...

"Our relationship on That Touch of Mink was amicable but devoid of give-and-take. For somebody who is as open and right out there as I am, it was hard at first to adjust to Cary's inwardness. Not that he wasn't friendly and polite - he certainly was. But distant. Very distant".

Day goes on to describe how Grant brought objects from his own home to dress the set, and even his input into the clothes Day wore in the film.

I saw this last night, and I have to report that it is LIGHT YEARS BETTER than the DVD. There are artifacts, of course, and Mr. Harris' keen eye (and much larger screen than my 37-inch plasma) certainly picked up on more problematic elements that keep this from being what it MIGHT have been.

The DVD is horrifically dirty. This Blu Ray of the film is not horrifically dirty. It's on a par with, if not a little better than, the Twilight Time release of "Demetrius and the Gladiators" in terms of quality of the print they used.

One wonders what it might have looked/sounded like with a little restoration effort.

Virgoan said:

I saw this last night, and I have to report that it is LIGHT YEARS BETTER than the DVD. There are artifacts, of course, and Mr. Harris' keen eye (and much larger screen than my 37-inch plasma) certainly picked up on more problematic elements that keep this from being what it MIGHT have been.

The DVD is horrifically dirty. This Blu Ray of the film is not horrifically dirty. It's on a par with, if not a little better than, the Twilight Time release of "Demetrius and the Gladiators" in terms of quality of the print they used.

One wonders what it might have looked/sounded like with a little restoration effort.

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No need to wonder. Main title would not have appeared faded, and the image would be significantly cleaner.

RAH

"I'm a sucker for Calamity Jane."

Me too, RH. The DVD is not without flaws, but decent. The TCM broadcast the other night was okay for their so-called HD. Ever think we'll get a proper remaster for blu-ray?

Peter McM said:

"I'm a sucker for Calamity Jane."

Me too, RH. The DVD is not without flaws, but decent. The TCM broadcast the other night was okay for their so-called HD. Ever think we'll get a proper remaster for blu-ray?

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With the proper aspect ratio?

Matt Hough said:

With the proper aspect ratio?

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It was shot full-frame (imdb lists AR as 1.37:1), so I'm not exactly expecting Cinescope.

Peter McM said:

It was shot full-frame (imdb lists AR as 1.37:1), so I'm not exactly expecting Cinescope.

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But it was suggested to exhibitors to screen it at 1.75:1.

Having seen it on the big screen several times here in L.A., I can't imagine it at 1.75:1.

I suppose preference would depend on whether the image is cropped at top and bottom or opened at the sides. I wouldn't mind a FF image, just so long as the three-strip resoration is on par with, say, the new release of Niagara.

I keep forgetting this thread is about That Touch of Mink.

Moe Dickstein said:

I keep forgetting this thread is about That Touch of Mink.

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Thank you! I'm going to watch my BD of it this weekend.

I watched this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. An amazing quality jump from the DVD. I thought the colors looked great. It does have some dirt and speckles, and a few scratches here and there, but it really looked like film to me.

I was expecting an unmitigated disaster based on prior releases, but was pleasantly surprised. It was okay. Could have been much better, but also could have been much worse. Sad when you compare it with the Pillow Talk blu, but of course, that's a different animal with different work involved.

Hopefully, Young at Heart will fare as well, or (hopefully) better, and not be a tremendous disappointment.

As far as the film goes, the cast is in great form. I'd forgotten how funny John Astin was in this. "Muscatel... for my lady's pleasure!"

Watched 'That Touch of Mink' last night and was pleasantly surprised at how well it had been been cleaned up. Strange though how the screen goes fuzzy every time there's a close-up of Doris Day ... I wonder by how far sales of vaseline fell off once she retired!

Once again, Olive has provided a watchable Blu-Ray of a Cary Grant movie that was never remotely watchable on home video before. I hope this doesn't discourage Olive from trying harder, because we all know they could do better, but watching "That Touch Of Mink" the other night was a wonderful treat. I thank them for it. And now, dinner at the Automat!

Just started watching my new BD of That Touch Of Mink (1962)


Makes for a good compare & contrast with a more recent film with a similiar overall romantic theme, Pretty Woman (1990).

Does anyone know if the automat scene was shot in a real automat? It certainly looks real, but I can't find any info definitive info online other than some New York location shooting was done.

AnthonyClarke said:

Watched 'That Touch of Mink' last night and was pleasantly surprised at how well it had been been cleaned up. Strange though how the screen goes fuzzy every time there's a close-up of Doris Day ... I wonder by how far sales of vaseline fell off once she retired!

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World supplies were restored till exhausted again when Lucy made Mame!

Brian W. said:

Does anyone know if the automat scene was shot in a real automat? It certainly looks real, but I can't find any info definitive info online other than some New York location shooting was done.

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It sure looks like a set to me, but I bet there are Home Theatre Forum types in New York City who could take one look and either know the street and cross street and what kind of pie they had there, or give that movie set a proper Bronx cheer. Anybody?