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Blu-ray Review What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Timothy E

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What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? Blu-ray Review

Blake Edwards' What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?(1966) is a farce of the type that film studios seemed to produce so prolifically in 1966. The film is also a reunion of sorts for the talent behind the scenes that created The Pink Panther(1963). This film may not have left the same lasting impression as The Pink Panther, but it has its moments as an excursion into absurd comedy.



Studio: MGM

Distributed By: Olive

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA

Subtitles: None

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 56 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

Amaray

Disc Type: BD25 (single layer)

Region: ABC

Release Date: 03/31/2015

MSRP: $29.95




The Production Rating: 4/5

What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? is a comedy in which U.S. Army troops in World War II face off against Italian troops as they take control of the Italian village of Valerno as part of the Allied invasion. Dick Shawn (It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) plays Captain Cash, an earnest officer who follows regulations to the extreme. Even Cash's superior, General Bolt(Carroll O'Connor), thinks Cash should loosen up. This opinion is shared by the soldiers serving under Cash, including Lieutenant Christian(James Coburn).

The U.S. Army troops invade Valerno and do not encounter any resistance, or people. The reason is that the entire village, along with the Italian soldiers, are attending a soccer match on the other end of the village. The Italians are willing to surrender on condition that they are allowed to have a village celebration. Captain Cash is not fond of this idea, but his soldiers are game. Complications arise when Major Pott(Harry Morgan) arrives after the celebration and does not comprehend that the men in Italian uniforms are American men, and American soldiers are really Italian men, because the soldiers traded uniforms during the celebration. The Americans and the Italians finally do battle, over a woman, leading aerial reconnaissance to believe a fierce battle with hand to hand combat is being waged in Valerno.

Things get more complicated after the Germans invade and find their Italian allies fraternizing with the enemy. Captain Cash is finally forced to loosen up as he goes in drag while attempting to escape the Germans, and unwittingly finds himself the object of affection of a drunken German soldier. The Americans and Italians are forced into cooperation to rid themselves of the Germans before they are executed by them.

What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? shares much of the same talent behind the scenes as The Pink Panther, including director Blake Edwards. Maurice Richlin collaborated with Edwards to create the plot for this film after their successful collaboration on The Pink Panther. This film, like The Pink Panther, had Phillip Lathrop as director of photography; Lathrop had worked with Edwards on the Peter Gunn TV series before their work together on The Pink Panther, and this film. Composer Henry Mancini scored this film, as he did many of Edwards' films. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty(The Exorcist), also screenwriter for Edwards' films A Shot In The Dark, Gunn, and Darling Lili.

This film is an entertaining farce, even if the pacing is a little slow for the material. It is an interesting creation in Blake Edwards' filmography as it has some of Edwards' trademark slapstick as well as gender confusion played for laughs, a theme in a number of his other films. Edwards' skillful presentation of the village festival in this film was certainly a good warm-up for him in developing the hijinks of The Party(1968). What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? may have been influential in the production of Catch-22 and M*A*S*H, both released a few years after in 1970. Henry Mancini's score is excellent especially in building suspense during the dramatic moments of the film, even if the score for this film is not noteworthy for having any of Mancini's more famous compositions.



Video Rating: 4.5/5  3D Rating: NA

What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? appears on Blu-ray in 1080p with the AVC codec in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio.
This is a fine transfer and nearly without flaws. Contrast and fine detail are excellent. Blacks are solid with sublime shadow detail. Colors are vibrant and consistent. The only real flaw, if you can call it that, is a thin sliver of a line near the right edge of the picture that shows up occasionally as a slightly darker hue of color than the surrounding area. This sliver is imperceptible for most of the film and would not be worthy of mention, perhaps, if there were any significant and distracting flaws in this transfer, which there are not.



Audio Rating: 4/5

The audio is English DTS-HDMA 2.0 audio. As stereo audio goes, this audio presentation is flawless. The audio conveys a wider dynamic range than expected. There is no audible hiss, shrillness, or fluctuation in volume level. The soundtrack by Henry Mancini is given a rich and qualitative presentation. Dialogue is always audible and perceptible over music and sound effects in spite of some foreign accents. This is a very fine stereo sound mix.



Special Features Rating: 1/5

The only special feature is the original film trailer(1:53). The trailer appears to be a television trailer since it is interlaced in standard definition and appears in an approximate 1.33:1 aspect ratio.



Overall Rating: 4/5

What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? is an entertaining if overlong farce with a cast of fine actors. The film includes some of the slapstick and themes prevalent in other Blake Edwards films, even if it does not always hit the mark as satire. The video and audio presentation are sublime on this Blu-ray release from Olive Films. The only special feature, but a worthwhile one, is the original trailer for the film. Fans of Blake Edwards' collaborations with Peter Sellers will certainly recognize the director's artistic evolution as it appears in this film. Even if it is not ranked as the greatest military satire ever filmed, What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? comes recommended as a military farce with some clever moments.


Reviewed By: Timothy E


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Robin9

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This is one of the few Blake Edwards films I didn't enjoy much. I'll look again at the DVD before deciding if I like the film more than I thought. This one has Giovanna Ralli, doesn't it, the actress who made such a strong impression in Deadfall?
 

PaulDA

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Robin9 said:
This is one of the few Blake Edwards films I didn't enjoy much. I'll look again at the DVD before deciding if I like the film more than I thought. This one has Giovanna Ralli, doesn't it, the actress who made such a strong impression in Deadfall?

Her presence in the film has just dramatically increased the likelihood of my purchase. ;)
 

Robin9

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UseY0ur1llusi0n said:
I've got Deadfall on blu-ray from Germany, it's pretty nice!

That's interesting. I didn't know it was available anywhere in hi-def.
 

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