A lonely and disturbed English butterfly collector (Terence Stamp) kidnaps a beautiful and intelligent art student (Samantha Eggar in an Oscar-nominated role) because he says he loves her, but she struggles to escape the basement of his country house while they both struggle to understand each other. William Wyler stylishly directs his two stars to a pair of exceptional performances in this chilling and moody psychodrama, earning his 12th and final Oscar nomination as Best Director. Image’s Blu-Ray offers few extras but the picture and sound quality is likely the best the film has looked since its initial release.
The Collector (1965)
Studio: Columbia Pictures (distributed by Image Entertainment)
Year: 1965
Rated: NR
Length: 119 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p
Languages: English Uncompressed Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
MSRP: $17.97
Film Release Date: June 17, 1965
Disc Release Date: November 8, 2011
Review Date: December 30, 2011
“You could have a wonderful life. This is death, don't you see? Nothing but death. These are dead, I'm dead, everything here is dead. Is that what you love? Death?”
The Movie:
4.5/5
The replacement of the Production Code with the Ratings System in late 1960s saw the floodgates open for franker depictions of sex, violence, profanity, alternative sexuality, and other things that had been left out of movies or only hinted at since 1934. But there had always been a push in that direction; even the code had relaxed to some extent beginning in the mid-1950s, allowing subject matter that would have been impossible to depict in a believable fashion before. One film that benefited from this loosening of restrictions was William Wyler’s The Collector, based on the 1963 novel by John Fowles.
The titular collector is Freddie Clegg (Terence Stamp), a socially withdrawn English banker who quit his job after he won £71,000 in a soccer pool, moved out to a Tudor house in Reading, and spends his time collecting butterflies. Yet this is not enough for him. He is lonely and has become smitten with Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar), a beautiful art student in London. So he decides to do win her love by capturing her, almost as if she were a butterfly. Locked in the basement, Miranda is fearful and desperate to escape but is shocked to learn that Freddy has no intention of torturing or abusing her but fills the basement with books and art supplies and serves her cooked food on a tray. Miranda soon discovers that Freddie loves her and wants her to love him back, but she defiantly refuses. As the two of them get to know one another, Miranda’s defiance turns to curiosity and concern, while Freddie reveals his respect for her as a person; they even discuss one another’s interest. Nevertheless, she must still find a way to escape his clutches lest she end up like one of his butterflies.
The Collector works because of everything its director and stars put into it, though they have fine material to begin with: an Oscar-nominated script by Stanley Mann and John Kohn (with uncredited help from Terry Southern). Terence Stamp is alternately terrifying and sad as Freddy; there are times that he seems unaware of his consequences but at other times he seems calculating and fully in control. There is a mystery to his illness that the film resists the temptation to explain and thus kill the mystery, unlike the explanation of Norman Bates’ illness at the end of Psycho. It makes the film more interesting and keeps it from becoming predictable. In an Oscar-nominated performance, Samantha Eggar does a fine job as Miranda; she’s no damsel in distress but an intelligent, talented, beautiful and forceful woman who will do what she can to survive but is ultimately sympathetic to Freddy’s problems. There is a palpable chemistry between the two of them that heightens the tension of the action; it also earned them acting prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. William Wyler proved he still had what it takes to make great movies. The film is essentially a two-character play with some small, incidental roles where the story needs them, but is staged with fluidity and a keen sense of pacing. His efforts earned him his 12th and final Best Director Oscar nomination the same year he received the Irving G. Thalberg award for his long and distinguished career; ironically, he lost to Robert Wise for The Sound of Music, a film that he was offered but turned down to direct this film. Both films ended up with the best men for the respective jobs.
The Video:
4/5
Presented at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Image’s AVC-encoded transfer does a good job with the cinematography by Robert Surtees (who shot the studio scenes) and Robert Krasker (who shot the exteriors), but keep in mind that because of the way the film was shot, the film’s aesthetic may not please those who like razor-sharp, smooth, grainless images. In bright, sunny scenes like the lovely location footage of the English countryside, grain is minimal, but in dark scenes it is a bit heavier. DNR skeptics should be happy, but grain haters won’t be. Outside of that it features vivid color with lush greens and warm, deep flesh tones while the virtually monochromatic basement scenes seem natural and accurate. Shadows are inky black and highlights are strong but they are not clipped. Fine detail is in abundance despite the shallow depth-of-field of the cinematography in many scenes. The only negatives are a handful of yellowish shots that look like dupes and an odd jump cut at 1:48:47 that apparently has always been there; I have never seen the film until now.
The Audio:
4/5
The film’s mono soundtrack is presented as a 2.0 PCM track. It does an exemplary job of bringing out the clarity of Maurice Jarre’s score and the dialogue that dominates most of the film. There is little distortion and the frequencies are crisp and full without sounding artificially pumped-up. A mono track can sound as good as a stereo track, and this track is proof of that.
The Extras:
0.5/5
The only extra is a fairly sedate theatrical trailer in 1080p and 16x9.
Final Score:
4/5
Tense, frank, moody, and expertly acted and directed, The Collector is a chilling and surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a man in love with a woman who cannot love her in a non-destructive way. Image’s Blu-Ray release is the first pre-1970 title from its Sony licensing deal, but hopefully this won’t be the last one; though it lacks substantial extras, it represents the source material accurately, which is all anyone can really ask from a disc.
Studio: Columbia Pictures (distributed by Image Entertainment)
Year: 1965
Rated: NR
Length: 119 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p
Languages: English Uncompressed Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
MSRP: $17.97
Film Release Date: June 17, 1965
Disc Release Date: November 8, 2011
Review Date: December 30, 2011
“You could have a wonderful life. This is death, don't you see? Nothing but death. These are dead, I'm dead, everything here is dead. Is that what you love? Death?”
The Movie:
4.5/5
The replacement of the Production Code with the Ratings System in late 1960s saw the floodgates open for franker depictions of sex, violence, profanity, alternative sexuality, and other things that had been left out of movies or only hinted at since 1934. But there had always been a push in that direction; even the code had relaxed to some extent beginning in the mid-1950s, allowing subject matter that would have been impossible to depict in a believable fashion before. One film that benefited from this loosening of restrictions was William Wyler’s The Collector, based on the 1963 novel by John Fowles.
The titular collector is Freddie Clegg (Terence Stamp), a socially withdrawn English banker who quit his job after he won £71,000 in a soccer pool, moved out to a Tudor house in Reading, and spends his time collecting butterflies. Yet this is not enough for him. He is lonely and has become smitten with Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar), a beautiful art student in London. So he decides to do win her love by capturing her, almost as if she were a butterfly. Locked in the basement, Miranda is fearful and desperate to escape but is shocked to learn that Freddy has no intention of torturing or abusing her but fills the basement with books and art supplies and serves her cooked food on a tray. Miranda soon discovers that Freddie loves her and wants her to love him back, but she defiantly refuses. As the two of them get to know one another, Miranda’s defiance turns to curiosity and concern, while Freddie reveals his respect for her as a person; they even discuss one another’s interest. Nevertheless, she must still find a way to escape his clutches lest she end up like one of his butterflies.
The Collector works because of everything its director and stars put into it, though they have fine material to begin with: an Oscar-nominated script by Stanley Mann and John Kohn (with uncredited help from Terry Southern). Terence Stamp is alternately terrifying and sad as Freddy; there are times that he seems unaware of his consequences but at other times he seems calculating and fully in control. There is a mystery to his illness that the film resists the temptation to explain and thus kill the mystery, unlike the explanation of Norman Bates’ illness at the end of Psycho. It makes the film more interesting and keeps it from becoming predictable. In an Oscar-nominated performance, Samantha Eggar does a fine job as Miranda; she’s no damsel in distress but an intelligent, talented, beautiful and forceful woman who will do what she can to survive but is ultimately sympathetic to Freddy’s problems. There is a palpable chemistry between the two of them that heightens the tension of the action; it also earned them acting prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. William Wyler proved he still had what it takes to make great movies. The film is essentially a two-character play with some small, incidental roles where the story needs them, but is staged with fluidity and a keen sense of pacing. His efforts earned him his 12th and final Best Director Oscar nomination the same year he received the Irving G. Thalberg award for his long and distinguished career; ironically, he lost to Robert Wise for The Sound of Music, a film that he was offered but turned down to direct this film. Both films ended up with the best men for the respective jobs.
The Video:
4/5
Presented at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Image’s AVC-encoded transfer does a good job with the cinematography by Robert Surtees (who shot the studio scenes) and Robert Krasker (who shot the exteriors), but keep in mind that because of the way the film was shot, the film’s aesthetic may not please those who like razor-sharp, smooth, grainless images. In bright, sunny scenes like the lovely location footage of the English countryside, grain is minimal, but in dark scenes it is a bit heavier. DNR skeptics should be happy, but grain haters won’t be. Outside of that it features vivid color with lush greens and warm, deep flesh tones while the virtually monochromatic basement scenes seem natural and accurate. Shadows are inky black and highlights are strong but they are not clipped. Fine detail is in abundance despite the shallow depth-of-field of the cinematography in many scenes. The only negatives are a handful of yellowish shots that look like dupes and an odd jump cut at 1:48:47 that apparently has always been there; I have never seen the film until now.
The Audio:
4/5
The film’s mono soundtrack is presented as a 2.0 PCM track. It does an exemplary job of bringing out the clarity of Maurice Jarre’s score and the dialogue that dominates most of the film. There is little distortion and the frequencies are crisp and full without sounding artificially pumped-up. A mono track can sound as good as a stereo track, and this track is proof of that.
The Extras:
0.5/5
The only extra is a fairly sedate theatrical trailer in 1080p and 16x9.
Final Score:
4/5
Tense, frank, moody, and expertly acted and directed, The Collector is a chilling and surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a man in love with a woman who cannot love her in a non-destructive way. Image’s Blu-Ray release is the first pre-1970 title from its Sony licensing deal, but hopefully this won’t be the last one; though it lacks substantial extras, it represents the source material accurately, which is all anyone can really ask from a disc.
