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Released by: Twilight Time Releasing
Released on: February 21st, 2014.
Director: George Sydney
Cast: Tyrone Power, Kim Novak
Year: 1956
Purchase From Screen Archives Entertainment
The Movie:
George Sydney's 1956 picture The Eddy Duchin Story stars marquee star Tyrone Power as the titular Boston born band leader. Early in the film he moves from his home town to New York City where he works for some time as a pharmacist, leaving his piano skills in the shadows. Soon enough, while hoping to make something of his piano skills, he makes the acquaintance of a beautiful well to do woman named Marjorie Oelrichs (Kim Novak). When she urges him to play for her, he obliges. So impressed is she with what she heads Duchin play that she convinces him to take a gig at a casino.
This, of course, goes over like gangbusters and before you know it he's making a go of it with his music full time. As his star begins to rise he and Marjorie are wed and when she announces to him shortly thereafter that she is pregnant with his child, they're happy together. Unfortunately, Marjorie dies in the delivery room, leaving Eddy alone to care for their son, Peter. Completely wrecked by the experience, Eddy pawns Peter off on the nanny, Chiquita (Victoria Shaw), so that he can head out on the road with his manager (James Whitmore). As the years pass and the advent of the Second World War looms in the distance, Eddy realizes he's made mistakes in his life and after reuniting and falling for Chiquita decides to get to know his son, now a grown man (Rex Thompson). Things are once again looking up for Eddy when he and Chiquita get married and Peter starts to play piano with his father, but as we know all good things must come to an end…
Featuring some impressive location footage that does a great job of showing off a then very lush and beautiful Manhattan, The Eddy Duchin Story is a tearjerker of the most literal definition but there's more to this than manufactured melodrama. Where a lot of films of this ilk feel trite and forced, obviously trying to ramp up the emotion to wring as much out of the audience as possible, Sydney's picture instead paints its central characters as human and lets the flaws that are inherent in all of his come through with a more natural flow. As such, the movie feels considerably more grounded and realistic than other tragedies of the era, and it's all the better for it. The script is smart and the characters well written and the movie makes very good use of some impressive music throughout the picture.
What really sells this one, however, is the acting. Supporting work from Whitmore, Shaw and later in the film Rex Thompson are all fine but this movie absolutely belongs to Power and Novak. The handsome leading man does a fine job of emoting here, giving his character palpable depth and personality while the beautiful blonde who winds up by his side proves to be every bit his equal, if not slightly better. Together they deliver some excellent work, playing off of one another and in doing so creating a romance that is passionate, moving and realistic enough to work. The film slows down a little bit in its middle half and some stronger editing could have helped with those pacing issues but throw any pre-conceived notions you might have about this film to the side and give it a shot. It might be a bit on the obscure side given the pedigree of the cast but it's an entirely worthwhile endeavor.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Eddy Duchin Story debuts on Blu-ray from Twilight Time, framed in its proper 2.35.1 widescreen aspect ratio in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer on a 50GB disc, and it looks very good. The opening credits and ten to fifteen minutes that follow look a bit flat but picture quality and coloring picks up quickly once the optical text is out of the way with. Detail is pretty strong throughout the presentation and while the film is moderately grainy throughout, the image remains clean for the most part. There are no obvious noise reduction or edge enhancement issues to note while skin tones appear lifelike and natural. Black levels are decent as well and colors would seem to be pretty accurately reproduced. Never having seen this picture before it's hard to comment on how much of an improvement it is over past releases but the quality of image you'd expect from a nicely authored Blu-ray release is obvious throughout. This looks like a product of its time in terms of the coloring but there's no shame in that, it's film-like and pleasant to look at throughout.
The English language DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track is also of nice quality. It has more depth than most single channel tracks do and the dialogue sounds quite natural and properly mixed in against the score. This isn't a particularly effects heavy track as most of the mix is simply made up of dialogue and music, but both the score and musical numbers have impressive depth and presence. There are no problems with any hiss or distortion, the track is consistently clean. Optional English subtitles are provided.
Extras are limited to two different theatrical trailers for the feature, an isolated score in DTS-HD for the feature, menus and chapter selection. Inside the keepcase alongside the disc, however, is a booklet of liner notes from Julie Kirgo that offer some welcome critical analysis of the feature in addition to some interesting bits of trivia and background information the film, the cast and the crew.
The Final Word:
The Eddy Duchin Story might be melodrama of the highest order but it's very well done. The lead performances from both Tyrone Power and Kim Novak are both outstanding and as much of a tearjerker as this one is, it's hard not to be moved by it. Twilight Time's Blu-ray debut for the film is light on extras but it looks and sounds quite good. An easy recommendation for fans of the picture or Tyrone Power or Kim Novak aficionados!
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
