On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
by Vincente Minnelli
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbra Streisand, Bob Newhart, Larry Blyden, Simon Oakland, Yves MontandDirector: Vincente Minnelli
Brand: Ona
Cinematographer: Harry Stradling Sr.
Editor: David Bretherton
Producer: Howard W. Koch
Writer: Alan Jay Lerner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 129 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-22
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Movie Review: the ultimate Streisand tune-fest
Summary: 5 Stars
The prime Barbra Streisand tune-fest extravaganza ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER finally comes to DVD with a fine anamorphic transfer. Based on the Broadway musical by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, the story concerns kooky Daisy Gamble (Streisand) who appeals to psychiatrist Dr Marc Chabot (Yves Montand) to help her kick her chain-smoking habit. Instead Marc stumbles on Daisy's past life as an 18th century noblewoman called Melinda Tentrees. The plot thickens as Daisy falls for her dishy Doctor...but he only has eyes for the elusive Melinda!
Filled with lavish costumes and opulent scenes, this is the ultimate musical for Streisand fans. It also spectacularly showcases Miss Barbra in probably her greatest musical performance, utilising her flair for comedy, her serious acting ability and musicality, not to mention the fact she successfully plays two entirely different characters and negotiates her way between them with ease. Cecil Beaton (of MY FAIR LADY fame) designed the lush wardrobe of Regency-style gowns for Melinda and the regression scenes were filmed at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.
Fine supporting performances come from Irene Handl, Mabel Albertson, Roy Kinnear and Larry Blyden. A young Jack Nicholson also appears as Daisy's sometime stepbrother. John Richardson plays Robert Tentrees, the philandering rogue husband of Melinda; and Byron Webster (who also appeared in the Broadway production) plays the attorney in the courtroom flashback scene. The film is expertly-directed by Vincente Minnelli and his unique and unmistakable style is very evident here.
The Broadway production of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER was a middling failure lauded for the tour-de-force performance of Barbara Harris as Daisy Gamble/Melinda Welles. It shuttered fairly quickly and a touring production with Linda Lavin met a similarly-swift demise. The film rights were sold to Paramount (to help make up the losses from the Broadway run) and from the outset it was arranged the project would be a vehicle for Streisand.
The score for the film version is vastly-different from the Broadway production. A few songs from Broadway were cut (including "Tosy and Cosh", "On the SS Bernard Cohen", "Wait Till We're Sixty-Five", "When I'm Being Born Again" and "Don't Tamper With My Sister"). A few of the songs were altered ("She Isn't You" became "He Isn't You" and a showstopper for Streisand in the process). The score also features toe-tapping delights like "Come Back to Me" and "Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here", as well as great dramatic ballads like "Melinda" and Daisy's eleven o'clock number "What Did I Have?". Specially-added for the film was "Go to Sleep" a comical duet between Daisy and one of her alter-egos.
Paramount's DVD release contains a fine anamorphic print, correctly-framed in 2 35:1. The image is in great condition, some debris and speckle is evident and there are minor instances of telecine-wobble in some shots but nothing very intrusive. Colours are bright and vibrant for the most part, with solid black levels and no colour-bleeding. The image is better quality than the previously-available VHS edition (clearly the film has undergone a restoration). The audio 5.1 track is lively with the orchestra sounding full and lush, some marked deterioration of the audio is evident in some parts of the film with voices often sounding `canned' or muffled (and of course there is a shift in sound quality between the pre-recorded musical numbers and the regular scenes) There is also an `English Restored' audio track which is a 2-channel stereo mix. (Dual-layer, single-sided disc)
Summary of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
When a chain smoker consults a psychiatrist to stop smoking he discovers her ESP powers that reveal former incarnations.Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: G
Release Date: 10-APR-2007
Media Type: DVD
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