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Confessions of a Window Cleaner (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (10th August 2024). |
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The Film
 Robin Askwith (Britannia Hospital) stars in THE COMPLETE CONFESSIONS, 1974–1977, the definitive collection of the celebrated British sex-comedy series. Based on the pseudonymous Timothy Lea novels by screenwriter Christopher Wood (The Spy Who Loved Me), each instalment follows the fortunes of the feckless and accident-prone – yet seemingly irresistible – Timmy (Askwith) as he gets embroiled in the money-making schemes of his brother-in-law Sidney Noggett (Anthony Booth, Corruption). The fun starts in Confessions of a Window Cleaner, as Timmy must satisfy the demands of a clientele of lonely housewives whilst attempting to woo police officer Liz (Linda Hayden, The Blood on Satan’s Claw). In Confessions of a Pop Performer, Timmy endures the ups and downs (and ins and outs) of the music business when he joins a band managed by Sid. With Confessions of a Driving Instructor, Timmy finds his female students fumbling for his gearstick. Finally, in Confessions from a Holiday Camp, entertainment officer Timmy struggles to organise a beauty contest under the watchful eye of the camp’s tyrannical new manager. Directed by Val Guest (The Full Treatment) and Norman Cohen (Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers), this classic quartet features a supporting cast of British comedy greats, including Bill Maynard (Oh No It’s Selwyn Froggitt), Doris Hare (On the Buses), Windsor Davies (Endless Night), John Le Mesurier (The Wrong Box), and Liz Fraser (Adventures of a Taxi Driver). As beloved by audiences as they were reviled by critics, the Confessions series sparked a string of imitators, and stand as a time capsule of the fashions and attitudes of 1970s Britain. Along with an array of new commentaries and interviews, this Blu-ray premiere collection also includes producer Greg Smith’s follow-up feature film, Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse, which was adapted from Christopher Wood’s Confessions of a Night Nurse.
Video
Five of the most popular and iconic British sex comedies from the '70s get the deluxe treatment from Powerhouse Films, although the final film produced by Greg Smith - Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse - sadly hasn't been given the HD treatment by Sony as yet so is here only in what appears to be an open matte master probably dating from the '80s or '90s. From the booklet: Confessions of a Window Cleaner, Confessions of a Pop Performer, Confessions of a Driving Instructor, and Confessions from a Holiday Camp were sourced from Sony’s HD remasters. The films’ original mono soundtracks were remastered at the same time. Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse was sourced from Sony’s Standard Definition master which, unfortunately, has been cropped to 1.33:1 for viewing on the then-common 4:3 TV screens of the VHS era.The Confessions Films All four films look pretty similar being low budget, contemporary comedies handled very slickly and professionally by Val Guest (Window Cleaner) and Norman Cohen (the other three). Having been through all four films my comments apply equally to the four; there was obviously a bright, house style involved. Given their cartoonish nature with daffy situations and broadly drawn characters you'd have thought a more artificial colour palette would be on the cards but they're shot in a very matter of fact way. Naturalistic if occasionally ruddy flesh tones, primaries are as strong as they were in real life (check out Booth's red Mini Cooper Van ... it sears the eyes along with red clothing throughout the films). It was a colourful era and the cinematography (Norman Warrick's, Alan Hume's and Ken Hodges',) makes the most of the colourful production design and gaudy fashions. Delineation is excellent with no signs of bleeding edges. I was expecting a much courser grain in the image but that only really occurs during opticals like the opening and closing credits sequences and on some sequences captured in lower light like in the early scene in the first film where Askwith peeks through a window and sees a woman lounging about naked in her flat. Both interiors and locations (those in daylight anyway) are fairly sharp and clear with plenty of fine detail and fine grain. The image is filmic but surprisingly slick, certainly when compared to the first of Stanley Long Adventures films (also from Powerhouse Films), Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1976) which was shot in 16mm. These four are more or less similar in general look to the other Adventures films. Beautifully encoded across the board technically minded collectors, fans will be happy. These four transfers get an overall rating of 'A' as they're bout as good as can be shy of 4K and HDR. Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse Sadly, this fourth film produced by Greg Smith either hasn't had a modern, HD master created or the original film elements have gone awol (hopefully just the former). It's generally a less well known title but is more or less to the same formula although Robin Askwith's charismatic lead performance is sorely missing. Here we have Debbie Ash as a female variant but she's just not got quite the same acting chops. It's still pleasingly silly, if dated and the kind of film that (like the others) would never in a million years get produced today. We have what appears to be an open matte, full-frame (1.33:1) master created most likely in the early video era circa 1983. Colours are muted, definition soft and detail on all focal planes is very waxy as one would expect for a film shot flat and presented slightly cropped at the side but with a great deal opened up top and bottom and then transferred in standard definition. It's been given a top notch encode as usual and has been upscaled to we're probably seeing this existing, ancient master on it's absolute best behaviour. Sound (see below) is uncompressed. Overall this would rate a 'D+' at most and as Rosie Dixon is effectively an extra I won't be averaging it's rating alongside the 'A' for the four main films in this set. 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / 4 x BD50s / 1.85:1 / 90:12, 90:54, 90:20, 89:06, 87:44
Audio
English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English HoH Solid mono tracks typical of low budget British films of the time. These are unambitious and get the job done very clearly and little fanfare. The four Confessions films fare slightly better having had excellent 21st century restored masters created (I'm not sure how old they are but if I had to guess I'd say in the last ten years). Rosie Dixon still has an uncompressed soundtrack and is marginally more hissy being taken from a dated source. Only full-bore techno-freaks are likely to hear the difference frankly given the limited range and nature of all five soundtracks. Hard of hearing subtitles are excellent and comprehensive, at least on the sections in all five films I sampled (given Powerhouse Film's superb record in this regard it's no surprise). Overall ranking for the four main films (Rosie is an extra) would be 'B'.
Extras
Audio commentary with Robin Askwith (2024) Askwith is a fantastic raconteur, every aspect of the production that Askwith was witness to is covered in detail and with good humour, I laughed out loud several times. He covers the films legacy, what they mean to his career, anecdotes about the cast and crew. Fans of British sex comedies, indeed comedy film and television in general, should give these a listen. Presented in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 112Kbps) sound and no subtitles. On all four Confessions films. "Hey, Judy!" 2024 interview with Judy Matheson (16:40) "Confessions of a Film Composer" 2024 interview with Ed Welch (16:06) "Team Mates: David Hamilton on Confessions of a Pop Performer" 2024 interview (3:47) "Cunning Stunts: The Confessions of Rocky Taylor" 2024 interview with Laurie "Rocky" Taylor (14:39) "Saucy Ingredients: Casting Director Esta Charkham on Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse" 2024 interview (6:58) 58:10 worth of new interviews covering the five films in this set. Plenty of amusing anecdotes from behind the scenes as well as nuts and bolts from certain perspectives on the productions. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound (48kHz, 112Kbps). "The British Entertainment History Project (BEHP) Interview with Val Guest: Excerpted from Interviews Conducted by Roy Fowler on 17, 23 and 30 August 1988 and 6 September 1988" plays as an alternate audio track over Confessions of a Window Cleaner (90:04) "The British Entertainment History Project (BEHP) Interview with Geoffrey Foot: Excerpted from Interviews Conducted by Sidney Cole and Alan Lawson 6 January 1988" plays as an alternate audio track over Timothy Lea's Confessions of a Driving Instructor (73:29) Val Guest is one of the great journeyman directors of British cinema and this is another of the excellent BEHP audio interviews which starts with his childhood and works its way through his marriage (to actress Yolande Donlan) life, career, censorship, John Trevelyan and the BBFC (most amusingly pubic hair and Au Pair Girls). Most interesting are his comments regarding the City Police vs the Metropolitan police regarding shooting on locations. Guest is a quietly spoken, genial man who has plenty of anecdotes about the films he worked on and the people he worked with. His list of films is an amazing body of work including Hammer films (he was one of their most prolific directors) lensing the following for them: the Lyons family films, The Men of Sherwood Forest, The Quatermass Xperiment / Quatermass II, Break in the Circle, The Abominable Snowmen, The Camp on Blood Island, Up the Creek / Further Up the Creek, Yesterday's Enemy, Hell is a City, The Full Treatment and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. In 1983-84 he also directed three episodes of Hammer's TV series The Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense. Other notable entries in his body of work being The Day the Earth Caught Fire and the sex comedy Au Pair Girls. Many of these are covered or mentioned in passing. Foot edited three of the Confessions films and Rosie Dixon. According to IMDB his career spanned from 1940-85 as an editor and in other capacities. He get a run down of his career and he's another fascinating listen; the BEHP is an incredibly worthwhile organisation and all of the interviews I've heard or seen have been insightful and educational. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 112Kbps) Confessions of a Driving Instructor Super 8 Version (Play All - 33:49): - Play Reel #1 (16:22) - Play Reel #2 (17:27) Knackered looking early home video edition of the film; a fascinating insight into the home video landscape in the 1970s before uncut versions of films were more widely available on videotape (mainly VHS and Betamax). The film has roughly been reduced to a third of it's original 90 minute length and we have the highlights. Colours are muted, definition very soft and there's extensive signs of age-related wear and tear. Presented in 1080p24 1.37:1 with English LPCM 1.0 sound (48kHz, 16-bit) sound and no subtitles. Theatrical Trailers: - Confessions of a Window Cleaner (2:01) - Timothy Lea's Confessions of a Pop Performer (1:22) - Timothy Lea's Confessions of a Driving Instructor (2:22) - Timothy Lea's Confessions from a Holiday Camp: -- UK Theatrical Trailer (Confessions from a Holiday Camp) (2:14) -- US Theatrical Trailer (Confessions from a Summer Camp Counsellor) (2:13) - Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (2:26) A large wedge of vintage promo pieces presented in 1080p24 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound (48kHz, 192Kbps) and no subtitles. Image Galleries: - Confessions of a Window Cleaner Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (45 images) - Confessions of a Window Cleaner Image Gallery: Miscellany (63 images) - Confessions of a Pop Performer Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (53 images) - Confessions of Driving Instructor Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (41 images) - Confessions from a Holiday Camp Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (42 images) 244 HD images. 120-page liner notes book with a new essay by Simon Sheridan, archival interviews and articles and film credits Excellent hardback companion to the five films in this set; speaking personally more enjoyable that the films themselves (especially when used in conjunction with the other extras).
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
Another wonderful set from Powerhouse Films that'll be as controversial as their equally wonderful set of the Stanley Long Adventures films. As with those other films, these films are of great cultural interest and have many fans and this is another top notch release with excellent image and sound quality with superb extras to bolster the films themselves who h are more popular classics rather than genuine cinema classics.
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