HIS and HERS [1961 / 2014] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] STUDIOCANAL and EROS Films Presents a Scattered, Slightly Anarchic British Comedy Film by Director Brian Desmond Hurst!
The incomparable Terry-Thomas heads the cast of this rare domestic farce directed by Brian Desmond Hurst best-known for the 1951 box-office triumph Scrooge. Also starring Carry On legends Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims and Kenneth Connor, with early film roles for Oliver Reed and Francesca Annis, ‘HIS and HERS’ is featured here in a new High Definition transfer made from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.
Author-explorer Reggie Blake takes an unorthodox approach to his craft, apparently finding inspiration in the adventures suggested by his agent Charles Lunton; it matters little that most of his experiences are wildly embellished or even entirely fictitious...
Reggie Blake's latest trip, however, has proved a little too authentic. Having lost his way in the desert and subsequently adopted by a remote Bedouin tribe, he has experienced a deep transformation in outlook and personality and one that drives his loyal wife Fran to despair. When his pomposity and chauvinism reach alarming new heights, she decides immediate, and dramatic, action is called for!
Cast: Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Nicole Maurey, Billy Lambert, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Meier Tzelniker, Colin Gordon, Joan Hickson, Oliver Reed, Barbara Hicks, Francesca Annis, Dorinda Stevens, Howard Green, William Roache, Fred Rawlings, Henry De Bray, David Webb, Marie Devereux and Delphine Day
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst
Producers: Hal E. Chester and John D. Merriman
Screenplay: Jan Englund, Mark Lowell and Stanley Mann
Composer: John Addison
Cinematography: Edward Scaife (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 82 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: STUDIOCANAL / Network
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: Terry-Thomas’s turns out as a dastardly misogynous egotistical chauvinist so called Intrepid adventurer in the 1961 ‘HIS and HERS’ film, and his portrayal is of a cad is one of his weaker turns and rapidly becomes tiresome. ‘HIS and HERS’ film was the penultimate film from Brian Desmond Hurst, whose moment in the limelight was his adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ [1951] featuring Alistair Sim in the title role of Scrooge. Brian Desmond Hurst, along with writers Jan and Mark Lowell and Stanley Mann, hailed from a background in screen drama, so comely was not the likeliest genre for them to tackle. Sadly it all turned to lukewarm results, which is testimony to their folly.
Intrepid adventurer and author of the hugely successful “I Conquered…” series of books, Reggie Blake [Terry-Thomas] returns from his latest escapade in the Sahara. His past expeditions have all been stage-managed by his canny publisher Charles Dunton [Wilfred Hyde-White]; but of course the sharks he fought in the Atlantic were all made of rubber; the igloo he inhabited in the Arctic had central heating. But this time the set-up goes all wrong and so for his new book Reggie Blake wants to do away with the fiction and tell it as it really was, the problem it is going to be terribly boring. When Reggie Blake adopts a pompous stance and threatens to take the manuscript elsewhere, it causes lots of friction with both his wife Fran Blake [Janette Scott] and Charles Dunton. Shrewdly aware that the public is eager for a new “I Conquered…” epic, Charles Dunton conspires with Fran Blake to pretend to write a book exposing her husband’s faux adventures, especially with the title “I Was Conquered by a Middle-aged Monster” in the hope it’ll coax Reggie Blake into delivering a book that will actually sell. But Reggie Blake proves a more stubborn stance than either of them expected . . . And much hilarity ensues.”
Sadly Terry-Thomas’s character isn’t very likeable, unfortunately, rather damningly, neither is Hyde-White’s or Jamet Scott’s characters, they’re all slightly objectionable. Thus the so called intended humour between husband and wife, eventually sees both couples divide up their house into “HIS” and “HERS” areas, that eventually turns into a total disaster. Their struggles to adapt to their new surrounding and roles, especially with Reggie Blake with all of his levels of domesticity, she in her attempts to immerse herself in the business of authorship, to the point it seldom elicits more than a tepid smile, which is a shame.
So what are we left with? Again, sadly not a lot. If there is any fun to be derived here, it is in the form of a lot of cameo roles from favourites of the big and small screen, like Kenneth Connor, Oliver Reed, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Marie Deveraux, Francesca Annis, Joan Hickson and even a youthful William Roach, who have all put in appearances by the time the end credits roll. These cameos certainly lend ‘His and Hers’ some curiosity value, but there’s regrettably little else for which one could recommend it, which again is such a shame, as it had great potential.
For those of you who are not familiar with the director Brian Desmond Hurst [1895 – 1996], he was a Belfast-born filmmaker, who made more than thirty films over a four decades across three continents and his venture into farce with ‘His and Hers’ was sadly his penultimate film, but again more fondly remembered for his now famous film ‘SCROOGE’ [1951] or in America it was known as ‘A Christmas Carol’ and of course starred the brilliant Alistair Sim. Brian Desmond Hurst was the bridge between the silent era of Rex Ingram and John Ford and the “Irish New Wave” from which Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan emerged. Yet Brian Desmond Hurst has remained a “Cine-enigma” of the Irish and British cinema history. Brian Desmond Hurst enjoyed a long and eventful life during, which through cinema, he transformed himself from a Belfast linen worker to a soldier, to an artist, and then became a highly-paid, well-connected film director in the 1940s and 1950s. His memories have been edited and contextualised by Professor Lance Pettitt and Alan Esler Smith and is available in a publication entitled “Travelling the Road, Memoir of a Life in cinema [Langham Press].
Blu-ray Image Quality – ‘HIS and HERS’ courtesy of STUDIOCANAL is featured in a brand new 1080p High Definition transfer made from original film elements in its as exhibited 1.66:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The image here is very nicely detailed and sharp looking, offering an excellently film like appearance which retains a very natural looking layer of grain. Contrast is sharp and consistent, and there are very few signs of damage to the elements. The presentation is largely artefact free, though there are a couple of very minor issues, but nothing serious. Though there aren't many bells and whistles on this track, it's still a solid effort. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘HIS and HERS’ 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio mix offers a very solid soundtrack, especially with composer’s John Addison music complimenting the film, especially with his foray into a kind of quasi-big band sound for some of his cues in the film. Dialogue is very cleanly presented, and though there's no real damage to report, the high end here sounds are really good.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Nicely printed photos and information of the director Brian Desmond Hurst on reverse side of the Blu-ray Cover
Special Feature: Image Gallery: You get to view 11 Black-and-White publicity lobby card images with a stunning 1080p image presentation.
Finally, with such sterling cast of British luminaries such as Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams and Joan Hickson, you would of thought you would have a comedy film of the highest “laughter” content, but sadly somewhere along the way, the film ‘HIS and HERS’ it lost its way, maybe the director had lost his mojo and half way through the film realised it was going the wrong way, or the scriptwriters just could not come up with the funny lines you expect from a British comedy film at the time, so all in all the film lost its way, which is a shame, as all the British actors of that period would normally pull out all the stops, especially when it comes to the classic “Carry On” films, which a few of the actors in this film appeared regular. Anyway I am great fan of Terry-Thomas and one film which I have never heard of before that has now been released on Blu-ray, I simply had to have it, but sadly again the film has lost its way, and especially half way through the film, so when the mood takes me now and again, I will put this Blu-ray on to watch good British actors doing what they do best, who are sadly no longer with us.
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
