Unfaithfully Yours (DVD, 2005, Criterion Collection)
Product Details
Overview -
Unfaithfully Yours
Features
Closed Caption; New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Audio commentary featuring Sturges scholars James Harvey, Brian Henderson, and Diane Jacobs; New video introduction by director Terry Jones; New video interview with Sturges's widow, Sandy Sturges; Gallery featuring rare production correspondence and stills; Theatrical trailer; Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; A new essay by novelist Jonathan Lethem
Scene Index
Side #1 --
1. The Maestro Arrives [4:53]
2. Questions [2:13]
3. Strangers Who Married Sisters [8:35]
4. Rehearsal [5:58]
5. House Dick/A Bit of Trouble [4:20]
6. A Square From Delaware [2:59]
7. They Way You Handle Handel [5:57]
8. Angry Alfred [3:12]
9. Daphne Responds [3:46]
10. Before the Concert [2:38]
11. Music Does Strange Things [6:03]
12. Preparations [3:06]
13. Crime and Cover-Up [5:36]
14. Tony's Fall [3:35]
15. Adulations [1:27]
16. Alfred Takes the Blame [5:00]
17. Russian Roulette [6:41]
18. Difficulties [11:59]
19. Simplicitas [3:43]
20. Nuttier Than a Fruitcake [3:18]
21. Explanations [9:58]
1. Sturges's Career [4:53]
2. Viciously Alive [2:13]
3. European Sensibility/Lubitsch and Capra [8:35]
4. The Ordinary American Face [5:58]
5. Howard Hughes/Slapstick [4:20]
6. Isolation [2:59]
7. Deflated Expectations [5:57]
8. Confidence [3:12]
9. What's Missing From This Film [3:46]
10. Zanuck/"Symphony Story" [2:38]
11. Rex Harrison [6:03]
12. No Parallels [3:06]
13. They Didn't Get the Joke [5:36]
14. Everything Goes Right [3:35]
15. Slapstick Returns [1:27]
16. Theatricality/Daphne's Ambiguity [5:00]
17. Alfred in Control/Sturges's Fall [6:41]
18. Women's Roles/Censorship [11:59]
19. A Man of Many Pursuits [3:43]
20. Supporting Characters [3:18]
21. Riding High/Romantic Love [9:58]
Editorial Reviews
It’s more than a little ironic that this 1948 black comedy, savaged by many critics, virtually ended the brilliant career of writer-director Preston Sturges, who just a few years before had been Hollywood’s Golden Boy. Unfaithfully Yours had the same unique balance of sophistication and slapstick that earlier won the eccentric filmmaker legions of fans, yet its detractors couldn’t say enough bad things about it. Some called the film too dark and tasteless to be engaging comedy fare, while others decried Sturges’ use of old-fashioned pratfalls and corny wordplay. Today, the picture enjoys the reputation it deserves -- as a true classic. Rex Harrison portrays Sir Alfred De Carter, a world-famous symphony conductor obsessed with the notion that his glamorous wife (Linda Darnell) is having an affair. One night during a concert, he mentally spins an elaborate web of vengeful scenarios by which he might kill the woman. In a sensational cinematic tour de force, Sturges sets Sir Alfred’s fantasies to three separate orchestral works. The humor comes later, when he attempts to act out these scenarios, none of which work out as perfectly as he imagined. Harrison shows a surprising flair for slapstick, Darnell makes a radiant femme fatale (so to speak), and erstwhile bandleader Rudy Vallee is hilarious in a key supporting role. Compared to its lame 1984 remake starring Dudley Moore -- not to mention what passes for big-screen comedy these days -- Sturges’ Unfaithfully Yours is a 14-carat masterpiece. Ed Hulse, Barnes & Noble