ALFIE: Blu-ray (Paramount, 1966) ViaVision Imprint
What’s it all about, Alfie? Sixties slickster,
Michael Caine attempts to justify Alfie Elkins’ philosophies on life and love
in director, Lewis Gilbert’s watershed social commentary on the emerging ‘angry
young man’ in British cinema with Alfie (1966) a faithful adaptation of Bill
Naughton’s 1963 play. For its time, this pic was fairly progressive, not the
least in addressing its audaciously sex-charged anti-hero head on, backseat
badinages, randy midnight rendezvous and callously driven urges to play the
field with marrieds and singles alike – and STD’s unwanted pregnancies, and,
even an abortion be damned. Alfie
is oft misinterpreted as a dark comedy or an homage to that certain swingin’ hipster
in posh/mod London. But actually, it is far more an uncompromising meditation on
that all-pervading malaise afflicting an entire vintage of ‘working class’ blokes
whose sense of self-destructive entitlement in an age of shifting classist
views marked a dead end for any young scrapper struggling to embrace the
lifestyle. Yesterday’s put-together narcissist/today’s metrosexual? What with
Caine’s cruelly charismatic cock of the walk, nonchalantly to refer to all
women, either as ‘it’ or ‘birds’ (neither a flattering moniker) and even more
indiscriminately cut a swath of battered hearts, using the fairer sex for fun
or as furniture he can park his Waterloo Bridge-sized super ego (other
appendages optional) for his own sexual gratification. Alfie is the sort of fellow we should
absolutely despise and furthermore, to immediately cause all the ‘red flags’ in
the male/female romantic playbook to instantly combust into thirty-red neon
caution signs, leaving women to reach in their handbags for the pepper spray. So, it is saying a great deal about Michael
Caine that, despite Alfie’s predilection for arbitrary sexual pleasure, Caine’s
presence somehow manages to diffuse the contempt we might otherwise feel for
his alter ego. In fact, the deeper Alfie migrates into this unfeasible and grievously
bombastic gratification, the more we begin to empathize with him as a lost and
arguably, emotionally fragile, frightened little boy trapped in a man’s body,
but who has an awful lot of growing up to do.
After all, being ‘a player’ is a young man’s game. Ultimately,
this is what puts a period to Alfie’s carousing – time – and the sudden
revelation the parade of youth has since moved on without him. Charisma is a
poor substitute for youth. After a failed attempt at playing weekend daddy to his
young son, Malcolm, witnessing the heinous after effects of aborting another of
his unwanted children by another woman, and, taking up with the stylish sexpot,
Ruby (Shelley Winters) the female equivalent to Alfie, the years have decidedly
begun to show – not so much in Caine’s always immaculately coiffed and put-together
popinjay, but in his finely finessed careworn outlook on life in general, women
in particular, and, the daunting task of actually having to face the uncertain
future without even the prospect of future female companionship. All of the
women into Alfie, with the exception of Winters’ noncommittal voluptuary, are pawns
who romantically fall for his wit. One can definitely argue Caine’s sexual
sadist is unapologetically frank about what he wants and expects from the women
who play into his trap. So, where’s the blame? Or harm…especially if each knows
the score and is willing to keep time within his pre-established rulebook? In a
decade where many taboos were chipped away from Hollywood’s long-seated/self-governing
code of censorship, Alfie was the first movie to be branded with a “suggested
for mature audiences” classification by the MPAA, which only made the public
want to see it more. Evidently, the character’s refreshing bluntness, and Caine
and Gilbert’s remorseless dissemination of it, struck a chord.
Viewed today, it is impossible not to view Caine’s Alfie
as an unreformed bastard – just the sort of glib and garrulous ‘bad boy’ women tend
to fall for, believing they will be the ones to reform him. And it would have
been so easy for Caine and Gilbert to craft a one-dimensional figure here, to
be hated for his cheek, leaving the audience perfectly satisfied with the
picture’s denouement – a slightly bewildered Alfie, alone on Waterloo Bridge at
dusk, accidentally bumping into Siddie (Millicent Martin), the first gal/pal we
witness him taking advantage of in the front seat of his steamed-up car. Only
now, Siddie, wed to a fellow significantly older than she (John Cater) has
seemingly repented…or rather, grown up, more interested in getting home to the
man that she married instead of intermittently running off for a little play
time with Alfie. And hence, Alfie, newly jilted by Ruby, whom he actually –
desperately – loves, but has discovered unfaithful to him with a twenty-something
guitarist, has an epiphany: life is not worth the living unless you can go home
to someone who desires to share it – warts and all – with you. This penultimate and sober awakening
miraculously affects us as we observe Alfie strolling off into the distance
with a stray mutt introduced to us in the very first scene, quietly observing
Alfie and Siddie fogging up the mirrors of his car, but otherwise to have gone
virtually unnoticed by Alfie until now. The
parallel and foreshadowing between the mutt and Alfie is established by Gilbert
in the first moments as the scruffy outcast, past his prime, overlooked by a
pair of frisky strays attempting to mate, wanders off alone. And thus, Caine
remains the mutt of a man, arguably drained of his promiscuity, and entering
his emeritus years as a randy playboy.
Our story begins with Alfie, a fine-looking Cockney
chauffeur, self-absorbed and devil-may-care, indulging the sexual favors of
married and single women alike. Siddie is the first ‘cast off’ in Alfie’s slick
commitment-shy approach to sex. She’s married, but has become too clingy for
his liking. Besides, Alfie has a
submissive single gal/pal, Gilda (Julie Foster) on the side. Problem: Gilda is
pregnant with Alfie’s child. In her desperate attempts to hang on to Alfie,
Gilda momentarily overlooks the ever-devoted Humphrey (Graham Stark) a double-decker
bus attendant who really does carry the torch for her. At work, Alfie pilfers
fuel from his employer to keep up with his seemingly fashionable lifestyle. In
reality, Alfie is a ‘working class’ stiff whose slick exterior masks his deep-seeded
anxiety to overcome this station in life. Alfie tries to get Gilda to skim a
little off the top from her employer too. Instead, she elects to get another,
better-paying job in a brewery to support their child, Malcolm Alfred, even
after first lying to Alfie about the prospect of giving the boy up to a ‘rich’ but
child-less couple to rear as their own. Rather
surprisingly, Alfie bonds with baby Malcolm and, over the next few years, embraces
fatherhood. Alas, this newfound attachment does not extend to Gilda, from whom
he repeatedly distances himself by having multiple affairs with more attractive
‘birds’ around town, including a dry cleaner (Pauline Boty) and bodybuilder’s
gal/pal (Shirley Bassey). During these
fallow periods in their already anemic ‘relationship’, Humphrey remains a rock
of stability Gilda can count on, and eventually, although she still harbors no
genuine feelings for him, Gilda elects to wed Humphrey. He, in turn,
immediately embraces rearing another man’s child as his own.
From a distance, Alfie observes their restrained happiness
with a modicum of regret. This, however, is diffused when the self-centered
Alfie has an X-ray of his lungs taken during a national health unit drive and
is informed by the doctor (Eleanor Brom), he has tubercular shadows. Fearing
death, Alfie retreats to a sanitarium in the country for treatment, where he
promptly wastes no time fondling the nurses, but befriending fellow patient, Harry
Clamacraft (Alfie Bass). This bro-mantic loyalty does not last long as Alfie
cannot help but go after Harry’s frumpish wife, Lily (Vivien Merchant) with
whom he has absolutely nothing in common, but preys upon, appealing to her
weaknesses. Later, Alfie cruelly infers to Harry, still in hospital, that his
old lady might have been disloyal – to set the ailing man off momentarily, but
then, almost immediately to be calmed by Alfie, who does not go the extra mile
to inform him of his affair with Lily. Indeed, Alfie possesses at least a shred
of empathy for Harry, just enough to spare him the particulars. Returning to London
with his vigor and health renewed, Alfie takes up ‘holiday photography’ to supplement
his income and, in accosting the tourist trade, is introduced to Ruby who, at
present is ‘out’ with a gentleman (Peter Graves), not her husband, yet
exceedingly nervous about being seen publicly with her. Inveigling himself into
Ruby’s good graces, Alfie manages to get her phone number and home address. In
the meantime, Alfie returns to chauffeuring for a living, and, manages almost
immediately to pick up a very young hitchhiker from Sheffield, Annie (Jane
Asher) eager for a fresh start in the big city. Rather sadistically, Alfie wastes
no time transforming this vibrant ingenue into his latest personal drudge. Eventually, the lorry driver who originally offered
Annie a ride into town, hunts Alfie down at a local pub and confronts him. In the all-ensuing brawl that follows, Alfie
is badly bruised on his cheek, returning to the apartment he shares with Annie
to admonish her for her desperate dependency on him. Realizing what a fool she
has been, Annie packs her bags and leaves.
Not long thereafter, Lily reveals to Alfie she is
carrying his child. Mutually agreeing it would be unwise to have the baby,
Alfie arranges for a back-room abortionist (Denholm Elliott) to put an end to
the pregnancy. But during the procedure, Alfie takes a nervous stroll around
the block, witnessing Humphrey and Gilda with his son at the baptismal of their
first child together. Hurrying back to his apartment, Alfie is traumatized to
tears by the sight of his aborted fetus. Afterward, Alfie decides he has had
enough of the single life and, having fallen for the voluptuous and wealthy
Ruby, now aggressively pursues her. Too bad for Alfie, Ruby is not interested
in having a full-time man around the house. She is attracted to a very young
guitar-player. When Alfie arrives at Ruby’s apartment she admonishes him for
his suspicions, but then informs him of her lack of feelings for him. Observing
the naked guitarist patiently smoking a cigarette in Ruby’s bed, Alfie inquires
why Ruby – a woman well into her middle-age – should seek companionship with
this boy. When Ruby casually informs Alfie, her decision is solely based on the
boy’s youth, Alfie suddenly realizes how similarly aligned his shallow
intensions towards women have been. With no options left, he sheepishly departs
Ruby’s apartment, confronting the audience with “What’s it all about?” before
surmising, life is not worth a moment’s concern without someone to share it.
Well, what do you know? Alfie – too little/too late – has finally grown up.
Capped off by an Oscar-nominated title tune, written
by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, sung under the end credits by Cher (and to be
endlessly covered by every major recording artist thereafter), Alfie was
a box office sleeper, a surprise to Paramount, the state’s-side distributor. Unusual
for its time, the movie opens with no main titles after the Paramount logo,
except the word ‘Alfie’ as Michael Caine’s titular hero emerges from his
steamed-up car to address the audience for the first time, espousing sharp-tongued
jeremiads about women. Director, Lewis Gilbert and his cameraman, Otto Heller
shot much of Alfie on location, immensely to add to the immediacy and
reality of the piece, even as Caine’s performance is otherwise highly
theatrical, doing everything to remind us of the original stagecraft. On stage,
Alfie Elkins had been played by another rising star in the British new wave, Terence
Stamp who was unavailable to reprise his role herein, despite Gilbert’s strong
desire to cast him. Reportedly Stamp either refused to play the part, or was
insidiously goaded by his flat mate – Michael Caine – to reconsider. Stamp’s
loss, but definitely Caine’s gain, as Alfie immediately established him as the
mid-60’s most amiable ‘go-to’ for playing glib, and occasionally nasty, but
always immaculately attired anti-heroes. Many of the ‘big stars’ in British
cinema then, having come from the lower caste, yet eager to assuage their past to
their fan base, refused to partake. But Caine, always mindful of his own proletariat
upbringing, saw no such shame in playing to its strengths as this disreputable
scamp. As such, his Alfie is never anything less than genuine, occasionally
audacious, but always, totally compelling to watch.
What’s this all about?!? Alfie arrives on
Blu-ray from Aussie indie label, ViaVision and their boutique label, ‘Imprint’,
but in a rather disheartening 1080p transfer supplied by Paramount. Really?!? For such a huge film of its
generation, this one doesn’t even rate a new 4K scan from an original camera
negative?!? No, this transfer is, instead, decades’ old, riddled with grotesque
amounts of image instability, severe gate weave, wan colors and lots of
age-related dirt and scratches to distract. Film grain never looks indigenous to
its source, but instead, toggles between nonexistent to artificially boosted
levels, looking gritty rather than indigenous to its source. Contrast is adequate.
But fine details are wanting. There are also edge effects intermittently
scattered throughout. The 2.0 LPCM and/or 5.1 DTS audio choices here are
adequate, though just, and occasionally sound quite strident. Paramount’s
shortsightedness in farming out deep catalog to ViaVision – basically, to use
the label as a dumping ground for movies they have no desire to market
themselves, much less apply the necessary due diligence to restore and
remaster, is, frankly, appalling. Alfie was a watershed moment in British
cinema that became a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic and deserves far
better than what it has received herein. ViaVision has packed this lackluster feature
with lots of goodies, including a second Blu-ray housing David Batty’s 2017 documentary
on the sixties’ cultural revolution in London – My Generation.
This is a fabulous glimpse into the world Michael Caine and his contemporaries
inhabited for a brief wrinkle in time. On Alfie, we also get a new audio
commentary from Jo Botting and Melanie Williams, as well as two video essays,
the first from Kat Ellinger, and another from Matthew Sweet. Both Ellinger and Sweet have valid points to
make. Cumulatively, their contributions total just under 50 minutes. There is
also an archival interview with Lewis Gilbert from 1995 and ‘Breaking the
Mold’ – a 1994 documentary on Michael Caine’s rise to prominence, plus, a
theatrical trailer. Bottom line: while the extras are nice to have, more should
have been done to ready the original film elements of the feature film for this
Blu-ray release. Snazzy packaging and extras aside, Alfie looks careworn
and dated – not the way I would have wanted to experience Alfie again,
or especially, if this were my first time!
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the
best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
3
EXTRAS
5+
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