I have to admit that I'd somehow never even heard of ON THE RIVIERA before this new Blu-ray release. I'll chalk that up to not bring as well versed in Danny Kaye's filmography as I'd like to be. Thankfully this film gives a double dose of Kaye in that he swings a dual role here. He plays both a somewhat second rate nightclub showman as well as a very sophisticated record-breaking aviator/businessman. When the entertainer realizes he looks just like the famous pilot, he seizes upon it as an opportunity to reinvent a new act for himself (wherein he makes himself up to look like said pilot). The two men begin to entangle themselves in each other's lives and wackiness ensues so to speak.

This Fox Blu-ray has a few supplements of note:
-"The Riviera Story: A Remarkable Impersonation"- (11 mins)
Uses film historians to talk about how the plot line to this film is one that Fox loved at the time. They loved it so much, they had even used it a few times before this. The piece examines the films that preceded this one and how this one came to be and how it was effected by censorship differences. The historians compare and contrast differences between each of the movies.
-"A Portrait of Danny Kaye"- (27 mins)
Great
little retrospective piece on the actor, the man and the father that
Danny Kaye was. Included are interviews with Kaye's daughter and Film
Historians discussing Danny's upbringing, rise to fame via the stage and
then his Hollywood career.
-"The Jack of Clubs: Choreographer Jack Cole"- (10 mins)
Is exactly what it's title indicates, an examination of the life and work of ON THE RIVIERA's choreographer Jack Cole and how he funneled an interesting melange of influences into his own unique and memorable style.
A quick post script: I noticed a 'Film Fact' on the back of the Blu-ray case which declares that the painting of Gene Tierney seen in ON THE RIVIERA is the same portrait of her that was used in LAURA. That's pretty cool.THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957; Nunnally Johnson)
I used to often associate this film as some sort of quasi sequel to the notorious Bette Davis film, but I was a fool for doing that. Unlike Davis though, this film's star Joanne Woodward did win the best actress Oscar for her portrayal here. She was apparently a relatively unknown actress at the time.
Before Sally Field dominated our multiple-personality performance consciousness with her turn in SYBIL, THE THREE FACES OF EVE was one the thing to beat. This story is based on a true case, which was at the time the most highly detailed account of what we now call Dissociative Identity Disorder known to medicine. Director Nunnally Johnson(THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT) based his script on a book by psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen and and Hervey M. Cleckley. The film even features a
post credits "introduction" with a man(Alistair Cook, who also narrates
the film) talking to camera, explaining that the film is very much based
on a true story and what a multiple personality is. This intro was
meant to give the film an extra air of credibility. Much of the dialogue
is even said to be taken from the clinical records.

This Blu-ray has a lovely transfer, which exhibits Stanley Cortez's(NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS) crisp B&W cinematography in an elegant way. The disc also includes a solid commentary track from Film Historian Aubrey Solomon. Right up there with your standard Criterion Film Scholar commentary. Solomon gives a nice history of the making of the film as well as some scene specific notes. His comments are interesting and informative. Though are some small gaps, the track is pretty much wall to wall through the whole film. Very educational and worthwhile.
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