Plot: What’s it about?
Warner Bros has recently released The Wheeler Dealers as part of its Archive Collection. Their Archive Collection is Warner’s attempt to try to appeal to film collectors by releasing catalog titles on Blu-Ray with strong transfers and typically minimal special features. The Wheeler Dealers stars James Garner and Lee Remick and was directed by Arthur Hiller. Hiller is probably best known for the romance film Love Story, but he had a solid string of comedies that included The Silver Streak, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and The In-Laws, which Criterion recently rereleased.
The plot of the film revolves around Texas oilman Henry Tyron (James Garner) who has recently come up completely dry on his most recent oil excavations. Needing a million dollars to continue pursuing his lifestyle, Henry heads to New York to seek some funding. Henry is a real “Wheeler dealer” able to make a profit or find ways for the government to eat three quarters of his losses. He finds his way to a Wall Street trading company where he meets independent woman Molly Thatcher (Lee Remick.) Thatcher has been pressured by the firm to offload a stock of a company focused on widgets on the out-of-towner to keep her post as an analyst at the firm. Attempting to persuade Henry to make a deal on the stock, Henry begins to attempt to persuade her to fall for him. Along the way Henry constantly comes up with inventive ways to impress her and turn a profit via enterprises like art and restaurants.
The Wheeler Dealers is a very charming and enjoyable romantic-comedy. I really love films from this time-frame that float by on simple charms and clever dialogue. James Garner is great as Henry and Lee Remick is spot-on as Molly. I am a bit of a softy when it comes to these type of films and this film has plenty for everybody to enjoy. I also found it interesting to see the struggles that Molly felt in the work-place to get any recognition which seems so distant from the times we live in now.
If you are looking for a carefree and enjoyable way to spend an evening with a significant other, The Wheeler Dealers is just about right.
Video: How’s it look?
Warner Bros. did a great job on the transfer of the film using an MPEG 4 AVC codec of a new 2K restoration. The film was shot in a fairly wide format so there is constantly plenty on screen. The cinematography is fairly standard fare for that time, but the costuming and set designs are all very well thought out- especially the scenes that take place in a French restaurant. Warner releases continue to shine with great attention to detail and clarity. Color reproduction is also very well done.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The front speakers are used for all of the mix, with other speakers occasionally used during compositions. Clarity is good, but I did detect one scene where the mix gets much louder for a brief second which startled me a little bit. I did not detect any notable hiss. Overall this is another good effort from the team at Warner.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
The Wheeler Dealers is just a really enjoyable romantic comedy. The two stars are very charismatic, the film is entirely inoffensive, and the plot has some very funny parts. Overall, if you like romantic comedies I would highly recommend checking this flick out. The transfer by Warner is excellent, but the lack of special features may disappoint some fans.
