Plot: What’s it about?
It’s the first year of Harvard Law School for James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) and on his first day he’s already being tested on a case orally by the stern Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman), being warned to keep his grades up, and audibly introduced to the screamer in his dorm. These are only the first in a series of struggles in his freshman year but through study groups, the relaxation of water and an intriguing discovery on campus, Hart is determined to succeed at any cost even when a pretty lady (Lindsey Wagner) comes into his life with some struggles of her own.
When it comes to movies my father has always been an encourager to discover hidden treasures, and this film is no exception. This film has a little bit of everything (drama, little humor, little romance, character study, etc.) and any studio would put this film under the title “hard to sell”. I always found that term to interest me about a movie more than a poster or a trailer running round the clock on TV. It encourages the viewer to see it to believe it. Before viewing this many years ago on video, my only familiarity with this film was the television show on PBS unaware that a movie preceded it and I was pleasantly surprised to notice that The Paper Chase works on many levels and never bored me from the entrance of the students in the classroom to the end credits.
The choice to have unknown screen actors and actresses at the time (1973) was a smart one bringing the sense of reality to this piece. John Houseman would seem like the veteran of the cast, but ironically this was his first feature film and as Kingsfield (on the cover as Knightsfield, maybe for his medieval techniques perhaps?) his performance was right on the mark and earned a well deserved Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The unknowns have gone on to bigger things in character acting (Graham Beckel, Edward Herrmann), stage (James Naughton) and leads in television as well (Lindsay Wagner, Timothy Bottoms). All work superbly as an ensemble in this film. This was only James Bridges’ second film and in his first foray into Panavision territory displaying his solid work both as a writer and as a director balancing the free time and the pressures of the Harvard Law students. Overall, The Paper Chase is a very good movie that ages very well from one year to the next.
Video: How does it look?
The Paper Chase was filmed in 2.35:1 Panavision and this DVD displays the very first time this film has been shown the proper way. Fox has given an early 70’s film a solid transfer not saturating any of the classroom scenes or any signs of specks amongst the dark scenes with the study groups. It’s always a pleasure to see how well Fox takes care of their older titles.
Audio: How does it sound?
This film ironically was up for Best Sound at the 73′ Academy Awards and even though it’s not up to today’s standards, it’s not as bad a soundtrack as most 70s films are limited to and it’s pretty solid all the way. The dialogue and the music are well balanced with neither one drowning out the other giving way for a good Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. The disc also features tracks in mono, French and Spanish as well as subtitles in English and Spanish.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Fox gives an added treat of a commentary track by producer Robert C. Thompson. His commentary is categorized and is informative and worth a listen for stories on the production from the casting of John Houseman to the title the studio wanted to change it to and many other anecdotes. There are gaps between his comments, but unlike many titles in the past the gaps on here are comfortable ones keeping interest in the movie at the same time as listening to the commentary never being too few and too far between. There is also a theatrical trailer as well as other trailers for Fox titles such as “The Verdict”, “Brubaker” and “High Crimes”.
