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Bullies are all latent homosexuals. At least that’s
something of the premise and motivation behind the main
character of “The Strange One” particularly if you’re a
Freudian. Filled with homosexual undertones “The Strange
One” finally arrives on DVD with a very nice looking transfer.
This minor classic featured a number of strong performances
from young actors at the time including Mark Richman, Ben
Gazzara, Pat Hingle and George Peppard in an unusual story
set at a military academy focusing on Jocko deParis (Gazzara)
a bully that terrorizes the underclassmen. Jocko conspires
to get another cadet thrown out of the school pulling in
two unwilling underclassmen. When this happens the investigation
that results causes his plan to unravel. ***
Featuring the film debut of George Peppard and such
notable character actors such as the late Pat Hingle (“Batman”)
and Mark Richman (“The Outer Limits”), “The Strange One”
allowed Gazzara a break out role onscreen recreating his
Broadway role. The original film faced harsh criticism and,
ultimately, was censored for the undertones of homosexuality
in the film. This edition presents “The Strange One” as
adapted by playwright Calder Willingham (“Little Big Man”,
“The Graduate”, “One-Eyed Jacks”, “Paths of Glory” and “Rambling
Rose”) from his play “End as a Man” restored and as close
to uncut as it has ever appeared. Director Jack Garfein
(who only directed one other major film “Something Wild”)
does a extremely good job of setting up interesting noir-like
shots throughout the film complimented by Burnett Guffey’s
(“Bonnie and Clyde”, “The Great White Hope”, “Mr. Sardonicus”
and “Birdman of Alcatraz”) --- Image & Sound: The black
and white film “The Strange One” was prepared from the best
existing source available but that doesn’t excuse an exceedingly
poor clarity. The contrast looks surprisingly poor with
many of the dark scenes somewhat indistinct. I’m surprised
that there wasn’t some attempt at a better restoration of
the film. It doesn’t look horrible but any studio with a
16mm public domain print of the film could have done the
same job. Perhaps the original negative is lost or in poor
condition but either way there could have been a minimal
attempt at restoring the film (I wouldn’t expect a full
restoration as the audience for this film wouldn’t justify
it in the studio’s eyes). The film looks decent but could
look so much better. ***
The film looks nice with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer
enhanced for 16X9 TV’s. ***
Audio sounds better than the film looks with dialogue
crisp and clear throughout the film. There’s not much depth
to the soundtrack which isn’t a surprise given the original
mono recording it was pulled from. ---
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