TV Movie Of The Week: Collection 1 (1971 / 1972 / 1973) – Imprint Television #12 – 14 Review

Imprint Television goes back to the halcyon days of the made-for-TV movie with three classics of the genre from the early 1970s in this TV Movie of the Week Collection 1, starring high profile stars of Hollywood, including Bette Davis, Janet Leigh, Lloyd Bridges, Leonard Nimoy, Vera Miles and Susan Hampshire.

In the first film, The Deadly Dream (1971), directed by Swedish director Alf Kjellina —  disciple of the works of fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman – a scientist (Lloyd Bridges) is having vivid dreams that he is being hunted by a tribunal that wants to put him on trial for a crime he is unaware of committing. His dreamworld and reality increasingly meld to the point where he cannot tell which world is reality and which is the dreamworld. This film is said to have had a strong influence on Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street and starred Janet Leigh as Lloyd Bridges’ wife.

Baffled! (1972) is a supernatural thriller starring Leonard Nimoy, Susan Hampshire, and Vera Miles. Nimoy is Tommy Kovack, a hard-nosed race car driver, who has a sudden supernatural vision during a race that causes a near-fatal crash. The haunting vision that keeps coming to him of an American woman in an English manor house finds him working with Michele Brent (Susan Hampshire), a British expert in ESP and the occult, who takes him back to the actual mansion he keeps seeing where he meets the woman from his visions.

Baffled! has two versions, a long cut (96 mins.) and a short cut (90 mins.). The long cut is also framed at 1.66:1 since it ran in UK theaters. The longer cut does not add much to the narrative part from one small scene where a little bit of dialogue better explains a scene that follows. Otherwise, it is mostly slightly extended scenes such as in the chase scene or the kidnapping scene that ends a few frames later and that sort of thing.

Lastly, in Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) college student and aspiring artist Peggy (Sian Barbara Allen) takes a housekeeping job with renowned sculptor Jeffrey Elliot (Ted Bessell) and his elderly mother (Bette Davis in a standout performance). As she continues to work there, she discovers a secret resident, Jeffrey’s reclusive and psychopathic sister who was said to have runaway to Europe. This film most closely resembles the psychological thrillers of Hitchcock, in particular Psycho. To say more would be to spoil the plot. The performance by Bette Davis – who would go on to appear in roles until 1989 – is the biggest reason to watch this film. The twist ending is kept reasonably a mystery until early in the third act where it becomes obvious, but it is still a campy and fun entry in the TV movie thriller genre.

Purchase TV Movie of the Week Collection 1 on Amazon.com

The Video

The first two films in the TV Movie of the Week Collection 1, The Deadly Dream and Baffled! are from new 2K scans of the original camera negatives by Imprint and are making their worldwide debuts on Blu-ray. The wording is somewhat different per Imprint for each, however, as they list the former as simply a new 2K scan by Imprint and the latter as a new 2K scan, newly restored by Imprint. Scream, Pretty Peggy as an HD presentation on Blu-ray, so not a new scan or restoration.

With that said, Baffled! is the best looking of the bunch and is also presented in two cuts and aspect ratios. The 1.66:1 extended cut, which ran in theaters in the UK and the 1.33:1 short cut. Both cuts look crisp and natural with little dirt, scratches, or sparkle and have natural color in keeping with the look of the film stocks from the 1970s. The Deadly Dream is a new scan, but there is plenty of sparkle, scratches, and dirt remaining in the image. Lastly, Scream, Pretty Peggy, does not claim to be a new scan or restoration, but also looks solid, with a natural layer of grain and crisp details.

The Audio

All three films in the TV Movie of the Week Collection 1 come with the original mono mixes in LPCM 2.0. All three are reasonably good for a mono mix from the era for television, but The Deadly Dream suffers from sibilant distortion in the dialogue. The other two films have clearer dialogue and are fairly dynamic.

The Supplements

In limited edition hardbox packaging with individual jewel boxes and insert artwork for each film. Each film comes with a new audio commentary and Baffled! has the most bonus features, with three new bonus features in addition to the new audio commentary. The standout being the superbly done “Psychic Restoration” featurette that breaks down the restoration of the film in wonderful detail from cleaning up the picture to the color correction and stabilization.

The Deadly Dream

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Amanda Reyes, Dan Budnick, and Nathan Johnson from the Made for TV Mayhem Show Podcast (NEW)

Baffled!

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Restorer Jonathan Wood and ITC Historian Rick Davy (NEW)
• “Psychic Restoration” (1080p; 00:07:32) – A look at the challenges overcome in the grading and restoration of the scanned film negative (NEW)
• “Baffling Durations” (1080p; 00:08:04) – Featurette on the film’s run-time anomalies (NEW)
• “Which Ratio?” (1080p; 00:02:08) – Featurette on the aspect ratio options (NEW)
• “Richard Hill in Stereo” (1080p; 00:02:08) – The Baffled! Theme in a new stereo presentation (NEW)
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:22)
• Photo Gallery (1080p; 00:09:44)

Scream, Pretty Peggy

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Howard S. Berger (NEW)

The Final Assessment

This is a fun collection of made-for-TV movies, a genre that has seen a bit of a resurgence in interest recently since the pandemic lock downs. There have been multiple releases from boutique distributors of made-for-TV films, with this TV Movie of the Week Collection 1 being one of the latest, best looking, and most star studded. Imprint has done a superb job with this, so genre fans and collectors should pick this up and enjoy.

TV Movie Of The Week: Collection 1 (1971 / 1972 / 1973) – Imprint Television #12 – 14 is out October 30, 2024

Purchase TV Movie of the Week Collection 1 on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: AU: M
• Studios & Distributors: Universal Television | American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (United States) | Arena Productions | Incorporated Television Company (ITC) | National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (United States, 1973) | Imprint Television
• Directors: Alf Kjellin (The Deadly Dream) | Philip Leacock (Baffled!) | Gordon Hessler (Scream, Pretty Peggy)
• Run Time: 223 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 | 1.66:1 (Baffled! Extended Cut)
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Subtitles: English HOH
• Street Date: 30 October 2024