JEREMY (1973) Fun City Editions

[jah13]

JEREMY will be shipping a little earlier from Vinegar Syndrome than initially reported. 2/23 now.

The VS site now has images from our 2K restoration up.

Jeremy loves horses, New York, basketball, the cello…and Susan, the new girl at school. Before they teamed in the hit film Ode to Billy Joe, Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor gained fame in this honest and moving tale of first love in “Fun City”-era New York. Benson (The Chosen and One on One) is Jeremy Jones, a shy teenager who excels in all areas of his life save for romance. After a brief encounter with dance student Susan Rollins (O’Connor, TV’s The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and Baby Blue Marine) at school, Jeremy is smitten and suddenly everything else in the world seems inconsequential in comparison. All he can think of is winning Susan’s heart. But, as he soon learns, new relationships can be as fleeting as they are exhilarating.

This “BIG ‘little’ movie” (The New York Times) would win “Best First Film” at Cannes for its writer-director Arthur Barron (Brothers). Barron and director of photography Paul Goldsmith’s (Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps) backgrounds in documentary filmmaking lend the film a gritty and realistic feel, befitting its urban locations. The songs and score by Lee Holdridge (Splash and The Beastmaster) and Joseph Brooks (You Light Up My Life), some of which are sung by the stars themselves, amplify the story’s tenderness and sensitivity. Shot with hand-held 16mm cameras, Jeremy has an uncommon authenticity and immediacy. Now restored for Blu-ray from its 35mm CRI, these qualities can be appreciated in a way they have not been since the film premiered in 1973.

Directed by: Arthur Barron
Starring: Robby Benson, Glynnis O'Connor, Leonardo Cimino
1973 / 90 min / 1.66:1 / English

Additional info:
• Region A Blu-ray
• New 2K restoration from its 35mm color reversal internegative
• “Susan and Jeremy”: A Conversation with Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor (new video interview)
• Video introduction by Glynnis O’Connor
• “A Phantom of Delight,” a new video essay by filmmaker Chris O’Neill
• Theatrical trailer
• Trailers from Hell trailer commentary by Larry Karaszewski
• Image gallery
• Booklet with a new essay by film critic Bill Ackerman
• Newly recorded audio commentary by film writers Kat Ellinger and Mike McPadden
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

[Bradsdadg]

Excellent! Can't wait to get this one. Might just combo the order with a couple of flicks during their Valentine's sale coming up...

[bergman864]

Great to know. I too plan to pair this with the Valentine's Day orders. Now I get a chance to see those glorious restored images.

[Jobla]

Great to see that the disc has some involvement with Glynnis O'Connor and Robby Benson.

[jah13]

Yes, they're both so lovely and I feel lucky we got them on board. Very proud of how their featurette turned out.

Originally Posted by Jobla

Great to see that the disc has some involvement with Glynnis O'Connor and Robby Benson.

[Greycomm]

Hope the interviews and commentary reveal who REALLY wrote and directed.

[gimmeshelter]

I'm really excited for this one, although since it's the only thing I have coming from VS this month (I'm waiting until the Halfway sale to get the giallo set) they'll probably ship me last

[Jobla]

I received a VS email today that a USPS shipping number for JEREMY has been received by the post office in Colorado (I'm in WA state).

[jah13]

For legal reasons, we couldn’t include all the info about the authorship of the film that surviving cast and crew provided us, I’m afraid.

Originally Posted by Greycomm

Hope the interviews and commentary reveal who REALLY wrote and directed.

[HillSprinter]

Is this the film Mark Kermode keeps trying to get Simon Mayo to watch?

[vortexx]

Originally Posted by jah13

For legal reasons, we couldn’t include all the info about the authorship of the film that surviving cast and crew provided us, I’m afraid.

I have an unproduced early script by Spielberg and another filmmaker that was sent by one of my business partners as to possibly option it. It comes with a letter from Spielberg's lawyer saying that Steven is OK with his co-writer selling the rights, but Spielberg's name can't be used to help promote the film. With that letter, it has become a bit of a cursed film that nobody really wants to make. I wonder if this is a situation similar to that? I really know nothing about this film, so I couldn't even make a guess.

[JoeFargo]

I pre-ordered JEREMY on the 6th Jan; really hope I get a shipping notice soon! I ordered it with ACTION U.S.A. -- I'm in the U.K. too so I'm guessing another week at least, but man am I excited to get my copy. I crave anything made around New York City during that time. Last night actually watched DOWNTOWN 81, which features a rare glimpse of the West Side Highway.

As most of NYC has changed so much I find these rare gems as close to time-travel as we can get. It's a goal of mine to edit together a tour of the city from that era as though driving through; stitched together like Frankenstein's monster. I am slowly mapping it all out from films, with THE FRENCH CONNECTION being the perfect skeleton.

I really love the whole 'Fun City' ethos, and hope there are many more chronicles of the city to come.

[Greycomm]

Originally Posted by vortexx

I have an unproduced early script by Spielberg and another filmmaker that was sent by one of my business partners as to possibly option it. It comes with a letter from Spielberg's lawyer saying that Steven is OK with his co-writer selling the rights, but Spielberg's name can't be used to help promote the film. With that letter, it has become a bit of a cursed film that nobody really wants to make. I wonder if this is a situation similar to that? I really know nothing about this film, so I couldn't even make a guess.

Robby tells the true story in his book.

[zoliborz99]

Originally Posted by HillSprinter

Is this the film Mark Kermode keeps trying to get Simon Mayo to watch?

Certainly is

[jah13]

DOWNTOWN 81...good one! I saw it when it was first released in the summer of 2001 and it's one of the films I featured in my video series DIRTY OLD NEW YORK AKA FUN CITY.

I never tried your method of a geographic drive-through in video form, but I look forward to seeing your efforts. I hope to continually add "Fun City" movies to the label.

Originally Posted by JoeFargo

I pre-ordered JEREMY on the 6th Jan; really hope I get a shipping notice soon! I ordered it with ACTION U.S.A. -- I'm in the U.K. too so I'm guessing another week at least, but man am I excited to get my copy. I crave anything made around New York City during that time. Last night actually watched DOWNTOWN 81, which features a rare glimpse of the West Side Highway.

As most of NYC has changed so much I find these rare gems as close to time-travel as we can get. It's a goal of mine to edit together a tour of the city from that era as though driving through; stitched together like Frankenstein's monster. I am slowly mapping it all out from films, with THE FRENCH CONNECTION being the perfect skeleton.

I really love the whole 'Fun City' ethos, and hope there are many more chronicles of the city to come.

[jah13]

Indeed, so you know a good deal of the story, then, and I believe all of this is in Robby's book: the film was conceived by songwriter Joe Brooks, who based the idea on his own NYC teenage years in the '50s. Robby says that he wrote most of the actual dialogue (uncredited), as Brooks wanted the film to have the voices of actual contemporary '70s teenagers.

Arthur Barron, who taught film at Columbia and was a documentary filmmaker, was brought in as co-director with Brooks. At some point, Brooks differed with the producers and left the project. After a legal battle with producers, Brooks was left with credit for writing the song, "Blue Balloon."

Originally Posted by Greycomm

Robby tells the true story in his book.

[jah13]

I don't know who Simon Mayo is, but Kermode is indeed a big champion of JEREMY.

Originally Posted by HillSprinter

Is this the film Mark Kermode keeps trying to get Simon Mayo to watch?

[Zarak]

Originally Posted by jah13

Arthur Barron, who taught film at Columbia and was a documentary filmmaker, was brought in as co-director with Brooks.

Although in Robby's book, he says that when Barron claimed after the film's completion to have written/directed it, Robby had no idea who this guy was, which casts some doubt on his level of involvement.

[Bradsdadg]

Got my shipping notice today! Excited to watch this one

[gimmeshelter]

Originally Posted by Bradsdadg

Got my shipping notice today! Excited to watch this one

Me too!