Who Gives Good Commentary?

[domino harvey]

I listened to it years ago and don't remember anything about it, which means it was good-- I only remember bad and great commentaries

[FrauBlucher]

I listened to the Mike Nichols and Steven Soderbergh commentary for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf which for me was one of the better commentary tracks by a director. Steven Soderbergh clearly drew some excellent incite out of Nichols and he kept Nichols from straying which I find a common fault of director commentary tracks. A couple of fascinating highlights for me were, why George Segal was a better fit than Robert Redford for the role of Nick and the Jack Warner/studio interchange that Nichols had to deal with.

[MichaelB]

Another issue, which I don't think has been mentioned yet, is that an audio only commentary is a whole lot easier to put together than a long visual essay, from a production standpoint.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that!

For starters, commentaries are generally more expensive in terms of talent fee, for the simple reason that the contributor is usually required to come up with much more material. And also, if scholarly commentaries are done properly, they can demand lots of preparation time - and they usually need a fair bit of editing afterwards, especially if the commentator isn't that experienced. Two of Arrow's 2016 commentaries needed a lot of work on my part in order to beat them into listenable shape. Granted, some very experienced individuals can just turn up and reel off a perfect commentary in a single virtuoso take, but they're few and far between (although you can probably guess who they are, as they get multiple gigs for a very good reason!).

I forget just how long it took me to create the full-length commentary for the Tavianis' The Night of the Shooting Stars (not least because I was working on it casually for ages before finally committing myself to doing it), but it was certainly considerably longer than the three days or so that I needed to create the 40-minute video essay of The Shop on the High Street from scratch. Granted, I could have sat down with the Taviani film and just improvised, but it's only when you start really exploring a film in depth before going in front of the microphone that you can adequately prepare. Especially given that your timing is ultimately dictated by the pace and rhythm of the film.

[TMDaines]

What are the oldest films where the director is giving a commentary? Would also be interested in the oldest films with other key contributors providing a commentary.

[domino harvey]

George Sidney comes to mind for the Harvey Girls

[solaris72]

What are the oldest films where the director is giving a commentary? Would also be interested in the oldest films with other key contributors providing a commentary.

Might easily be wrong but:
For the latter, would the commentary on Snow White assembled from archival Walt Disney interviews count? (Also Greg Mank's commentaries for both Cat People movies feature archival audio of Simone Simon.) If archival doesn't count, maybe 1942's The Black Swan, which has Maureen O'Hara commentary.

For the former, Robert Wise did a commentary track for his 1945 film The Body Snatcher.

[domino harvey]

Dang, Wise beats Sidney by a year

[MichaelB]

This isn't a conventional "audio commentary" as such, but The Great White Silence, whose footage was shot in 1910-11, exists in two versions, both with a "director's commentary" - the 1924 one has intertitles, the 1933 one has narration, and both are on the BFI Blu-ray.

But it's not a dramatic feature, so it's not quite the same thing.

[TMDaines]

Re: commentaries spliced together from alternate sources. I wouldn't count them.

[solaris72]

Whoops, completely forgot Michael Powell on 1943's The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp, beating Wise by two years.

[domino harvey]

Okay, I think 1932's the Old Dark House with commentary from star Gloria Stewart is going to be hard to beat for participants

[domino harvey]

And Vincent Sherman beats Powell with 1939's the Return of Doctor X

[Professor Wagstaff]

And Vincent Sherman beats Powell with 1939's the Return of Doctor X

Sherman also has a commentary track on 1943's Old Acquaintance with Bette Davis.

[Randall Maysin]

Hey Criterion, you know who I hear gives a mean commentary? Pedro Almodovar. And you know who else? Literally at least a dozen different Preston Sturges scholars. I mean what the fuck is the point of releasing a Preston Sturges film without the participation of at least three of them.

[dustybooks]

Doesn't the Criterion laserdisc commentary for Hitchcock's Blackmail (1929) feature at least one actor or participant from that film? I've never heard it but I remember reading about it and wanting to listen to it.

[solaris72]

Doesn't the Criterion laserdisc commentary for Hitchcock's Blackmail (1929) feature at least one actor or participant from that film? I've never heard it but I remember reading about it and wanting to listen to it.

Good catch!

Rounding out the disc is what can only be called a remarkable and absolutely invaluable audio commentary by the 91-year-old Charles Bennett, Blackmail's screenwriter (Bennett also wrote the original play upon which Blackmail is based), which in intermixed by commentary from producer/screenwriter Stuart Birnbaum. Bennett's commentary is invaluable, provided a fascinating insight into his work and his characters, as well as a generalized look at Hitchcock and the filmmaking process.

[Cash Flagg]

Here's the Blackmail commentary in MP3 form (clicking on the link will start an automatic rar download that will need to be expanded). Disclaimer: not my upload!

[dustybooks]

Here's the Blackmail commentary in MP3 form (clicking on the link will start an automatic rar download that will need to be expanded). Disclaimer: not my upload!

Wow, thank you for the link! I'd never even thought to search for the thing -- should never have underestimated the internet (or this forum).

[markhax]

I love Casper Tybjerg's commentaries on Carl Theodor Dreyer's films, especially "The Passion of Joan of Arc" and "Michael."

[hanshotfirst1138]

Guillermo del Toro's are almost universally excellent: informative, entertaining, and often fun.

[domino harvey]

Adrian Martin has set up a Patreon with the promise of an exclusive commentary among other incentives

[matrixschmatrix]

Dang, I'd happily contribute, but the lowest tier appears to be $20 a month, which is too rich for my blood

[jaffe1234]

Peter Bogdanovich definitely gives great commentaries. Especially for Ford and Welles pictures because his personal relationships with both of those mens, especially with Welles he was good friend.

[frankiecrisp]

Watched Deadly Affair last night excellent package one minor irritant the very good commentary came out of my side speakers with silence in the middle speaker it sounded like the two contributors were miles a part . nice little film showing the locatians was excellent .

[MichaelB]

It was mixed in 2.0 stereo, as per every other two-person commentary I've overseen.

In my experience, commentaries that use the middle speaker generally only use it (i.e. they're presented in mono, which isn't a good idea for a two-person effort) - I'm not aware of anything being presented in 3.0, which is what you seem to be calling for. Can you cite an example?