Exploitation film fans will get a kick out this Blu-ray release from Film Masters. Entitled the “Backwoods Double-Feature”, this has a pair of “hicksploitation” (an exploitation film from the South) films in Common Law Wife and Jennie Wife/Child, which have been restored in 4K!
Common Law Wife has a wealthy old coot named Shugfoot Rainey (George Edgely) who intends to dump his current mistress for his stripper niece, Jonelle, aka Baby Doll (Lacey Kelly). Apparently, his mistress Linda (Annabelle Weenick) is now too old to please him. Even though he wants Jonelle to move in and have Linda move out of his house, to his chagrin, he cannot because Linda, due to a Texas law is his common law wife, so she stays, ruining Shugfoot’s plans with Jonelle for the time being. This turns into some sleazy stuff with Jonelle at the forefront of it all, as she has been scheming to kill her uncle with poison moonshine and take his money.
Common Law Wife is an amazing journey for roughly seventy-five minutes. Lacey Kelly as Jonelle is the glue that holds this whacky film together with her pouty, spoiled rotten personality with a bodacious easy-to-look at figure that really shines. She is involved in a crazy dance sequence and padded out chase scene in the swamp by her friend Bull, who happens to be married but that doesn’t stop him from wanting her too! The spoken dialogue in the film is potent throughout, making it that much more compelling!
One great tidbit about this film is that B-movie director extraordinaire Larry Buchanan first directed this picture, entitled Swamp Rose, which wound up sold to Michael A. Rapps. He hired Eric Sayles to shoot new footage around Buchanan’s film and renamed it Common Law Wife.
As for Jennie, Wife/Child, this 1968 movie is about a twenty year-old girl who is unhappily married to an older man, Albert Peckingpaw(Jack Lester). She wants to get closer to Peckingpaw’s hired hand Mario (Jim Reader) and is caught ‘getting closer’ to him, if you know what I mean. What Peckingpaw does to them is just awful!
In my opinion, Jennie, Wife/ Child wasn’t quite as good or interesting as Common Law Wife, but this film does have brilliant cinematography by the legendary William Zsigmond who somewhat elevated this film above other Hicksploitation films.
Film Masters have given this pair of black and white films the royal Blu-ray treatment with a Region Free presentation!
The image quality for both Common Law Wife and Jennie, Wife/Child are overall excellent. The two widescreen films were transferred in 1080p, and given 4K scans, which has made them appear remarkably clean and clear, simply looking just outstanding. The image presentation for both boasts inky blacks and crisp whites and balanced grey scale. However, there are some scenes in Common Law Wife which are hazy and blurry, but it does not ruin the viewing experience all that much. There is also a ‘difference in quality’ message before the film starts letting us, the viewers know. Because of that, I think Jennie, Wife/Child was the more attractive of the two in terms of video quality. But both movies, looking as good as they do, is quite a revelation!
The audio for both films were English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Dolby Digital 2.0. Both options are perfectly fine without any crackling, hissing or drop-offs. The dialogue is perfectly clear, as are the musical numbers for the films. Nothing in the audio came across as overly aggressive or dominating and flowed smoothly. To me, I didn’t notice much difference between the two soundtrack options. Optional English subtitles are available for the films as well.
Film Masters have once again outdone themselves in the supplemental department for this two-disc set.
Millie De Chirico, the programmer, writer, and host of the I Saw What You Did Podcast, and TCM Programmer Ben Cheaves provide a detailed, thoughtful commentary track for Common Law Life. Millie De Chirico also provides a commentary track for Jennie, Wife/Child.
Lisa Petrucci from Something Weird Video writes the linear notes for the booklet, found in all Film Masters’ offerings.
Ballyhoo Motion Pictures presents a new documentary, That’s Hicksploitation- The Origin of Southern Cinema. This is a fascinating look at Hicksploitation films!
This release also has a bonus audio commentary track by Larry Buchanan, the director of Swamp Rose which later became Common Law Wife. Buchanan also is known for directing grade Z shlock such as Attack of the Eye Creatures, and remakes of Roger Corman classics such as In the Year 2889 and Zontar, the Thing from Venus. Those two films were remakes of Day the World Ended and It Conquered the World respectively.
Common Law Wife also has an original, restored trailer.
All in all, this double feature release with its amazing audio/video quality to go with three commentaries and a booklet, makes this another winner from Film Masters! Highly recommended!
Common Law Wife (1963) / Jennie, Wife/Child (1968)
Director – Larry Buchanan and Eric Sayers / Robert Carl Cohen and James Landis
Cast- Annabelle Weenick, Lacey Kelly, George Edgley/ Jack Lester, Beverly Lunsford
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Film Masters
Number of Discs – 2
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 6/3/2024