April Love

Yet another film directed by Henry Levin has come to Blu-ray by way of Twilight Time. And much like the last one -- "Journey to the Center of the Earth" -- his "April Love" is a film to luxuriate in. It's about a city boy (Pat Boone) who moves back to his Kentucky home, where he starts to romance one of the local ladies (Shirley Jackson.) In his downtime he learns to ride horses. There's a subplot or two -- a depressed uncle who Boone helps to bring life back to; a romantic rivalry between Jackson and her sister -- but this is mostly a movie of incidents. There's songs, dances, and races, both in cars and on horses. The film is structured like a romantic's ideal summer vacation.

It's shot in a wide frame by cinematographer Wilfred Cline, who offers splashes of bright color in every corner. You leave remembering the shining red of a sports car, the glistening greens of the backgrounded fields, or the textured browns of the dirt race track. Even by the standards of the musical, this is a light film. But the comic-book-worthy palette gives it a pop-art sheen that makes even the slightest moment full of pleasures. The movie almost looks animated.

Twilight Time's Blu-ray brings with it a solid selection of extras: There's a trailer from the original release, an isolated score track, and a booklet featuring an essay on the film by Julie Kirgo. Rounding things out is a commentary track, where actress Shirley Jones joins Nick Redman to speak about both "April Love" and her career in general.

She recalls the shoot as a rather jovial one, and has more than a few stories to share about its making. That energy clearly translated to the film itself. There's one sequence where the film's narrative stops dead so that four of the characters can have a barbeque. They sing a bubbly song while darting and dancing around the grill and the picnic table, with the camera dancing alongside them, accentuating the vibrancy of the scene further. The plot of "April Love" doesn't give you too much to hang on to. But the parties sure are fun.

"April Love"
Blu-ray
Screenarchives.com
$29.95