Rating: 
Summary: Crystal clear memories and fuzzy DVD
Review: Who knows why a movie makes an impact? I traveled a lot in SE Asia during the period that the movie depicts and I was thrilled to once again "visit" the Singapore of my memories: the markets, the alleys, the old neighbourhoods and the old, faded Raffles. I was thrilled to roam these locations once again with Ben Gazzara. The music by Satchmo actually drove me into a buying frenzy to re-acquaint myself with his fabulous music, so moody, so atmospheric, so perfect in this movie. Yes, yes! My memories weren't all wrong, I remembered this movie for good reason. It is indeed one of these overlooked special movies that you can watch many times over and enjoy every single time. Very similar in fact to traveling to Singapore on numerous trips. I remember clearly that I thought that Ben made a huge mistake when he let his ladyfriend walk out - "stupid" was her last comment. Ah, it was the right thing for the movie, but being a romantic at heart I was hoping for a happy end. I will defer to the "professional" reviews of this movie - I agree with them.Now, the reason why I rate this DVD only 3 stars. I thought that the picture quality was at times poor - looked occasionally like a poor copy of an overly used movie-reel - and on a number of occasions there was very abrupt cutting. Was that the case with the original? I don't recall and I don't know. It just was rather jarring. And, somehow, I didn't feel that the soundtrack featuring Armstrong's marvelous music was up to par. This is DVD and the music should be of appropriate quality. So, I got this uncomfortable feeling that this DVD looks and sounds like a low budget conversion. Maybe it is a curse that sometimes memories are crystal clear and unfortunately this DVD features some fuzziness and nicks and scratches.
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