The People Next Door — The People Next Door(Blu Ray)

The People Next Door is an early 1970’s family melodrama focusing on drug addiction. It’s a film that edges it's believable drama ‘n’ dramatics with sly touches of satire, dark humour, and pathos- featuring a well-picked cast and a highly compelling unfold. Here from Powerhouse is a recent Blu Ray release of the film- featuring a new 4k scan of the picture, a new commentary track, and a good selection of other new extras.
 

The People Next Door appeared in the year 1970- it was directed by Manchester-born David Greene, who had an impressive filmography with ninety titles in his director's canon, twenty producers credits, and twelve acting credits. He started directing in the early 1950s, with ten plus years working in TV series credits, before in 1967 making his feature-length directional debut with 1967’s The Shatter Room, which saw Oliver Reed in a dread-filled gothic psychodrama. With other notable feature-length credits been uneasy psychological thriller- meets coming of age drama I Start Counting ( 1969), and military disaster movie Grey Lady Down (1978).  
 
The film focuses on a middle-class New York suburban family the Manson’s- we have husband Arthur(Eli Wallach)- who runs a wash machine company and is having an affair with his second in command, and housewife Gerrier(Julie Harris)- who smokes too much and is secretly a nervous wreck. They have two late teenagers -Maxie( Deborah Winters)- their sixteen-year-old daughter, who initially seems even and balanced. And her older brother Artie( Stephen MacHattie)- who plays in a psych-rock band, and is constantly mocked by his father for his long hair and seemingly far out ways. One evening just before Artie is due to play a gig, his sister starts freaking out in her bedroom- sat inside her wardrobe having a bad trip. Arthur and Gerrier try to help their daughter, but feel way out of the depth- so in steps Artie who informs them she’s tripping on LSD, at this point his father throws him out. From here the couple starts to panic, wondering what to do about their daughter- first going to their next-door neighbours the Hoffmans- taking in David(Hal Holbrook)- deputy head of the local high school, his alcoholic wife Tina(Cloris Leachman), and their preppy-seemingly straight-laced son Sandy(Don Scardino). As things unfold they find out their daughter has been living somewhat of a secret life- hanging out with bikers, getting stoned with her older boyfriend in his rundown brownstone, and generally been a low key wild child. They initially hope things are starting to turn right, as they start going to family counselling with Mike Kellin( Sleep Away Camp, Midnight Express) wonderful playing the moustached family counsellor Dr Margolin. Sadly things really start to go awry when young Maxie is hospitalized, and her mother is taking her to bed with stress/ nervous tension. 
 
All the cast are wonderful well-selected- playing their characters perfectly. The film's screenplay is written by J.P Miller(Days Of Wine & Roses, Helter Skelter), and is full of well-observed dialogue, subtle touches of dark humour, and low-key/ clever satire. The film runs fairly neat and trim for a drama, at just over the hour and a half mark- meaning it tells its tale in an even flowing manner, with little or no lag. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised/ taken by The People Next Door- certainly saying it’s one of the better more evenly balanced and rewarding family dramas of the 1970s.
 
Moving onto this recently release region B Blu Ray, and we get a great new 4K transfer of the picture which really bring to life the films blend of late ’ the 60s/ early 70’s suburbia, and more groovy/ downbeat locations. We get a new commentary track actress Rutanya Alda and film historian Lee Gambin- this is a nice blend of critical film talk/ facts from Gambin, and more on the ground chat from Alda who lived through the ’60s and had a bit part in the film. All in all, it’s a most rewarding and interesting track which gives you a nice balance/ mix of approaches. Moving onto the other new extras, and we a good/ nice selection of stuff- Tripping with Maxie – a thirty-eight-minute interview with Deborah Winters, finding her discussing the original CBS drama that film was based on and she also played the lead role in. Moving on to discuss how the film came about, and its filming. We have My Life in Review- which is a fifteen-minute interview with musician John Sheldon, whose band The Bead Game wrote two songs for the film, and appeared on the band stage scene. There’s People Person – which runs nineteen minutes and finds the always worthy film historian talking about the early career of director David Greene, and the film to hand. Lastly, we have Structured How to Feel- a ten-minute interview with Brian Smedley-Aston the films supervising editor, where he discusses the film to hand and his other work with Mr Greene. The finished release is topped off with a thirty six-page booklet featuring a new essay by Peter Tonguette, an account of the reception of the controversial television play on which the film is based, an archival interview with actor Eli Wallach, a look at the film’s soundtrack album, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
 
Once again, the folks at Powerhouse have uncovered and introduced me to another lesser seen gem with The People Next Door- with an impressive selection of extras and a classy print. This is most certainly a release you’ll be needing to pick up if you enjoy 70’s drama and/or dealing with drug addiction cinema.