Common Law Wife/Jennie, Wife/Child: Backwoods Double Feature – Film Masters (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1961 (Common Law Wife), USA, 1968 (Jennie, Wife/Child)
Directors: Eric Sayers, Larry Buchanan (Common Law Wife), Robert Carl Cohen, James Landis (Jennie, Wife/Child)
Cast: Annabelle Weenick, George Edgley, Max W. Anderson, Lacey Kelly, Bert Masters, Libby Hall, Norman Smith, Dale Berry, Paula Kyle (Common Law Wife), Jack Lester, Beverly Lunsford, Jim Reader, Virginia Wood, Richard Cowl, Davie Allan, Don Epperson (Jennie, Wife/Child)

Release Date: June 25th, 2024
Approximate Running Times: 74 Minutes 41 Seconds (Common Law Wife), 82 Minutes 21 Seconds (Jennie, Wife/Child)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, Dolby Digital Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

Common Law Wife: "Wealthy old coot Shugfoot Rainey wants to trade in his over-the-hill mistress for his young niece, "Baby Doll" Jonelle, a pouty-faced stripper from New Orleans. But Rainey's mistress, Linda, has a surprise for both: according to Texas law, she's Shugfoot's COMMON LAW WIFE and has no intention of leaving quietly. Jonelle, however, is so eager to get her greedy mitts on Uncle Rainey's loot that she ups the ante by having a moronic moonshiner put cyanide in Shugfoot's whiskey! All of which lead to the two women eventually squaring off in a surprisingly violent showdown." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Jennie, Wife/Child: "a twenty-year-old is unhappily married to the way-too-old-for-her, Albert Peckingpaw. Jennie is so unhappy she puts the moves on Mario, the hunky hired hand. But when Albert realizes Jennie and Mario have been making' bacon in the barn, he drugs them, chains them in the cellar, and digs their graves. Which is when Lulu Belle, the cheerful "town floozie," unexpectedly pays Albert a visit." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5 (Common Law Wife, And Jennie, Wife/Child)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "new 35mm transfers of original source material."

Common Law Wife comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.4 GB

Feature: 20.5 GB

Jennie, Wife/Child comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 36.2 GB

Feature: 22.4 GB

The sources for both films look great; flesh tones look correct, image clarity, contrast, and black levels are strong throughout, compression is very good, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 3.75/5 (DTS-HD Mono English - Common Law Wife, DTS-HD Mono English - Jennie, Wife/Child)

Common Law Wife and Jennie, Wife/Child each come with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English and a Dolby Digital mono mix in English. For this review, I only listened to the DTS-HD mono tracks. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Both films come with removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for Common Law Wife include the original 1963 theatrical trailer restored (2 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with director Larry Buchanan and Nathaniel Thompson with optional English subtitles, and an audio commentary with Millie De Chirico and Ben Cheaves with optional English subtitles.

Extras for Jennie Wife/Child include a new 2024 trailer (2 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a documentary titled That's Hicksploitation (50 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH), and an audio commentary with Millie De Chirico.

Other extras include a 24-page booklet with an essay titled Backwoods Babes, Mean Old Men and Simple-Minded Studs written by Lisa Petrucci.

Summary:

Pairing Common Law Wife and Jennie, Wife/Child makes sense since both films had a similar path in post-production. Also, both were completed films where another director was brought in to spice things up with new footage.

Common Law Wife: A rich elderly man discards his longtime mistress for his much younger niece.

The film, originally titled "Swamp Rose" and shot in color, was later reshot in black and white. Therefore, the entire film is now presented in black-and-white. Switching from color to black and white and using a double when the actresses who portrayed Baby Doll were unavailable are two reasons why old and new footage do not match.

Common Law Wife is a film about a mistress who has aged out of her position with the man she loves. The scenario is a classic example of a woman scorned. Standing in her way is a gold-digging niece; unfortunately, things do not go as planned when the mistress comes across a law that makes her a common-law wife.

From a production standpoint, Common Law Wife is a film weighed down by its shortcomings. Nothing is more glaring than a poorly constructed narrative that suffers from sluggish pacing. And though it does end with a satisfying bang, it is too little, too late by then. That said, the setup for Common Law Wife should be a lot better than it actually is; the premise is ripe with exploitative possibilities, and the result is something that's closer to a melodrama. 

Jennie, Wife/Child: An older man keeps a very young woman trapped in an unhappy marriage.

Originally titled "Tender Grass," new footage was shot and old scenes were re-edited, changing the film's length to two hours and making it more explicit to spice things up. That said, despite trimming a considerable amount of footage, Jennie, Wife/Child still suffer greatly when it comes to pacing. Also, the most baffling of the new additions are silent film-like title cards that explain some of what's going on.

After a good setup, things quickly go awry as the tone of Jennie, Wife/Child is all over the map. Though it makes an attempt to be an exploitation film, the result is something closer to a kitchen sink melodrama. Also, there are way too many unintentionally funny moments. That said, Beverly Lunsford’s (The Intruder) portrayal of Jennie is this film’s only saving grace.

Two titles from Something Weird Video's archive make their way via a first-rate release from Film Masters that comes with an excellent documentary about Hicksploitation.

Written by Michael Den Boer