The second film directed by Dick Richards, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins recently made its arrival onto Blu-ray by way of the Warner Archive Collection. The 91-minute film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 MONO soundtrack.

More often than not, Warner Archive’s Blu-ray releases tend to come after a film has been released on DVD. That’s definitely been the case with a number of classics. But what happened here is that the film hadn’t even been released on DVD at any point even though it stars Alan Arkin. If not for Arkin starring in the film, I don’t know that it would have ever piqued my interest. But also, I wasn’t expecting to find out that a flight was cancelled shortly after pressing play over the weekend.

Synopsis

Gunny Rafferty (Alan Arkin) is a lonely ex-marine adrift in the sea of humanity known as Los Angeles. In the morning, he leaves his rundown apartment and drives his beat-up car to a boring, mind-numbing job. But today is going to be different when Gunny meets two footloose female drifters Mac and Frisbee (Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips) who cajole him into take a road trip to New Orleans. Resigning himself to the situation, Rafferty joins forces with this terrible twosome. On the road, their odyssey shifts into high gear as these lovable losers get into one comic misadventure after the other. Two of their victims, Charles Martin Smith (American Graffiti) and Harry Dean Staton (Paris, Texas) get humorously stung by the antics of consummate femme fatale/pool hustler Frisbee. Eventually romance brings Rafferty and Mac together. Even Frisbee’s hostile attitude softens as these lost souls form a compassionate fondness for each other. Finishing their journey on a bittersweet, but hopeful note, director Dick Richards (co-producer of Tootsie) crafted a funny and tender twist on the “road movie” that celebrates the human spirit.

Bonus Feature

• Theatrical Trailer

DIRECTOR: Dick Richards
SCREENWRITER: John Kaye
CAST: Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, Mackenzie Phillips, Alex Rocco, Charles Martin Smith, Harry Dean Stanton, John McLiam, Richard Hale, with Arch Johnson, Barbara Colby, David Proval, George O Hanlon Jr., Ed Peck, Louis Prima & Sam Butera & The Witnesses

Warner Bros. Pictures released Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins in theaters on February 2, 1975.

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