Save the Tiger

Harry Stoner (Jack Lemmon) works in Los Angeles’s garment district in the 1970s, at a struggling company that may be worth more in insurance money. Years of fraudulent activities aimed at keeping the doors open are about to blow up in their faces, as they face an impending audit. Harry’s business partner, Phil, disagrees with Stoner’s methods, terrified by the prospect of committing a serious and dangerous felony that could land them both in prison.

As the two contemplate the reality of potentially torching their business, Harry finds himself involved in numerous other conflicts of his soul, pretty much losing all of them. He treats a client to a prostitute and is relieved, damn near giddy, when that client almost dies so that his trap will be kept shut forever. While Harry’s wife is out of town, he sleeps with a young hitchhiker and shares a long conversation with her after they get high together.

Harry wonders what happened to America. He’s severely traumatized, all these decades later, from his service in WWII. All that he fought for, all that he saw, all that his friends died for, what the hell was it all for? This America that’s crumbling around them. Dirty movie theaters on every corner. And even though the answer is obvious, it goes soaring over his head: People like Harry happened to America. They point their fingers at everyone else for the decay of moral decency in this country, as they further erode it through their day-to-day activities that play fast and loose with the rules. But they’re not criminals! They’re just regular people! And Harry makes excuses for himself, and for Phil, by saying he’s only trying to keep people employed, for god’s sake. What’s so wrong with that?

Save the Tiger is a character study of someone who has long since lost their soul, but in old age, they’re struggling to regain it. And even if they’re failing in the battle against their internal demons, they really do want to make good for their past deeds. The film presents a clinical, yet mundane, look at how criminality operates in all its clumsiness and imperfection. It’s not lifelong gangsters calling hits. It’s everyday idiots who justify their actions by hiding behind a platitude of goodness. “My heart was in the right place,” they might say, if caught.

Before Rocky, director John G. Avildsen excelled at these gritty slices of life that toed a very delicate line. Like his previous film, Joe, Save the Tiger looks at the circumstances that led to a life of corruption and the excuses that must be made in order to wind up there. Save the Tiger looks at Harry’s actions without condemning or condoning them. Avildsen lets Harry’s life speak for itself, and however that makes us feel is up to us.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Save the Tiger comes to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber in a single-disc release, housed in a standard case with a removal slipcover. Both the case and the slip contain identical artwork, a shot from the film, as Harry examines himself, his life, and how he became the person that he’s become. He stands before a beach, gazing toward the horizon.

Save the Tiger is presented in 1080p high-definition video, from a brand-new 4K scan of the film’s original 35mm camera negative. James Crabe’s gritty cinematography is awash in a fine layer of film grain, and those oh, so 70s colors pop at every turn: Bright reds, seafoam greens, yellows, with a neutral base layer of a brownish gray. Details are rendered sharply, and close-ups look exquisite. While exterior nighttime shots exhibit a lot of pulsating shadow noise (this is not a result of the transfer; rather, it is a symptom of the filming techniques used), interior shots are bathed in the warmth of lamps and other low-light sources.

The sole audio option is a 2.0 mono mix, encoded in DTS-HD MA. While there are some minor technical issues, like some overblown recording that hisses on “S” sounds in the dialogue, or pops on the “P” sounds, it’s generally quite good. And, like the video transfer, any technical issues are a symptom of the original recording, not with the disc itself. Save the Tiger takes place in a bustling metropolis, in downtown LA, so we get a lot of ambient activity from cars whooshing by or distant honks. Marvin Hamlisch’s soft, jazzy score gets a lot of play and sounds terrific—it sets the scene without overpowering it.

Like many Kino Lorber releases, Save the Tiger only has a couple of features. It has a pair of very informative audio commentaries that dive into the film’s production and its lasting legacy.

• Audio Commentary - Director John G. Avildsen and writer/producer Steve Shargan
• Audio Commentary - Film Historian and author Dwayne Epstein
• Trailers

Save the Tiger is a bittersweet, contemplative story about a man who laments the loss of his innocence, and the innocence of his country, who lacks the self-awareness to realize that he, and people like him, are to blame. Instead of simply being an examination of an antiheroic personality, it’s much more tragic than that. Because Harry Stoner wants to be a good person. God only knows if he’s capable of that anymore. Jack Lemmon’s performance is a career high for him. Kino Lorber’s release has great A/V stats, and a handful of informative commentaries. Save the Tiger on Blu-ray is Recommended.