His second novel was still unpublished, but producer Joe Wizan wanted it and made the deal. It was one smart move as World War II Army Air Force pilot-turned-scriptwriter in the post-war period, Frank De Felitta, was about to have a runaway best seller … over two million copies of “Audrey Rose” were sold in 1975.
Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 2K restoration — a 4K scan — of the original 35mm camera negative of the 1977 film adaptation of Audrey Rose ready for a Blu-ray release on Nov. 8.
De Felitta adapted his own novel (other film scripts included Anzio, Z.P.G., The Savage is Loose, The Entity and Scissors) and three-time Best Director nominee Robert Wise (wins for West Side Story and The Sound of Music) was onboard as the director.
Through the magic of “Hollywood,” all of the interiors were to be filmed on a massive soundstage in Culver City, while the exteriors were to be shot 3,000 miles away in New York City … that was all mapped out. What Wizan and Wise needed was a cast, especially for the role of Ivy Templeton/Audrey Rose … auditions were held and a 13-year-old newbie from Texas, by named of Susan Swift (Harper Valley P.T.A., Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), landed the role.
Another relative newcomer was an English stage and series actor by the name of Anthony Hopkins … the same year that Audrey Rose was released theatrically, Hopkins also starred in A Bridge Too Far, followed by Magic (1978), The Elephant Man (1980) … and then his stunning Best Actor performance in 1991 as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. He’s quite creepy, and yet sadly sympathetic as the father of Audrey Rose.
Rounding out the cast are Marsha Mason (Cinderella Librety and The Goodbye Girl bookend her performance here) and John Beck (Rollerball … and later as Mark Griason in the Dallas television series) as Ivy’s concerned, helpless and terrified parents.
Bonus goodies include a newly-prepared commentary with film critic Jon Towlson, two new featurettes — “Faith and Fraud” and “Then and Now” — and four vintage featurettes — “I’ve Been Here Before,” “Investigator: The Paranormal World of Frank De Felitta,” “The Role of a Mother” and “Hypnotist: Inside the score for Audrey Rose.”
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