Save the Tiger

Studio: Kino Lorber

Aug 26, 2025 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis Photography by Kino Lorber

In a performance that earned him an Oscar for Best Actor, Jack Lemmon is compelling in 1973’s Save the Tiger as Harry Stoner, a man who seemingly has it all but is consumed by what it takes to get to the next day. As the film begins, Harry wakes up and unnerves his wife with a steady stream of exclamations about the seemingly endless issues and disturbing developments of current times (digressing occasionally for nostalgic references). This isn’t the first morning that followed a night of dreams which led to him screaming.

Harry’s life is defined by his survival of a maelstrom of colliding, encroaching commitments and unsteady relationships; the solutions he considers invite even darker uncertainties. After picking up a free-spirited young woman who warms up to him as he gives her a ride, multiple employees approach Harry with personal concerns at the apparel company he owns, all of whom he puts off. Jack Gilford is terrific as Harry’s partner Phil (the role led to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination), who bristles at the suggestion that arson might be an answer to their company’s financial challenges. After a key clothing buyer demands arrangements with a prostitute that end in disaster, Harry suffers a near-breakdown during a sales presentation. While some around him point toward basic, essential elements that give their lives meaning, Harry considers his own version of grounding touchstones as he makes decisions intended to keep the shadows of his past and the closing walls of his present from reaching him.

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray edition includes audio commentary by director John G. Avildsen and writer/producer Steve Shagan, a separate audio commentary by film historian/author Dwayne Epstein and a group of period theatrical trailers.

(www.kinolorber.com/product/save-the-tiger-special-edition)

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