Life goes from bad to worse for Confederate soldier John
Warner (George Hilton) in the opening half hour of “A Bullet for Sandoval,” a
1970 Spaghetti Western now available on Blu-ray in a Special Edition from VCI
Entertainment. On the eve of battle in Texas, Warner learns that his sweetheart
Rosa has just given birth to their son in plague-ridden Los Cedros, and now is
dying from cholera. Denied authorisation to leave camp, Warner rides off
anyway, incurring a death sentence for desertion. Arriving in Los Cedros with
hopes of marrying Rosa before she dies, he finds no sympathy there either. Rosa
has passed away, and her father Don Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine), a
powerful grandee who loathes “gringos” in general and Warner in particular, is
infuriated that the soldier has returned. He disowns the baby and drives Warner
and the newborn out of his palatial hacienda.
Fleeing Los Cedros with his son, Warner is rebuffed at
one way-station and then a second when he begs for milk for the infant. The
people at both places are fearful of being infected when they learn that he has
just come from Los Cedros. The weakened, feverish baby dies, and Warner becomes
a vengeful outlaw, assembling a gang of henchmen to raid the settlements that
drove him away when he needed their aid to keep his child alive. Three of the
men—Sam, Lucky, and Priest—are trustworthy. The other three—Morton, One-Eye (“a
sex maniac convicted of raping two little girls”), and Guadalupano—not so much.
Warner comes to enjoy the riches and women that accrue from his new career as a
bandit, but his ultimate target remains Sandoval. In the meantime, Don Pedro and
his fellow cattle barons on the Border convince the Confederate army to help
them pursue and eradicate Warner and his band.
Like most Spaghetti Westerns, “A Bullet for Sandoval” was
an international production with Italian studio backing, a cast of actors from
several countries, outdoor locations in the Spanish desert, and in this case, a
Spanish director (Julio Buchs), and Spanish writers. In the starring role,
George Hilton (born Jorge Hill Acosta y Lara) was an accomplished, darkly
handsome Uruguayan actor who had a thriving career in Italian genre movies but
was largely unknown to U.S. moviegoers. For marquee value in the States, the
producers paired him with Ernest Borgnine as the imperious Don Pedro. Who
didn’t know Ernest Borgnine from “The Wild Bunch,” “Ice Station Zebra,” a
hundred other movies, and “McHale’s Navy”?
With Borgnine’s name prominently displayed on ads, “A
Bullet for Sandoval” was one of several Spaghetti Westerns that opened in the
U.S. in 1970, after the surprise success of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
Derided by most critics as violent trash, they were usually relegated to
drive-ins and second-run movie houses. There, they filled a void on
double-bills left by the death of traditional, American-made B-Westerns like
those made a decade before with aging stars like Dana Andrews, Glenn Ford, and Robert
Taylor. Sometimes, ironically, they were paired with the homegrown Spaghetti
imitations that Hollywood studios had begun to produce, like “Two Mules for Sister Sara,”
“Barquero,” “Macho Callahan,” and “El
Condor.”
The critics may have dismissed the genre, but their
opinions were immaterial for the U.S. target audience of young guys in their
teens and early twenties, who welcomed pictures like “A Bullet for Sandoval” on
all-night movie marathons at local drive-ins. At one o’clock in the morning, in
a pleasant stupor of fatigue and beer, few would question the accuracy or
plausibility of a Civil War in which Confederate officers pause their military
campaign to help ranchers chase outlaws. As far as fans were concerned, such
fine points could be argued by history professors, as long as they could rely
on filmmakers like Buchs to deliver a gritty succession of gunfights, chases,
and gorgeous European starlets—in the case of “A Bullet for Sandoval,”
Annabella Incontrera, Mary Paz Pondal, and Paquita Torres—in low-cut peasant
blouses.
VCI Entertainment’s new Special Edition of “A Bullet for
Sandoval” presents the film in a remastered, 4K version from the original
negative, adding the English-dubbed voice track and diligently restoring ten
minutes of footage edited out of the U.S. print in 1970 and consequently, out
of previous American home video releases. As director and enthusiast Alex Cox
suggests in his informative audio commentary for the disc, the movie is better
than its synopsis implies. The script and direction give the story an epic
scope despite a limited budget, culminating in a briskly staged showdown in a
bullfighting arena, and Hilton and Borgnine offer heartfelt performances as the
two antagonists. Relatively rare for a Spaghetti Western, both Warner and Don
Pedro are emotionally damaged characters instead of the cool-cat bounty hunter
and deranged bandido who usually anchor such films.
Cox notes that the grim scenes of Warner and his friends
Lucky and Priest trying to keep Warner’s baby alive in the desert owe an
obvious debt to “Three Godfathers,” John Ford’s 1948 parable of the Nativity
story with horses and six-shooters. Ford was ever the optimist, and the infant
in “Three Godfathers” survives, delivered safely to a Western town called
Jerusalem by outlaw Bob Hightower, played by the indomitable John Wayne.
Warner’s newborn isn’t as fortunate in a world bereft of Christian charity, reflecting
the grim philosophy of the Spaghetti genre where the innocent are as likely to
suffer as the corrupt and the guilty, and often, more likely.
In addition to Alex Cox’s commentary track, the VCI
Special Edition includes the title sequence from the original Spanish version,
titled “Los Desperados,” and the U.S. theatrical trailer. It is an admirably
respectful package for a movie that few would have regarded as anything other
than disposable entertainment five decades ago.
Celebrating
its 40th anniversary in 2024, the beloved classic FOOTLOOSE
arrives for the first time ever on 4K Ultra HD™ February 13, 2024
from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Originally
released on February 17, 1984, FOOTLOOSE thrilled audiences with
its spirited dancing, electrifying soundtrack, and inspiring story. Kevin
Bacon gives a star-making performance as a city boy whose rebellious love for
music and dancing shakes up a small town.
Directed
by Herbert Ross and written by composer and writer Dean Pitchford, FOOTLOOSE
was a massive success, earning $80 million at the domestic box office.
The film features an exceptional supporting cast, including Lori Singer, Dianne
Wiest, John Lithgow, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Chris Penn, along with a
sensational soundtrack featuring Kenny Loggins, Shalamar, Deniece Williams,
Bonnie Tyler, Quiet Riot, John Mellencamp, Foreigner, and more. Both
“Footloose” and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” were nominated for the Academy
Award® for Best Music, Original Song.
Newly
remastered, FOOTLOOSE will be available in a two-disc 4K Ultra
HD/Blu-ray™ set or a collectible SteelBook™ with artwork designed to
look like an 80s Walkman. Both sets include access to a digital copy of
the film and the Blu-ray includes the legacy bonus content detailed below:
·Commentary
by Craig Zadan and Dean Pitchford
·Commentary
by Kevin Bacon
·Let's
Dance! Kevin Bacon on Footloose
·From
Bomont to the Big Apple: An Interview with Sarah Jessica Parker
·Remembering
Willard
·Kevin
Bacon's Screen Test
·Kevin
Bacon Costume Montage
·Footloose:
A Modern Musical - Part 1
·Footloose:
A Modern Musical - Part 2
·Footloose:
Songs That Tell A Story
·Theatrical
Trailer
Synopsis
City-boy
Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) is new to an uptight small town where dancing has
been banned. Ren quickly makes a new best friend in Willard (Chris Penn) and
falls fast for the minister's daughter (Lori Singer), but his love for music
and dancing gets him into hot water equally as fast.??
Kino Lorber has released a Blu-ray collection: ""Columbo: The 1970s, Seasons 1-7"
Here are the details:
"Columbo" is the landmark series that set the standard for the
murder mystery genre. Remastered in 4K by Universal, "Columbo: The 1970s"
includes the first seven seasons of this enduring classic on Blu-ray!
Starring Peter Falk in his four-time Emmy-winning role as the
cigar-chomping, trenchcoat-wearing police lieutenant.
Special Features: • Restored in 4K by Universal Pictures • Includes the 1968 Movie-of-the-Week "Prescription: Murder" and the 1971 Pilot "Ransom for a Dead Man" • Shorter 71-Minute Cut of "ÉTUDE IN BLACK" • Optional Music and Effects Tracks for All Episodes • Episode Guide Booklet • Newly Commissioned Slipcase Cover Illustration by Tony Stella • Optional English Subtitles
I
hated William Friedkin’s 1985 police thriller, To Live and Die in L.A., when I first saw it. The mixture of
Eighties-style pop music by Wang Chung and the disreputable characters were, I
felt, meretricious and off-putting. Even the car chase seemed lackluster. I
also hated Dario Argento’s Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972), James
Toback’s Fingers (1978) and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) during
my first viewings. Revisiting these titles soon afterwards made me realize that
I failed to fully appreciate or understand them. My ignorance of film was evident!
To
Live and Die in L.A., which
opened nationwide on Friday, November 1, 1985 to lukewarm notices and
underwhelming box office despite being championed by a four-star review by Roger
Ebert, is a highly stylized, dark, and uncompromising crime thriller that
boasts a then-unknown cast with a story and a pace that feels more suited to
the 1970s. It also contains what I consider to be the greatest car chase ever
filmed and edited for a major motion picture, which took no less than five
weeks to plan and shoot.
Having
seen Mr. Friedkin’s brilliant Oscar-winning East Coast police thriller The French Connection (1971), this West
Coast-based yarn centers on a Secret Service agent, Richard Chance (William
Petersen), whose best friend and partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene) has been
murdered in cold blood by artist/currency counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem
Dafoe) just days prior to his retirement. This plot device occurred before it
became a familiar film trope, and this
is easily one of the best films of the 1980s. Chance has one goal: to put
Masters away for life with no regard for how he has to do it. Truthfully, he
would prefer to kill him. This causes many issues for his new partner John
Vukovich (John Pankow) whose familial lineage of law enforcement officers and his
“by the book” methodology conflicts with Chance’s no-bullshit headstrong attitude.
Vukovich’s unwillingness to go outside the boundaries of acceptability is
tested when: Chance surreptitiously removes crucial evidence from a crime scene
in order to get to Masters; Chance, without Vukovich’s knowledge, springs a
prisoner friend (John Turturro) of Masters to get him to testify; and most
notably forces Vukovich to go along with a plan to obtain cash needed to get
closer to Masters while nearly dying in what is arguably cinema’s most exciting
getaway car chase sequence. What makes the chase work so well is that it’s
physical, it’s possible (though highly improbable), and it’s not done in a Fast and the Furious, over-the-top sort
of way. Nor is it perfunctory as it comes as a result of an important plot
point, nearly besting the director’s own French Connection subway/car
chase with a headlong ride straight up the 710 Long Beach Freeway while driving
in the wrong direction against traffic.
Chance
also beds a willing parolee (Darlanne Fluegel) who gives him information on
current convicts in return for money to provide for herself and her son
Christopher. Like the inexorable Popeye Doyle in The French Connection who will stop at nothing to put drug dealers
and users away, Chance, like his surname, will stop at nothing to capture and
punish Masters. The difference between the two films is that the former paints
Brooklyn and New York City as gritty and almost despairing cities whereas the
latter bathes the frame in a Los Angeles that we have not seen before or since.
While also gritty, grimy and dark, this is a Lotus Land that is also highly
glossy and enticing, with beautiful people who are about as real as the
counterfeit bills that Masters manufactures. The overall theme and central
conceit of To Live and Die in L.A. is
fraudulence. People use each other for their own personal gains. Masters is an
artist but hates what he paints and burns his work in frustration. Since he
cannot find joy or satisfaction in his own originality, he resorts to copying
others, in this case $20, $50, and $100 bills in a procedure that is
painstaking, difficult, and now archaic.
Like
The French Connection, To Live and Die in LA is also based on a
book of the same name, this one a novel written by former Secret Service Agent
Gerald Petievich. What makes the film remarkable is the opening sequence which
features a martyr who shouts “Allahu Akbar” just before blowing himself up on
the roof of a hotel where then-President Reagan is giving a speech. This scene
made little sense to me upon my maiden viewing but is eerily prescient of the religious
extremism that has made its way to America’s shores.
The
performances are excellent all around. William Petersen, whose film debut was
as a bar bouncer in Michael Mann’s Thief (1981),
is terrific as Chance and plays him as a daredevil whose cowboy nature seals
his fate and makes him a dangerous person to be around. This is established in
an early sequence wherein Chance bungee jumps off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in
San Pedro, CA. In addition to the martyr sequence, this could also be one of
the earliest instances of this now highly popular activity’s depiction in a
film. John Pankow is also quite good as Chance’s conflicted partner. The stand-out
is Willem Dafoe as Masters, fresh from Walter Hill’s 1984 outing Streets of
Fire. His icy expressions and demeanor can change on a moment’s notice
without warning. Darlanne Fluegel, who heartbreakingly left us far too soon
following an early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, is mysterious as Chance’s muse.
I first saw her in Battle Beyond the
Stars (1980). Debra Feuer is striking as Masters’ girlfriend and
confidante. The late Dean Stockwell is great as Masters’ lawyer - you can
almost see him prepping himself for the role of Ben in David Lynch’s aforementioned
and masterful Blue Velvet the
following year. Steve James is an actor I always liked ever since I first saw
him in the “Night Vigil” episode of T.J.
Hooker in 1984. He started in the industry as a stunt man in films as
diverse as The Wiz (1978), The Wanderers (1979), The
Warriors (1979), Dressed to Kill
(1980), and He Knows You’re Alone (1980)
prior to onscreen acting. Here he plays Jeff, one of Masters’ clients and his
performance, though small, shines. He also appeared in the William Friedkin
TV-movie C.A.T. Squad in 1986, which
was also written by Mr. Petievich. His premature death in 1993 from what is
rumored to be the medical treatment that he received after a cancer diagnosis
is a tremendous loss to the entertainment industry.
To Live and Die in L.A. has been released on home video many
times in the United States and is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray courtesy of
Kino Lorber. The extras, which are ported over from the 2016 SHOUT! Factory
Special Edition Blu-ray and the 2003 MGM/UA Home Video DVD, are all included
and are as follows:
Disc
One:
-
4K UHD Blu-ray remastered from the original camera negative.
-
Audio Commentary by Director William Friedkin from 2003 – this runs the full length
of the film and is the only bonus to be included on both the 4K UHD disc and
the standard 1080p Blu-ray.
Disc
Two:
-
Standard 1080p Blu-ray down-converted from a 4K remastering from the original
camera negative.
-
Audio Commentary by Director William Friedkin from 2003.
-
Taking a Chance: Interview with Actor William Petersen (20:42, in high definition,
from 2016) – Gary Sinise read for the role of Richard Chance with the casting
director, but the role instead went to William Petersen after he read for it at
William Friedkin’s New York City apartment. A second reading with actor friend
John Pankow solidified their roles.
-
Renaissance Woman in L.A. Interview with Actress Debra Feuer (14:56, in
high definition, from 2016) – Ms. Feuer reminisces about how wonderful the
experience was for her. Despite the sexual angle of the film which made her
uncomfortable, the cast and crew made her receptive and accepted on the set. Her
role is small but important and I would love to see her in more films.
-
Doctor for a Day: Interview with Actor Dwier Brown (08:53, in high
definition, from 2016) – Dwier Brown talks about his excitement over reading
for the film. He would later go on to appear as Phil Sterling in Mr. Friedkin’s
1989 druid-horror film The Guardian, and humorously recalls how the
director forgot that he was in To Live and Die in L.A.
-
So in Phase - Scoring To Live and Die in L.A. Interview with Composers Wang
Chung (12:44, in high
definition, from 2016) – It’s amazing that Mr. Friedkin heard Wang Chung’s 1984
album Points on the Curve, in particular the song “Wait,” and explained
that that was the vibe that he wanted from the album for the film score. While
there is a soundtrack album available for this film, it’s incomplete, and I
hope that one day a full soundtrack album, remastered from the original master
tracks, will be issued. Wang Chung recalls some interesting anecdotes in this
onscreen interview.
-
Wrong Way - The Stunts of To Live and Die in L.A. Interview with Stunt
Coordinator Buddy Joe Hooker (35:39, in high definition, from 2016) – The
famous stunt man discusses the intricacies and challenges of filming one of the
most dangerous car chases ever mounted for a film. The director was all about disorienting
the audience, and that notion comes into play here in how the chase was staged
and ultimately executed.
-
Counterfeit World - The Making of To Live and Die in L.A. Documentary
(29:52, in standard definition, from 2003) – This is a fun look behind the
scenes with mini interviews from many of the cast and crew involved, with
discussions regarding the characterizations as portrayed by the actors and
actresses to filming the famed car chase.
-
Deleted Scene and Alternate Ending with Introductions (13:07) – this is
the ridiculous ending that the director shot to please the studio executives
and thankfully was never used. You won’t believe it when you see it.
Film Masters is a new classic film
restoration and distribution company formed by industry veteran and film
historian Phil Hopkins. The company launched on September 26th with an
impressive, region-free Blu-ray release. For decades, dating back to the humble
early beginnings of the home video cassette, these two public domain favourites
seemed to once flood the market. Often struck and scanned from poor quality
16mm prints, the process and distribution hardly helped the reputation of these
two low-budget slices of fifties science fiction. Of course, there’s no getting
away from the fact that The Giant Gila Monster (1959) and The Killer Shrews
(1959) were ever going to be regarded as stunning examples of quality science
fiction, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t be considered as
hugely entertaining and enjoyable vehicles.
Both films (directed by Ray Kellogg) were
originally released as a drive-in, double-bill feature in 1959. Bringing both
films together here, each with their own dedicated disc, not only makes perfect
sense, but offers a nice form of symmetry – giving the overall package
additional logic and weight. It’s a decision that also offers a degree of
‘worth’ for fans and collectors. Fans are an appreciative group of people, so
this collective form of package will only help Film Masters in gaining a healthy
reputation and a certain degree of loyalty.
Beginning with what appears to be the leading
feature, The Giant Gila Monster opens with a young couple, Pat (Grady Vaughn)
and Liz (Yolanda Salas), parked in a bleak, rural locale overlooking a ravine.
A giant Gila monster attacks the car, sending it into the ravine and killing
the couple. Later, several friends of the couple assist the local sheriff (Fred
Graham) in his search for the missing teens. Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan), a
young mechanic and hot rod racer, locates the crashed car in the ravine and
finds evidence of the giant lizard. However, it is only when the hungry reptile
attacks a train that the authorities realise they are dealing with a giant
venomous lizard. By this time, emboldened by its attacks and hungry for prey,
the creature attacks the town. It heads for the local dance hall, where the
town's teenagers are gathered for a hop.
Filmed near Dallas, Texas, the film was
budgeted at $175,000 and was produced by Dallas drive-in theatre chain owner
Gordon McLendon who wanted co-features for his main attractions. McLendon shot
the film back-to-back with The Killer Shrews. In exchange for providing the
special effects, Ray Kellogg was allowed to direct the film, while Curtis
allowed his lead Don Sullivan to pick and perform three songs. The reasoning
not only helped in padding out the action but also served in targeting the healthy
teenage market. Don Sullivan, a veteran of several low-budget monster movies,
proves to be confident in both his role and surroundings, while Lisa Simone (a
former French contestant for the 1957 Miss Universe contest) is arguably a
little more wooden and uncomfortable.
For the best part, Ray Kellogg’s special
effects work adequately well. With such a low budget, there was little
consideration for an established name such as Ray Harryhausen and his
stop-motion animation. So instead, a live Mexican beaded lizard was shot against
scaled-down model landscapes and sets. This technique wasn’t anything new, iguanas
and chameleons were also being used the very same year over at 20th
Century Fox for their adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). The Giant Gila Monster (naturally) was not afforded
the same budget, it was simply a locally made film that was marketed and sold
in a very clever way, making sure it received both nationwide and foreign
distribution. But above all, it remains hugely enjoyable and serves as a
reminder of far less serious times in terms of filmmaking on a shoestring.
As for the video’s quality, this new 4K scan
from original 35mm material, looks incredibly good. Sharpness, contrast and
sound are all highly impressive. Film Masters have provided a new level of
respect for this minor league classic, and the results have really raised its
once questionable profile. There is also an option of watching the film in
either a TV ratio (standard 1.33:1) or a theatrical version (1.85:1). I opted
for the theatrical version for reviewing which works perfectly well.
Film Masters have also provided some very
nice bonus features. Heading these is a full-length
audio commentary by Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, and Matt
Weinhold from The Monster Party Podcast. As the name suggests, this is a light-hearted
overview but nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable. The group offer a cheekily
mocking level of critique but never in with a cruel intension. The common
denominator is obviously a shared love for the film. The group manage to unearth
some excellent production detail and history, often quoting from original
source material such as pressbooks and publicity from its time of release.
There is also a restored and remastered
original theatrical trailer and a very enjoyable archival audio interview with
star Don Sullivan (1929- 2018). Asking the questions is author Bryan Senn, who
digs deep in extracting as much detail as possible. Sullivan appears happy to
answer anything he can recall, and the interview is relaxed and unhurried.
Despite the audio quality which occasionally wavers (the source sounds to be
via a telephone) it remains interesting throughout and offers a unique,
first-hand insight.
Next up is The Killer Shrews (1959), again
directed by Ray Kellogg and utilising most of the
same production crew. The story follows a group of researchers who are trapped
in their remote island compound overnight by a hurricane and find themselves
under siege by their abnormally large and venomous mutant test subjects, the
shrews. Captain Thorne Sherman and first mate Rook Griswold deliver supplies by
ship to a research compound on the remote island. The station inhabitants
(scientist Marlowe Craigis, his research assistant Radford Baines, Marlowe's
daughter Ann, her fiancé Jerry Farrel, and a servant Mario) give them a cold
welcome and direct them to unload the ship and leave immediately. Marlowe
explains he has been trying to isolate the genes responsible for growth and
metabolism in order to shrink humans to half their size so as to reduce the
impact of human overpopulation. He uses shrews as test animals due to their
short lifespan, allowing him to track results over multiple generations.
However, Marlowe's experiments have created a batch of mutant wolf-sized shrews
which have escaped. The group barricade themselves inside their compound every
evening before the sun sets due to the creatures' nocturnal feeding habits.
They have not contacted the coast guard so that they can complete their
research, predicting that the shrews will cannibalize each other once they have
consumed all other food on the island.
And so begins this really enjoyable little
romp. Catching up with this film once again reminded me of just how good this
film really is. In fact, I’ll come right out and say it – I still think this is
the superior film when compared to The Giant Gila
Monster. The whole concept of a group of people trapped in a secluded and
isolated locale is one that still proves effective. The film is often compared
to that of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead made some 9 years later in
1968. If you take that concept, replacing the zombies with wild, oversized,
very hungry shrews, then you get the general idea. Yes, one could argue that
(on paper) the whole idea sounds rather ludicrous. But the film has some really
creative and effective moments, especially for 1959. Considering that the ($123,000)
budget for The Killer Shrews was even tighter than that of The Giant Gila
Monster, the results are even more impressive.
Ray Kellogg makes exceptional good use of his
special effects background. OK, so the shrews were in actual fact large coonhound
dogs dressed up with long carpeted hair and Saber fangs. And close-up shots
were nothing more than mere hand puppets! But somehow, the effects still work.
Good use of sound effects also provides an eerie warning of the shrews’ imminent
arrival. Clever quick editing also adds to the film’s overall sense of tension
and drama. In fact, there are also some cleverly constructed jump shock moments
and some particularly gruesome scenes – not to mention a ludicrously ingenious
escape plan! So, The Killer Shrews has a great deal of positives in its favour
and is well worth a re-evaluation – especially in this sparkling new transfer.
As with The Giant Gila Monster, Film Masters have afforded The Killer Shrews with
another equally high-quality transfer. I thought it looked quite faultless
actually, a nice clean, crisp transfer with lovely deep black tones and contrast.
The audio again is also clear and sharp throughout its duration. Again, there
is an option to view in either 1.33:1 or in 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
The bonus features are very enjoyable,
consisting of another full-length audio commentary this time provided by author
Jason A. Ney. This commentary offers a more scholarly, academic approach which
is both informative and enjoyable in equal measure. Ray Kellogg – An Unsung Master
is a fascinating Ballyhoo motion pictures documentary exploring the life and
career of the director. And to round off the disc is a large collection of
original radio spots for each movie courtesy of Gary L. Prange. Inside there is
also a full colour, 22-page booklet with essays by Don Stradley and Jason A.
Ney.
Overall, Film Masters have delivered a very
impressive debut package. With the hope of producing similarly styled releases
on a monthly basis, there’s certainly a great deal more to look forward to and
their efforts should be applauded.
(Darren Allison is the Soundtracks Editor for Cinema Retro.)
Although I have a weak spot for Italian westerns of the 1960s and 1970s, most can be appropriately evaluated by paraphrasing Longfellow: "When they were good, they were very, very good, and when they were bad, they were horrid." "Blindman" is a curiosity from 1971 that I previously panned after viewing an allegedly "remastered" DVD edition that looked barely better than a VHS transfer. The film fits rather comfortably into the latter part of Longfellow's famous nursery rhyme. Although the movie has a devoted fan base, when I first reviewed it I call it "a pretty horrid experience and inexcusably amateurish in execution, given the well-seasoned people involved". The good news is that Abkco Films has released a truly remastered DVD version that considerably improves one's perception of the film. As the title implies, it's about...well, a blind man. He's played by Tony Anthony, who did rather well for himself as a sort of Clint Eastwood Lite character known as The Stranger in a series of Euro Westerns (Any similarity to Eastwood's Man With No Name must have been purely coincidental). Anthony went on to star in any number of lucrative, low-budget action films, the most notable being "Comin' At Ya!, a 3-D flick that has also built a loyal cult following. His co-star in "Blindman" is Ringo Starr. More about him later. The film was based on a Japanese movie titled "Zatoichi" about a blind samurai hero. As with "The Magnificent Seven", which was based on Kurasawa's "Seven Samurai", the story has been transplanted to the American west. When we first see the Blindman (whose name is never mentioned), he rides into a one-horse town and confronts his former partners. Seems they had a lucrative contract to deliver 50 mail order brides to some horny miners. However, a better offer was made from a Mexican bandito named Domingo (Lloyd Battista), who has exported them South 'O the Border to force them into prostitution. Blindman apparently has a sense of honor in terms of fulfilling the original contract. He manages to kill his former partners and sets off to Mexico to rescue the women, presumably so they can sold into another form of prostitution. At first the premise of this film intrigued me. How, after all, can you logically present a story about a blind gunslinger? The answer is you apparently can't. You could get away with it if the film was a satire, but there is surprisingly little overt humor in "Blindman". Yes, in true Eastwood fashion, the hero sometimes makes some snarky quips before, during and after dispatching his adversaries, but for the most part, the film takes itself far too seriously.
How does the Blindman find his way around? Well, he has his own "wonder horse" who seems more like a companion than a beast of burden. The hoofed hero is always at his disposal and seems to be able to do everything but read a map for him. Speaking of maps, Blindman gets to various destinations by running his finger over maps that engraved in leather...sort of a braille system. Given the fact that he has to navigate the state of Texas, then Mexico, one would think he would require maps the size of rolls of kitchen linoleum, but somehow he gets by with navigational tools that fit neatly into his pocket. When Blindman arrives in Mexico, he has numerous confrontations with the brutal Domingo and his army of thugs. He suffers the ritualistic beatings of any hero in the Italian western genre, but always manages to get the better hand by his deadly use of the rifle that he uses as a walking stick. Somehow the Blindman can use instinct and an uncanny hearing ability to gun down his would-be assassins with uncanny precision, though occasionally he does impose on some allies for advice. He also confronts Candy (Ringo Starr), Domingo's equally sadistic brother, who is keeping a captive woman as his mistress. What follows is a seemingly endless series of chases, confrontations and the obligatory imitation Morricone score, all of it under the pedestrian direction of Ferdinando Baldi, who has a revered reputation with some fans of the genre and does manage to set off some impressive explosions. (Amusingly, the concept of showing the "50" mail order brides must have taxed the limited budget so we only get to see them in small clusters.). There are a couple of sequences that stand out in terms of creativity. One involves the surprise slaughter of a barroom filled with Mexican soldiers. The other has a bit of suspense as the Blindman is served a food bowl that he doesn't realize contains a deadly snake. The finale of the film finds Blindman wrestling with Domingo, who has been blinded by a cigar! (Don't ask...) It's supposed to be a tense confrontation, but the sight of the two blind guys rolling around in the dirt looks like an outtake from a Monty Python sketch. The most intriguing aspect of the film is what led Ringo Starr into appearing in it. He had considerable on-screen charisma that he parlayed into a successful acting career. Here, however, his role is colorless and bland. He doesn't even play the main villain, but rather a supporting character who disappears from the story before the movie even reaches the one-hour mark. Starr supposedly was looking to jump-start his film career and worked with Tony Anthony to develop this production. While he acquits himself credibly, he might have at least given his character some memorable lines or characteristics.
The previously reviewed version of the film pointed out that the packaging had indicated the film had a running time of 105 minutes, which matches with the original timing cited on on the IMDB site. However, the screener we reviewed ran only 83 minutes and it looked like it had been edited with a meat cleaver. The ABCKO version is the actual 105 minute cut and the transfer is excellent, a vast improvement over the muddy mess we had previously reviewed. Seeing "Blindman" again under these conditions has allowed me to reevaluate my opinion of the film. While it certainly never rises to the standards of a Sergio Leone production, the movie's quirky premise and the amusing performance by Tony Anthony made the experience far more enjoyable the second time around.
Richard
Loncraine’s The Haunting of Julia (aka Full Circle, 1977) is a chilling,
emotionally charged ghost story shot in London in 1976 with Canadian funding
which fell into a legal limbo and was destined to remain largely forgotten
until film historian and writer Simon Fitzjohn began researching the film for a
magazine article in 2016. The rabbit hole grew deeper and he became a man on a
mission to bring the film back to the public. The years of struggle paid off
and the film has now been restored and released around the world on Blu-ray and
UHD, so Cinema Retro sat down with him to find out how it all happened.
Cinema
Retro – How does it feel to finally be at the end
of this epic journey?
Simon
Fitzjohn - We had a screening at the BFI in London
recently which was a massive thrill. There was a good audience and we got quite
a few of the crew along as well as Richard Loncraine, the director. It was a
bit of a party, to be perfectly honest with you, a fantastic experience.
CR
– So how did this all start?
SF
- I read a BFI article at Halloween in 2016 called ‘Forgotten British Horror
Films of the 1970s,’ and I thought, “Right, okay, I'm pretty sure I'm just
going to tick everything off this list.” So I went through them all and it was
Pete Walker's Frightmare, things like that. And then there was Full Circle,
or The Haunting of Julia and this picture of Mia Farrow with her arms
out. I thought “I don't think I've seen that one.” I took it as a bit of an
affront really that I hadn't seen it. That was when I then found out that it
wasn't available commercially at all, no DVD release, however, there was a
version of it on YouTube as they'd shown it on the Sony Movie Channel in 2011.
So I watched it and I was floored by it. You know, I remember when it ended and
I just sat there in silence for about 15 minutes trying to sort of process it
and thinking, ‘Oh, my God, this is just such a sad film. How has this film been
allowed to disappear?” You know, why is this not heralded as an amazing British
horror film?
CR
– You would think it would be better known, particularly because it starred Mia
Farrow.
SF
- Originally my idea was just to write about it, so the first person I reached
out to was Peter Fetterman, who was the producer on it, and he said, “Well, I'm
still friends with Richard Loncraine, I'll give him your number.” So I had a
call with Richard, who was quite bewildered, as he always is. When anybody says
they love the film, he hates it! He seems flabbergasted, because he doesn't
think it's a good film. I think a lot of that was down to all the pressures
from the external people when they were making it, certainly the Canadian side
of it, who wanted this Omen-style bloodbath, whereas Richard wanted this
more ambiguous, psychological film. Then he put me in touch with Peter Hannon,
who was the director of cinematography on it, and then we found out that Technicolor
had found the negative, so Richard and I thought, “Right, here we go!” We needed
to get that negative, get it restored and get it rereleased.
CR
- Were there rights issues? Is that one of the reasons why it had fallen out of
circulation?
SF
- Yes. It wasn't that the negative was missing. The last known owner of it was
a guy called Julian Mills who was the exec producer on the film. Technicolor
had documents for Full Circle with Julian Melzack at Albian Films, and he
obviously didn't care about the film because he never bothered to release it
himself, and then he died in early 2016. So we had to somehow jump through all
these hoops to prove that he hadn't passed the film on to anybody else before
he passed away, so that we could prove an ownership chain. It was about six
years of working with Technicolor, Companies House, solicitors, Julian Melzack's
daughter, all these people going round and round trying to find paperwork. It
was just exasperating, to be perfectly honest with you, and there were numerous
times where we just thought it wasn’t going to happen because we would answer a
question and then they would give us another obstacle and we would jump over
that, and then they'd give us another obstacle. There were times when I
flagged, but then I would get people messaging me on the Twitter account I had
(@full_julia), saying, “Keep going, keep going!” Eventually we were able to do
it.
CR
– Who funded the restoration?
SF
- It was Shout! Factory, but there were numerous people that worked together on
this. Shout! Factory sorted the restoration, but the BFI now keep the negative,
that was the deal. It was done at Silver Salt in London. Richard Loncraine was
involved in that as well.
CR
- You've also been heavily involved in the release, with a commentary track
(with the director) and some of the extra features for the BFI release.
SF
- It was great, because I'd always said right from the start that the key for
me was that the film was going to be back out there. It deserves to be talked about,
it deserves to be celebrated. But it was still really nice when the BFI came to
me straight away and said we want you front and centre on this because Richard
said, "Look, if you don't involve Simon, I'm not getting involved.” I was
able to help as well because I was in touch with so many people, so Tom Conti
was interviewed as was Samantha Gates, who plays Olivia in the film. I've been
reading some very positive comments about it in reviews. It was fun, it was a
great thrill.
CR
– There are rumours that something is missing from the film, specifically a
graphic tracheotomy scene, which of course is the tragic event at the beginning
of the film [Julia’s daughter is choking to death, and in a last desperate
attempt to save her she attempts a tracheotomy which fails and the daughter
dies]. What do you know about this?
SF
- There was this guy and he would constantly
message me on Twitter to ask, “Have you found the tracheotomy scene?” And he
was the one that apparently somehow added it to IMDb that this was missing, but
nobody has it because it doesn't exist. Why would they randomly have had this
blood- spurting tracheotomy? That was never the intention for the film. I've
read the BBFC censors report when they classified the film, and they referenced
the fact that there was no blood in it. They gave it an AA certificate because
it was so tame. So there was never anything filmed, but when they were filming
that scene Alfred Pariser, who was the Canadian producer on it, he wanted it to
be bloody so he had a cup of stage blood. When Mia stabbed Sophie Ward with the
knife, he threw the cup of blood over them. Mia Farrow just got up and ran out
screaming because she thought she had cut Sophie Ward's throat! But they
obviously didn't use that footage. They weren't interested in having anything
like that.
CR
– Fantastic. And your commentary track with Richard Loncraine is packed with
stories like that. Congratulations on what must feel like such a tremendous
achievement.
SF
– Thank you. And I ended up somehow randomly getting a Rondo Award too!
The
Haunting of Julia/ Full Circle is
available on Blu-ray and UHD in the States from Shout! Factory, in Australia
from Imprint, and on Blu-ray and UHD in the UK from the BFI. Each edition
shares some bonus features whilst also having some which are unique. The
Imprint release comes in a beautiful hardbox with a lenticular cover, a book
discussing the adaptation from Peter Straub’s novel Julia, and best of
all a CD with the full remastered Colin Towns soundtrack including some tracks
which were never used or included on the original vinyl release.
THE
DC COMICS SUPERHERO COMES TO LIFE IN WES CRAVEN’S CULT CLASSIC FILM, MAKING ITS
DEBUT ON 4K ULTRA HD!
Deep
in Florida's darkest everglades, a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alec Holland (Ray
Wise, Robocop) and a sexy government agent, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau, John
Carpenter’s The Fog) have developed a secret formula that could end world
hunger and change civilization forever. Little do they know, however, that
their arch nemesis, Arcane (Louis Jourdan, Octopussy) is plotting to steal the
serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the lab and kidnapping Cable, Arcane
douses Holland with the chemicals and leaves him for dead in the swamp. Mutated
by his own formula, Holland becomes “Swamp Thing” - a half human/half plant
superhero who will stop at nothing to rescue the beautiful Cable and defeat the
evil Arcane... even if it costs him his life.
DISC
1: 4K ULTRA HD SPECIAL FEATURES:
2023 4K
Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of both the US
Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International Version of the film
presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in Dolby Vision / HDR
Audio: DTS-HD
Master 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono
Optional English
Subtitles
Audio Commentary
with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG
Version)
Audio Commentary
with Makeup Effects Artist William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher
(Theatrical / PG Version)
Collectible “4K
LaserVision” Mini-Poster of cover art
DISC
2: BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
2023 HD
Restoration of both the US Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International
Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Audio Commentary
with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG
Version)
Audio Commentary
with Makeup Effects Artist William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher
(Theatrical / PG Version)
Audio: DTS-HD
Master 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono
Optional English
Subtitles
"Tales From
the Swamp" (Remastered) with Actress Adrienne Barbeau (HD, 16:56)
"Hey
Jude" with Actor Reggie Batts (HD, 14:30)
"That Swamp
Thing" with Len Wein, Creator of Swamp Thing (HD, 13:19)
"Swamp
Screen: Designing DC's Main Monster" featurette (HD, 20:32)
"From Krug
to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice"
featurette (HD, 17:34)
Posters &
Lobby Cards - Photo Gallery
Photos from the
Film - Photo Gallery
William Munns’
Behind the Scenes Pictures - Photo Gallery
Behind the
Scenes Photos by Geoffrey Rayle – Photo Gallery
Theatrical
Trailer (HD, 1:31)
* Special
Features May Not Be Rated, Closed Captioned Or In High Definition.
This title will be released on July 25. Click here to order from Amazon and save 30%.
Cinema Retro has received the following press announcement:
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, in
all of its brilliant glory, arrives for the first time on 4K Ultra HD digital
and disc August 1, 2023 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Writer/director John Hughes’ seminal comedy about a high
school student’s wild adventures in the Windy City during a single, magnificent
day off continues to be enjoyed, quoted, and revered. The enduring
classic captures the uproarious antics of Ferris and his friends as they relish
the freedom of being not quite grown up.
This remastered 4K Ultra HD release features Dolby
Vision™ and HDR-10, as well as Dolby Atmos® audio for a wonderfully immersive
and liberating experience*. The release also includes John Hughes’
original director’s commentary, which has not been available on disc since the
first DVD release in 1999, along with access to a digital copy of the film and
the following legacy bonus content:
Commentary with Director John
Hughes
Getting the Class Together: The Cast of Ferris Bueller's
Day Off
The Making of Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Who is Ferris Bueller?
The World According to Ben Stein
Vintage Ferris Bueller: The Lost Tapes
Matthew Broderick stars as the delightfully charming
Ferris who, with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and best bud Cameron (Alan
Ruck), ditches school to enjoy one perfect day as a kid with no
responsibilities. In 2014, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF was added to the
Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, which serves as a compendium of
films that have been judged to be culturally, aesthetically or historically
important.
*Dolby Atmos enabled devices are also required to
experience Dolby Atmos at home. To experience Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc, a Dolby Vision enabled TV is required with a Dolby Vision enabled
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player.
*Dolby Atmos enabled devices
are also required to experience Dolby Atmos at home. To experience Dolby Vision
on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, a Dolby Vision enabled TV is required with a Dolby
Vision enabled 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player.
CELEBRATE
100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. WITH TWO CLASSIC FILMS
EAST OF EDEN AND RIO BRAVO
WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 4K RESOLUTION WITH
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)
PURCHASE THEM ON 4K ULTRA HD DISC AND DIGITALLY AUGUST 1
Burbank, Calif., May 30, 2023 – As part of the
year-long centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner
Bros. Studio, two iconic classics from the Warner Bros. library – East of
EdenandRio Bravo- will be available for
purchase on 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital August 1.
East of Eden, directed by Academy Award
winner Elia Kazan and starring James Dean, and Rio Bravo, directed
by Honorary Academy Award winner Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, will be
available to purchase on Ultra HD Blu-ray™Disc from
online and in-store at major retailers and available for purchase Digitally
from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more.
Working in partnership with The Film Foundation, both films were
restored and remastered by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services:
Motion Picture Imaging and Post Production Sound. Since its launch
by Martin Scorsese in 1990, The Film Foundation has restored more
than 900 movies.
The Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc will include each feature film in 4K
with HDR and a Digital version of the feature film.
Ultra HD Blu-ray showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range
(HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more
lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.
For the complete 4K Ultra HD experience with HDR, a 4K Ultra HD TV
with HDR, an Ultra HD Blu-ray player and a high-speed HDMI (category 2) cable
are required.
About the Films:
East of Eden
In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels
he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of
their father Adam. Carl is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the
war, to how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to his
estranged mother.
The 1955 period drama is directed by Elia Kazan from a
screenplay by Paul Osborn and based on the 1952 John Steinbeck novel of the
same name. The film stars James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Burl
Ives, Richard Davalos, and Jo Van Fleet.
East of Eden was nominated for 3 Academy
Awards with Van Fleet winning for Best Supporting Actress. East of
Eden was named one of the 400 best American films of all time by the American Film
Institute. In 2016, the film was selected
for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry by the Library of
Congress as being "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant".
Rio Bravo
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a
disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail
the brother of the local bad guy.
The 1959 American Western film is directed by Howard
Hawks. The screenplay is by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett and is based on
the short story “Rio Bravo” by B.H. McCampbell. The film stars John Wayne, Dean
Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond.
In 2014, Rio Bravo was selected for preservation in
the United States National Film
Registry by the Library of
Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically
significant.”
Ultra HD Blu-ray Elements
East
of EdenUltra HD Blu-ray contains the following previously released
special features:
Commentary by Richard Schickel
Rio BravoUltra HD
Blu-ray contains the following previously released special features:
If you haven't seen the news about the new "Superman" 4K boxed set, here is the Warner Bros. press release:
CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. WITH ONE OF
FILM’S MOST ICONIC CHARACTERS - SUPERMAN
SUPERMAN
1978 – 1987 5-FILM COLLECTION FEATURING
SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, SUPERMAN II, SUPERMAN II: THE
RICHARD DONNER CUT, SUPERMAN III, AND SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR
PEACE WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A REMASTERED COLLECTION IN 4K
RESOLUTION WITH HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)
PURCHASE THE COLLECTION ON
4K ULTRA HD COMBO PACK AND DIGITALLY
As part of the year-long
centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros.
Studio, five films featuring the iconic DC Super Hero Superman – Superman:
The Movie,Superman II, Superman II: The Richard Donner
Cut, Superman III, and Superman IV- will
be available for purchase in a five-film collection on 4K Ultra HD Disc and
Digital on April 18.
Based on the DC character created by
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Superman films star Christopher
Reeve as the legendary “Man of Steel.”
On April 18, the Superman 1978 – 1987 5-Film
Collectionwill be available to purchase on Ultra HD
Blu-ray™ Disc from online and in-store at major retailers
and available for purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google
Play, Vudu and more.
The
Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Packs will include an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the
feature films in 4K with HDR, a Blu-ray disc with the feature films and special
features in HD, and a Digital version of each film.
Ultra
HD Blu-ray showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider
color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a
home entertainment viewing experience like never before.
For
the complete 4K Ultra HD experience with HDR, a 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR, an
Ultra HD Blu-ray player and a high-speed HDMI (category 2) cable are required.
"Ralph Vaughan Williams, 49th Parallel - The Complete Music Written for the Film"
Ralph Vaughan Williams composed in a wide
variety of genres, and film music became a significant part of his output in
the latter decades of a long and distinguished career. He viewed film scores as
more than just ephemera, seeking to “intensify the spirit of the whole” in
wartime productions such as “49th Parallel” (CDLX7405).
Dutton Epoch presents the world premiere
recording of the complete score. “49th Parallel” (aka “The Invaders”) has
been constructed from the original manuscripts by Martin Yates in 2022. This
new recording by The BBC Concert Orchestra is conducted by Martin Yates and
offers a soaring re-birth it has long deserved.
It all began in 1940 when conductor Muir
Mathieson approached Ralph Vaughan Williams about writing the score for this
film. The movie was part of the government’s wartime policy to use cinema to
rally up the support from the nation. The patriotic Vaughan Williams was only
too happy to oblige, and the score became his first of eleven for film.
Originally, The London Symphony Orchestra, (conducted by Mathieson and George
Stratton), were used to record Vaughan Williams’ music for the production.
The music, of course, remains a stirring and
remarkable achievement. The Prelude is the first piece of music heard in the
film, and has remained perhaps the most popular piece from the score. The marrying
of strings and brass set up the score perfectly as a repeated theme which is
peppered throughout the soundtrack - but is delivered in its full glory within
the Prelude. Vaughan Williams’ provides a rich and varied score, which makes
good use of timpani rolls, bold brass and a variety of comforting woodwind.
“49th Parallel” is, and will quite
probably remain, a quintessentially British classic. It has the ability to be
both uplifting and emotionally charged. As one who has attended the odd concert
of Vaughan Williams music, I can honestly say that there is almost a collective
intake of breath amongst the audience once they are alerted to the opening
chords of “49th Parallel” – and there’s not many pieces of music which
command that degree of attention and general awe.
Spread over 23 tracks, the production team of
Neil Varley, Emma Syrus and Executive producer Michael J Dutton have delivered
perhaps the most comprehensive edition of Williams’ masterful score. The CD is
also boosted by a super 12-page booklet which features detailed notes and
photos – all of which is edited by Oliver Lomax. As with any of the Dutton SACD
Hybrid Multi-Channel CD’s, all tracks are also available in stereo and playable
on any standard CD player.
Charles Gerhardt National Philharmonic
Orchestra – “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Star Wars”
In recent years, Vocalion
have been instrumental in the remastered reissues of the highly enjoyable Charles
Gerhardt albums of the Seventies, most of which were released on the RCA Read
Seal label, a quality and highly respected label back in the day. Vocalion have chosen wisely in picking up and renewing
these titles, often popular with budding young soundtrack collectors, they also
retain a nostalgic, childhood charm and many original LPs can still be found in
various collections. Vocalion’s latest offering in their SACD Hybrid series is
the wonderful 1978 album “Charles Gerhardt National Philharmonic Orchestra –
Close Encounters of the Third Kind And Star Wars” (CDLK4642).
Recorded in London’s Kingsway Hall on December
23, 1977, the album proved to be a very popular with fans of both films and
were quite happy to welcome this piece of vinyl to sit alongside their original
John Williams LPs. Some 45 years on from that original release, Vocalion’s Michael
J. Dutton has remastered and remixed the recording in quadraphonic form from
the original analogue tapes, and it’s a glorious piece of work.
I initially wondered if this particular
release would be worth the upgrade. I still own the RCA Red Seal CD (RCD 13650)
from 1983, and despite its gathering years, I always maintained the view that
it still sounded rather good. However, popping this newly polished edition into
the CD drawer, it soon became apparent that there was in fact a world of
difference. The audio is much more expansive and completely envelopes you with
a newly found level of richness, clarity and warmth. The CD sticks to its
original sequencing of 6 tracks from “Star Wars” (totalling some 33 minutes)
and is followed by the “Close Encounters” suite at 21-minutes. It’s great that Vocalion have again stuck to the original album art, a
feature that collectors certainly respect and goes a long way in cementing
their memories of enjoyment and nostalgia. The 8-page booklet contains Charles
Gerhardt’s original (and quite extensive) liner notes and is illustrated nicely
throughout.
“Charles Gerhardt’s Close Encounters of the
Third Kind and Star Wars” is an impressive release and well worth the upgrade
if quality ranks high on your list of priorities. Vocalion seem to have a
reliable knack of delivering on quality and they appear to do it with a
justified sense of pride – long may it continue.
In
“Secret of the Incas,” a 1954 release from Paramount Pictures, Harry Steele
(Charlton Heston) and Ed Morgan (Thomas Mitchell) are rival opportunists in
Cuzco, Peru.Both are searching for the
Sunburst, a fabled Incan artefact said to be hidden in the “lost city” of Machu
Picchu.“Not too many people go to Machu
Picchu,” Harry says.Today, when
tourists descend on the ancient Incan capital in droves, you would have to
wonder if he’d ever heard of Expedia.But the observation was true enough in the early 1950s when the ruins were
far off the beaten path.In those days,
most small-town Americans would have regarded a visit to New York or Miami as
an exotic excursion, never mind finding the time, money, or inspiration to fly
to the Andes.
Harry
has the edge in the quest for the Incan treasure, having appropriated a broken
chunk from an idol.The fragment
contains part of a pictograph which, when fitted to the rest of the carving on
the remainder of the statue, reveals the method for finding the hiding place of
the Sunburst.Putting the two together
isn’t a problem, requiring Harry only to follow a tourist group into the museum
where the fractured statue sits on display.But getting over the Andes to Machu Picchu to claim the Sunburst, “a
hunk of gold with 119 pure diamonds and 243 other precious stones,” is another
matter.This challenge is solved when
Elena (Nicole Maurey) arrives in Cuzco, a refugee from communist Romania.Elena is as grasping as Harry, whom she views
as her meal ticket to the U.S., while Harry uses her as bait to steal a small
private plane from the Romanian counsel, who flies into Cuzco to arrest
her.In Machu Picchu, Stanley Moorehead
(Robert Young), an archeologist directing a dig for the tomb of the last Incan
king, falls in love with Elena.Harry is
more amused than put out.His real
concern is Ed, who has followed by pack train and carries a gun.
The
Indians in the surrounding villages regard the Sunburst with spiritual awe,
believing that when it is found, the discovery will mark the rebirth of the
Inca nation.But Harry and his rival
only care about the fortune they can realize when they pry the jewels off the
relic and melt the gold into ingots.“We’ll
sit around and pluck it over like a roasted chicken, piece by piece,” Ed
gloats.The two agree on a fifty-fifty
split for the Sunburst, but given their mercenary natures, it’s about as
tenuous a deal as a division of spoils between competing bounty hunters in a
Spaghetti Western.Cast against type if
you remember them strictly for their signature roles, Heston and Mitchell are
excellent.Peruvian singer Yma Sumac, as
one of Machu Picchu’s Indian caretakers, has a sly screen presence and three
vocal numbers, which may be three too many for those who only want to get on
with the story.But Sumac was a
marketing draw comparable to having a performance by Lady Gaga or Adele in a
2023 movie.Largely forgotten today, she
was a star in the early 1950s “exotic music” genre pioneered by Les Baxter and
Martin Denny, with performances at Carnegie Hall and best-selling LPs on the
Billboard charts.Heston appears in some
exterior scenes of Cuzco and Machu Picchu, having participated in a month-long,
pre-production location shoot, but he, Mitchell, Young, Mourey, Sumac, and the
supporting Hollywood cast are missing (or represented by stand-ins at a
distance) from scenes where crowds of actual Peruvian Indians congregate at
Machu Picchu.Eagle-eyed viewers are
likely to notice the seams, but for most of us, it’s part of the fun to watch
old-school escapist pictures like this and tease out the real locations from
the studio sets.
“Secret
of the Incas” was absent from official U.S. home video release for
decades—neglectfully so, according to critics who have cited it as an influence
on “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and a precursor to the James Bond franchise in the
double entendres that Harry trades with an appreciative housewife of means from
Michigan, Mrs. Winston, played by the great Glenda Farrell.When Mrs. Winston greets the strapping Harry
by commenting, “My, you’re a big one,” and looks forward to his “services” as a
tour guide, you know she has more in mind than a dinner reminder to her tourist
group.“I’ll be right outside your
door,” he assures her.
A
new Blu-ray edition from Kino Lorber Studio Classics makes up for the film’s
long absence with a remastered print licensed from Paramount, from a 4K scan of
original negative elements.The rich
colours of the Indians’ shawls and serapes are eye-popping in restored
Technicolor.Maybe the movie’s omission
from prior video formats, especially the inferior VHS process, and more
especially the even worse VHS/EP/SLP budget format in which Paramount briefly
released a handful of its archival titles in 1992, wasn’t such a loss after
all.
The special features
on the Blu-ray include an informative audio commentary by Toby Roan, previews
of related KL titles, and sharp SDH captioning.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Video:
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the thrilling disaster epic DEEP IMPACT, arriving for the first time on 4K Ultra HD May 2, 2023 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Originally released on May 8, 1998, DEEP IMPACT
grossed nearly $350 million worldwide on an $80 million budget. A
unique and dynamic fusion of large-scale excitement with touching
personal storylines, the film depicts humanity’s response as a comet
hurtles through space on a collision course with Earth.
Fully remastered and boasting Dolby Vision and HDR-10, DEEP IMPACT
is a must-have action-adventure for your collection. Directed by Mimi
Leder and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the film features an
all-star cast including Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa
Redgrave, Leelee Sobieski, Blair Underwood, Maximilian Schell, and
Morgan Freeman.
The DEEP IMPACT
4K Ultra HD release includes the film on both 4K Ultra HD and on
Blu-ray™, access to a Digital copy of the film, and legacy bonus content
including commentary and fascinating featurettes delving into the
making of this 90s classic. Bonus content is detailed below:
·Commentary by director Mimi Leder and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar
FROM MGM AND UNITED ARTISTS, ROCKY, ROCKY II, ROCKY III AND
ROCKY IV
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN 4K RESOLUTION WITH
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)
Own it on 4K Ultra HD and Digital
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Burbank, Calif., – Get knocked out by the
new 4K contender – the ROCKY I-IV 4K 4-Film Collection newly
remastered in stunning 4K Ultra HD. Sylvester Stallone stars in the greatest
boxing saga of all time and triumphs as one of the most inspirational
characters in cinematic history. Witness every epic, action packed fight and
unforgettable moment as Rocky punches his way to the top against impossible
odds when the ROCKY I-IV 4K 4-Film Collection is
released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack.
The ROCKY I-IV 4K 4-Film Collection includes
the MGM feature films ROCKY, ROCKY II, ROCKY III and ROCKY
IV, along with theROCKY
IV Ultimate Director’s Cut, ROCKY VS. DRAGO.
This collection contains a Blu-ray disc featuring the hour-long behind the
scenes documentary on the making of this extended director’s cut of ROCKY
IV, ROCKY IV: ROCKY VS. DRAGO as well as a
selection of previously existing EC.
The Ultra HD Blu-ray disc featuring the films ROCKY,
ROCKY II, ROCKY III, ROCKY IV and theROCKY
IV Ultimate Director’s Cut, ROCKY VS. DRAGO will
feature Dolby VisionTM HDR that dramatically expands the color
palette and contrast range, and uses dynamic metadata to automatically optimize
the picture for every screen, frame by frame.
The Ultra HD Blu-ray will include an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with
each feature film in 4K with HDR, a bonus Blu-ray disc with the documentary and
a selection of pre-existing special features, and a Digital version of the
feature films.
For the complete 4K Ultra HD experience with HDR, a 4K Ultra HD TV
with HDR, an Ultra HD Blu-ray player and a high-speed HDMI (category 2) cable
are required.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Video:
All four big-screen adventures featuring fan-favorite Star Trek characters Picard, Riker, Data, LaForge, Worf, Troi, and Dr. Crusher arrive for the first time ever on 4K Ultra HD™ with Dolby Vision™* and HDR-10 on April 4, 2023, just in time for First Contact Day (April 5th, the day Vulcans first made contact with humans).
The
journey begins with original cast members Kirk, Scott, and Chekov in a
story that spans space and time in STAR TREK: GENERATIONS, continuing
with a terrifying face off against the Borg in STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT,
a dangerous plot against a peaceful planet in STAR TREK: INSURRECTION,
and a familiar old foe returning in STAR TREK: NEMESIS.
All four films will be available together in the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION 4-MOVIE COLLECTION.
The 4-Movie Collection includes each film on 4K Ultra HD, as well as
fully remastered on Blu-ray™, plus all legacy bonus content and access
to Digital copies of each film. The Collection is presented in a slipcase beautifully illustrated to complement the STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL 6-MOVIE COLLECTION, making this a must-own set to complete every fan’s collection.
In
addition, each film will be available individually on 4K Ultra HD with a
bonus Blu-ray featuring the fully remastered film, along with all
legacy bonus content and access to a Digital copy of the film.
Special features are detailed below.
STAR TREK: GENERATIONS Bonus Content
Commentary by director David Carson and Manny Coto
Commentary by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
Library Computer
Production
Uniting Two Legends
Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion
Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire
Scoring Trek
Visual Effects
Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures
Crashing the Enterprise
Scene Deconstruction
Main Title Sequence
The Nexus Ribbon
Saucer Crash Sequence
The Star Trek Universe
A Tribute to Matt Jefferies
The Enterprise Lineage
Captain Picard’s Family Album
Creating 24th Century Weapons
Next Generation Designer Flashback Andrew Probert
Stellar Cartography on Earth
Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 1
Trek Roundtable: Generations
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 007: Trilithium
Deleted Scenes
Archives
Trailers
STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT Bonus Content
Commentary by director and actor Jonathan Frakes
Commentary by screenplay writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
Commentary by Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale
Text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
Library Computer
Production
Making First Contact
The Art of First Contact
The Story
The Missile Silo
The Deflector Dish
From “A” to “E”
Scene Deconstruction
Borg Queen Assembly
Escape Pod Launch
Borg Queen’s Demise
The Star Trek Universe
Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute
The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane
First Contact: The Possibilities
Industrial Light & Magic - The Next Generation
Greetings from the International Space Station
SpaceShipOne’s Historic Flight
Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 2
Trek Roundtable: First Contact
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: Temporal Vortex
The Borg Collective
Unimatrix One
The Queen
Design Matrix
Archives
Trailers
STAR TREK: INSURRECTION Bonus Content
Commentary by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis
Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
Library Computer
Production
It Takes a Village
Location, Location, Location
The Art of Insurrection
Anatomy of a Stunt
The Story
Making Star Trek: Insurrection
Director’s Notebook
The Star Trek Universe
Westmore’s Aliens
Westmore’s Legacy
Star Trek’s Beautiful Alien Women
Marina Sirtis - The Counselor Is In
Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 3
Trek Roundtable: Insurrection
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 009: The Origins of the Ba’ku and Son’a Conflict
Creating the Illusion
Shuttle Chase
Drones
Duck Blind
Deleted Scenes
Archives
Advertising
STAR TREK: NEMESIS Bonus Content
Commentary by director Stuart Baird
Commentary by producer Rick Berman
Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
Library Computer
Production
Nemesis Revisited
New Frontiers – Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis
Storyboarding the Action
Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis
Build and Rebuild
Four-Wheeling in the Final Frontier
Screen Test: Shinzon
The Star Trek Universe
A Star Trek Family’s Final Journey
A Bold Vision of The Final Frontier
The Enterprise E
Reunion with The Rikers
Today’s Tech Tomorrow’s Data
Robot Hall of Fame
Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 4
Trek Roundtable: Nemesis
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 010: Thalaron Radiation
Even
diehard fans of filmmaker David Lynch were puzzled by his 2006 epic surrealist
horror picture, INLAND EMPIRE. There are legions of fans and critics who
love the movie, but there are likely more who find it impenetrable, way too
long, self-indulgent, pretentious, and, as one critic called it, a film that
might have been made by a “former genius who now has Alzheimer’s.”
INLAND
EMPIRE is
tough viewing. It deals with what could be called “multi-verses” before that
term was trendy. Some consider it to be the third film in a loosely
interconnected trilogy of movies Lynch made about “psychogenic fugues,” or dissociative
disorders. Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001) both
deal with similar themes in which protagonists become “somebody else” during
the course of the stories.
One
aspect of the film that everyone agrees on is the stellar, virtuoso performance
by Laura Dern. Lynch famously sat on Hollywood Boulevard with a live cow in an attempt
to campaign for Dern’s performance to be considered for an Academy Award (she
wasn’t nominated). Ironically, even Dern has admitted she has no clue what is
going on in INLAND EMPIRE.
The
best this reviewer can make of the story is that Dern plays Hollywood actress
Nikki Grace, who is married to a Polish man, Piotrek (Peter J. Lucas), who has
something to hide. Nikki has just been cast in a movie called On High in
Blue Tomorrows, to be directed by the great Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons)
and co-starring heartthrob Devon Berk (Justin Theroux). We learn that the movie
is based on an unfinished German movie from decades ago that was allegedly
“cursed” because the lead actors were murdered. Nikki, who has begun an affair
with Devon, sets out to investigate this history and literally falls through a
series of rabbit holes (there are even sequences featuring the anthropomorphic rabbits
from Lynch’s online shorts series, “Rabbits”) and becomes Sue Blue, who may or
may not be a completely different character from Nikki or perhaps a separate
personality. And then there’s the “Lost Girl” (Karolina Gruszka), a
human-trafficked prostitute in Poland in another decade (the 1930s?) whose
actions mirror what’s going on in Sue’s world.
Is
it a story of reincarnation? Of death and what might be the afterlife? Or maybe
there isn’t a story at all that can be followed linearly. Perhaps Lynch
intended INLAND EMPIRE to be an experience of emotions, images, and
surrealism in the vein of classic experimental filmmakers such as Stan
Brakhage, Germaine Dulac, Man Ray, and the Luis Buñuel
& Salvador Dalí collaborations. Maybe the movie is the
attempt to film in dream logic—which often makes no sense but can be vividly visceral.
At
any rate, INLAND EMPIRE is not for a mainstream audience. This is Lynch
at his most Lynchian. Be forewarned. Interestingly, it is the last theatrical
feature the filmmaker has made to date.
The
Criterion Collection has issued a new HD digital master on Blu-ray, made from
the 4K restoration supervised by Lynch, with both a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master
Audio and uncompressed stereo soundtrack (also remastered by Lynch and original
recording mixers Dean Hurley and Ron Eng). As is usually the case with Lynch’s
films, the sound is always impressive, and INLAND EMPIRE doesn’t disappoint
in that regard.
The
package contains two disks—one with the feature film (it’s 180 minutes in
length), and the other with hours of supplements. Some of the supplements are
ported over from the original 2007 Rhino-Studio Canal DVD release: “More Things
That Happened” (75 minutes of extra scenes); LYNCH (a 2007 nearly-90-minute
behind-the-scenes documentary made by blackANDwhite); and “Ballerina,” a 2007
short film by Lynch. New to the Criterion release is an excellent half-hour
conversation between Laura Dern and actor Kyle MacLachlan, who both discuss
their respective work with Lynch and specifically Dern’s role in INLAND
EMPIRE; LYNCH2, a shorter documentary made by blackANDwhite; an
audio excerpt read by Lynch from his autobiography, Room to Dream
(co-written with Kristine McKenna); and the theatrical trailer. The booklet
contains an interview excerpt from Richard A. Barney’s book David Lynch:
Interviews.
Love
it or hate it, INLAND EMPIRE is without question one of the most
challenging and provocative pieces of cinema released since the New Millennium.
Click here to pre-order from Amazon. (The Blu-ray will be released on March 21.)
John Sturges’ “Last Train from Gun Hill” was released in 1959 as one ofseveral
high-profile Westerns of its era, designed to lure audiences away from
their television sets and back to their neighborhood movie theatres.Against
TV’s advantage of free programming that you could enjoy from the
leisure of your easy chair, films like “Last Train from Gun Hill,”
“Warlock,” “The Horse Soldiers,” and “The Hanging Tree” countered with
A-list stars, widescreen CinemaScope and VistaVision, Technicolor, and
sweeping outdoor locations.The
studios wagered, correctly, that viewers would welcome a change from
the predictable characters, cheap backlot sets, and drab black-and-white
photography of “Gunsmoke,” “Wagon Train,” and “Cheyenne.”The
approach was successful, sporadically continuing through the next
decade with expensive epics like “How the West Was Won” (1962), “Custer
of the West” (1967), and “MacKenna’s Gold” (1968) before it collapsed
from dwindling returns, scaled-back studio budgets, and changing popular
tastes at the end of the 1960s.
As Sturges’ movie opens, two loutish cowboys chase down, rape, and murder a young Indian woman.Although the rape and murder occur offscreen, the lead-up is viscerally terrifying.In a bizarrely poor choice of words, Bosley Crowther’s review in the New York Times referred to the murderers as “scallywags.” At least in my lexicon, scallywags aremischievous kids who make prank phone calls, not perpetrators of a horrendous sexual assault.When the pair flee in panic after realizing what they’ve done, they inadvertently leave behind a horse and saddle.The
murdered woman’s husband is Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas), the marshal of
the nearby town of Pawley, who immediately identifies the letters “CB”
branded on the saddle.They’re
the initials of Craig Belden (Anthony Quinn), a powerful rancher who
controls Gun Hill, a community further down the railroad line.One
of the murderers was Belden’s hired hand Lee (played by Brian Hutton,
later the director of “Where Eagles Dare” and “Kelly’s Heroes”), and the
other was Belden’s son Rick (Earl Holliman).When
Morgan arrives in Gun Hill with arrest warrants, Belden first tries to
convince him to go easy by reminding him that he and Craig were once
good friends. After that doesn’t work, he resorts to intimidation.The
cowardly local marshal refuses to help Morgan, unashamedly admitting
that he fears the boss man’s wrath more than he respects the rule of
law.(I’ll leave it to you to decide if you see a similarity to recent political controversies.)The
other townspeople are chilly if not hostile, and when Morgan finally
subdues Rick and handcuffs him in a hotel room, waiting for the arrival
of the train back to Pawley, Belden surrounds the building with hisarmy of hired guns.
The only person sympathetic to Morgan is Belden’s battered girlfriend Linda (Carolyn Jones).Even she believes the determined marshal faces overwhelming odds:
“You remind me of Jimmy, a fella I used to know,” she remarks. “Stubborn as a mule.”
“Next time you see Jimmy, say hello,” Morgan answers dryly.“We seem to have a lot in common.”
“More than you know.He’s dead.”
“Last
Train from Gun Hill” originated with a story treatment by writer Les
Crutchfield, expanded by James W. Poe with an uncredited assist from
Dalton Trumbo, whom Douglas brought in to sharpen the dialogue.The exchanges between the characters, like the one quoted above, crackle with Trumbo’s signature style.Crutchfield
contributed scripts regularly to “Gunsmoke,” and “Last Train from Gun
Hill” unfolds like a traditional episode of the long-running series,
dressed up with a little more complexity, a rape-murder that would never
have passed network censorship, and a striking climactic scene that
also would have run afoul of the censors.Standing up, Morgan drives a wagon slowly down main street to meet the arriving train.Rick
stands beside him, handcuffed, with the muzzle of Morgan’s borrowed
shotgun pressed up under his chin to keep Belden and his gunmen at bay. When
Dell Comics adapted the movie as a comic book at the time of the film’s
release, it chose that scene as the cover photograph.As
far as I know, the graphic come-on of imminent shotgun mayhem didn’t
raise the ire of parents, educators, child psychologists, or media
pundits in that distant year of 1959.Back then, of course, pervasive gun violence wasn’t the social catastrophe that it is today.In 2022, the comic book would surely raise a firestorm of controversy on social media and cable news.
“Last
Train from Gun Hill” falls just short of a true classic, since the plot
mostly relies on ingredients that we’ve seen many times before in other
Westerns—the incorruptible lawman, the overbearing cattle baron, his
bullying but weak-willed son, the old friends now at cross-purposes, the
unfriendly town, the tense wait for a train—but Douglas, Quinn, and
supporting actors Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brian Hutton, and Brad
Dexter are at the top of their form, and Sturges’ no-nonsense direction
keeps the action moving at a tense pace.The
Blu-ray edition of the film from Paramount Pictures’ specialty label,
“Paramount Presents,” contains a sharp, remastered transfer, an
appreciative video feature with Leonard Maltin, and theatrical trailers.Even
though “Last Train from Gun Hill” ran frequently on local TV channels
in the 1970s and ‘80s, its visual quality there was seriously
compromised by the broadcast format.Worse, endless commercial breaks disrupted Sturges’ masterful mood of mounting tension.Revisiting
the production in its original, intended form, we may better appreciate
its merits as classic Hollywood professionalism at its finest.Highly recommended.
WARNER
BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE BELOVED CLASSIC
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN TO BE RELEASED ON 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY™
Acclaimed as one of the greatest MUSICAL films of all
time,
will BE AVAILABLE FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN 4K RESOLUTION WITH HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR)
BURBANK,
CA, – To celebrate the 70th anniversary of
the 1952 acclaimed and beloved film, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced
today that Singin’ In The Rain will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo
Pack and Digital on April 26.
Singin’
In The Rain is
widely considered to be one of the greatest musical films in cinematic history.
The musical romantic comedy was directed by choreographed
by Gene Kelly (On the Town) and Stanley
Donen (On the Town) and stars Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean
Hagen, Millard Mitchel and Cyd Charisse.
The film was written
by Adolph Green and Betty Comden and produced by Arthur Freed. The music is by
Nacio Herb Brown and the lyrics are by Arthur Freed.
In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was
one of the first 25 films selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film
Registry for
being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".The
film ranked 10th on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list, 16th on AFI’s 100
Years…100 Laughs list, 16th on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions list, “Singin’ In
The Rain” was 3rd on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs list, and the film was number 1
on AFI’s Greatest Movie Musicals list.
Ultra HD*
showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color
spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a home
entertainment viewing experience like never before.
In addition, the remastered film will screen at the TCM Film Festival on
April 24**. For more information, please
visit https://filmfestival.tcm.com.
TCM Big
Screen Classics will also present the 70th anniversary of Singin' In The
Rain in theaters this April in the US. Tickets are on sale now, go towww.FathomEvents.comfor more details.
Singin’
In The Rainwill be
available on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack for $24.99 SRP and features an Ultra
HD Blu-ray disc with the feature film in 4K with HDR and a Blu-ray disc of Singin’
In The Rain. Fans can also own Singin’ In The Rainin 4K Ultra HD via purchase from select
digital retailers beginning on April 26th.
Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray Elements
Singin’
In The Rain Blu-ray
contains the following previously released special features:
Commentary by Debbie
Reynold, Donald O’Connor, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, Stanley Donen, Betty
Camden, Adolph Green, Bad Lurhmann and Rudy Behlmer.
Singin’ in the Rain: Raining on a New Generation
Documentary
Theatrical Trailer
DIGITAL
DISTRIBUTION ELEMENTS
On April 26, Singing In The Rain4K UHDwill be available to own for streaming and
download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on
favorite devices from select digital retailers including GooglePlay, Vudu, Xbox
and others, and will be made available digitally on Video On Demand services
from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.
Finally,
a high definition Blu-ray disk of Robert Redford’s 1980 masterpiece, Ordinary
People, has been released. To date, the film has existed on home video only
on VHS and DVD, and the new Paramount Presents edition is most welcome.
People
was
Redford’s directorial debut, and at the time audiences and critics expected it
to be good, but they didn’t count on it being that good. It took the
Best Picture prize at the Academy Awards, along with a trophy for Redford for
Direction, one for Alvin Sargent’s Adapted Screenplay (based on Judith Guest’s
wonderful novel), and a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar for Timothy
Hutton. Granted, Hutton’s character, Conrad Jarrett, is really the protagonist,
i.e., the lead in the movie, so it’s one of those infuriating cases in
which an actor is nominated in the wrong category. (That said, there’s no way
Hutton would have won over Robert De Niro’s blistering once-in-a-lifetime
performance in Raging Bull, so the studio was smart to offer up Hutton
in the Supporting category, where he’d have a better than fighting chance.)
Mary
Tyler Moore also received a nomination for Best Actress, and Judd Hirsch a nod
for Supporting Actor (competing with Hutton). They are both brilliant, too.
Moore plays against type, portraying a woman with a cold heart who has
forgotten—or never knew—how to love, and Hirsch is the psychiatrist with whom
we all would want to spend two sessions a week. Missing from the Oscar awards
tally was Donald Sutherland, who, for this reviewer’s money, provides the
performance of his career. In many ways, he’s the center of the picture. We
slowly see that his stable assuredness is also cracking from the pretense going
in his family. Why Sutherland wasn’t at least nominated is a head-scratcher.
The
story is about a mid-to-upper class family living in the Chicago suburb of Lake
Forest. Everything should be as Beth Jarrett (Moore) believes it is—that their
family is happy and their world is perfect. “Neat and easy,” as her husband,
Calvin (Sutherland), describes how she keeps their lives. But under the
polished veneer, all is not well. Not one bit. The Jarretts recently
experienced a tragedy. The oldest son, Buck, drowned in a boating accident
while out on the water with his younger brother, Conrad (Hutton). Not long
afterwards, Conrad attempted suicide and ended up in a psychiatric hospital for
four months. Now he’s home, and Conrad is having a very difficult time
adjusting. He can’t relate the way he once did to his high school buddies. He
can’t feel as if he’s part of the school swim team, the way he could prior to
the incident. Worst of all, his relationship with his mother has deteriorated. Calvin
can see the conflict between them and does his best to play referee and
understanding father, but this only begins to drive a wedge between him and
Beth. It’s only after Conrad starts seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Hirsch),
that the teenager embarks on an excruciating but necessary emotional journey
toward wellness.
The
script is an honest and canny depiction of how families bury truths and put up
facades. Redford’s direction is sensitively nuanced, and the acting all around
is impeccable. This is powerful stuff. Ordinary People also provides one
of the better positive depictions of psychiatry ever put on celluloid, and this
reviewer challenges anyone viewing the film not to have welling eyes during the
scene in which Dr. Berger tells Conrad, “I’m your friend.”
Beyond
the quartet of principle stars, Elizabeth McGovern is striking as a high school
romantic interest for Conrad, a young Adam Baldwin is effective as one of the
teen swim team pals, M. Emmet Walsh has a turn as the clueless swimming coach,
and Dinah Manoff has a short but significant scene as a fellow hospital
patient, now out in the real world like Conrad.
But
the movie belongs to Timothy Hutton. Ordinary People was his first
feature film (he had made only one television movie earlier in the year, and
appeared uncredited, briefly, as a child in a picture in the 1960s.) His Conrad
is a virtuoso piece of acting.
The
Paramount Presents feature is remastered from a new 4K film transfer overseen
by Redford, and it looks crisp and colorful. The only supplements are two new,
short featurettes with interviews with Hutton and author Judith Guest, plus the
theatrical trailer.
Ordinary
People merited
every honor it received. It is an emotional roller-coaster that elevates the
Hollywood family drama to an unprecedented high. Enthusiastically recommended.
Some
personal observations and opinions here. There have been critics over the years
(Siskel and Ebert, for example) who have claimed that Ordinary People “stole”
the Oscar from Raging Bull, which is often cited not only as the “best”
movie of 1980, but of the entire 1980s decade.
I
love Raging Bull and consider it a magnificent example of bravura
filmmaking from Martin Scorsese. It’s slick, gorgeously shot in black and
white, brilliantly edited (by Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker), and it contains
not only powerhouse performances by Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty in supporting
roles, but the crowning screen appearance of Robert De Niro’s career. There is
no question that De Niro’s Jake LaMotta is one of the most accomplished acting
displays ever.
Yes,
Raging Bull is a great film… and I also find it unpleasant as hell. The
brutality is visceral, and of course, that’s the point. It’s about a man who can’t
control his rage. I may love the film, but I can’t say I enjoy it,
if that makes any sense.
Ordinary
People
is not a happy story, either—that’s true. While it’s without physical violence,
it is an emotionally violent tale; but it is so elegantly rendered with
intelligence and, yes, beauty, that I, personally, am always movedby
it. For me, it tugs at the heartstrings and the tear ducts. And while the fate
of the tale’s family is a tragedy, there is the hint of hope at the end that
all will be well for young Conrad Jarrett. I adore Ordinary People more
every time I see it.
Ordinary People deserved the Oscar for Best Picture in 1980.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
First 4K Ultra HD in the Paramount Presents Line Debuts May 17, 2022 with New and Legacy Bonus Content
One
of the greatest Westerns in cinematic history arrives for the first
time ever on 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (HDR) as part of the
Paramount Presents line when THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE debuts May 17, 2022 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Four-time Academy Award®-winning*
director John Ford brought together an all-star cast for what is
considered by many critics to be a quintessential—and yet
pioneering—Western late in his storied career. Starring James Stewart
and John Wayne (together for the first time), alongside Vera Miles, Lee
Marvin, John Carradine and Lee Van Cleef, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
tells the engrossing story of a senator (Stewart), his old friend
(Wayne), and a despicable outlaw called Liberty Valance (Marvin).
THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCEwas
selected in 2007 for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically,
or aesthetically significant.” Adapted from a short story by Dorothy
M. Johnson, the screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck
gave us the often-quoted line “When the legend becomes fact, print the
legend.”
Meticulously remastered in stunning 4K Ultra HD for its 60th anniversary this year, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
is presented in collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the
film’s original theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie
moments. The release also includes access to a Digital copy of the film
and a Blu-ray Disc™ with a new Filmmaker Focus featuring film historian
Leonard Maltin discussing John Ford, the film, and its legacy. The
Blu-ray™ also includes legacy bonus content as detailed below:
·Filmmaker Focus - Leonard Maltin on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance—NEW!
Feature commentary
by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, along with his archival recordings with
John Ford and James Stewart
Selected scene commentary
with introduction by Dan Ford, along with his archival recordings with
John Ford, James Stewart and Lee
Marvin
The Size Of Legends, The Soul Of Myth
Chapter 1: Changing Of The Guard
Chapter 2: The Irascible Poet
Chapter 3: The Hero Doesn't Win, The Winner Isn't Heroic
Chapter 4: Most Things Happen By Accident
Chapter 5: The Great Protector
Chapter 6: Spotlight - Lee Marvin
Chapter 7: Print The Legend
Original Theatrical Trailer
About Paramount Presents
This
collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover favorites,
each from the studio’s renowned library. Every Paramount Presents
release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive
collectible packaging. Additional titles available in the Paramount
Presents collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The Golden Child, Trading Places, The Court Jester, Love Story, Elizabethtown, The Greatest Show on Earth, Mommie Dearest,Last Train From Gun Hill, 48 HRS., Another 48 HRS., Almost Famous, A Place in the Sun, Nashville, Bugsy Malone, Breakdown,The Sheik, Vanilla Sky, Ragtime, Harold and Maude and Ordinary People.
Cinema
Retro has received the following press release from Paramount:
Paramount Pictures Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Francis Ford Coppala's Cinematic Masterpiece
HOLLYWOOD,
Calif. – March 1, 2022 — In celebration of the 50th anniversary of
Francis Ford Coppola’s Academy Award®-winning* masterworkThe Godfather, Paramount Pictures will be releasing all three films
in the epic trilogy on 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever on March 22, 2022,
with all the films having been meticulously restored under the direction of
Coppola.
“I
am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third
of my creative life,” said Francis Ford Coppola. “With this 50th
anniversary tribute, I’m especially proud Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda:
The Death of Michael Corleone is included, as it captures Mario and my original
vision in definitively concluding our epic trilogy. It’s also gratifying to
celebrate this milestone with Paramount alongside the wonderful fans who’ve
loved it for decades, younger generations who still find it relevant today, and
those who will discover it for the first time.”
Coppola’s
masterful film adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel chronicles the rise and fall of
the Corleone family and the film trilogy is rightfully viewed as one of the
greatest in cinematic history. In preparation for the 50th
anniversary of the first film’s original release on March 24, 1972, Paramount
and Coppola’s production company American Zoetrope undertook a painstaking
restoration of all three films over the course of three years. Every
effort was made to create the finest possible presentation for today’s
audiences who can watch the films using technology that has advanced
dramatically since 2007 when the last restoration was completed by eminent film
historian and preservationist Robert Harris. Using that work as a blueprint,
the team spent thousands of hours to ensure that every frame was evaluated to
create the most pristine presentation while remaining true to the original look
and feel of the films.
The
monumental effort included the following:
Over
300 cartons of film were scrutinized to find the best possible resolution
for every frame of all three films.
Over
4,000 hours were spent repairing film stains, tears, and other anomalies
in the negatives.
Over
1,000 hours were spent on rigorous color correction to ensure the high
dynamic range tools were respectful of the original vision of Coppola and
cinematographer Gordon Willis.
In
addition to the 5.1 audio approved by Walter Murch in 2007, the original
mono tracks on The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II have been restored.
All
work was overseen by Coppola.
“We
felt privileged to restore these films and a little in awe every day we worked
on them,” said Andrea Kalas, senior vice president, Paramount Archives.
“We were able to witness first-hand how the brilliant cinematography, score,
production design, costume design, editing, performances, and, of course,
screenwriting and direction became famously more than the sum of their
parts. It was our commitment to honor all of the filmmakers’ exceptional
work.”
Newly
restored and remastered in Dolby Vision, all three films in the landmark
trilogy will be released together with HDR-10 on 4K Ultra HD Digital and 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray™ for the first time ever. The 4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray set will include The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II,
and Coppola’s recently re-edited version of the final film, Mario Puzo’s THE
GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. The disc set includes
legacy commentaries by Coppola, as well as access to Digital copies of The
Godfather, The Godfather: Part II and Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda:
The Death of Michael Corleone.
In
addition to the widely available 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set, a 4K Ultra HD Limited
Collector’s Edition will also be released in deluxe packaging and includes a
hardcover coffee table book featuring stunning photographs, as well as portrait
art prints on archival paper. Both 4K Ultra HD sets include new bonus
content including an introduction to The Godfather by Coppola, a
featurette about the preservation process, photos by acclaimed photographer
Steve Schapiro, home movie footage, and comparisons of the new restoration to
earlier versions of the films. A full list of new and legacy bonus
content follows:
NEW
BONUS CONTENT:
·
Introduction to The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola
·
Full Circle: Preserving The Godfather—Paramount Pictures
archivists detail the incredible restoration process with archival footage
showing the evolution of the film through various home entertainment
incarnations as picture and audio technologies make quantum leaps over the
decades.
·
Capturing the Corleones: Through the Lens of Photographer Steve Schapiro—
In this reflective and frank discussion, special photographer Steve Schapiro
shares his unique perspective and cherished memories as a witness to the making
of this seminal film. Commentary on curated archival images makes for a
fascinating, never-before-seen addition to the production’s history.
·
The Godfather: Home Movies— An assortment of 8mm home movie
footage shot in 1971 offers a candid glimpse into the production of The
Godfather. Shot on location at the Norton family estate on Staten
Island’s Emerson Hill, this is the first time it’s been made available to the
public.
·
Restoration Comparisons— Before and after highlights showcase extensive
picture quality improvements to The Godfather.
LEGACY
BONUS CONTENT:
The Masterpiece
That Almost Wasn’t
Godfather World
Emulsional
Rescue—Revealing The Godfather
…when the
shooting stopped
The Godfather on the Red Carpet
Four Short Films
on The Godfather
oThe
Godfather vs. The Godfather: Part II
oCannoli
oRiffing
on the Riffing
oClemenza
·The
Family Tree
·Crime
Organization Chart
·Connie
and Carlo’s Wedding Album
·2008
Credits
·Behind
the Scenes
oA Look
Inside
oOn
Location
oFrancis
Ford Coppola’s Notebook
oMusic
of The Godfather
§Nino
Rota
§Carmine
Coppola
oCoppola
& Puzo on Screenwriting
oGordon
Willis on Cinematography
oStoryboards
– The Godfather: Part II
oStoryboards
– The Godfather: Part III
oThe
Godfather Behind the Scenes 1971
·Additional
Scenes
·Galleries
·Trailers
·Acclaim
& Response
·Additional
Material
·The
Filmmakers
·The
Godfather: Part III—newly
remastered and restored versions of the original theatrical cut and Coppola’s
1991 cut (note: these are exclusive to the 4K Ultra HD Collections)
Newly
restored and remastered versions of The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, and
Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone will
also be available together on Blu-ray™ with access to Digital copies
and the new and legacy bonus content detailed above.
“Binge-watching”
is a relatively recent addition to our vocabulary, thanks to 24/7 streaming TV
channels, but the concept itself isn’t new.On summer weekends in the
1970s, drive-in theatres offered the same opportunity for immersing yourself incheap, all-night entertainment.There, you’d binge not on
multiple episodes of “Peacemaker” or “Walking Dead” but instead on their
Disco-era equivalent: triple or quadruple features of B-Westerns, soft-core sex
comedies starring ex-Playboy Centerfolds, Kung-fu imports, and populist
vigilante dramas.
Back then, one film on the bill in scratchy, tinny
celluloid might have been “God’s Gun,” starring Lee Van Cleef.In the 1976 Western, now
available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, an outlaw gang led by Sam Clayton (Jack
Palance) sweeps into town, demolishes the saloon owned by pretty Jenny (Sybil Danning),
and kills a man at the poker table.Jenny is furious when the cowardly sheriff (Richard Boone) refuses to go
after the outlaws as they ride out.The local Catholic priest, Father John (Van Cleef), follows instead, and
brings back the murderer, Clayton’s nephew Jess, on his own.This provokes more mayhem as
the outlaws return, break Jess out of jail, gun down Father John, and go on a
further rampage of rape and murder.The sheriff still prefers to keep a low profile, so Jenny’s son Johnny
(Leif Garrett) sets off for Mexico.There the boy intends to find Father John’s twin brother Lewis, a
retired gunfighter, and bring him back to restore peace in Juno City.Those scenes give Leif Garrett
nearly as much screen time as Lee Van Cleef.This was probably welcomed by
the young actor’s rising fan base of thirteen-year-old girls in 1976.By Van Cleef’s leathery old
fans, not so much.
“God’s Gun” was designed to look like a Spaghetti
Western, still a viable if fading genre in the mid-'70s, even to the
extent of reuniting Lee Van Cleef with director Gianfranco Parolini (alias
“Frank Kramer”) from “Sabata” and “Return of Sabata.”Parolini employs many of the
stock techniques from his earlier Westerns, including sudden close-ups when
characters are shot, skewed camera angles from the victims’ perspective as they
fall dead, and noisy saloon brawls.In reality, the movie was produced in Israel by Menahem Golan and Yoram
Globus, who would later head the Cannon Group in the 1980s.Golan and Globus followed a
simple, commercially successful formula — take a popular genre, commission a
marginally functional script with plenty of action, headline two or three
well-known actors, hire an experienced B-list director, and keep the remaining
overhead as low as possible.Many
B-movies try to finesse their cheap budgets, but “God’s Gun” doesn’t bother.The Western costumes look like
remainders from the Party Store, Van Cleef is burdened with a bad toupee and
goatee, one exterior set doubles as two towns, and it’s painfully obvious that
neither Van Cleef nor Boone dubbed themselves in post-production.The secondary casting is
comparably haphazard.As
Alex Cox notes in his audio commentary for the Blu-ray, Palance’s skinny,
curly-haired bad guys look more like “a bunch of hippies” than bloodthirsty
frontier desperadoes.Not
that any of this would have mattered in your 2 o’clock stupor as you watched“God’s Gun” at the bottom of a
drive-in triple-feature in 1976.
Kino Lorber presents “God’s Gun” in a remastered 2K
edition at a 1.85:1 aspect.The
picture looks a little soft, but it’s probably the best the studio could do
with the materials at hand.Besides
Alex Cox’s droll, savvy commentary, the Blu-ray includes reversible cover art
from the original movie posters, as well as the vintage theatrical trailers for
“God’s Gun” and other Lee Van Cleef Westerns on Kino Lorber’s backlist.If you’re in a nostalgic mood
for a 1970s drive-in experience, you could do worse than select “God’s Gun” and
two or three others from the KL catalog. Augment with a couple of stale
hot dogs and watery Cokes, fill your TV room with the heady scent of week-old
popcorn, and then sit back and enjoy.
It’s
always good to hear from All Score Media, a label that continues to focus on
retro soundtrack releases and new soundtrack music produced in a retro style. Mondo
Sangue are a group that continue to flourish within that new/old style genre of
fictional scoring, and they do it extremely well. Their latest album, Rosso
come La Notte (ASM 050 / LP 21300-1) is in fact their fourth release for the
label, the previous three of which have been featured either within the pages
of Cinema Retro or here on our site. Mondo Sangue are certainly diverse in
their range, exploring the Spaghetti Western genre, the fantasy sci-fi
adventure and with this latest outing, the world of Italian Giallo.
Arguably, the European Giallo genre is among
the most popular, with colourful, atmospheric use of music which defined the
entire psychedelic mood of the period. Mondo Sangue has cleverly stuck to the
formula here, with plenty of recognised references to Italian genre cinema, and
why wouldn’t they? It is after all, a genre-defining sound. So whilst it may
sound somewhat familiar, we are certainly listening to something entirely
original. The familiarity merely acts as a layer of comfort and in doing so,
perfectly sets the scene for an entirely fresh and enjoyable listening
experience.
Like other fictional scores, we are of course
required to use our imagination a little more, as we have no previous visual
concepts in comparison to a film that we have perhaps become accustomed to.
However, we do have a premise. The Milanese taxidermist Barbara travels to the
Black Forest for a museum assignment and shortly afterwards disappears without
a trace. Her sister follows her and not only comes across a mysterious series
of murders in the tranquil place, but also a dark secret …
There is certainly a nice dream-like,
otherworldly feel to Rosso come La Notte, and it’s easy to find yourself
completely immersed in its quality. The Stuttgart duo Mondo Sangue (Christian
Bluthardt and Yvy Pop) have not only proven (again) that they have a natural
flair for this style and concept, but it’s their passion and their love for
this niche music that ultimately transcends over to their releases. There’s no
question that their heart is undoubtedly in it, and it shines through in
abundance.
Like their previous releases, Mondo Sangue
and All Score Media have produced a stunning package for their album with
period artwork by artist Adrian Keindorf. The 180g vinyl LP provides a rich
sound quality, comes in a lavish gatefold sleeve and is strictly limited to
just 666 copies - all of which are hand-numbered. Each LP comes with a film
poster and a digital download code. In addition to this, 100 special edition LP
copies come sewn in screen-printed butcher paper. Overall, it’s a classy
addition to their impressive catalogue of releases.
Winnetou and His Friend Old
Firehand (1966) Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra
For
their second release, All Score Media have unveiled another great from their
Peter Thomas collection. Winnetou and His Friend Old Firehand (aka: Thunder at
the Border , Winnetou and Old Firehand ) (ASM 049 / LP 21299-1 / CD 21299-2)
was the 1966 finale of the Karl May film adaptations of Horst Wendlandt's
Rialto film. Alfred Vohrer (Perrak, The Yellow House on Pinnasberg), described
by cult director Quentin Tarantino as a genius, directed the film, moving away
from the contemplative German to the far more violent Spaghetti Western genre.
The move triggered an ambivalent response from critics and fans ranging from
"explosive" to "the low point of the series".
It also marked a change of direction in terms
of the film music, when Peter Thomas was brought in to replace Martin Böttcher
as the established “Winnetou composer†and was to remain the only Karl May film
to receive a Peter Thomas score. However, this wasn't due to a negative
response, far from it. Moreover, it was simply a case of ‘practicality’. Thomas
was, at this period of his career, extremely in demand. Between Edgar Wallace
thrillers and Jerry Cotton action films, he simply had more commissions than he
could handle. It was not until 1980 that Thomas returned to the subject with
the music for the TV series Mein Freund Winnetou.
Thomas’s resulting score fell somewhere in
between Böttcher's Karl May string melodies and the much more experimental and
stylistic Spaghetti Western music of Ennio Morricone. The score is impressive,
and never plays safe, it’s title theme paves the way and sets the tone
perfectly with plenty of high energy strings and wild playful brass. It’s
typically Thomas in full flow.
This packed (42 tracks) score marks its world
premiere on vinyl and has been fully remastered. The The CD version goes a step
further and also contains three previously unpublished tracks that were found
within Peter Thomas' estate, as well as a another bonus track with the composer
himself at the piano, as he presented the first demo to the film producer along
with his spoken comments (recorded in 1966 in the Bavaria Tonstudios, Munich).
Following on from their Bruce Lee: The Big
Boss (CD / LP ASM 048, 2020), this is All Score Media’s second LP / CD release
in the new dedicated series of the composer who died on May 17th, 2020. The
packaging and audio quality is again exceptional with Adrian Keindorf
responsible for the superb artwork to both the gatefold sleeve of the LP and
the digipack CD. The LP appears on high quality 180g vinyl as standard in black
and in a very attractive limited edition pressing of 300 LPs in transparent
turquoise. Another couple of first-rate releases from Dietmar Bosch and his
team, long may it continue.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Newly
Restored and Remastered for Its 40th Anniversary, Director
Milos Forman’s Acclaimed Drama is Latest Addition to
the Paramount Presents Line
Debuting
November 16, 2021, Limited-Edition Two-Disc Blu-rayâ„¢ Includes Newly
Discovered Director’s Cut Workprint, Deleted & Extended Scenes, and a New
Look Back at the Film
Oscar®-winning* director Milos Forman’s cinematic epic RAGTIME
arrives for its 40th anniversary in a Limited-Edition two-disc
Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Presents line on November 16, 2021 from
Paramount Home Entertainment. The film was originally released on
November 20, 1981.
Based on E.L. Doctorow’s best-selling novel, RAGTIME
tells an unforgettable story of disparate characters in New York City in the
early 1900s. From
the emerging New York suburb of New Rochelle to the flashy spectacle of
Atlantic City, a family faces racial tensions, scandals, and violence that will
test everything they believe in. With music by
Randy Newman, the film features a spectacular cast including James Cagney, Brad
Dourif, Moses Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern, Kenneth McMillan, Pat O’Brien, Donald
O’Connor, James Olson, Mandy Patinkin, Howard E. Rollins, Jr., Mary
Steenburgen, Debbie Allen, Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher, Samuel L. Jackson,
Norman Mailer, John Ratzenberger.
RAGTIME has been remastered from a 4K film transfer
and is presented in collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the
film’s theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments.
The two-discBlu-ray includes a newly discovered director’s cut
workprint version of the film (along with the theatrical version), deleted and
extended scenes, a look back at RAGTIME with Larry Karaszewski
and screenwriter Michael Weller, access to a Digital copy of the theatrical
version, and the additional legacy bonus content detailed below:
Disc 1
· Newly remastered
theatrical version
· Deleted and
Extended Scenes—NEW!
· Ragtime
Revisited: A Conversation with Larry Karaszewski and screenwriter Michael
Weller on Ragtime—NEW!
· Commentary by
director Milos Forman and executive producer Michael Hausman
· Deleted Scene
· Remembering Ragtime
Disc 2
· Director’s Cut
Workprint—NEW!
About Paramount
Presents
This collectible line spans
celebrated classics to film-lover favorites, each from the studio’s renowned
library. Every Paramount Presents release features never-before-seen
bonus content and exclusive collectible packaging. Additional titles
available in the Paramount Presents collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal
Attraction, King Creole, To Catch a Thief, Flashdance,
Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost,
Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The Golden Child, Trading Places, The Court
Jester, Love Story, Elizabethtown, The Greatest Show on Earth, Mommie Dearest,Last Train From Gun Hill, 48 HRS., Another 48 HRS., Almost Famous, A Place
in the Sun, Nashville, Bugsy Malone, Breakdown,The Sheik and Vanilla
Sky.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Celebrate
the 25th Anniversary of the Iconic Thriller,
Newly Remastered on 4K Ultra HD & Blu-rayâ„¢
Subversive
Fan-Favorite Arrives October 19, 2021
with an All-New Look at the Film’s Impact and Legacy
In celebration of its 25th
anniversary and just in time for Halloween, SCREAM will be
released for the first time on 4K Ultra HD and in a newly remastered Blu-ray on
October 19, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
25 years after its
theatrical debut, SCREAM remains a wildly entertaining and
terrifically terrifying cinematic experience. Directed by Wes Craven and
written by Kevin Williamson, the film is a brilliant deconstruction of the
horror genre that pays homage to the conventions of slasher films while
upending them with clever twists and witty dialogue.
The new SCREAM
4K Ultra HD, Limited-Edition 4K Ultra HD SteelBook, and Blu-ray include a
brand-new look back at the film and director Wes Craven, featuring archival
behind-the-scenes footage and new interviews with stars Neve Campbell,
Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, as well as screenwriter Kevin Williamson and
the directors and other cast members from the new installment in the franchise
scheduled to premiere in theaters in 2022 from Paramount Pictures and Spyglass
Media Group. The discs also include access to a Digital copy of the film
and the legacy bonus content detailed below:
·A Bloody Legacy: Scream
25 Years Later— NEW!
·Audio commentary by
director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson
·Production featurette
·Behind the Scenes
On the Scream Set
Drew Barrymore
·Q&A with Cast and
Crew
What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie?
Why are People so Fascinated by Horror Films?
Synopsis
After a series of
mysterious deaths befalls their small town, an offbeat group of friends led by
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) becomes the target of a masked killer. As the
body count rises, Sidney and her friends turn to the “rules†of horror films to
help navigate the real-life terror they’re living in. The film also stars
Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy,
Rose McGowan, and Drew Barrymore.
Fathom Events
In celebration of the 25th anniversary, Fathom
Events and Paramount Pictures will bring SCREAM back to select
cinemas for a special two-day event on October 10 and 11. Additional
details will be announced separately.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER 4K HD & DIGITAL EDITION FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER BLU-RAY AND DIGITAL EDITION FROM AMAZON
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Celebrate
the 55th Anniversary of the Star Trek Franchise with the
Debut of the First Four Films on 4K Ultra HD Blu-rayâ„¢
Newly
Remastered Films will also be Available Individually on Blu-rayâ„¢
New
Releases Arrive September 7, 2021
Just in
time to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the September 8, 1966
airing of the very first Star Trek episode, Paramount Home Entertainment
will debut the following new releases for every fan’s collection on September
7, 2021:
STAR
TREK: THE ORIGINAL 4 MOVIES 4K ULTRA HD/BLU-RAY COLLECTION
For the
first time ever, experience the original four Star Trek films in
stunning 4K Ultra HD. Newly remastered from original elements for optimal
picture quality, each film is presented with Dolby Vision® and HDR-10.*
This exceptional collection includes four Ultra HD discs, as well as four
remastered Blu-ray discs with hours of previously released bonus content.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (both the
theatrical and director’s cut), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home are presented on both the 4K Ultra HD and
Blu-ray Discs, along with access to digital copies of the theatrical version of
each film. A detailed list of the disc contents follows:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K Ultra HD
·Isolated score in Dolby 2.0—NEW!
·Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield
Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Blu-ray
·Isolated score in Dolby 2.0—NEW!
·Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield
Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman
·Library Computer (HD)
·Production
oThe Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture (HD)
·The Star Trek Universe
oSpecial Star Trek Reunion (HD)
oStarfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 001: The Mystery Behind V’ger
·Deleted Scenes
·Storyboards
·Trailers (HD)
·TV Spots
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 4K Ultra HD
·Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer (Director's Cut and
Theatrical Version)
·Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical
Version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray
·Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer (Director's Cut and
Theatrical Version)
·Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical
Version)
·Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (Director’s Cut)
·Library Computer (HD)
·The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan
·Production
oCaptain’s Log
oDesigning Khan
oOriginal Interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest
Kelley, and Ricardo Montalbán
oWhere No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek
II: The Wrath of Khan
oJames Horner: Composing Genesis (HD)
·The Star Trek Universe
oCollecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics (HD)
oA Novel Approach
oStarfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 002: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI
(HD)
·Farewell
oA Tribute to Ricardo Montalbán (HD)
·Storyboards
·Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 4K Ultra HD
·Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve
Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin
Curtis
·Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Blu-ray
·Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve
Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin
Curtis
·Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
·Library Computer (HD)
·Production
oCaptain’s Log
oTerraforming and the Prime Directive
oIndustry Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek
oSpock: The Early Years (HD)
·The Star Trek Universe
oSpace Docks and Birds of Prey
oSpeaking Klingon
oKlingon and Vulcan Costumes
oStar Trek and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (HD)
oStarfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan
Katra Transfer
·Photo Gallery
oProduction
oThe Movie
·Storyboards
·Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 4K Ultra HD
·
Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
·
Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Blu-ray
·
Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
·
Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
·
Library Computer (HD)
·
Production
Future’s Past: A Look Back
On Location
Dailies Deconstruction
Below-the-Line: Sound Design
Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments
(HD)
The Star Trek Universe
Time Travel: The Art of the
Possible
The Language of Whales
A Vulcan Primer
Kirk’s Women
The Three-Picture Saga (HD)
Star Trek for a Cause (HD)
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief
004: The Whale Probe (HD)
Visual Effects
From Outer Space to the Ocean
The Bird of Prey
Original Interviews
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner
DeForest Kelley
Tributes
Roddenberry Scrapbook
Featured Artist: Mark Lenard
Production Gallery
Storyboards
Theatrical Trailer (HD)
STAR
TREK: THE ORIGINAL 4 MOVIES ON BLU-RAY
Each of
the original four Star Trek films will also be available individually on
Blu-ray with the bonus content detailed above. Newly remastered versions
of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (both
the theatrical and director’s cut), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,
and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home are presented in high definition along
with digital copies of the theatrical version of each film.
FATHOM EVENTS
In addition, in celebration of the 55th
anniversary, Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures will bring Star Trek IV:
The Voyage Home back to select cinemas for a special two-day event on
August 19 and 22. Additional details will be announced at a later date.
STAR
TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Synopsis
The U.S.S.
Enterprise boldly debuted on the big screen with the cast of the original Star
Trek series, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley,
George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and James Doohan. When an
unidentified alien intruder destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain
James T. Kirk returns to the helm of a newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise
to take command. This is the original theatrical cut of the acclaimed adventure
and features Jerry Goldsmith’s rousing iconic overture.
STAR TREK
II: THE WRATH OF KHAN Synopsis
Including
both the original theatrical and director’s cuts, Star Trek II: The Wrath of
Khan is one of the most celebrated and essential chapters in Star Trek
lore. On routine training maneuvers, Admiral James T. Kirk seems resigned that
this may be the last space mission of his career. But an adversary from the
past has returned with a vengeance. Aided by his exiled band of genetic
supermen, Khan (Ricardo Montalbán)—brilliant renegade of 20th century Earth—has
raided Space Station Regula One, stolen the top-secret device called Project
Genesis, wrested control of another Federation starship, and now schemes to set
a most deadly trap for his old enemy Kirk… with the threat of a universal
Armageddon.
STAR TREK
III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK Synopsis
Admiral
Kirk's defeat of Khan and the creation of the Genesis planet are empty
victories. Spock is dead and McCoy is inexplicably being driven insane. Then a
surprise visit by Spock's father provides a startling revelation: McCoy is
harboring Spock's living essence. Kirk attempts to steal the U.S.S.
Enterprise and defy Starfleet's Genesis planet quarantine to search for his
friend, but the Klingons are planning a deadly rendezvous.
STAR TREK
IV: THE VOYAGE HOME Synopsis
When a
mysterious alien power threatens the atmosphere of Earth in the 23rd
century, Kirk and his crew must time travel back to 1986 San Francisco to save
mankind. Exploring this strange new world, they encounter punk rock, pizza and
exact-change buses that are as alien as anything in the far reaches of the
galaxy.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Eight Feature Films Plus Hours of Special Features Arrive August
10, 2021, in Time for this Year’s Only Friday the 13th
Take a ride down memory lane with everyone’s favorite psychotic
killer Jason Voorhees in the new FRIDAY THE 13th 8-MOVIE
COLLECTION on Blu-ray, arriving August 10, 2021 from Paramount Home
Entertainment.
Get ready for the only Friday the 13th of the year on
August 13th with this to-die-for collection, which includes newly
remastered versions of the first four films in one of the most influential and
successful horror franchises in cinematic history. This must-have
set for fans of heart-stopping horror is gushing over with hours of previously
released special features including slashed scenes, making of featurettes,
killer commentaries and much, much more. The set also includes access to
digital copies of all eight movies, including the “uncut†edition of the
original Friday the 13th.
Return to the terror of Camp Crystal Lake and re-experience all
the screams, scares, and creative kills. From the too-often ignored
warnings of Camp Crustal Lake’s “death curse,†through an ever-increasing
body-count that culminates on the streets of New York City, the hockey-masked
mayhem is unleashed and unstoppable.
The eight films in the collection are: Friday The 13th, Friday
The 13th Part 2, Friday The 13th Part 3, Friday The 13th Part IV:
The Final Chapter, Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning, Friday The 13th
Part VI: Jason Lives, Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood, and Friday
The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Video:
Groundbreaking Films
Arrive on Blu-rayâ„¢ this August with New Bonus Content
Three acclaimed cinematic classics join the collectible Paramount
Presents line with the Blu-ray release of A PLACE IN THE SUN and NASHVILLE
on August 10, 2021 and BUGSY MALONE, making its U.S. Blu-ray
debut on August 31, from Paramount Home Entertainment.
A PLACE IN THE SUN
Director George Stevens’ masterwork A PLACE IN THE SUN won
six* Academy Awards® and is widely considered one of the finest
works of America cinema. Remastered from a 4K film transfer in
celebration of its 70th anniversary, the film is presented on Blu-ray with a
brand-new Filmmaker Focus featuring film historian Leonard Maltin talking about
George Stevens and the innovative film techniques he used for this
unforgettable story of ambition, passion, and betrayal. The disc also includes
previously released bonus content, including commentary by George Stevens, Jr.
and Ivan Moffat, retrospective cast and crew interviews, and a segment on
George Stevens featuring filmmakers who knew him.
Montgomery Clift stars as George Eastman, a young man determined
to win a place in respectable society and the heart of a beautiful socialite
(Elizabeth Taylor). Shelley Winters is the factory girl whose dark secret
threatens Eastman’s professional and romantic prospects.
Director Robert Altman’s seminal film NASHVILLE remains
an essential classic of 70s cinema with its complexly textured portrayal and
critique of America’s obsession with celebrity and power. Newly
remastered from a 4K scan of original elements, the film is presented on
Blu-ray with a new featurette entitled “24 Tracks: Robert Altman’s Nashville.â€
The disc also includes a previously released commentary by Altman.
Fittingly, NASHVILLE is Volume 24 of the Paramount
Presents line as the film follows 24 distinct characters with intersecting
storylines over five days in the titular city. The phenomenal ensemble
cast includes Ned Beatty, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, Karen Black,
Geraldine Chaplin, Henry Gibson, Michael Murphy, Lily Tomlin, Shelley Duvall, Scott
Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, and Barbara Harris.
Acclaimed director Alan Parker redefined the movie musical with
his first feature-length film, BUGSY MALONE, which celebrates its
45th anniversary this year. Available for the first time in
the U.S. on Blu-ray, the film has been remastered from the original elements
for this limited-edition release. The Blu-ray includes a new Filmmaker Focus
delving into this early work from the director of Fame, The
Commitments, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Mississippi Burning, and Evita.
Set in 1929 New York City, BUGSY MALONE captures a
flashy world of would-be hoodlums, showgirls, and dreamers—all portrayed by
child actors. As Tallulah, the sassy girlfriend of the owner of Fat Sam's Grand
Slam Speakeasy, future superstar Jodie Foster leads a talented cast.
Parker’s sharp script, combined with the music and lyrics of Paul Williams,
makes for an irresistible satire that’s truly one-of-a-kind.
The limited-edition Paramount Presents Blu-ray Discsâ„¢
come in collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of each film’s
theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments. Each
disc also includes access to a digital copy of the film.
This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover
favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library. Every Paramount
Presents release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive
collectible packaging. Additional titles available in the Paramount
Presents collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole,
To Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty
In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The
Golden Child, Trading Places, The Court Jester, Love Story,
Elizabethtown, The Greatest Show on Earth, Mommie Dearest,Last Train
From Gun Hill, 48 HRS., Another 48 HRS., and Almost Famous.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Video:
Latest Addition to the Paramount
Presents Line Debuts June 15, 2021
Classic John Sturges Western Starring
Kirk Douglas Makes Its Blu-rayâ„¢ Debut
Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn headline the suspenseful classic LAST
TRAIN FROM GUN HILL, arriving for the first time on Blu-ray in the
Paramount Presents line June 15, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
A gripping Western from director John Sturges—one of the greatest
filmmakers of the genre—LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL has been
remastered from a 6K film transfer of the original VistaVision negative for
exceptional picture quality. The limited-edition Blu-ray Discâ„¢ includes a
new Filmmaker Focus with film historian Leonard Maltin, access to a
digital copy of the film, as well as original theatrical trailers for Last
Train from Gun Hill, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Furies, and The
Black Orchid. The Blu-ray comes in collectible packaging featuring a
foldout image of the film’s theatrical poster and an interior spread with key
movie moments.
Synopsis
LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL follows U.S. Marshal Matt
Morgan (Kirk Douglas) on the trail of his wife’s killer. Adding a dark
twist to the tale, the suspect's father is Morgan's longtime friend, cattle
baron Craig Beldon (Anthony Quinn). Morgan is determined to capture the
killer and take him away by the 9:00 train, against all odds.
About Paramount
Presents
This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover
favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library. Every Paramount Presents
release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive collectible
packaging. Additional titles available in the Paramount Presents
collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To
Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink,
Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The Golden Child, Trading
Places, The Court Jester, Love Story, Elizabethtown, The Greatest Show on
Earth, and Mommie Dearest.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Raiders of the
Lost Ark with All Four Indiana Jones Movie Adventures on 4K Ultra HD
for the First Time
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (March 15, 2021) – Relive the unforgettable
exploits of world-renowned, globetrotting hero Indiana Jones in spectacular 4K
Ultra HD when the INDIANA JONES 4-MOVIE COLLECTION arrives in a
new 4K Ultra HD set June 8, 2021 from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home
Entertainment.
The cinematic classic that started it all—Raiders of the Lost
Ark—celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, having first
introduced audiences to the man with the hat on June 12, 1981. Forty
years later, the legendary hero continues to captivate new generations of fans.
Now, for the first time ever, all four films are available
together in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision® and HDR-10 for
ultra-vivid picture quality and state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos® audio*.
Each film has been meticulously remastered from 4K scans of the original
negatives with extensive visual effects work done to ensure the most pristine
and highest quality image. All picture work was approved by director
Steven Spielberg.
In addition, all four films were remixed at Skywalker Sound under
the supervision of legendary sound designer Ben Burtt to create the Dolby Atmos®
soundtracks. All original sound elements were used to achieve the fully
immersive Dolby Atmos® mixes while staying true to each film’s
original creative intent.
The INDIANA JONES 4-MOVIE COLLECTION includes a
collectible booklet with behind-the-scenes images from all four films.
Each film is presented on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc with original theatrical
trailers and access to digital copies. The set also includes a Blu-rayâ„¢
with seven hours of previously released bonus content as detailed below:
·
On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark
From
Jungle to Desert
From
Adventure to Legend
·
Making the Films
The
Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981 documentary)
The
Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark
The
Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The
Making of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The Making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (HD)
Behind the Scenes
The
Stunts of Indiana Jones
The
Sound of Indiana Jones
The
Music of Indiana Jones
The
Light and Magic of Indiana Jones
Raiders:
The Melting Face!
Indiana
Jones and the Creepy Crawlies (with optional pop-ups)
Travel
with Indiana Jones: Locations (with optional pop-ups)
Indy’s
Women: The American Film Institute Tribute
Indy’s
Friends and Enemies
Iconic
Props (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)
The
Effects of Indy (Kingdom of theCrystal Skull) (HD)
Adventures
in Post Production (Kingdom of theCrystal Skull) (HD)
On Disc two of the Warner Archive’s new and essential Blu-ray
release of The Curse of Frankenstein
- the first Hammer horror classic - Richard Klemensen, publisher of Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine, offers
a succinct examination of the nuts and bolts of the film’s production history.The
Klemensen segment is only one of several generous and informative featurettes
included on the set.In the course of The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein
and the Rebirth of the Horror Film, the publisher explains that Hammer was
a small, struggling indie studio that had churned out B pictures and modest second
features since its 1934 inception.The
studio’s fortune – and existence - was threatened in the early 1950s when
television upended the British film industry.Ironically, it was during this same period that Hammer would lens one of
their most significant big screen splashes: a sci-fi property adapted from British
TV titled The Quatermass Xperiment.
That film would signal the studio’s first successful
entry in the theatrical sci-fi/horror genre: even though the picture was a far
cry from the Gothic horrors to which the studio would soon be most associated.The public’s interest in Gothic horror had
waned in the late 1940s, as enthusiasm for Universal’s famed cycle of Dracula
and Frankenstein and Mummy films had peaked and passed.The movie-going public with a penchant for the
mysterious had since turned their attentions to flying saucers and alien
visitors, of giant radioactive insects, of Ray Harryhausen’s celebrated animated
monster-mutations.
So it was an odd time for Hammer to invest money in
restages of such literary monsters as Shelley’s Frankenstein Monster and
Stoker’s Count Dracula.The initial
script for the first of Hammer’s Frankenstein cycle films would come to company
producers via two gentleman who would eventually become competitors:Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, the two
principal founders of Amicus Productions.Hammer execs would ultimately reject that script and scenario, but the
idea of producing of a Frankenstein film was not dismissed.The studio’s interest in reviving the franchise
was ultimately left to screenwriter Jimmy Sangster.
Hammer’s decision to resurrect the monster was not met
with enthusiasm by Universal Pictures.As the creators of the original series of Frankenstein films (1931-1948),
the studio was very protective of their interests.They would do their best to make certain that
no Universal-conceived elements would be co-opted by this British up-start.But as Mary Shelley’s property had long been in
the rights-free Public Domain, Universal could not claim copyright to any
characters that appeared in the original novel of 1818.
In truth, Hammer had no intention to overlap with the celebrated
Universal film series.For starters,
there would be no iconic armies of torch and pitchfork toting angry villagers
chasing the monster.This wasn’t an
artistic choice or due to any executive decision to not shadow Universal’s
tropes too closely.The modest budget they
set aside for the production of The Curse
of Frankenstein simply wouldn’t allow for the employment of that many
extras. The use of Jack Pierce’s
iconic flat-top Frankenstein monster make-up, replete with neck bolts and
callow cheeks was also taboo.Hammer’s make-up
wizard Phil Leakey would conjure up an admittedly less iconic - but certainly
far more gruesome – set of make-up for Frankenstein’s creation, all boils and
melted flesh and cloudy eyes.
Gruesome and bloody would be the order of the day.As the first Frankenstein film to be shot in color,
the filmmakers were able to take advantage of relaxed contemporary standards of
what was deemed acceptable to show on screen.The resulting film was certainly far more graphic than previously seen,
dressed as it was with ample amounts of blood-letting and gory visuals.That’s not to say the censors were happy with
the film’s content when submitted for review.The film would receive an “X’ rating in Great Britain.This wasn’t only due to the graphic content
and violence as presented, but also due to Hammer’s introducing an element of lurid
sexuality and provocative peeks of Hazel Court’s ample cleavage.
Hammer would also wisely make Shelley’s Baron Victor
Frankenstein the series central character.Actually, it was the Baron’s lack
of character that would make him the series’ central villain.Peter Cushing’s Frankenstein remained as
obsessed as ever in his desire to create new life from dead tissue.This ambition was a hallmark of all his mad
scientist predecessors at Universal: Colin Clive, Lionel Atwill, Patrick
Knowles, Onslow Stevens and even Boris Karloff himself.But Cushing’s Frankenstein was more ambitious
in his creating of new monsters.The
actor’s Dr. Frankenstein was the
monster, producing a series of woeful, tortured creatures in the course of his
experimentations.
The
Curse of Frankenstein would bring together several members of the
production crew whose work would soon become synonymous with Hammer’s brand of
horror.Director Terence Fisher was a
dependable figure to helm the project.He had creating serviceable thrillers for the studio’s producers since 1951.Despite working with penny-pinching budgets, Production
Designer Bernard Robinson was able to create a sense of luxurious, visual ambiance
with his opulent set decorations.This
was no small feat as most of the films he would design for Hammer were shot
within the cramped confines of Bray House on the Thames.
Then there was Jack Asher, whose moody lighting was never
short of brilliant.His work became even
more nuanced and image-invoking when the success of Curse at the box office convinced the studio to loosen the purse
strings… a bit.This decision allowed
the studio to invest in bigger budgets and to unleash their creative energies
on other horror film properties once the sole domain of Universal.Between 1957 and 1974, Hammer would give us
no fewer than seven Frankenstein films, nine Dracula movies, four Mummy
pictures and even a one-shot Spaniard Werewolf epic.This in addition, of course, to an impressive
number of original monsters and adherents of Satan they would conjure on their
own.
I’m preaching to the choir here.If you are a fan of vintage horror movies,
you are already acquainted with this classic.Warner’s Blu ray edition of The
Curse of Frankenstein provides film fans with beautiful transfers of this
1957 horror classic with the choice of enjoying it in 1.85:1, 1.66:1, and
1.37:1 Open-Matte versions, all restored and remastered from 4K scans.The set also offers a generous amount of
supplemental materials providing dedicated fans with backstories on its
production.Asher’s contributions are
featured in the set’s featurette Torrents
of Light: The Art of Jack Asher, with cinematographer David J. Miller (A.S.C.)
bringing to the fore the elements that made Asher’s photography so distinctive
and compelling.Miller describes Asher
as a “perfectionist†and the preeminent “architectural lighting director,†and
makes a convincing case of such an honor.
Though the phrase “painting with light†has become an
overused stock-phrase to describe the art of cinematography, Miller suggests that
Asher’s work is particularly deserving of such accolade.He describes the atmospheric visual imagery
as captured by Asher as “an oil painting come to life.â€Miller also suggests, not unreasonably, that
Asher not only set the template for Hammer’s visual style, but that his work had
clearly influenced the styles of cinematographers in Italy and France, the
great Mario Bava being the most notable.He also suggests that Asher had freedom to creatively contribute to the
“Hammer style†as he had previously worked extensively with Fisher and
Production Designer Robinson.Such
familiarity and trust with the core creative team was an essential component to
the film’s visual flair.
Another figure whose work for Hammer is now considered
essential to the Hammer brand was that of composer James Bernard.The composer’s dramatic, string-soaked
arrangements would serve as a perfect complement to the often wild melodrama
unfolding on screen.Bernard’s
contribution to the Hammer legacy is examined in detail in yet another
featurette Diabolus in Musica: James
Bernard and the Sound of Hammer Horror, moderated by composer Christopher
Drake.
Most famously, The Curse
of Frankenstein would first pair two names that eventually would forever remain
associative with the Hammer Film legacy:actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.Cushing was a well-known figure to television
audiences in Britain when he accepted the role of Victor Frankenstein in Curse.The actor’s feature film work prior to his work with Hammer was less
celebrated, though never short of brilliant. In 1956 Christopher Lee wasn’t yet
a film star of any magnitude, at least not a household name.He had been a difficult actor to cast due to
his height. He dwarfed the lead actors
he worked alongside, which no doubt rankled his better-known male co-stars and caused
frustrating framing issues to cinematographers.In his casting of the creature in Curse,
his height would finally work to his advantage.But ultimately he was cast not due to his towering presence alone.He also impressed with his abilities to
communicate effectively as a mime.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Newly Restored and Remastered, Madcap Musical
Starring Danny Kaye Celebrates Its 65th Anniversary
Latest
Addition to the Paramount Presents Line Arrives on Blu-rayâ„¢ for the
First Time January 26, 2021
The hilariously zany classic THE COURT JESTER celebrates
its 65th anniversary with a brand-new Blu-ray in the Paramount
Presents line, debuting January 26, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
Originally released in 1956, THE COURT JESTER was
shot in Paramount’s trademark “VistaVision†widescreen format, capturing a
grander scope of information on the film negative. For this new restoration,
the original negative was scanned at 6K and one of the “separation masters†was
also scanned and recombined with the negative scans to address color fading in
the negative. The result is an incredibly vibrant picture that faithfully
captures the colors and textures of Edith Head’s sensational costumes and Hal
Pariera’s sparkling art direction.
Danny Kaye earned a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actor –
Comedy or Musical for his leading role in this comic farce, which was added to
the National Film Registry in 2004 and included on the AFI’s list of the 100
Funniest American Movies of All Time.
The limited-edition Paramount Presents Blu-ray Discâ„¢ is presented
in collectible packaging that includes a foldout image of the film’s theatrical
poster, and an interior spread with key movie moments. THE COURT
JESTER Blu-ray also includes a new Filmmaker Focus with film
historian Leonard Maltin, access to a Digital copy of the film, and the
theatrical trailer.
Synopsis
Kaye is kind-hearted entertainer Hawkins who disguises himself as
the legendary king of jesters, Giacomo. Hawkins infiltrates the court of an
evil villain (Basil Rathbone), but when a sorceress hypnotizes him, royal chaos
ensues. Alternating identities at the snap of a finger, between swordplay and
wordplay, Kaye’s comic genius shines through. The stellar supporting cast
includes Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury, Mildred Natwick, Cecil Parker, and John
Carradine.
About Paramount
Presents
This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover
favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library. Every Paramount
Presents release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive
collectible packaging. Additional titles available in the Paramount
Presents collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole,
To Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty
In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The
Golden Child and Trading Places.
Four Newly Remastered Eddie Murphy Favorites Coming to Disc & Digital
Coming To America, Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places and The
Golden Child Arrive December 1, 2020, Before the Highly Anticipated Debut of Coming 2 America
Relive some of Eddie Murphy’s most hilarious films at home before Coming
2 America debuts!
Own the following from Paramount Home Entertainment on December 1, 2020:
COMING TO AMERICA
Newly remastered in 4K with HDR
from a supervised restoration by director John Landis, COMING TO AMERICA is an
essential comedy-classic for your collection. Available for the first
time on 4K Ultra HD with Digital copy, in a limited-edition 4K Ultra HD
Steelbook with Digital copy and themed mini poster, or on 4K Ultra HD Digital.
Join Eddie Murphy on an
unforgettable comic quest to the New World. As an African prince, it’s
time for him to find a princess... and the mission leads him and his most loyal
friend (Arsenio Hall) to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished
immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new
digs, new enemies and lots of trouble. Keep an eye out for both Murphy and Hall
in some unforgettable cameo roles!
The 4K Disc presentations include
the following previously released special features in HD:
·
Prince-ipal Photography: The Coming Together of America
·
Fit For Akeem: The Costumes of Coming to America
·
Character Building: The Many Faces of Rick Baker
·
Composing America: The Musical Talents of Nile Rodgers
This action-comedy classic has
been remastered in 4K with HDR and will be available in a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray
Combo with Digital copy and is available now on 4K Ultra HD Digital.
BEVERLY HILLS COP follows the
one-and-only Axel Foley, a street-smart cop from Detroit. Tracking down
his best friend's killer in Beverly Hills, Axel smashes through the local
barriers in a hilarious, high-speed pursuit of justice.
The 4K Combo includes the
following previously released special features:
·
An isolated audio track of the original score by Harold Faltermeyer
·
“BHC Mixtape
‘84â€, which allows viewers to go directly to the scenes featuring the hit songs
“The Heat Is On,†“Neutron Dance,†“New Attitude,†“Stir It Up,†“Do You
Really,†and “Nasty Girl.â€
One of the funniest, most
outrageous comedies of the 80s arrives on Blu-ray as part of the Paramount
Presents line. Newly remastered from a 4K film transfer supervised by
director John Landis, TRADING PLACES cemented Eddie Murphy’s star status.
The limited-edition Paramount Presents Blu-ray Discâ„¢ is presented in
collectible packaging that includes a foldout image of the film’s theatrical
poster and an interior spread with key movie moments. The film will also
be available on 4K Ultra HD Digital.
The very rich and extremely greedy
Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager over whether “born-loserâ€
Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) could become as successful as the priggish
Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Akroyd) if circumstances were reversed.
Alongside the street-smarts of Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), Winthorpe and
Valentine are a trio ready for a riotous revenge that culminates on the
commodities trading floor in New York City.
The Paramount Presents
Blu-ray includes a new Filmmaker Focus with John Landis, access to a
Digital copy of the film, as well as the following previously released bonus
content:
Newly remastered from a 4K film
transfer under the supervision of director Michael Ritchie, this hit
action-comedy comes to Blu-ray for the first time as part of the Paramount
Presents line. The limited-edition Paramount Presents
Blu-ray Disc is presented in collectible packaging that includes a foldout
image of the film’s theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie
moments. The film will also be available on 4K Ultra HD Digital.
Eddie Murphy is “the Chosen One,†a social
worker on a madcap mission to find “the Golden Child,†a young boy possessing
mystical powers. Joined by Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis), they’ll battle the
countless henchmen of Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance), the mysterious and evil
cult leader holding the boy captive. It’s a dangerous quest, complete with
obstacle courses and a mythical amulet, sharply combining Murphy’s wit with
eye-popping special effects for an unforgettable adventure.
The Paramount Presents
Blu-ray includes a new featurette on the Making of The Golden Child, as
well as access to a Digital copy of the film and the theatrical trailer.
Paramount has released a superb, newly restored Blu-ray edition of William Wyler's delightful classic "Roman Holiday" starring Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn (in her star-making role) and Eddie Albert. Paramount Home Video recently held a press conference with film historian Leonard Maltin and the studio's Head of Archives Andrea Kalas, who detailed the painstaking time and effort that went into making the film look better than ever. She explained the during filming, the laboratory in Rome caused damage to the original negative. With the crude technology of the era, the final release prints were not able to eradicate all of the flaws. Today, however, the situation is far better and "Roman Holiday" has never looked so good. The movie was one of the first major Hollywood productions to be shot entirely abroad and the on-location aspect in Rome allows the film to capture the flavor and delights of "The Eternal City". Best of all are the three stars, with Peck, Hepburn and Albert all adding immeasurably to the movie's status as a classic. Don't miss this one. Kudos to Paramount for putting so much time and expense into preserving a true cinematic gem.
Here is the official press release:
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – The treasured and enduring
classic ROMAN HOLIDAY debuts on Blu-ray for the first time ever
as part of the Paramount Presents line on September 15, 2020 from Paramount
Home Entertainment.
The exquisite Audrey Hepburn lights up the screen in her first
starring role opposite the charismatic Gregory Peck in this funny, beautiful,
and intoxicating romantic comedy. Ranked as the #4 greatest love story of
all time by the American Film Institute, ROMAN HOLIDAY earned 10
Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Actress for
Hepburn, Best Costume Design for legendary designer Edith Head, and Best
Writing for Dalton Trumbo.
About the Film
Director William Wyler’s 1953 fairy tale was one of Hollywood’s
first on-location motion pictures and memorably captures the bustling streets
and iconic sites of Rome. ROMAN HOLIDAY expresses the
exhilaration of joyously breaking free as the lead character escapes her royal
obligations against the backdrop of post-war Europe embracing long-awaited
peace.
Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted for refusing to
cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and his name was not
included in the film’s original credits. In 1992 the Board of Governors
of the Academy voted to finally credit Trumbo for the “Story Writing†Oscar and
his widow received a statuette in 1993. In 2011, the WGA restored
Trumbo’s name to the screenwriting credits. This is the first physical
home entertainment release to correctly credit Dalton Trumbo with both the
screenplay and story by credits both on packaging and the film itself.
About the Restoration
The original negative was processed at a local film lab in Rome
and was unfortunately badly scratched and damaged. The film had to be
pieced back together, but the splices were so weak due to the damage that
extensive amounts of tape had to be used to allow the negative to make it
through a printing machine. Because of the fragile state of the negative,
a Dupe Negative was made and then blown up a few thousandths of an inch to
cover all the splice tape that held the original negative together.
In anticipation of this new Blu-ray release, the film was
digitally restored using the Dupe Negative and a Fine Grain element to capture
the best possible image. Every frame was reviewed, and the film received
extensive clean up to remove thousands of scratches, bits of dirt, and other
damage. Because audio elements to properly up-mix to 5.1 do not exist,
the original mono track was remastered, and minor anomalies were
corrected. The result is a film returned to its original vibrancy and
beauty that remains true to director William Wyler’s vision. (Click on YouTube video below for excerpts from the restoration press conference.)
About the Release
The limited-edition Paramount Presents Blu-ray Discâ„¢ is presented
in collectible packaging that includes a foldout image of the film’s theatrical
re-release poster, and an interior spread with key movie moments. Newly
remastered from a 4K film transfer, the ROMAN HOLIDAY Blu-ray
also includes a new Filmmaker Focus with film historian Leonard Maltin,
access to a Digital copy of the film, as well as previously released
featurettes on Academy Award®-winner Audrey Hepburn, Edith Head’s
Oscar®-winning* costumes, the blacklisting of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, and
much more.
Bonus Features:
-
Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin on Roman Holiday
-
Behind the Gates: Costumes
-
Rome with a Princess
-
Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years
-
Dalton Trumbo: From A-List to Blacklist
-
Paramount in the '50s: Remembering Audrey
-
Theatrical Trailers
-
Four Photo Galleries: Production, The Movie, Publicity, The Premiere
-
About Paramount Presents
This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover
favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library. Every Paramount
Presents release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive
collectible packaging. Additional titles available in the Paramount Presents
collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To
Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink,
Airplane! and Ghost.
*Winner:
Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn); Best Writing (Motion Picture Story, Dalton
Trumbo); Best Costume Design (Black & White, Edith Head), 1953. Additional
nominations: Best Picture; Best Directing (William Wyler); Actor in a
Supporting Role (Eddie Albert); Art Direction (Black & White);
Cinematography (Black & White); Film Editing; and Writing (Screenplay).
“ACADEMY
AWARD†and “OSCAR†are the registered trademarks and service marks of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“Casablanca - Classic Film
Scores for Humphrey Bogart†(CDLK4639 ) was originally
recorded on September 6th & 7th, 1973 and released on vinyl (on both the
RCA Gold and Red Seal label in 1974). It was also released on a Quadraphonic LP
the same year. The album masters were remastered at BMG Studio D on August 18,
1989 and from that came the CD for which we are probably most familiar (a
successful series which came in a dark blue coloured tray and recognised by the
silver film strip across the top right of the cover of the 20 page booklet).
The recordings by Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra are
quite spectacular, from the opening Warner Bros logo and the superb suite from
Casablanca (1942) to Passage to Marseille (1944) to The Treasure of the Sierra
Madre (1948)… in fact, name just about any Bogart classic and it’s likely to be
included here. The vast range of featured composers varies from Max Steiner, Miklós
Rózsa, Victor Young, Franz Waxman and Frederick Hollander.This album always sounded good, and the truth
is, it still does. Vocalion have of course improved upon it once again to a
spectacular, higher level of clarity – thanks largely to the remastering from
the original analogue tapes by Michael J. Dutton.They have also added to the original playlist
by including the Main Theme to Peyton Place (1957), again performed by Gerhardt
and The National Philharmonic. Being the purists that Vocalion are, they have
also reverted back to the original 1974 artwork, instead of the later, lighter
RCA Victor CD. It’s a lot darker and slightly broodier – but for its
retrospective, attention to detail accuracy, it works on just about every
level. It’s a classic and a corker, and the tracks are as timeless as the
movies themselves. If you felt it was about time to add this one to the
collection, you can’t really go far wrong with this latest edition.
“David Raksin Conducts His
Great Film Scores†(CDLK4641) is another on
equal par with the Classic Film Scores for Humphrey Bogart. It was another of
RCA Red Seal’s Quadrophonic releases, this time emerging in 1976. Recorded in
England, David Raksin conducted the New Philharmonia Orchestra whilst Charles
Gerhardt served as producer.Opening
with the beautifully orchestrated Laura (1944), the CD is then separated into
two sections - (Scenarios from) The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and finally a
suite of some 25 minutes from Forever Amber (1947). Again, this was another in
the same RCA Victor ‎/ BMG Classics which
saw a CD release in 1989. As above, this new edition from Volcalion’s SACD, Hybrid Multi-channel
series really advances the purity and production levels to grand new heights. The
quality is such, that you would be pushed to argue that this wasn’t recorded
earlier this year – in fact, I’ve heard more modern recordings that don’t even
get close. Again, this has to be attributed to the remastering of Michael J.
Dutton. When the man comes into contact with those original analogue tapes and
the magic in the fingers touch the soundboards, gold dust seems to emerge.True to their traditional values, Vocalion
have reverted to the original Quadrophonic artwork and provided a lovely,
detailed book. I can only hope that Vocalion keep coming up with the
spectacular; they remain arguably the best in the business. Both highly
recommended.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Entertainment:
A masterpiece of off-the-wall comedy, AIRPLANE! celebrates its 40th
anniversary in 2020 with a brand-new Blu-ray in the Paramount Presents line, as
well as a limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook. Originally released in July
of 1980, AIRPLANE! was a major hit and become a pop culture touchstone.
Voted “one of the 10 funniest movies ever made†by the American Film Institute,
the film continues to be widely referenced and quoted 40 years after its
theatrical debut.
The Paramount Presents Blu-ray and limited edition
Steelbook each includes the newly remastered film from a 4K transfer supervised
by writers/directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, a new
Filmmaker Focus on the directors, a new Q&A with the directors recorded at
the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood in January 2020, and an isolated music score
by Elmer Bernstein. The discs also include previously released audio
commentary with the directors and producer Jon Davison.
Robert Hays stars as an ex-ï¬ghter pilot forced to take
over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food
poisoning. The all-star cast also includes Julie Hagerty, Robert Stack,
Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The
outrageous comedy spoof skewers airplane disaster flicks, religious zealots,
television commercials…and everything else in its path.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Entertainment:
Produced and written by John Hughes and directed by
Howard Deutch, the beloved teen classic PRETTY IN PINK is the latest addition
to the Paramount Presents line. Newly remastered from a 4K transfer
supervised by Deutch, the film arrives on Blu-ray for the first time ever June
16, 2020.
Designed for collectors and fans, the Paramount Presents
Blu-ray Disc™ line showcases the studio’s renowned library, from film-lover
favorites to celebrated classics. Presented in collectible packaging that
includes a foldout image of the original theatrical poster, and an interior
spread with key movie moments, the PRETTY IN PINK Blu-ray also includes a new
Filmmaker Focus with director Howard Deutch and, for the first time, the film’s
isolated score track from composer Michael Gore. Also included is the
previously released featurette “THE LOST DANCE: The Original Ending.â€
Teen sensations Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles, The
Breakfast Club) and Andrew McCarthy (St. Elmo’s Fire) drew rave reviews for
their starring performances in this timeless love story. Andie (Ringwald) is a
high school girl from the other side of town. Blane (McCarthy) is the wealthy
heartthrob who asks her to the prom. But as fast as their romance builds, it’s
threatened by the painful reality of peer pressure. The film also stars
Jon Cryer, James Spader, Harry Dean Stanton, and Annie Potts and features a
phenomenal new wave soundtrack, including the title track by the Psychedelic
Furs.
Additional titles available in the Paramount Presents
collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To Catch a Thief,
Flashdance and Days of Thunder.
Here's a nicely remastered Fox original trailer for 1971's Best Picture Oscar winner, "The French Connection", directed by William Friedkin. Keep an eye out for stunt driver/actor Bill Hickman, who accuses Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle of being responsible for "a dead cop". Hickman did much of the driving in the classic car chase in "Bullitt" as the villain behind the wheel of the car pursued by Steve McQueen. The trailer also features real-life "French Connection" cop Eddie Egan as Hackman's boss, who went on to a successful acting career. Curiously, Roy Scheider doesn't even get billing in the trailer, but the Best Supporting Actor nomination he received for the film helped launch him to stardom. We enjoyed the appropriately New YAWK accent of the narrator!
Universal has released a highly impressive 4K/ Blu-ray/ Digital gift set for "Scarface" starring Al Pacino, packed with cool bonus extras including the Blu-ray debut of the original version starring Paul Muni. Here is the official press announcement:
Scarface “The
World is Yours†Limited Edition Gift Set
The ultimate Scarface experience
includes:
1983
version of Scarface on 4K UHD, remastered Blu-ray and Digital
1932
version of Scarface on Blu-ray for the first time ever (newly restored with 2
versions of the film – Original uncensored version and Alternate version with
different ending)
Collectible
“The World is Yours†statue replica
Available for a limited time only! Loaded with bonus
features including new 35th Anniversary Reunion with Al Pacino and Michelle
Pfeiffer.
Synopsis: In the spring of 1980, the port at Mariel Harbor
was opened, and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search
of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami…
wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world
will remember him by another name… Scarface. Starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana
along with Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and
Robert Loggia, Scarface has become a cultural phenomenon brilliantly directed
by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone.
The
long awaited release of Barry Gray's freshly remastered score for Gerry and
Sylvia Anderson's 1970 live action series UFO will be available worldwide from 13th
September on CD, digital and glorious ‘SHADO Lilac’ double vinyl formats.
2019 would have been Gerry Anderson’s 90th
birthday. To celebrate his legacy, Silva Screen Records will release a series
of freshly remastered and compiled soundtrack albums from the iconic TV shows.
Starting with UFO on 13th September, the Silva Screen releases will feature
unforgettable TV themes and will cover all the major, worldwide popular series
that Gerry Anderson produced. All the releases in this series are being newly
compiled, mastered and designed by the creative team at Fanderson - The
Official Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Appreciation Society.
Moving away from his signature militaristic
sound which relied heavily on the brass and percussion sections, for UFO Barry
Gray produced a Jazz tinged period score, rooted in lounge style. The softer
sound, with extensive use of leitmotifs, follows Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s
first live action sci-fi series. Featuring 26 episodes set in the futuristic
1980s, the series was inspired by two big topics of the 1960s: extra-terrestrials
and the first successful heart transplant. The timing was perfect for a story
about the earth community defending themselves from aliens intent on harvesting
human organs. The storyline follows the constant battle of SHADO (Supreme
Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation), a secret organisation defending earth,
against the invaders from space.
Barry Gray was both a classically trained
composer and a versatile musician who worked as musical arranger for Vera Lynn,
Eartha Kitt and Hoagy Carmichael. He was also resident conductor of the RAF
camp dance band and a TV composer. Indeed it was Vera Lynn who introduced Barry
Gray to Gerry Anderson. Equally at ease composing for big ensembles,
electronica, military bands and jazz ensembles, Barry Gray is best known for
creating the music for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation television
series Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, UFO, and Space: 1999. His impressive influence
on the TV score genre is still evident today.
Release date: 13th September 2019
CD: SILCD1597, Digital album: SILED1597 and
Vinyl SILLP1597
The Cohen Collection has released the obscure but worthy 1977 ensemble comedy "Between the Lines" as a special edition Blu-ray. Back in the day, the film won acclaim at film festivals but was barely seen by the public. The movie was the brainchild of aspiring screenwriter Fred Barron, who approached director Joan Micklin Silver, who had won praise for her feature film "Hester Street", released in 1975, which chronicled the experience of Russian Jews who emigrated to America in the late 19th century. "Between the Lines" was sandwiched between "Hester Street" and her 1988 film "Crossing Delancy", which also won a good deal of praise. The film was shot entirely in Boston and takes place at the cramped offices of an alternative weekly newspaper. The progressive staff is comprised of young people who caught the tail end of the protest movements of the mid-to-late 1960s. By the time 1977 rolled around, that movement- having accomplished much- was diminishing by the day. The staffers doggedly pursue muckraker journalism while coping with measly salaries that see them perpetually scrounging in order to let off some steam at the local bars. Having served on a campus newspaper during this period, I can attest that director Micklin Silver perfectly captures the mood of such a setting. In the pre-internet era, campus papers and alternative weeklies were widely read by young people and carried a good deal of influence. (My own contributions were somewhat less impressive: I was the film critic, an enviable position because I got to see major films in advance without having to delve into my barren wallet.)
The staffers portrayed are a diverse lot ranging from those dedicated to the highest standards of journalism and others who simply hang around, having lost the spark that once inspired them. The offices are cluttered and messy and even the one modern perk- the coffee machine- constantly malfunctions. The screenplay is meandering as it covers the personal relationships between this diverse group of young writers and editors. They are also fearful of rumors that the paper will soon be sold to a rich man (Lane Smith in full Nixonian mode) they suspect will put profits above integrity. The staffers are an incestuous lot in the sense that, despite the fractured inter-office romances and friendships, they can't quit each other. There is romantic sex, spontaneous sex and revenge sex. Since the film was directed by a woman, it's not surprising that it plays out in a sympathetic manner to the female characters who are generally presented as honest and intelligent while even the most likable male characters are impulsive and self-centered. Given the scarcity of women filmmakers during this period, it's hard to gripe about the men not getting a fair shake, given the fact that so many movies of the era presented female characters in equally simplistic terms.
"Between the Lines" features an engaging cast of up-and-comers who would find varying degrees of stardom over the next few years. Lindsay Crouse, Jill Eikenberry and Gwen Welles are the female leads and acquit themselves very well indeed. The male cast contains some very good performances as well with Jeff Goldblum funny as a slacker on the newspaper staff whose desire to change the world has degenerated into trying to justify his meager $75 pay check; John Heard as a once-estimable writer who has also fallen on hard times and Stephen Collins, especially good as an aspiring author who becomes an elitist snob when he finally gets a book contract. (Given the sharp edges Collins provides to the character, it is especially disappointing that henceforth he would mostly be cast in bland roles as romantic leads.) Bruno Kirby, having distinguished himself as young Clemenza in "The Godfather Part II" shines as the office nerd and Marilu Henner gives a fine performance as a stripper with a heart of gold. Michael J. Pollard is woefully underutilized but Lane Smith shines as the newspaper's new owner. I even unexpectedly spotted a personal friend, New York publicist Gary Springer in an early acting role. We're also treated to a 1977 concert by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, who are still a popular attraction in New Jersey. Kenneth Van Sickle provides some impressive cinematography and Michael Kamen adds some original musical scoring. It all moves along briskly under Micklin Silver's assured direction and makes for a generally compelling and interesting film.
The Cohen Collection provides an excellent Blu-ray transfer along with an original 1977 TV spot and a trailer for the remastered reissue of the film. There is also an engaging recent on-camera interview with Joan Micklin Silver in which she discusses the challenges of being a female film director then and now. In all, an impressive release. Recommended.
Lieutenant Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is easily the
horror cinema’s most pedestrian, laid back, and disinterested police detective
in recent memory. In Lucio Fulci’s infamous slasher outing The New York Ripper
(1982), a spate of brutal crimes involving young women being sliced up by a
knife-wielding maniac who quacks like a duck (yes, you read that right) lands right
smack into Williams’s lap and he couldn’t be more bored by it. Mr. Hedley’s
characterization of this by-the-book investigator was no doubt in the script,
but his character just meanders through his scenes with such an aloof attitude
that it’s amazing no one calls him out on it. The few times Williams does
appear to spring to life are when the sex lives of his victims are revealed,
which he reacts to with a judgmental shrug and smirk when he’s extricating a
motive from the morgue pathologist (Giordano Falzoni) or informing one Dr.
Lodge (Cosimo Cinieri, credited here as “Laurence Wellesâ€) that the effects of
his open marriage have resulted in the death of his sexually adventurous wife
Jane Lodge. This is a hypocritical reaction considering that he himself
frequents a prostitute named Kitty (Daniela Doria), a fact not lost on the
“quacker†who phones Williams at Kitty’s apartment just to let him know that he
has his eye on him! Williams himself is genuinely confounded by this unexpected
breach of privacy which gives him some resolve to find the killer with slightly
more urgency, but not by much – it also puts Kitty in danger.
The murders in this film are gory, graphic and
protracted. Any seasoned slasher fan will easily differentiate between the
actual performers and the graphic make-up effects created to look like the
female anatomy, be it a decomposed human hand retrieved by a dog at the film’s
start, a young victim named Rosie (Cinzia de Ponti) slashed on the Staten
Island Ferry, a sex performer named Eva (Zora Kerova) who meets a violent end
thanks to a smashed bottle, or the aforementioned Jane (Alexandra Delli Colli)
who gets more than she bargained for when her sexual shenanigans go south. It’s
obvious to both Williams and his police chief (played by Lucio Fulci!) that the
“quacker†is a misogynist. It’s a good thing he isn’t a doctor. A prime suspect
is a sex show spectator with two missing fingers, Mickey Scellenda (Renato
Rossini, credited here as “Howard Rossâ€), who meets Jane at an insalubrious 42nd
Street theater and later engages in some consensual BDSM with her at a flea bag
motel that begins to exceed even her limits. Jane goes from being an aroused
spectator to a willing participant. Scellenda then sets his sights on Fay
Majors (Almanta Keller), a young woman who foolishly rides the graffiti-riddled
subway train alone in the middle of the night, and later attacks her before her
physicist boyfriend Peter (Andrew Painter) comes to her rescue.
Williams enlists the help of a psychotherapy professor,
Dr. Paul Davis (Paolo Malco of Mr. Fulci’s The House by the Cemetery), who is
prepped as the Simon Oakland character in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and
creates a psychological profile of the killer. Barbara Cupisti makes her
Italian horror film screen debut and appears briefly as an assistant. She would
go on to star as Alicia in Michele Soavi’s phenomenal Stage Fright five years
later.
More surprising than the violent murders are the sexually
charged scenes that lend a high degree of uneasiness to the whole affair. A
live sex shows plays more like a softcore porn interlude, and the film’s
arguably most disturbing sequence involves what amounts to Jane being raped in
a pool hall by a creepy player (Josh Cruze) egged on by his equally creepy
friend (Antoine Pagan). Even Dr. Davis is portrayed as a closet homosexual,
purchasing a copy of BlueBoy magazine at a newsstand and hiding it inside a
copy of the New York Post (think about that for a minute!). I can only imagine
what the audiences in 1982 must have thought about this film. In 2019, it’s
distressing to say that far worse is available to see on the Web to eyes just
as jaded as Lieutenant Williams’s.
One would think that the duck quacking would have turned
this film into a comedy and while there are moments that do elicit laughter,
the whole thing is actually played straight, so straight in fact that when the
denouement arrives courtesy of the requisite deus ex-machina, the killer is
revealed in one of the bleakest endings in giallo history.
Filmed in New York City between August and October in
1981 during an especially seedy time in Times Square’s history, The New York
Ripper is one of the most controversial and infamous giallo films of the
decade, or perhaps ever. Mr. Fulci’s work has always been uneven to me, lacking
the color that featured so prominently in Mario Bava’s work and the highly
stylized cinematic look that punctuates the best work of Dario Argento. Anyone
who saw this film during its theatrical exhibition on 42nd Street in 1984
probably never would have imagined that the film could look as good as it does
in the new 4K-remastered Blu-ray that Blue-Underground has just released, or
they were probably too drunk and stoned to even care. If you saw it on the
Vidmark VHS release, this new and completely uncut version reveals a film that
none of us have seen before. This transfer is reference quality and reveals
image nuances previously unseen, on a par with the fine work that
Blue-Underground has done previously on William Lustig’s Maniac (1981), another
gory slasher, with full 4K restoration. Any previous versions of the film on
home video pale in comparison to this new transfer.
The new three-disc Blu-ray contains many new extras,
which include:
A very cool lenticular sleeve cover that the Blu-ray case
fits into.
Disc One:
A full-length audio commentary by Troy Howarth who once
again provides a highly detailed and entertaining overview of the film at hand,
making no apologies for being a fan. Extremely insightful and highly
knowledgeable, Mr. Howarth points out interesting tidbits along the way and
allows the viewer to experience the film in a new light.
The Art of Killing (about 30 minutes in high definition,
2019) – This is an onscreen interview with Dardano Sacchetti, a prolific
screenwriter whose is probably best known to the horror film fans as the
screenwriter or story originator of The Cat O’Nine Tales (1971), Shock (1977), Zombie
(1979), City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981), The House by the
Cemetery (1981), Demons (1986) and Demons 2 (1988). He speaks at length about
working with Mr. Fulci on a script about progeria, a disease that ages the
cells and tissues to such an extent that the victim dies by age 18. Anyone
remember Ralph Macchio in The Three Wishes of Billy Grier (1984)? He also
explains that Italian horror cinema always has a further ending, a double
ending, and a final ending. Highly entertaining raconteur.
Three Fingers of Violence (about 15 minutes in high
definition, 2019) is an onscreen interview with actor Howard Ross who plays
Mickey Scendella in the film. He recounts meeting Mr. Fulci at a dinner party
and auditioned for the film soon after. He also laughs about being mistaken for
Charles Bronson while filming in Times Square. Spoken in Italian with
non-removable and legible English subtitles.
The Second Victim (about 13 minutes in high definition,
2019) is an onscreen interview with actress Cinzia de Ponti who plays Rosie.
She was discovered after being named “Miss Italia†in a beauty contest. Spoken
in Italian with non-removable and legible English subtitles.
The Broken Bottle Murder (about 13 minutes in high
definition, 2019) is an onscreen interview with actress Zora Kerova who describes
working with Mr. Fulci on this scene, but not knowing that it required sex and
nudity until it was time to film. Spoken in Italian with non-removable and
legible English subtitles.
“I’m an Actress†(about 9 minutes in high definition,
2009) is an onscreen interview with actress Zora Kerova who describes working
with Mr. Fulci on her scene, and also her work with Bruno Mattei and Umberto
Lenzi. This is ported over from the Blue Underground single disc Blu-ray
release from 2009.
The Beauty Killer (about 23 minutes in high definition,
2019) is an onscreen, English language explanation of giallo films from critic
and author Stephen Thrower who explains that these films became more and more
violent for one simple reason: they want to push the envelope and show the
audience something that they haven’t seen yet in an effort to make more money.
Paint Me Blood Red (about 17 minutes in high definition,
2019) is my favorite extra because it introduces us to one of cinema’s unsung
heroes, movie poster artist Enzo Sciotti. This man has created some of the most
stunning and gorgeous artwork ever created for horror films. His work for Dario
Argento’s Phenomena (1985) beautifully captures the spirit of the film, while
his work for Paganini Horror (1989) is the only redeeming thing about that
film. Spoken in Italian with non-removable and legible English subtitles.
NYC Locations Then and Now (about 4 minutes in high
definition, 2009) compares the filming locations from 1981 to 2009 when the
comparisons were made. This is ported over from the Blue Underground single
disc Blu-ray release from 2009.
Theatrical Trailer
Poster and Still Gallery – while there are many images
presented here, I’m not sure if many of them appeared as lobby cards since they
depict graphic sex and violence. Granted, Europe is more liberal than the US,
and when I walked through Times Square for the first time in May 1980, I was
shocked by the explicit images on display when Friday the 13th was in release.
There is also a beautifully illustrated, 18-page booklet
containing an essay, Fulci Quacks Up: The Unrelenting Grimness of “THE NEW YORK
RIPPERâ€, which accompanies the set.
Disc Two:
This consists of a DVD that includes everything that the
Blu-ray offers.
Disc Three:
This consists of a 29-track compact disc of the film’s
original soundtrack album.
If
you were a young boy in America in 1964, you were probably glued to the
television set on Friday evenings to watch the groundbreaking, imaginative, and
superbly entertaining action-adventure science fiction animated prime time series,
Jonny Quest. Okay, I’m sure some girls liked the show, too (my next-door
neighbors did). Given the shortage of female characters on the show, though, Jonny
Quest was a program that I would bet appealed mostly to boys.
Jonny
Quest is an 11-year-old all-American boy who has an awesome life. He is the son
of Dr. Benton Quest, a brilliant scientist who works for the U.S. government
and has a laboratory, home, and compound on an island off the coast of Florida.
Their bodyguard is “Race†Bannon, an American equivalent of James Bond, sort
of, although he also acts as Jonny’s tutor. Hadji, an Indian boy the same age
as Jonny, has been adopted into the Quest family. He is adept at exotic magic
tricks and illusions (one of his frequent incantations is “Sim Sim Sala Bim!â€).
Rounding out the team is the pet bulldog, Bandit, who is more energetic than
any bulldog I’ve ever seen. Whatever happened to Jonny’s mother is never
explained. The only female characters are in minor roles (flight attendants and
such) except for Jade, an exotic Asian spy who was apparently Race’s girlfriend
at one time. She appears in only two episodes, though.
Launched
by the team of Hanna-Barbera as their fourth prime time show (their first was The
Flintstones), Quest broke all the norms of cartoons by presenting stories
set in the real world with realistic human characters, gee-whiz technology, and
pulp adventure tales. The series blended various genres—science fiction,
horror, and mystery—as it followed the Quest family around the globe on
exciting, government-sanctioned missions that brought them in contact with
monsters, robots, villainous organizations, pirates, cannibals, and spies.
While
Hanna and Barbera are credited as producer-directors and creators of the show,
it was really comics artist Doug Wildey who came up with the concept and
overall look of the series. His vision was inspired by the likes of Terry and
the Pirates, Tom Swift, and even the first James Bond film, Dr. No. It
was also firmly based in 1960s Cold War sensibility, and often the villains in
the series reflected this attitude.
The
gadgets, vehicles, and weaponry rivaled anything one might see in a Bond film
at the time. Wildey apparently used popular science magazines from which to
cull ideas for settings and props. The locales included faraway but real places
that taught youngsters about Thailand, China, Egypt, or the Arctic. The writing
was top-notch; the scripts were lessons in how to write a half-hour adventure
story with a classic three act structure. The music by Hoyt Curtain was especially
remarkable. For the first time, a kids animated show employed dynamic
orchestral jazz with electric guitars and sassy brass—very much akin,
again, to the Bond sound.
Although
Jonny Quest was critically acclaimed and received good ratings, the show
lasted only one season on ABC and was cancelled after 26 dynamic, beautifully
rendered episodes. The series subsequently found new life in syndication on
other networks, and later spawned spin-offs and sequels. But the original
1964-1965 edition will always remain the best and most innovative version.
When
Warner Home Video released the series on DVD in 2004, there were some problems.
For one, some episodes were censored by deleting dialogue that might today be
deemed “politically incorrect.†Granted, when Tarzan-style Amazonian natives
are about to eat Dr. Quest and a friend for dinner, and Race Bannon calls them “savagesâ€
and “monkeys,†that’s considered a bit racist.
Warner
Archive now presents us with a high definition remastered and restored Blu-ray
set that is the show as originally aired. In fact, a disclaimer on the back of
the jewel case says that the series is “intended for the Adult Collector and
May Not Be Suitable for Children.†Really? Even though 99% of its audience in
1964 were children? The show is 55 years old. Sensibilities were different
then. One must place a classic program, be it a television series or a motion
picture, within the context of when it was first seen. Aside for the 2 or 3
instances of “politically incorrect†dialogue, the 26 episodes of Jonny
Quest is entirely suitable for kids.
The
1080p picture quality is outstanding. Colors are bold and beautiful, and the DTS-HD
Master Audio sounds great in English 2.0 Mono. There are optional English
subtitles.
The
supplements are ported over from the earlier DVD set—featurettes on the making
of the series and all the elements that made it a hit, and a pop-up trivia version
of the episode “Double Danger.†There is also the rare vintage “PF Flyer
Sneaker†Commercial that tied-in to the show. These are not in high definition.
My
only nitpick with the new set is that there is no insert. The package could
have used a booklet or one-pager listing all the episodes or other information.
All you get are three disks and the jewel box.
That
said, this is a marvelous set—for the, ahem, Adult Collector—that is a definite
improvement over the DVD release. Jonny Quest will bring back fond
memories for the Baby Boomer in all of us.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM THE CINEMA RETRO MOVIE STORE
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount Home Video:
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. –On July 6, 1994 moviegoers met a man named Forrest Gump whose story was
both a deeply personal and affecting odyssey and a universal meditation on our
times. Hailed as “magical†(Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) and
filled with “startling grace†(Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), FORREST
GUMP became not only a global blockbuster, but a true cultural
touchstone.
25 years later, FORREST
GUMPremains a treasured cinematic classic that is beloved and
quoted the world over. Tom Hanks gives an astonishing performance as
Forrest, an everyman whose simple innocence comes to embody a generation.
Alongside his mamma (Sally Field), his best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson),
his commanding officer Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise), and his favorite girl
Jenny (Robin Wright), Forrest has a ringside seat for the most memorable events
of the second half of the 20th century.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
and written for the screen by Eric Roth (based on the novel by Winston Groom), FORREST
GUMP won six Academy Awards® including Best Picture, Best Director,
Best Actor (Tom Hanks), Best Writing, Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects.
NEW TWO-DISC BLU-RAY
A newly remastered version
of FORREST GUMP is now available in a two-disc Blu-ray. The
set includes access to a Digital copy of the film as well as over three hours
of previously released bonus content detailing the creative efforts that went
into making the enduring classic:
Disc
1
·
Commentary by Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Rick Carter
·
Commentary by Wendy Finerman
·
Musical Signposts to History
o
Introduction by Ben Fong-Torres
Disc
2
·
Greenbow Diary
·
The Art of the Screenplay Adaptation
·
Getting Past Impossible—Forrest Gump and the Visual Effects
Revolution
·
Little Forrest
·
An Evening with Forrest Gump
·
The Magic of Makeup
·
Through the Ears of Forrest Gump—Sound Design
·
Building the World of Gump—Production Design
·
Seeing is Believing—The Visual Effects of Forrest Gump
In addition, on June 23rd
and 25th, FORREST GUMP will return to the big screen
in more than 600 cinemas nationwide for two screenings each day as Fathom
Events and Paramount present the film. For information and tickets, visit
www.FathomEvents.com.
It took Sean Connery years to successfully cast aside the shadow of James Bond and establish himself as a diverse actor. Connery had made some fine non-Bond films even during the peak of 007 mania - The Hill, Woman of Straw, A Fine Madness and Marnie. Each of these worthy efforts afforded Connery a role that was significantly different than that of Bond but, much to his frustration, all of them were box-office disappointments, although he did have the satisfaction of seeing The Hill win international acclaim. When Connery left the Bond series in 1968, he made some more fine films. The Western Shalako was an international box-office success, as was The Anderson Tapes, which cast him as a charismatic crook. Yet, Martin Ritt's The Molly Maguires, an ambitious film about exploited coal miners, failed to click with audiences, as did The Red Tent, which afforded Connery top-billing even though he only had a supporting role. Connery returned to the Bond fold in 1971 for Diamonds Are Forever and then quit the part once again. He gave one of the finest performances of his career in Sidney Lumet's micro-budget drama The Offence, but it played in only a few art houses before slipping into oblivion. John Boorman's Zardoz, which has attracted a cult following today, was a critical and box-office flop at the time of its release, as was a minor Connery thriller The Terrorists (aka Ransom). But Connery was not about to be counted out. He scored with Murder on the Orient Express, The Wind and the Lion, Robin and Marian, The Great Train Robbery and, most significantly, The Man Who Would Be King. All were critical successes even if they were not blockbusters. Connery also played a key role in the WWII epic A Bridge Too Far, a fine and underrated film. Soon thereafter, however, his choice of film projects became erratic. Although the films Cuba, Wrong is Right and Outland all under-performed at the box-office, they at least afforded him the opportunity to work with acclaimed directors Richard Lester, Richard Brooks and Peter Hyams, respectively. But the cheesy disaster flick Meteor could only be attributed to the desire to make a fast buck.
As Connery matured as a man and actor he still would take on films with limited commercial appeal if he felt the project was artistically rewarding. This was the case with the 1982 film Five Days One Summer which proved to be the final cinematic work of Oscar-winning director Fred Zinnemann, who had made such classics as High Noon and From Here to Eternity. Zinnemann had scored a late career triumph in 1977 with Julia but hadn't made a film since. The movie was an odd choice for both men since the story was small in scale and seemed to have no hope of attracting mainstream audiences. Five Days is very much an art house movie that was nevertheless given wide release based solely on Connery's presence as the leading man. Predictably, it had a quick playoff to largely empty theaters but perhaps more surprisingly, the critics who had lauded Zinnemann with praise for Julia now accused him of making a film that was too small in scope for a collaborative project with Sean Connery. Zinnemann was seventy-four years old when he made the movie and perhaps he felt he had paid his dues to the big studios over the decades. Now in the twilight of his years he might have simply wanted to make a very personal film that appealed to him, if not everyone else. The script is based on a 1929 short story, Maiden Maiden by Kay Boyle. The film was shot under this title before the decision was made to change it to the equally ambiguous Five Days One Summer. In fact, Maiden Maiden was a more intriguing title because it has a dual reference. The first is the the female protagonist of the story and the second is to The Maiden, an imposing mountain in the Swiss Alps where some dramatic events occur. The story concerns the taboo relationship between Kate (Betsy Brantley), an attractive young woman in her mid-twenties and her uncle Douglas (Sean Connery), a successful doctor in his fifties. Since she was a little girl Kate has had an uncontrollable crush on Douglas and as she grew older, came to resent his wife Sarah (Jennifer Hilary). Director Zinnemann zig-zags back and forth in time to show how a schoolgirl crush developed into a forbidden sexual relationship that finds Kate excluding any other potential lover in favor of Douglas. She alternates between joy and depression, the latter mood hitting her whenever she dwells on the fact that she can never be in anything but a secret relationship with the man she loves. Even if Douglas were to get a divorce, the incestuous love affair could never be made public.
The main part of the film concerns Douglas and Kate pulling off a risky holiday trip that will allow them to spend time together in a remote lodge in the Swiss Alps where they can indulge in their mutual passion for hiking and climbing. To avoid any suspicions, she poses as Douglas's wife in a May/December romance. At first she is as giddy as a schoolgirl because she can finally share a bed with Douglas and they can openly express affection for each other. Things get complicated, however, when their hiking guide turns out to be Johann (Lambert Wilson), a handsome young man who is Kate's age. From minute one he awakens long suppressed sexual desires in her for someone other than Douglas, who immediately perceives the unspoken attraction between the two. The trio enjoy a cordial and professional relationship as the hike and take in the scenic wonders around them. However, Johann becomes more forthright when he learns that Kate isn't married to Douglas (though she does not confide he is her uncle). Johann is outraged and tries to convince her to leave him, telling her that she is in a dead-end love affair with a married man that can't end well. Meanwhile, on a dangerous hike with Douglas, Johann also confronts him while they are atop the summit of the Maiden (not the most opportune place to have an argument with each other.) Douglas maintains that he is not using Kate and really loves her. Meanwhile, she has made up her mind to leave Douglas and marry Johann. Before she can give Douglas a "Dear John" letter, word comes that there has been a disaster on the mountain and that one of the men in her life has been killed in an avalanche. In the final scene, she sees a distant figure emerging from the snowy mountain landscape, staggering towards her and a group of rescuers. Is it her lover or her would-be lover? Either way, the result will affect her life in a dramatic way forever.
"Five Days One Summer" has been likened to the German "mountain romances" that were enormously popular in pre-WWII Germany. These films were known to have skimpy plots but magnificent scenery. If critics were kind to any aspect of the movie, it was Giussepe Rotunno's impressive cinematographer. Most reviewers wondered what it was about this modest story that appealed to Fred Zinnemann, who worked infrequently but generally made "important" movies. Despite the low-key nature of the scenario that unfolds on-screen, there is much to like about the film. The performances are first-rate with newcomers Brantley and Wilson making both faring well in their first major roles in a feature film. (Ironically, Wilson screen-tested for the role of James Bond in "Octopussy" when it seemed doubtful that Roger Moore would return to the 007 franchise.) Connery dominates the film, however, with an excellent performance playing a complex character who at times is sympathetic and at other times somewhat of a villain. He's all superficial charm but he cruelly risks destroying his niece's own life by using her as a bed mate. There's no doubt he loves her, but it's clear he isn't about to endanger his marriage to be closer to her. When she finally expresses her frustration and threatens to leave him for Johann, he reacts violently and slaps her. Equally complex is the character of Kate. We're left to speculate as to just why her obsession with Douglas has presumably led to the exclusion of any other men in her life. In this respect, the script is either lacking or intriguing, depending upon the views of individuals in the audience. The only easily definable character is that of Johann. He's a young man of simple means who has no interest in the world outside of the immediate domain in which he was raised. When he is smitten by Kate, his goal isn't to share her life experiences but rather, to incorporate her into his own world. In this respect, Kate's choices of lovers have one thing in common: they both want her to submit to their ideas about what is in her best interests. Douglas has clearly deluded himself into believing that his relationship with Kate is not harmful to her. Johann offers her a more independent, traditional life but still makes it clear that if she marries him, she would have to be content to live in a beautiful but remote mountain region. The end of the tale finds Kate finally exerting her own will and finding a determination to pursue her own destiny.
"Five Days One Summer" is barely remembered, let alone discussed, in evaluations of Sean Connery and Fred Zinnemann's careers. However that shouldn't negate its many merits. I liked the film far more today than I did upon its initial release. The Warner Archive has released the film on DVD. The transfer is a bit problematic. Some of the sequences in the lush mountain areas do justice to the magnificent cinematography but certain other scenes have excessive grain. Additionally, interiors are over-saturated to the point that characters who are seen in dimly lit rooms are sometimes reduced to shadowy blobs. The film is a prime candidate for a Blu-ray, remastered edition. The only bonus extra is the original trailer. It is a region-free release.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM THE THE CINEMA RETRO MOVIE STORE
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Available
for the Very First Time at Retail, the 6-Disc Set Features 24 Complete,
Remastered Episodes Loaded with Classic Sketches and Incredible Guest Stars Including Raquel Welch, Steve Allen, Johnny Cash,
Bing Crosby, Gene Hackman, Rita Hayworth, Hugh Hefner, Bob Hope, Liza Minnelli,
Carroll O’Connor, Carl Reiner, John Wayne, Henny Youngman and Many More!
PROGRAM SYNOPSIS
Political
correctness met its match with Rowan
& Martin’s Laugh-In, NBC-TV’s groundbreaking variety series that became
a cultural touchstone and part of the fabric of ‘60s-‘70s era America.Every Monday night at 8pm from 1968-1973, straight
man Dan Rowan and wisecracking co-host Dick Martin led a supremely talented
comic ensemble through a gut-busting assault of one-liners, skits, bits and non
sequiturs that left viewers in hysterics and disbelief.ROWAN
& MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON, from the award-winning TV
DVD archivists at Time Life, makes its retail debut on July 10 in an uproarious
set featuring all 24 re-mastered episodes from the fifth season (September
13,1971-March 20, 1972).
In THE
COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON, after years of shameless name dropping, Dick finally
gets his wish when bombshell Raquel Welch kicks off the new season with her
first and only appearance on the show.Former
Hogan’s Heroes POWs Richard Dawson
and Larry Hovis escaped CBS to join the cast. And, along with alumni Judy
Carne, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and Teresa Graves, they help to
celebrate Laugh-In’s landmark 100th
episode (September 1, 1971).THE
COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON also trots out many of the 20th century’s greatest
talents, including Steve Allen, Johnny
Carson, Johnny Cash, Carol Channing, Charo, Petula Clark, Bing Crosby, Tony
Curtis, Henry Gibson, Gene Hackman, Rita Hayworth, Hugh Hefner, Bob Hope, Arte
Johnson, Paul Lynde, Liza Minnelli, Agnes Moorehead, Joe Namath, Carroll O’Connor,
Vincent Price, Carl Reiner, Debbie Reynolds, Sugar Ray Robinson, Bill Russell,
Vin Scully, Doc Severinsen, Jacqueline Susann, Tiny Tim, John Wayne, Raquel
Welch, Henny Youngman, and more!
THE
COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON also includes such classic features as “Cocktail Party,â€
“Fickle Finger of Fate,†“Joke Wall,†“Gladys and Tyrone,†“General Bull
Right,†“Big Al,†Lily Tomlin’s legendary “Ernestine†and “Edith Ann,â€
“Tasteful Lady,†and “Ruth Buzzi’s Hollywood Reportâ€.Additionally, Mod, Mod World takes on sports,
toys and games, families, politics, nutrition, leisure, year’s end, Manhattan,
television, small towns, crazy people, and the theater, Robert Goulet, Charo,
and Three Dog Night perform the Laugh-In
news song and there’s a hilarious “Salute to Santa†and a very modern Christmas
Carol.
CAST:
Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Lily Tomlin, Ruth Buzzi, Arte
Johnson, Gary Owens, Alan Sues, Ann Elder, Dennis Allen, Barbara Sharma, Johnny Brown, Larry
Hovis, Richard Dawson
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Format: DVD/6 Discs
Running Time: 1239 minutes
Genre:TV
DVD/Comedy
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Stereo
About Time Life
Time Life is one of
the world's pre-eminent creators and direct marketers of unique music and
video/DVD products, specializing in distinctive multi-media collections that
evoke memories of yesterday, capture the spirit of today, and can be enjoyed
for a lifetime. TIME LIFE and the TIME LIFE logo are registered trademarks of
Time Warner Inc. and affiliated companies used under license by Direct Holdings
Americas Inc., which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
It Happened
Here
A film by
Kevin Brownlow &
Andrew Mollo
Dual Format
Edition release, 23 July 2018
Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo’s immensely
powerful It Happened Here
depicts an alternative history in which England has been invaded and occupied
by Nazi Germany. Coming to Blu-ray for the first time, on 23 July 2018,
the film is presented in a new 2K remaster (from the original camera negative) by
the BFI National Archive, supervised by Kevin Brownlow, to mark his 80th
birthday. A raft of exceptional extras include previously unseen
behind-the-scenes footage, new interviews, news items, trailers and more.
‘The German invasion of England took place in July
1940 after the British retreat from Dunkirk. Strongly resisted at first, the
German army took months to restore order, but the resistance movement, lacking
outside support, was finally crushed. Then, in 1944, it reappeared.’
That is what happened when history was rewritten:
Nazi Germany has won the Second World War and England is under occupation. Kevin
Brownlow was only 18 when he and Andrew Mollo – just 16 – embarked on this
ambitious neorealist-tinged drama, which took eight years to complete, helped
along by financial support from Tony Richardson (Woodfall Films). Shot on both
16mm and 35mm, with a mainly amateur cast and with incredible attention to
detail, the impressively polished result is a chilling and timely reminder of
what might have been had Nazism not been defeated.
The newly remastered film will be premiered
on the big screen at a special Blu-ray/DVD launch event at BFI Southbank on its
release date, Monday 23 Julyat 6.00pm, followed by a discussion with Kevin
Brownlow and Andrew Mollo. More
details and tickets from www.bfi.org.uk/southbank
Special
features
·Presented in
High Definition and Standard Definition
·Mirror on the World (1962, 10
mins): full version of fake German newsreel
·It Happened Here: Behind the Scenes (1956-66,22 mins):
previously unseen footage with a new commentary by Kevin Brownlow
·Original UK and
US trailers (1966)
·It Happened Here Again (1976, 7 mins): excerpt from a documentary on Winstanley
·Interview
excerpt with the directors(2009, 2
mins)
·The Conquest of London (1964/2005, 4 mins): Italian TV item
·On Set With Brownlow and Mollo (2018, 12 mins):interview
with Production Assistant Johanna Roeber
·Kevin Brownlow Remembers It Happened Here (2018, 65 mins)
·Image gallery
·Introduction to How It Happened Here: text of David Robinson’s foreword to the book (Downloadable PDF –
DVD only)
·Illustrated
booklet with writing by Kevin Brownlow and new essays by Dr Josephine Botting,
DoP Peter Suschitzky and military historian EWW Fowler
Product
details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1298 / Cert PG
UK
/ 1964 / black and white / 100 mins / English language, with optional
hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / BD50: 1080p, 24fps,
PCM 1.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
audio (192kbps)
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the Warner Archive:
Burbank, Calif., (May 17, 2018) Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest
and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Archive Collection proudly unveils its
Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-rayâ„¢ release of the Oscar-winning 1954 MGM classic
Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers.
Directed
by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain),
and starring Jane Powell (Royal Wedding,
Hit the Deck) and Howard Keel (Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate),Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was
nominated for four Academy Awards® and won for Best Scoring of a
Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a wonderful score of
original songs by composer Gene de Paul and lyricist by Johnny Mercer (Li’l Abner) along with brilliant,
acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd (The Band Wagon,Guys and
Dolls).
Presented
for the first time on Blu-ray, featuring a new 1080p HD master from a 2018 2K
scan in its original 2.55 CinemaScope aspect ratio, with DTS-HD Master Audio
5.1 audio t (based on the original 4 track magnetic mix, but re-built from
recording session masters and original stems), the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray has extras to please every mountain
man or woman, including the rarely-seen alternate widescreen (1.77 aspect
ratio) alternate version presented for the first time in 1080p HD, a commentary
from the film’s director Stanley Donen, a comprehensive cast & crew
documentary, vintage featurettes including the famous “MGM Jubilee Overtureâ€
short (presented in its original CinemaScope 2.55 aspect ratio for the first
time in 1080p HD with 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio sound), premiere newsreel footage
and more.
Of
note is that two versions of the film exist, one in CinemaScope and the other
in traditional widescreen. In 1953 when
Cinemascope was brand new, MGM was concerned that if it was a fad they would
have an unusable film in the long-run, so for protection they shot the film
twice. Two different takes of each shot with different staging was filmed which
reflect the different frame size of traditional widescreen (which is less wide
and more rectangular) and CinemaScope. By the time the film was released,
CinemaScope had proven a huge success and the alternate version was rarely seen
until its release on DVD in 2004.
About the Film
In Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers, Adam (Howard Keel), the eldest of seven
brothers, goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly (Jane Powell) to marry
him that same day. After they return to his backwoods home she discovers he has
six brothers -- all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth
siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about
the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to
his brothers' loneliness... kidnap the women they want from the surrounding villages.
Dismissed
by studio executives during production as a ‘second-tier musical’, the film
suffered budget cuts during production that precluded location shooting.
Overcoming these circumstances, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was
an obvious hit in the making when previewed, and opened to great reviews at
huge box office success at New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall. This film
was so successful that it was theatrically re-issued for many years thereafter,
and holds the achievement as one of the highest-grossing musicals ever produced
by M-G-M’s “dream factoryâ€. The unique story behind the making of the film is
well chronicled by director Donen’s commentary, as well as the comprehensive
documentary on the disc, hosted by star Howard Keel, and including interviews
with co-stars Jane Powell, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn, and Jacques d’Amboise, as
well as director Donen, choreographer Kidd, and Musical Supervisor Saul Chaplin (who earned an
Oscar for his contribution), among others.
Special Features:
Disc One: (BD50)
·Audio Commentary by Stanley Donen
(Recorded 2004)
·Short Subject shot in CinemaScope and Color,
featuring the M-G-M Symphony Orchestra, led by Johnny Green, playing a medley
of eleven well-known songs used in some of the studio's best-known musicals. (Remastered
in 1080p HD, 16x9 2.55 anamorphic aspect ratio with 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio)
·Documentary "Sobbin' Women: The
Making of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," hosted by Howard Keel
(Produced 1996, updated and revised 2004)-SD
·Radio City Music Hall Premiere - July
22, 1954 (SD)
The
stylish Western “Da Uomo a Uomo†(“Man to Manâ€), written by Luciano Vincenzoni
and directed by Giulio Petroni, opened in Italy in 1967. Two years later, it reached American theaters
as “Death Rides a Horse.†In the film,
bandits attack a relay station at the Mesita Ranch where an express wagon carrying
$200,000 has stopped for the night to wait out a pounding rainstorm. After killing the guards, the four leaders of
the gang glimpse two women -- the ranch owner’s wife and daughter -- inside the
house. They invade the home, gun down
the rancher, rape and shoot the two women, and set fire to the place before
riding off with their loot. The only
survivor of the massacre is the family’s eight-year-old son, pulled from the
burning wreckage of the house by an unknown benefactor.
Fifteen
years later, now grown, the orphaned Bill (John Philip Law) lives alone at the
rebuilt cabin and practices obsessively with six-guns and rifles, hoping for a
chance to find the murderers and settle the score. Meanwhile, released from prison after
completing a fifteen-year sentence, an ex-convict named Ryan (Lee Van Cleef) rides into the
territory. He encounters Bill, briefly, when he stops by
the ranch to pause over the graves of the three people buried there. “I heard about it some time ago -- I’m
sorry,†he tells the young man mysteriously. Afterward, in town, two gunmen try to ambush Ryan in his hotel room, but
the ex-convict outwits and outshoots them. The sheriff, investigating, recognizes the spurs worn by one of the dead
men: they match one that hangs in Bill’s cabin, lost by one of the outlaws
outside the burning ranch years before. “Fifteen years, there’s been no new track, only a spur,†Bill tells
Ryan. “Then you come along, and there’s
three spurs.†It transpires that Ryan is
chasing his former partners in crime, who double-crossed him and left him to
serve time at hard labor. When he leaves
town, Bill follows, suspecting that his prey and Ryan’s are the same.
“Death
Rides a Horse†follows the template of Sergio Leone’s “For a Few Dollars Moreâ€
or “Per Qualche Dollaro in Più†(1965), which was also written by Luciano
Vincenzoni, in its structure of an older gunman and a younger one who form a
mutually respectful but shaky partnership to chase a common quarry. The teamwork has its advantages, but each
character has his own motivation for the chase, and ultimately each one strives
to reach his objective first, before the other. Vincenzoni’s script even recycles several other characters and
situations from his earlier storyline for the Leone movie, including Bill’s
fragmented, red-tinged flashbacks to the massacre. But the key differences between the two
pictures are as striking as the similarities, and “Death Rides a Horse†stands
nicely on its own merits. Like Clint
Eastwood’s bounty hunter Manco in the Leone film, John Philip Law’s Bill is
blond-haired and fast on the draw, but he’s also younger and less experienced
-- an amateur at manhunting, not a professional. This places him in stronger contrast to Van
Cleef’s steely and vaguely tragic rival and mentor, underscored by Ennio
Morricone’s signature themes for the characters: a mournful dirge that
represents the lingering trauma of the Mesita murders, a measured guitar and
drum tune symbolizing Ryan’s determination to find his former partners, and a
dissonant “vengeance†theme with a tortured flute solo. Where the enemy in Leone’s film was an
outsider on the American frontier, a depraved, dark-skinned bandit of mixed
Mexican and Indian parentage, the masterminds sought by Ryan and Bill have
burrowed into polite society and have become outwardly respectable business and
political leaders. Cavanaugh (the
wonderfully sleazy Anthony Dawson) runs a popular saloon and gambling
house. Walcott (Luigi Pistilli) is a
trusted town father. Ryan’s reappearance
inspires Walcott to use this advantage to pull off an even bigger score than
the Mesita Ranch heist. The conceit of
criminals masquerading as civic leaders would reappear in many later Italian
Westerns. In real life, as we all know,
crooks and opportunists rarely wind up as figures of power in commerce or
government.
The
Kino Lorber Blu-ray edition of “Death Rides a Horse†presents Petroni’s film in
a sharp 1.85:1, 1920x1080p edition. The
image isn’t perfect (some graininess is apparent, especially in the dark
nighttime scenes); nevertheless, it relegates decades of substandard TV and
budget-video prints to the trash heap. The bonus features include English and Italian language options,
subtitles, perceptive running commentary by filmmaker and critic Alex Cox, and
trailers for other Italian Westerns from Kino Lorber, including a forthcoming,
remastered BRD of “For a Few Dollars More.†While we’re on the subject, here’s hoping that someone will produce
comparably good widescreen, hi-def U.S. editions of Petroni’s somber Zapata
Western “Tepepa†(1969) and Vincenzoni’s playful gangster film “Mean Frank and
Crazy Tony†(1973), with Lee Van Cleef as a seasoned mafioso and Tony LoBianco
as his admiring, younger disciple.
