CineSavant Column
Hello!
There’s always something new to be discovered, as we found out in a pub email from Deaf Crocodile Films, announcing an upcoming Blu-ray of the rare Czech omnibus fantasy, Prague Nights (Pražské Noci). In a deal with Comeback Company and the Národní filmový archiv, the rare 1969 feature has been restored for its first- ever U.S. release.
Prague Nights was in production during the Soviet occupation of Prague. Its three stories were directed by Miloš Makovec, Evald Schorm and Jiří Brdečka, and are split between modern day and medieval times, something on the order of Mario Bava’s I tre volti della paura. The framing encounter with a seductive storyteller takes place in a graveyard. One story is about a countess with a strange destiny, and a second concerns a medieval murderess who makes her own poison.
The third story is a version of the Golem legend, described as dreamlike and scored with ‘a chorus of ghostly voices.’ The pop-influenced score for the ‘poison’ episode is by Zdeněk Liška, the composer of the Czech sci-fi classic Ikarie XB 1.
We’ll be looking forward to a release date announcement. In the meantime, Deaf Crocodile has posted a Prague Night trailer . . . which is mildly NSFW.
The ever-vigilant Dick Dinman has a new podcast up, a celebratory tribute to the latest selection of Warner Archive Blu-ray offerings, at his DVD Classics Corner On the Air page.
Frequent Dinman guest George Feltenstein is back to explain the selection and restorations from a curator’s point of view.
It’s a strong month of Warners and MGM greats: Greta Garbo in Camille, Anatole Litvak’s Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Esther Williams in Neptune’s Daughter, Susan Hayward in I’ll Cry Tomorrow, Joan Crawford in Flamingo Road and Marilyn Monroe in The Prince and the Showgirl. The theme seems to be four frantic divas, interrupted by one deep cover Nazi agent.
You can’t win them all — CineSavant would have wanted to review at least three more of these, but the only one sent was the incredible new restoration of the Marilyn Monroe movie. We have some excellent titles promised for next month. Until Tuesday —
— thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson