Hello!
Friend Dick Dinman has a new podcast up for Kino’s 3-D Blu-ray of Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil, the first movie of the 1950s 3-D craze.
His guests are two of the experts from the 3-D Film Archive, Robert Furmanek and Mike Ballew, talking about the restoration job in three dimensions. Get down in the technical weeds with a full discussion of Ansco color and trying to match up the color. CineSavant’s coverage of the disc release is here.
Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson
This excellent true story of political bribery in Tennessee has a genuine heroine at its center. Sissy Spacek plays a governor’s aide set up to grease pardons for violent offenders, who blows the whistle in her own defense. Jeff Daniels is the fixer running the scheme; attorney and future Sentator Fred Thompson became a film actor in this show, playing himself. This almost-forgotten but worthwhile drama was photographed by the great Chris Menges. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
08/17/24
Take a trip to the ’50s roots of French crime cinema, now redubbed ‘French noir.’ Obsessed with American cars and movies, Jean-Pierre Melville nevertheless brings original flavor and philosophy to his first thriller. ‘Bob the Gambler’ is a friend to all in the Paris underworld and a gent when it comes to women. But he’s still a slave to his addiction to cards. It’s a heist movie with characters more colorful than Hollywood’s, filmed with a street sense that inspired the French New Wave. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/17/24
Hello!
The good news this week is all about disc announcements, some for October and November…
Leading off the hot news is word that Kino Lorber has a 4K Ultra HD disc coming for Sidney Hayers’ Circus of Horrors, a horror film with a good reputation that happens to be a CineSavant favorite. It’s due on October 29, so if it ships early it might arrive in time for Halloween fun.
They don’t have box art yet, so we’ll be curious to see if they find an alternative to the garish original poster graphic.
The giddy, oversexed big-top plastic surgery epic is also one of the screen’s better circus thrillers, and the Grand Guignol sadism is pitched perfectly for CineSavant sensibilities — you don’t take it seriously, but it’s excellent high-tension play acting. The cast is great too — Anton Diffring, Donald Pleasance, Yvonne Monlaur, Erika Remberg, Yvonne Romain, Jane Hylton and Kenneth Griffith. It certainly has spirit — plus exploitation, sadism and galloping misogyny. Just be kind to dancing bears and be wary of monster apes, and you’ll be fine.
Also high on our list of desired titles: the disc boutique Fun City Editions has already released excellent Blu-ray discs of Jeff Bridges’ Rancho Deluxe and Cutter’s Way.
We just learned that the oft-requested Robert Benton western Bad Company will be out right away, on August 20. It’s up up for preorder. I had forgotten the film’s cast — starring with Bridges are David Huddleston, Barry Brown, Jim Davis, John Savage, Geoffrey Lewis and Ed Lauter. It’s a story of draft evaders during the Civil War.
Available October 22 from Film Masters is an unofficial ‘Euro Kinski Double Bill’ Blu-ray disc. The leading title is a German Edgar Wallace ‘Krimi’ thriller, Creature with the Blue Hand. Klaus Kinski plays an asylum inmate. The press notice doesn’t mention a European version or German language, so this might be the U.S. release version only. We’ll have to see.
On the same disc is Web of the Spider, Antonio Margheriti’s Nella morsa della ragna, the 1971 remake of Margheriti’s own Danza Macabra starring Anthony Franciosa and Michèle Mercier. Klaus Kinski plays Edgar Allan Poe in this remake. For this one they say it’s the U.S. release version, surely in English language only.
Hitting us all at once is surprising news with The Criterion Collection’s announcement for November. In any given month we hope for a vintage Hollywood picture, some nice genre title or a remaster of a classic from an artist like Akira Kurosawa. Criterion is already celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary with a giant CC40 Collector’s set, but their other releases for November are a collectors’ dream wish list, all with something in common …
In alphabetical order:
• William Wyler’s Funny Girl arrives in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, with a stack of extras including a new audio interview with Barbra Streisand.
• Also in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray is a new disc of Ishiro Honda’s orginal ’54 Godzilla. It has the same extras as the older Criterion release, including an encoding of the American re-cut Godzilla King of the Monsters.
We’re hoping that the ‘new 4K digital restoration’ is as good as the bit of a Japanese disc I was able to see several years ago … it looked better than anything we’ve gotten over here, so much so that we grumbled that Toho was withholding ‘the good stuff’ for export.
Heck, we still wish Criterion could market the Bill Sienkiewicz cover art for this disc, first seen twelve years ago.
• Next up, we’re more than ready for a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray of Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon, the one where he channels the look and tone of a Depression-era John Ford / Will Rogers comedy. O’Neals Tatum and Ryan are truly charming, and Madeline Kahn hilarious. The extras list a lot of input from favorite Polly Platt.
• Fourth up is Howard Hawks’ hands-down absolute classic, the original 1932 preCode Scarface with Paul Muni. We’d go for this just to see Criterion’s extras, but it also is listed in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray.
We definitely want to see this new digital restoration, as the accepted wisdom on this old Howard Hughes production is that its sound & picture film elements are ‘very limited.’ The best Blu-ray transfer hits a limit of contrast and sharpness. How much better than the Blu-ray can the movie look? We’ll hope for the best.
• Next comes a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray upgrade on Akira Kurosawa’s original Seven Samurai, which always scores high on the list of best movies ever made. No arguments here … it’s from the same year as Godzilla and we’re hoping that a remaster can make it look even better.
Seven Samurai was Criterion’s 2nd ever DVD, spine number 2. I’ve never reviewed it, just because it’s so intimidating and I didn’t want to just rehash things I’d read elsewhere. I’ll try to give it a shot this time.
• And finally, the lineup finishes with a new 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition of Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water, a rare picture that was my favorite film for a year, and also took home the Best Picture Oscar.
The transfer may be the same as the existing Fox disc, but of course there are those Criterion extras to contend with. Mr. Del Toro can be very candid when evaluating his work, so I’ll be interested in hearing what he has to say.
Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson
Want to follow Spencer Tracy in search of the elusive Northwest Passage? Not in this movie! Taken from American history and treated like gospel, Kenneth Roberts’ story gives us Spencer Tracy as a colonial ‘special forces’ Major whose troop marches hundred of miles to wipe out an Indian encampment near the Canadian border … it’s the Apocalypse Now of 1940. MGM’s gigantic production lugged giant Technicolor cameras all over Oregon and Idaho under the direction of famed director King Vidor. Robert Young is the artist who becomes a guerilla fighter; the whole movie plays like propaganda to prepare American boys to fight Nazis. The digital Technicolor restoration is excellent. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
08/13/24
Once again an Iranian film yields an experience found nowhere else. Houman Seyedi’s allegory of exploiters and the exploited never takes a false step, building in tension as it goes. Festival critics praised the performance of Mohsen Tanabandeh as an Everyman laborer driven to a radical extremes. The well-made picture plays with elements we expect to see in a Black Comedy, but the last thing offered is laughs … what we get is 107 wrenching minutes of Truth In Motion. On Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile.
08/13/24
Hello!
I tell ya, its great to have good friends. Photographer, electronics engineer and amateur 3-D printer jockey Allan Peach likes the CineSavant logo, and a while back made me a 3-D sign, which I showed off in these pages.
A couple of weeks back he did it again, only fancier … he may be on his third 3-D printer by now. You can see the impressive result for yourself. It lives behind my work desk and it even keeps good time … after years of digital readouts, I’m going to be reading an old fashioned dial clock again.
Here’s something new from the elusive Correspondent ‘B.’ — America’s National Parks have a fun semi-morbid toy on sale, and it looks like a bargain. It’s the perfect snuggly plush toy for people 70 years and older, who remember atom drills in grade school.
It’s Bert from the famous Duck and Cover cartoon immortalized in The Atomic Cafe. He’s pretty cute, but we can’t tell how big he is.
He’s up for sale — what a patriotic toy! Tell ’em CineSavant sent you.
Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson
Jean-Luc Godard’s pop Sci-fi masterpiece jumps to 4K … and the splendid 2023 remaster on the 4K disc finally nails Raoul Coutard’s gritty-beautiful B&W cinematography. Agent Lemmy Caution rockets through intersidereal space to fight the computer Alpha 60 in Dr. Nosferatu’s ‘Capital of Pain’ … and to help Natacha Von Braun re-learn the word ‘love.’ The pulp saga is the story of our times, circa 1965. Stars Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/10/24
We wanted to cover a Universal product from the late ’60s, and this one has stars we like — Rod Taylor, Claudia Cardinale, Harry Guardino and a lot of angles to discuss — the TV-movie production values, the Techniscope format short cut. Kino’s disc comes with a good commentary from Steve Mitchell & Steven Jay Rubin. The story is about smugglers in Europe, but everything we see looks Los Angeles- local. On the other hand, any excuse to see Claudia Cardinale is a good excuse. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/10/24
Hello!
Yet another foreign Sci-fi disc has us curious … the watchful Gary Teetzel forwards some links relating to an obscure but fantastic Sci-fi movie that we’ve only seen on compromised DVD releases.
Almost 20 years ago, we were knocked over when Robert Skotak introduced us to Kosmitcheskiy reys: Fantasticheskaya novella, a Russian movie from 1936 depicting a sophisticated voyage to the moon. It’s a terrific movie, packed with gigantic miniature work and employing lots of sophisticated stop-motion animation. It’s a missing link in realistic Sci-fi space movies, between Fritz Lang’s Woman in the Moon and George Pal’s Destination Moon.
Germany’s Der Ostfilm is offering a Blu-ray of the movie with the German title Kosmische Reise. We’re going to keep our eyes peeled to find out if the quality is good. Although made in 1936 ‘Cosmic Journey’ was a silent film, and existing prints add a soundtrack that cuts off the left of the frame and puts composiitons out of whack. We can’t expect that issue to be solved, but we’d want some kind of quality improvement.
The text says that the show is Region A compatible and has English subtitles, something Gary confirmed at an English sales site called Wicked Visions.
→ Included on the Blu-ray is the 1935 Russian Sci-fi item Gibel Sensatsii (Loss of Feeling), the wild tale of capitalist Jim Ripl, whose aim is to replace all workers with robots. In the film still (it enlarges) Ripl is playing his saxophone while the assembled robots dance. Der Ostfilm offers several other Eastern-block Sci-fi pictures in DVD and Blu.
In the ‘say it ain’t so’ category of news, correspondent Ted D showed us over the weekend that something we thought we knew about 4K discs, just isn’t true. 4K discs can have Region coding. Ted purchased a German Plaion 4K of Planet of the Vampires and was surprised that it wouldn’t play on his domestic player.
The Diabolik sales page confirms this. This presents a problem for reviewing — I have an all-region 4K player, and thus might not notice a Region-blocked disc … so many Blu-ray ads say they’re Region coded, but are not. So I hope we haven’t steered readers toward pricey discs that they can’t play. It’s a lot of responsibility, and the most we can do is offer a flaky disclaimer. First warning — if you’re not All-Region equipped, be wary of imported 4K discs from Munich-based Plaion Pictures.
For the last couple of months, various people have been circulating a disturbing ‘AI Nighmare’ video from the VAPE called Vilage Live. It’s a horror video sampler, a selection of vignettes conjuring horrific tableaux. It’s demented, for sure. Part of the uneasiness with the images comes in trying to reconcile the realistic elements with the weirdness of AI image manipulation, with its ‘animation’ that’s at least 50% a morphing effect. So watch if you dare … it’s technically Safe For Work, but no apologies for psychic damage.
I once got the same jolt from a creepy old pocketbook my friend Douglas Haise showed me, Charles Addams’ Dear Dead Days: A Family Album. It’s a weird ‘concept book,’ as if Addams’ fictional ‘Addams Family’ characters had kept a Seriously Morbid Scrapbook. Amazon reviews describe it as ‘an answer to the ‘good old days’ nostalgia craze of the early 1960s,’ ‘loaded with photos and period art of coffins, cadavers, funeral carriages, freaks of nature, and more.’ If I recall, the sub-par photo quality in the pocketbook made it all seem even creepier — identifying the subject of some photos was difficult.
→ The warped visuals also remind us of my copy of Charles G. Finney’s The Circus of Dr. Lao … at least one edition was illustrated with weird art by Boris Artzybasheff, some of which used similar physical contortions and distortions…
Hope that wasn’t too rough … Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson
Jack Nicholson’s shaggy, sloppy, not-particularly-well-organized western comedy is often hilarious, especially in the early stages. With a half-dozen capable funny men given little to do — John Belushi, for one — the movie is ultimately saved by its leading lady. The marvelous, 100% charming Mary Steenburgen helps the film earn its label ‘romantic comedy,’ even if the result leaves a lot of loose ends hanging. Nicholson did hire the best, though — Richard Bradford, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morris … and his cameraman is none other than Néstor Almendros. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Cinématographe / Vinegar Syndrome.
08/06/24
Practically disowned by Columbia when new, Orson Welles’ baroque noir thriller is now regarded as one of the studio’s top achievements, and Sony has released it as a solo 4K attraction. Starring Welles’ ex-wife Rita Hayworth and a raft of eccentric players in strikingly effective roles, the film fronts a pretzel-twisted storyline that takes multiple viewings to untangle (we’re still working on that). Welles noir tale is a crazy-house of romantic delirium, and not even Harry Cohn’s editorial interference can dull its impact… it’s still a classic. On 4K Ultra HD (only) from Sony.
08/06/24
Hello!
We have a book review today, the latest film book by Alain Silver and James Ursini, authorities on film noir since the earliest days of the movement’s recognition in English-language print. The key reference book Film Noir Encyclopedia is their work, with writers like Elizabeth Ward and Bob Porfirio. Collectors with just a few film noir videodiscs will likely already be familiar with their audio commentaries.
Alain and Jim’s latest film book is now out under the TCM imprint. The title is From the Moment They Met It Was Murder: Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir. Its focus is that single Hollywood movie made in 1944; their thesis is that Double Indemnity singlehandedly pushed the Production Code office to accept harder, more adult themes, permitting the depiction of subject matter previously restricted to seamy pulp fiction. In doing so it firmly established the basics of the first wave of romantic-expressionist film noir.
The text introduces us to a gallery of fascinating personalities. The novel by James M. Cain had been purchased by Hollywood years before, but the Production Code censors wouldn’t allow the filming of such a salaciously immoral story. Looking for a sensational property for his third movie, ace writer-director Billy Wilder seized on Cain’s novel as a must-make project, despite the censor obstructions. Wilder’s prestigious writing partner Charles Brackett declined to be involved, and when James M. Cain wasn’t available to co-write, Wilder turned to the other hot hardboiled crime novelist of the day, Raymond Chandler. The clash of personal habits, tastes, and lifestyles between these talents makes for excellent reading; Silver and Ursini chart the progress of the film adaptation with an eye to determining each writer’s contribution. Nobody structured stories better than Billy Wilder, but he had learned English as a second language. Raymond Chandler’s skill with snappy American dialogue was unequalled.
The book sources Paramount’s original production records plus interviews and diary entries by the participants. A number of mysteries are investigated: How did Wilder and Paramount get the Censor office to approve content in direct conflict with the Production Code? How did they slip Barbara Stanwyck’s suggestive dialogue and provocative costumes past the censors, let alone a giant no-no, the open depiction of a flagrantly adulterous relationship?
The authors also confirm / debunk some apocryphal legends attached to Double Indemnity. A finale in the San Quentin Gas Chamber was scripted, filmed, edited and possibly previewed, but dropped at the last minute. Did the Gas Chamber scene serve as a kind of censorship insurance policy, to be used if the Code insisted that the guilty murderer be shown to pay for his crime?
The exhaustively researched From the Moment They Met It Was Murder functions as a group biography for several of its participants. The book begins by recounting the 1920s crime that inspired Cain’s book Double Indemnity, a fascinating case of a husband murdered for an insurance payout. At the time it was considered The Trial of the Century, attended by celebrities and reported by cynical newsmen who would later become Hollywood screenwriters.
Alain Silver is an experienced film producer, and makes the book’s analysis of the production process yield more insights on the filming. A young actress was hired to play the murder victim’s daughter, but was dismissed before filming began because she looked ‘like a 12 year old.’ The movie was noted for its realism, but except for a very few establishing shots, every scene was filmed on indoor sound stages at Paramount.
As with Chinatown exactly 30 years later, the phenomenon of Double Indemnity became a major Hollywood talking subject. Wilder’s film was influential in that producers could now depict violence and adult concerns more directly. Silver and Ursini have collected a wealth of editorial and review excerpts addressing the sea change in what could now be filmed for America’s screens.
The final chapters of From the Moment They Met It Was Murder will interest readers more deeply attuned to film noir as a film movement and a style (not a genre), as indicated with the title extension … and the Rise of Film Noir. The authors offer proof that Double Indemnity became the springboard for the noir explosion of ‘dark’ thrillers that flourished in the following decade. The authors chart the filmmakers and the movies, showing Double Indemnity’s continuing influence. Billy Wilder would himself contribute three more titles to the effort, including the masterpieces Sunset Blvd. and Ace in the Hole. For rigorous students of film noir, the book’s extensive footnotes and bibiliography are an instant research source.
From the Moment They Met It Was Murder: Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir is available variously in softcover and hardbound, at Barnes & Noble, Target, Hachette Book Group and Amazon.
Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson
General Eisenhower reportedly praised this movie as best representing the real experience of American foot soldiers; director William Wellman’s cast gives it believability and the writers stick close to the de-glamorized plain reporting of war correspondent Ernie Pyle. The real combat footage intercuts well; the sentiment is heartbreakingly direct. Burgess Meredith is excellent and budding star Robert Mitchum earned his one acting nomination. The restored Blu-ray comes with first-class extras, including a fine Alan Rode commentary. On Blu-ray from Ignite Films.
08/03/24
Cecil B. De Mille and David Lean get the glory for historical epics on a giant scale, but Bernardo Bertolucci’s saga of an empire overturned equals them in sweep and spectacle. The complex era on view would seem a political minefield, yet the production received full cooperation from the Red Chinese. The digital restoration presents the theatrical version in 4K, plus an SD encoding of the expanded RAI television cut, which is almost an hour longer. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
08/03/24