Savant's new reviews today are:

The Complete Jacques Tati
Blu-ray
  All in new HD restorations, Jacques Tati's entire feature output is presented together -- Jour de Fête, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle, PlayTime, Trafic and Parade -- and grouped with dozens of featurettes, visual essays, interviews and vintage documentaries. Plus a number of Tati's short subjects, and two by his daughter. Jour de Fête is present in three versions, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday in two, and PlayTime was mastered from 70mm. It's an amazing run of films, culminating in the awe-inspiring PlayTime. In Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
10/28/14

Lolly-Madonna XXX
DVD-R
  Richard C. Sarafian's 1973 hillbilly feud epic sank like a rock in the theaters, but now creates more than enough interest to merit revival from the dead. Actors Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan are the warring patriarchs; Jeff Bridges and Gary Busey peaceniks on opposite sides of the fence. Scott Wilson, Kiel Martin,Timothy Scott, Ed Lauter, Randy Quaid are the sons that take up arms, and Season Hubley an innocent girl brought into the fray via mistaken identity. The performances are compelling, even if we wonder what the movie's overall point might be. In DVD-R from The Warner Archive Collection.
10/28/14

Under Fire
Blu-ray
  Roger Spottiswoode directs this exciting, tense tale of journalists risking their lives to get the story in 1979 Nicaragua, as the Sandinistas seize power from the corrupt Anastasio Somoza. There's a glamour factor at work, with Nick Nolte and Joanna Cassidy quite a romantic couple as they dodge bullets, as well as Jean-Paul Trintignant's treacherous Frenchman and Ed Harris' murderous soldier of fortune. Gene Hackman is the news anchor who catches our lover-heroes breaking the first rule of their profession -- they choose sides and help the rebels. TT's special edition has all of their usual extras, plus commentaries with the director and a real combat photographer. In Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
10/28/14

and

Possessed (1947)
Blu-ray
  The latest Joan Crawford chewed-scenery epic to reach Blu-ray is a psycho-noir potboiler about a nurse who goes bonkers after being dumped by a heel played by Van Heflin. What seems like the back-story to Double Indemnity is a jumble of psychological voodoo, goofy flashbacks and a few inspired bits of insanity, as when off-her-rocker Joan experiences events twice -- once as she imagines them and once as they really transpire. Oh, the production is excellent, as is the moody photography, high Warners gloss and music by Franz Waxman. In Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
10/28/14

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Hello!

A quick Halloween rundown here at Savant Central, where we curl up every year to watch some appropriately nostalgic horror show. Past favorites have been marvelous part- comedies like Mystery of the Wax Museum, Dr. X and The Fearless Vampire Killers, but you may not have the patience to watch a show again and again. This year I want to re-visit Criterion's Island of Lost Souls, if I can locate it in time... organizing discs in the depths of Savant Caverns is a lost cause. When in doubt I'll default to some lovably klunky Z-picture. Robot Monster and Teenagers from Outer Space have never let me down. But there's always the marvelous Carnival of Souls. I think it must be the organ music that pulls me into that one.

I have close Savant associates that start wondering in January what the October horror disc releases will be. What's come out that's new that got my attention this year? I shall review the files. The Warner Archives' Wicked, Wicked (in Duo-Vision) was just released today, too late to order in time; if a review copy comes my way it won't be for a couple of weeks. I'd also like to recommend Kino/Scorpion's Planet of the Vampires, the stylish Mario Bava space horrorshow, but haven't seen that yet either.

Going back to September, here's what I covered that I can recommend: Criterion's serial killer film Vengeance is Mine is so creepy, it qualifies as a horror selection. Kino's The Death Kiss will interest Bela Lugosi fans. It isn't really a horror entry but if you're into audio commentaries, it has a good one. Criterion strikes again with Eraserhead, which needs no introduction, except to keep it away from expectant mothers. Sony's BD combo of the Ghostbusters movies may fit the bill, and folks looking for the best of the best should surely seek out The Innocents some time in their lives -- Criterion's BD is a distinct improvement over Region B discs.

The big ticket items this Fall were large boxed sets. Universal's Classic Monsters Collection gathers up all the "A" and "A-" spook shows from that studio, for those that haven't been buying them twice over since DVD began. The beautiful color transfers in Scream! Factory's BD set The Vincent Price Collection II really opened our eyes... "Morgan, come OUT!"

Moving into October, Twilight Time's disc of the 1988 The Blob roused the disc-buying public, many of whom appear to be the perfect age to covet '80s fringe cinema. Also from Twilight Time, Audrey Rose looks great too, if you go for a possession thriller that turns into a courtroom drama. I don't cover too much Eurotrash, but the sleazy Werewolf Woman was too extreme to resist.

Thanks to Arrow Video I was also able to review a string of Region B Blu-rays, some of which are partly duplicated in Region A releases from other companies. U.K. fans love Arrow. They released great editions of Joe Dante's The 'Burbs, Night of the Comet and David Cronenberg's creep-out classic Shivers (They Came from Within).

Let me know what you've found to brighten October 31st ... all of a sudden I have an urge to revisit Messiah of Evil, from my college years . If you're stuck answering the door with candy, consider reading some of the reviews I've linked to for the movies, above. I tend to go overboard writing about this genre.

Thanks for reading --!  Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

Chinese Puzzle
Blu-ray
  Cédric Klapisch's third 'Xavier Rousseau' film takes our hero to New York -- but he's still deeply involved in the lives of several women -- two old lovers, an ex-wife and interesting other prospects. The mellowing of the character as he approaches forty suddenly involves juggling children and helping a childless couple conceive. Even if one is new to the series, what begins as a flashy story of trendy international folk soon develops into a romantic drama with a strong emotional draw. With Romain Duris, Audrey Tatou, Cécile De France, Kelly Reilly, Sandrine Holt, Li Jun Li, Linda Chan. In Blu-ray from The Cohen Collection.
10/25/14

Mulholland Falls
Blu-ray
  It can't lose -- Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen and Chris Penn make a formidable team as the LAPD's anti-mob unit, the Hat Squad. Melanie Griffith is the loyal wife and Jennifer Connelly the 'spectacular' call girl. Plenty of gangland action then takes a left turn into an atomic conspiracy with a dying general and a murderous coverup. All the ingredients are first-rate, including director Lee Tamahori. So what happened? Why isn't the movie a classic? Savant has some notes on a longer rough cut once viewed at MGM. In Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
10/25/14

La dolce vita
Blu-ray
  We were all there: wading in the fountain with with Anita Ekberg occupies the same dream space as standing over the subway grating with Marilyn Monroe. Federico Fellini's giant 1960 art house hit exposes Roman decadence while suggesting that its hero Marcello Mastroianni is itching for moral and spiritual rebirth. It's dazzling filmmaking that still keeps its feet on level ground, unless we're talking about flying statues of Jesus. It's also the party that never ends on the Via Veneto -- and the source of the word 'paparazzi'. With a dazzling cast -- Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux, Magali Noël, Alain Cuny, Audrey McDonald, Adriana Moneta, Laura Betti, Nico, Jacques Sernas, Nadia Gray. In Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
10/25/14

and

The Incredible Melting Man
Region B Blu-ray + PAL DVD
  You Will Believe that a man can become a Human Puddle! A significant 1978 release that showed everywhere with heavy advertising -- this is perhaps the most impressive Meaningless Monster Amuck film ever. The muck angle gets a major workout, what with special makeup effects by Rick Baker that make an unlucky spaceman into the Scary Tallow Fellow, who Waxes Unenthusiastic. Kids hooted and jeered at the gore, making their own pizza-face jokes while the Melting Man's facial features sag lower and lower. Surprisingly entertaining, especially in this exceptionally good transfer. A Dual-Format edition in Region B Blu-ray and PAL DVD from Arrow Video (U.K.).
10/25/14

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Hello! Today's Savant news is primarily about special screenings in Los Angeles.

From friend-of-DVD Savant David Strohmaier: In celebration of the Cinerama films Seven Wonders of the World and Search for Paradise, to be released by Flicker Alley on Blu ray this November 18th, Hollywood's Cinerama Dome will present next week a special advance screening of each restored film on the big curved screen.

Seven Wonders of the World: Saturday November 1 at 11:00 AM.  Seven Wonders of the World Trailer

Search for Paradise: Sunday November 2 at 11:00 AM ... (beware daylight savings time)  Search For Paradise Trailer

David adds for locals that a special 70mm screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey will be held that same Sunday afternoon.

The second screening series: On three successive November Friday nights DVD Savant mentor Arianné Ulmer Cipes will be on hand at the L.A. County Museum of Art to introduce six of Edgar G. Ulmer's best pictures. The film series is entitled Ulmer After Expressionism:

On November 7 it's a double bill of femmes fatale: Detour and The Strange Woman;
On November 14, think European art: People on Sunday and The Light Ahead (with Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann and Robert Siodmak;
On November 21 horror of the gothic and political kind: The Black Cat and Ruthless.

Thanks for reading -- ! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

Audrey Rose
Blu-ray
  From Frank De Felitta's best selling novel, this Robert Wise picture is the most confoundingly prestigious/frustrating horror offering of the '70s, a dumber-than Pazuzu Exorcist follow-up that torments a little girl for two hours, for the apparent purpose of getting us to accept the Eastern religious concept of reincarnation. It's not a thriller, it's an infomercial. Fine acting by Marsha Mason and an exceptionally winning performance by Anthony Hopkins only convince this reviewer that all rationality has been revoked. The excellent transfer and encoding will definitely please fans of what I can't help but think is a profoundly ill-conceived movie. In Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
10/21/14

The Hunted
DVD
  (1948) Jack Bernhard's minor noir gives us a hardboiled romance clouded by mutual suspicions of betrayal. Preston Foster is the cop who busted his lady love for jewel theft, and the fetching Belita the ice skater who claims she was framed -- and also threatened to kill both Foster and her own attorney. It's a good movie that might have been better if Allied Artists' tiny budget hadn't pulled the ice rink out from under Steve Fisher's promising original screenplay. With a brief but effective acting contribution by Charles McGraw as (what else?) a gravel-voiced cop. In DVD-R from The Warner Archive Collection.
10/21/14

Topkapi
Blu-ray
  Jules Dassin films the flip side of his pessimistic Rififi in this brightly colored comic caper comedy set in the exotic city of Istanbul. A gang of crooks trick the nervous Peter Ustinov into sneaking across the rooftops of the fabulous Topkapi Museum, there to snatch a priceless treasure for the greedy-but-inspired temptress Melina Mercouri. The former master of noir doom Dassin seems equally inspired; the amusing performances and the bouyant music of Manos Hadjidakis are guaranteed uppers. The marvelous Ustinov won a second Oscar; also with Robert Morley and terrific location cinematography. In Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
10/21/14

and

Werewolf Woman
Blu-ray
  La lupa mannara. Savant hasn't reviewed a slimy '70s Italo horror exploitation picture in quite a while, and Rino Di Silvestro's porn-inflected horror spectacle more than fits the bill. Haunted by a lycanthropic ancestor, Annik Borel commits savage werewolf-like acts of murder every eight minutes or so. The movie comes with a sort-of guarantee: to go all feral, she must first see a sex act in progress, be herelf sexually assaulted or 10,000 miles, whichever comes first. Borel is certainly game as she and the makeup man providing the gore go at throats with a passion. But the film's essential artistic ambition is to billboard as much salacious, sleazy nudity in every scene. Is this a slam or a recommendation? With Frederick Stafford, whom Alfred Hitchcock definitely did not advise on Topaz, "I think you need to make a werewolf-sex film someday." In Blu-ray from Rarovideo.
10/21/14

---

Hello!

I'm sorry today to note the passing of Robert (Bob) Porfirio, one of the most interesting and talented colleagues from the UCLA Film School. Back then I knew him only in passing, as he was soon busy teaching American Studies at Cal State Fullerton.

With Carl Macek, Bob wrote one of the first serious studies of film noir, The Dark Age of American Film. I knew him best through his many entries in the most influential book in English on the subject, Film Noir, An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. Thumb through the book and you'll find that many of the most insightful analyses of individual films carry his initials, B.P.. This was in 1979, way before Film Noir became a household word, and before the advent of home video made it easier to track down old movies. At that early date Bob and his colleagues had already come to the conclusion, still widely accepted, that Noir was a style, not a genre. Bob's film writing is both precise and expressive. He had a knack for communicating intelligence, and could distill the essence of a film in just a couple of paragraphs.

Bob was also a rigorous academic well versed in the refinements of advanced film studies, and had been published in Sight and Sound and Continuum. A few years back I was able to meet him again through Marshall Crawford, a Savant contact who knew Bob much more closely. Bob conducted a successful second career in Real Estate and had a beautiful house in Oceanside; when we got together he was preparing to leave for France to spend more time with one of his daughters. A brilliant man, he was also friendly and generous.

---

In other news, Criterion's massive The Complete Jacques Tati box has arrived, and just as promised, it lists three versions of his first film Jour de fête, the movie filmed with an experimental color process that the inventor found wouldn't let him strike a viewing print. We'll get the original B&W version, a partly colorized 1964 version and the full-color 1995 release version, when digital tools allowed the original materials to finally be properly combined. At least, I think that's an accurate description of how the story went. I've heard from Savant readers about this for years, and now I'll be able to see it for myself.

In an even lighter mood, if you still like good 'Hijacked Hitler' spoof clips, I can recommend Brad Stevens' Hitler video about Paramount's Blu-ray release of Once Upon a Time in the West. It certainly reflects my experience with the world of Sergio Leone worship. I was starting to feel uncomfortable part-way through, when I thought der Führer might launch into a tirade about the extras on MGM's Leone special editions from ten years back. I guess Adolf and me are still on good terms.

Finally, a link to a strange bit of digital animation on the This Isn't Happiness page ... I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up! nbsp;The little video struck me as a metaphor for, well, lots of things. Whattaya want here, some kind of savant? My son, an advanced computer programmer, told me that digital 'crowd dynamics' scenes like this one are programmed and launched like probability equations. The little figures just do what they do until they come into contact with other items placed in the environment -- the programmer is playing God. He told me about seeing test shots for Lord of the Rings etc, where mis-programmed pixel-people walk around with arms and legs but missing their bodies, etc. Anyway, I was intrigued. It looks especially detailed on a large monitor.

Thanks for reading -- ! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

Shivers
(They Came from Within)
Region B Blu-ray + PAL DVD
  David Cronenberg's first commercial feature is barely more than a softcore porn film, but in conception and execution it's a little masterpiece. All of Cronenberg's main horror themes are here, in an "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"- like tale that makes perfect biological sense. Barbara Steele has an enticing and revealing supporting role. The extras are excellent -- a key reason to consider accessing foreign-produced Blu-rays. A Dual-Format edition in Region B Blu-ray and PAL DVD from Arrow Video UK.
10/18/14

Fedora
Blu-ray
  Billy Wilder's last good movie is an intense, curious critique of Hollywood, a round-up of previous Wilder situations and a strange thriller that stops midway to explain itself through extended flashbacks. It's all to tell the story of a retired legend, a sort of malign Greta Garbo who goes too far to maintain her glorious image. With a terrific cast -- William Holden, Marthe Keller, Hildegard Knef, José Ferrer, Frances Sternhagen and (ulp) Stephen Collins. It's a new restoration of what was once a difficult-to-see title. In Blu-ray from Olive Films.
10/18/14

Yankee Doodle Dandy
Blu-ray
  THE most successful all-time patriotic crowdpleaser tells the happy story of George M. Cohan, the toast of Broadway who wrote both songs and plays and performed as well. If he wasn't a legend already, star James Cagney seals the deal in some of the most energy-charged dance scenes ever. The delightful Joan Leslie takes second billing with Walter Huston and Rosemary DeCamp not far behind. With a ton of "Warner Night at the Movies" extras, including impressive newsreels and a frightening WW2 morale propaganda movie that pushes the edge of the format. In Blu-ray (even the cartoon extras) from The Warner Archive Collection.
10/18/14

and

Nightcap
(Merci pour le chocolat)
Blu-ray
  Claude Chabrol rolls out a cultivated mystery about domestic murder -- or the threat of same. Isabel Huppert leads an attractive cast in this low-key tale about a wealthy Swiss family, a famous pianist and his new pupil, babies switched at birth and a quiet, undetected psychopathic killer. Great music from the director's son is here, along with the Chabrol mark of even-handed calm from which dastardly crimes always seems to emerge. And since this is Switzerland, don't forget to drink your chocolate. In Blu-ray from The Cohen Collecion.
10/18/14

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Hi!

It's an exciting week with plenty of good discs to review ...pick and choose carefully should you move to buy.

Remember how I said in my review for the Universal Classic Monsters Collection that it would be good if some of the lesser horror titles were to be released on disc? Gary Teetzel just sent me this link to The Universal Vault, where shows like The Mystery of Marie Roget, Horror Island and Captive Wild Woman are up for sale. I'm not pushing them, just educating myself that they are indeed available.

Finally, a Trailers from Hell trailer for a movie that makes John Landis struggle for an accurate description -- Roger Vadim's Pretty Maids All in a Row. Cheer on Landis as he tries to explain this most enjoyably tasteless of all misogynist sex fantasies!

Two more great Gary Teetzel links, and this time they're of the musical variety: The Godzilla Theme played on traditional Japanese instruments, and a bizzaro Ukranian Political Ad featuring a musical Darth Vader. The Balalaika Strikes Back? Godzilla at Cherry Blossom Time?

Thanks for reading --- Glenn Erickson

Tuesday October 14, 2014

Savant's new reviews today are:

True Confessions
Blu-ray
  An impressive pairing of actors Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall elevates this drama of corruption in late- '40s Los Angeles to an unheralded classic. Ulu Grosbard's strong direction highlights a script about brothers dealing with a scandal so big, there's no way to do the right thing without doing terrible harm as well. The supporting cast is magnificent: Charles Durning, Rose Gregorio, Kenneth McMillan, Ed Flanders, Cyril Cusack, Burgess Meredith. It isn't neo-noir, it's period noir of the best kind, inspired by the famous Black Dahlia case. In Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
10/14/14

Dragonfly Squadron
Blu-ray + 3-D
  This unique disc is the premiere of a 1953 3-D movie that was never publicly exhibited in stereo until a recent restoration by the 3-D Film Archive. John Hodiak is commanding a Korean fighter plane field when hostilities break out, and the North Koreans' Russian tanks are on the way. Barbara Britton is the doctor's wife he's fallen in love with, while other parts are filled by Gerald Mohr, Chuck Connors and Adam Williams. The vintage 3-D has been well restored for this modest but entertaining Cold War pot-boiler. Who's the Commie spy sabotaging the planes? In Blu-ray + 3-D from Olive Films.
10/14/14

Steven Spielberg Director's Collection
Blu-ray
  Universal offers new Blu-rays of several Spielberg titles in conjunction with a couple of shows that fans have most likely already bought -- it's like the Alfred Hitchcock Collections, all over again! But the image and sound quality of what's offered is top-rank. Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park and The Lost World; Jurassic Park 2 are back, but the Blus of Duel and Sugarland Express are new, and the disc of 1941 includes the theatrical cut and the extended (by almost half an hour) preview version, both beautifully restored picture and sound. It's a pricey, tempting package! Blu-ray from Universal Home Entertainment.
10/14/14

and

The Blob
Blu-ray
  Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont had a hit with this remake of the 1958 creep 'n' leap classic. No Steve McQueen this time but the same exact story with the addition of a government conspiracy, a willingness to kill off all the interesting characters, and a surfeit of gory blob attacks. The victims melting and dissolving really look inconvenienced. Twilight Time includes plenty of extras on this '80s favorite that's bound to be an early sell-out, even with the company's thoughtful new policies that discourage scalpers. In Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
10/14/14

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Hello!

I had a fun, busy weekend with a welcome surprise visit. When not entertaining it's been disc-scrutinizing time. I'll have to see some of them again under less stringent circumstances. Don't worry, just like anybody else, I often watch a show just to relax and veg out. Preferably something I've seen 40 times before. Is this a real life? I'm certainly not suffering.

Last week the Warner Archives Collection announced Blu-rays of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Pete Kelly's Blues; today they've added the Joan Crawford noir Possessed (1947) to the schedule. And Gary Teetzel has tipped me off that other sites are reporting that The TCM Vault Collection will be releasing a Blu-ray of Columbia's Howard Hawks classic Only Angels Have Wings. So we have more vintage winners to look forward to.

Gary also sends me a link that's kind of fun -- Carl Mahnke's compilation of familiar musical themes used often in movies, TV and advertising, identifying their correct names and composers. It's a good mental quiz: 79 Instrumental songs everyone knows, but no one knows the name of. The page has a zillion hits, so maybe you saw it years ago. In that case, be more frustrated with this second batch of quizzable tunes.

Finally, helpful Norwegian correspondent Even Bjerkellen reminds me to mention a couple of classic Films Noir recently restored by the Film Noir Foundation: Woman on the Run (1950) and The Guilty 1947. The story can be read on the News Page over at the Film Noir Foundation site.

I have 1941 on the brain this weekend. Here's
a picture of an airplane test on the Ocean Park set in 1978.

Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

My Darling Clementine
Blu-ray
  Ford's best non- John Wayne western tells the mythical version of the feud between the Earps and the Clantons in Tombstone. Henry Fonda is the best frontier Marshal ever, and Victor Mature is Doc Holiday. The extras include the longer preview version and Bob Gitt's breakdown of the differences, plus a featurette on the real Wyatt Earp. Also present: a silent western short subject with John Ford co-starring. In Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
10/11/14

Drum Beat
DVD
  Delmer Daves' movie about making peace with the Indians is really a call to deal harshly with rebellion in any form (think Civil Rights). Peace envoy Alan Ladd ignores his Modoc sweetheart Marisa Pavan in favor of Washington beauty Audrey Dalton. Played by a young Charles Bronson, rebel Indian chieftain Captain Jack is conceived as an incorrigible juvenile delinquent, wholly worthy of eradication. A sprawling story with a big cast, filmed in Sedona Arizona in early, extra-wide CinemaScope. In DVD-R from The Warner Archive Collection.
10/11/14

Billion Dollar Brain
Blu-ray
  Ken Russell's first film is a marvelous Harry Palmer spy caper filmed in snowy Finland, with Michael Caine discovering that Karl Malden is using a giant computer to engineer a fake revolution in Latvia. He's cheating Texas millionaire Ed Begley, a crazy anti-communist preparing a private invasion. Françoise Dorléac is the treacherous beauty in furs and Oscar Homolka the jolly Russian general returning from Funeral in Berlin. With impressive music by Richard Rodney Bennett. In Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
10/11/14

and

Run Silent, Run Deep
Blu-ray
  Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster command a U.S. sub on a forbidden personal mission of vengeance, seeking out the Japanese destroyer that sank Gable's sub a year before. Director Robert Wise keeps the film on course while making sure that the large male cast comes across well -- Jack Warden, Brad Dexter, Don Rickles, Nick Cravat, Joe Maross, Joel Fluellen. For 1958 the show was the height of realism, and even the miniature sub work is of a high degree of quality. In Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
10/11/14

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Hello!

Some good links here today. The first order of business is those few Criterion discs from back in 2010 that have had playback problems, confirmed by several DVD Savant readers. Criterion's 'Jon Mulvaney' has been quick to set up a process to deal with the problem -- it can be solved pretty quickly at This Page on the Criterion Website. Hopefully the number of discs affected won't rise -- I'd not like to see Criterion hurt by this one. Thanks to Louis Helman, Peter Cresswell, Tim Kocher and Randy Riddle.

Next up: I've learned that upcoming Warner library Blu-rays will include Albert Lewin's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Jack Webb's Pete Kelly's Blues... both will be made very welcome at DVD Savant.

Gary Teetzel forwards this interesting article about the problems of getting movies into presentable shape for video use. It's on the Kit Parker website: "Problem" films...with Happy Endings. Note how, in the real world away from hundred-million-dolllar productions, there's no discussion of intensive frame-by-frame digital repair in for-hire facilities. Even scene-by-scene color correction is a luxury that the author says 'earned the colorist a steak dinner'. What if he's a vegetarian?     Kit Parker obviously takes his work seriously, and the brief list of films and what was done to them makes me think about the large studios, that have big libraries of older, equally less well-known movies. For one title Kit Parker says that the 3-strip Technicolor negatives were digitally combined, which is a pricey process... and we find that Canal+ did the work because they own rights overseas. Our big American studios won't consider such expense for the majority of their Technicolor films. Check out the rest of Kit Parker's blog, as it's packed with interesting stories.

---

And now something that's very big news for me. To the right is a photo I took of my first boss in the movies, playing with a toy airplane at a production meeting in the special effects shop, a converted airplane hangar.

A new Steven Spielberg Director's Collection came yesterday, and it has something I've long coveted. I didn't know that its presentation of the movie 1941 would carry two cuts -- the theatrical version and the longer extended version, which reinstates almost a half-hour of scenes jettisoned after Spielberg's Texas preview in 1979. At a Post House a few months ago I heard a rumor that this was happening, but Universal's official listing for the disc set didn't mention an extended cut. So I purposely put the matter out of my mind.

Well, I just got finished watching the new Blu of 1941, and I'm floored. The extended version looks fantastic. Even the recovered scenes look great, and match nearly perfectly with the standard footage. The clarity, the colors, all fine. My review should be done by Tuesday -- I have seven other movies to check out over the weekend and I need to get it all finished properly. This show is an emotional subject around Savant central, maybe I should dig out my old diary notebooks from the set. All I can say is that people that see 1941 uncut on Blu-ray may come away with an entirely new opinion of the "Giant Comedy Spectacular". After 25 years of CGI, they will be impressed by the crazy action, dangerous stunts and huge, difficult-to-stage scenes done for real, all in front of a real camera.

Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

The Last of the Unjust
Blu-ray
  Claude Lanzmann's nearly four-hour documentary is almost entirely taken up with an interview of Benjamin Murmelstein, the last 'Elder of the Jews' to run the 'model work camp' Theresienstadt for the Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. His testimony is a study in memory, the unreliabiity of historical records and the horrifying politics of death that enter into everything, even a bureaucrat's efforts to preserve the lives of his charges. Branded by some as a war criminal, Murmelstein wasn't called to Eichmann's trial, even though he worked for him for six years. A self-contained moral dilemma set aside during Lanzmann's work on Shoah, this is an important historical document. In Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group.
10/07/14

Edge of Tomorrow
Live. Die. Repeat.
Blu-ray + DVD + HD Digital
  A clever, exciting and funny screenplay, good direction and a fine peformance from Tom Cruise (he plays a jerk) grace a Sci-fi combat action spectacle that rather brilliantly mixes ideas from Groundhog Day, Starship Troopers, Tron and even The Americanization of Emily. Alien tumbleweeds have all but conquered the Earth when a reluctant soldier discovers that he's inherited their secret for victory: a time-warping ability to re-play a battle until he gets it right. Emily Blunt is Cruise's super-soldier warrior companion, and the capable director is Doug Liman. "Live - Die - Rinse - Repeat!" In Blu-ray + DVD + HD Digital from Warner Home Video.
10/07/14

Iguana
Blu-ray
  Raro -- I mean rare -- is right. Cult director Monte Hellman's 1988 pirate-survival-despotic kingdom microcosm mini-epic is an exception to the rule: it never got a real release, yet is one of the director's best pictures. A disfigured misanthrope enslaves captives on a desert island and takes what he wants from them -- obedience, sex -- with threats of violence. It's brutal and raw but also honest and strangely poetic. Beautifully filmed in the Canary Islands; with Everett McGill, Michael Madsen, Fabio Testi, Maru Valdivieso and Joseph Culp. It has also been restored to full length, with the help of the director. Discoveries don't get any odder than this. In Blu-ray from Rarovideo.
10/07/14

and

The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
DVD-R
  Tasked with concocting a follow-up to The Seven-Year Itch with new star Sheree North, Fox's chosen challenge to Marilyn Monroe, ace comedy director Frank Tashlin finds new ways to emasculate top banana leading man Tom Ewell -- he becomes a military housewife when his missus enlists in the Navy. The CinemaScope and color farce rushes from one teasing sex situation to the next, all to humiliate the all-American male. Also with a scorchingly hot Rita Moreno, a new "Girl from Upstairs." In DVD-R from Fox Cinema Archives.
10/07/14

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Hello!

It's Link City at DVD Savant today, but first a follow-up about the problem with certain Criterion discs, as I reported last Saturday (see below, October 4). I have received four emails from readers who checked their discs and found that some wouldn't play, including a new title, The Seventh Seal. They also report seeing the brown discoloration on the discs. So it is real. I'll be waiting for further word on the subject and will report it here, with any links I'm forwarded. Criterion has a record of great responsibility toward unforeseen problems of this kind.

Craig Readon forwarded me this link to a fairly phenomenal video that's making the rounds, The Great Martian War. It explains itself. I personally love it; it's pretty much exactly what H.G. Wells had in mind. I can see me in the 3rd grade, with a teacher threading up a movie projector: "These are old films so don't be rude, class. But this year we're going to learn about the Great Martian War."

Link Two: Corresppndent Gordon Morrice sends me this hilarious testimony to a weakness of great method acting, edited by Elliott Day: Rod Steiger Waits a Minute. Was everybody except me aware of Steiger's tendency to do this?

Gary Teetzel has steered me toward another real curiosity: a pair of old Soviet Animated Ray Bradbury shorts. They're based on the Bradbury short stories Here There Be Tygers and There Shall Come Soft Rains. Gary couldn't get the subtitles on one of them to work, but they worked for me.

Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

Arrowsmith
DVD
  The famous Sinclair Lewis novel receives a classy film adaptation produced by Sam Goldwyn, directed by John Ford and starring Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes and Myrna Loy. An idealistic doctor finds that a lack of money, a greedy research institute, ignorant locals and the women in his life all interfere with his goal of achieving greatness as a medical researcher. Myrna Loy's part was severely cut when the Production Code was enforced once again. A "lot of Loy" appears to have been reinstated, but was there once more? Or did Ford just decide to trim the scenes during shooting, making the reported longer running time a myth? In DVD-R from The Warner Archive Collection.
10/04/14

Bloody Mama
Blu-ray
  Roger Corman's penultimate A.I.P. directing effort is a loose filmization of the criminal history of a shocking true-life family of murderers and perverts -- not the Manson clan but Ma Barker's Gang of Depression-era rural bandits and kidnappers. The frowsy Barker (a profane Shelley Winters) sleeps with her own sons and directs the gang's every degenerate crime. Corman's very good direction allows a superior cast to exercise their acting prowess: Don Stroud, Diane Varsi, Bruce Dern, Clint Kimbrough, Robert De Niro, Robert Walden and Pat Hingle. Filmed on location in Missouri and Arkansas. With an upbeat Corman interview featurette, in Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing.
10/04/14

and

La Bamba
Blu-ray
  Theater innovator Luis Valdez makes an excellent musical bio from the true story of the great Ritchie Valens, and his film is also one of the best movies about the Mexican-American experience. Lou Diamond Phillips is sweet and sincere as an idealized Valens, courting his Anglo girlfriend while rocketing to near-instant success. Esai Morales and Rosanna DeSoto portay vivid extremes as Ritchie's brother and mother, alongside Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck and Joe Pantoliano. With terrific commentaries and an Isolated Music Track to billboard the '50s rock music, expertly re-created by Los Lobos. In Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
10/04/14

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Hello!

Yeah, yeah, it would be just dandy if someone popped up with uncut film negatives for Stroheim's Greed or Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons. In the meantime we've been enjoying vault rediscoveries of missing footage for Horror of Dracula and Hangmen Also Die!, and the massive restorations of the Cinerama films, including two more due on November 11, Search for Paradise and Seven Wonders of the World.

BUT according to August Ragone Toho has come up with the what may be missing negative from the original Japanese King Kong tai Gojira (King Kong vs. Godzilla). All Japanese videos have been in poor shape because Toho long ago cut down many of its Kaiju Eiga greats into shorter digest versions for marathon screenings. But the outtakes -- or most of them -- have reportedly been recovered.

Details are so far sketchy but the word is that they've also recovered three minutes' worth of footage from 1959's Uchu daisenso, aka Battle in Outer Space. Perhaps this will spur Toho into issuing new Blu-rays for some of their titles, or licensing them to U.S. companies. The somewhat sketchy news of the new discoveries is at August Ragone's webpage.

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Next Item: Remember the dreaded collector's plague formerly known as Laser Rot? It's been reported on the web that some disc collectors are finding that certain early Criterion Blu-rays have stopped playing; this web board listing has photos of the brownish tinge cropping up in the discs: Are Criterion Collection Blu-rays going bad? The fellow reports that the following discs would no longer play for him: M (2010, first printing), Monsoon Wedding (2009, first printing), Paris, Texas (2009, first printing), Summer Hours (2010, first printing), and Walkabout (2010, first printing).

I'm here to report that I located my copies of the first three discs in that list, scanned through a few chapters from each, and they played fine for me. Does the fact that mine were early-run screeners make a difference? I don't know. I'm sure we'll hear more about this later, but I'd like to hear if any Savant readers are struck by this phenomenon.

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Finally, late-breaking news from Twilight Time: They've sent out a schedule for their 2015 releases for January and February. I like it.

On January 20, their new arrivals will be The Bride Wore Black, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Breaking Away, Bandit Queen and a 30th Anniversary Special Edition of Fright Night.

February 10 sees releases of Lenny, Love and Death, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Stormy Weather, Zardoz and To Sir, with Love.

That means new Blus from Woody Allen, John Boorman, James Clavell, Roger Corman, Bob Fosse, Tom Holland, Shekar Kapur, Andrew Stone, François Truffaut, and Peter Yates. Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson