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Savant's new reviews today are:

99 River Street
KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray
 Do you like your noir heroes bitter and bloody, and your noir dames daring and resourceful? Phil Karlson's gem of a thriller pits two-fisted John Payne against murderous hood Brad Dexter, with Peggie Castle the unfaithful, unlucky wife who decides to run off with the wrong guy. And star Evelyn Keys is a pulp noir adventuress to admire, with a roving eye of her own. The suspenseful key scene sees a stage actress pretend to be a seductress, to distract a man waiting to make a kill. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
6/28/16

The In-Laws
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 This Alan Arkin-Peter Falk show is finally being recognized as a comedy mini-masterpiece. Afraid of offending his daughter's future father-in-law, a dentist is sucked into a nightmare of crime and jeopardy, as a jolly Chinese airline whisks him away to a rendezvous with danger in a Latin American dictatorship. It's a gem of sustained mirth. With James Hong, Penny Peyser, Nancy Dussault, Ed Begley Jr., David Paymer and Richard Libertini. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
6/28/16

and

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
Arrow U.S.
Blu-ray
  Release the Kraken! They're only now releasing this Blu-ray in the U.S.. The patron saint of every special effect fan gets the royal treatment in this career overview capped with industry testimonials and rare film items from a cache of 35mm outtakes found packed away in RH's storeroom. It comes with heartfelt testimonials from big directors and younger effects legends: Peter Jackson, Nick Park, Phil Tippet, Randy Cook, Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Tony Dalton, Dennis Muren, John Landis, Ray Bradbury, Guillermo del Toro, Joe Dante, John Lasseter, James Cameron, and some guy named Steven Spielberg. On Blu-ray from Arrow U.S..
6/28/16

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Hello!

As several helpful readers rushed to point out to me yesterday, Olive Films has listed a Blu-ray of Riccardo Freda's The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, on the schedule for September. I've been whining about the no-show of this title on a U.S. disc for about twenty years now, so this is certainly good news. Olive has announced that this will be the English-language version. A foreign DVD or two of the original L'orribile secreto del Dr. Hichcock appeared a number of years ago, with the original long cut and Italian dubbing. It's a better movie, but Horrible is the one I first saw in a 16mm print I bought from Robert S. Birchard back around 1975.

The duration given by Amazon (77 minutes) bears out the version -- the original was, I believe, 88 minutes in duration. The English language cut drops several scenes, shortens a few others and rearranges the opening. It also adds dissolves to scene transitions that were originally straight cuts, ruining at least one brilliant match between raised hypodermic needles. On the favorable side is the fact that Robert Flemyng's English voice will be heard. It's very effective, even though the other Italian voice performances and mixing are better overall.

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock is a key Barbara Steele picture, originally released in glorious Technicolor prints. I'll be excited to review it.

Olive's generosity doesn't end there Also coming from them in September: The Monster of Piedras Blancas, the original elusive matinee creature feature with the severed head in the mini-mart icebox. Also on the docket, Republic's serial Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe, plus a very early silent feature by Cecil B. DeMille.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

The Panic in Needle Park
Twilight Time
Blu-ray
 Drug addicts! Who in 1970 really knew what life was like for them? Jerry Schatzberg, Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne's story of hell on the streets of NYC provided a stunning debut for Al Pacino -- and should have done the same for Kitty Winn. It sounds too tough to watch, but it's riveting. It's an excellent example of talent-driven semi-independent early '70s cinema. With Richard Bright. From Twilight Time.
6/26/16

The Ninth Configuration
Second Sight UK
Region BBlu-ray
 Savant UK correspondent Lee Broughton analyzes one of his favorite pictures starring Stacy Keach, who seemed to make only cult items in the '70s and '80s. William Peter Blatty dishes out a thick mix of comedy and dark soul-searching about the human condition in a Caligari-like insane asylum, but with new twists. In the first two reels, you'd think you're in a fairly ordinary service comedy-drama. But then... Also starring Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Neville Brand, George DiCenzo, Moses Gunn, Robert Loggia, Joe Spinell. That's a heck of a cast! From Second Sight UK.
6/26/16

and

Forbidden Hollywood Volume 10
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
 Woo hoo! Ten years brings a wrap-up to one of the most entertaining and illuminating DVD branded lines. The pre-Code marvels return for one last go-round -- tales of sin and moral turpentine turpitude but also serious pictures about social issues that the Production Code effectively swept from Hollywood screens -- financial crimes and ethnic bigotry. Featuring hot 'n' controversial work by stars Barbara Stanwyck, Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, and the reigning King of pre-Code, Warren William: Guilty Hands, The Mouthpiece, Secrets of the French Police, The Match King and Ever in My Heart. From The Warner Archive Collection.
6/26/16

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Hello!

A wild week -- thanks to Savant's longtime UK correspondent-reviewer, I have three reviews up tonight, barely making my self-imposed deadline... hey, if it's self imposed, why do I sweat it? The answer must be giri.

A couple of links courtesy of Gary Teetzel: some original Gorgo concept artwork was up for option last week, at a steep price. A couple of the pictures bear out research by Tom Weaver -- they originally toyed with the idea of having Gorgo's mama trash Paris, not London. I hope the link still works.

And Joe Dante has passed along a Washington Post article by Jeff Guo that discusses one viewer's way to watch TV, to keep up with all those 'essential' shows and still have a life: I have found a new way to watch TV, and it changes everything. I'm afraid I flunk this test -- I don't try to keep up with the cultural mainstream, and I'm known to watch my favorites repeatedly, like comfort food. Watching programs Jeff Guo's way? Paraphrasing what Joe remarked, 'Why do filmmakers bother to make this stuff at all?'

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

Appointment with Crime
Olive Films
Blu-ray
 Most British crime films of the '40s and '50s have been slow crossing the pond, but Olive Films has a winner here, a gloss on Yank gangster pix from an earlier era. Just clear of prison, a tough criminal vows to punish the gang that abandoned him, and carries out a ruthless revenge. But I think it was a mistake for him to involve that dance hall girl.... William Hartnell, Herbert Lom and Robert Beatty co-star; Hartnell appears to base his performance on James Cagney, but without Cagney's charm or sense of humor. On Blu-ray from Olive Films.
6/21/16

and

Night Will Fall
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
 The Holocaust needs to be retold forever, but it's a tough topic to address without distortion or trivialization. André SInger's docu is about the Allied film record of the liberation of the camps -- horrific footage that was used in the war crimes trials and cut into documentaries -- that were then suppressed and locked away. In 2008, an abandoned film supervised by Alfred Hitchcock was finally finished. The presentation contains two Holocaust docus made at the same time, by the Russians and by Billy Wilder. And an included lecture-interview extra on the subject is excellent. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
6/21/16

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Hello!

Savant correspondent and advisor Gary Teetzel attended several nights of screenings of newly restored Universal Marx Bros Movies and sent little reports over on what he saw. I've put them together here. I don't remember the history of the problems with the movies; I just know that when Universal took possession of the pre-1948 Paramount library, they received a very limited selection of printing materials. And the studio print of my favorite Marx movie Horse Feathers had a number of jump cuts in a scene with Thelma Todd. I thought they were simply unrepaired breaks, but it appears that they were the result of Production Code censorship. Here are Gary's observations:

June 18:

Went to the first night of the new Universal 4K restorations of the Marx Brothers Paramount films being shown at the Aero Theater. First up was Duck Soup. The film looked basically decent on DVD, so the improvement here was, as expected, mostly in eliminating dirt, scratches, flicker, etc. Seen projected on a big screen, the film is slightly soft and a bit grainy, but not enough to impair one's enjoyment. Audio was a little disappointing; there seemed to be a little distortion in spots, especially in the first reel.

Next up was The Cocoanuts, the film that has always looked worst on home video, having been cobbled together from a mix of 35mm and 16mm materials. The good news is that the 35mm materials look great, a dramatic improvement over the DVD, which has constant flicker and scratches. All of that has been eliminated, yielding an image that, at its best, looks better than Duck Soup. This material does not looked overly processed; it still looks natural and film-like.

The bad sections of the film, alas, still look awful, and now stick out even more against the restored 35mm. They worked to reduce scratches and dirt, and tried to pull out a little more detail, but it's still pretty ugly.

Second night:

Tonight the Marx Brothers restorations were Animal Crackers and Monkey Business. They were introduced by Universal's Peter Schade, who reported discovering the additional footage in Animal Crackers in a British dupe neg. When the film started and we got to "Hooray for Captain Spaulding," the audience burst into applause when Groucho's long-censored line ("I think I'll try to make her,") following Margaret Dumont's "He is the only white man / To cover every acre") was heard for the first time in decades. Other restored bits:

When Lillian Roth comes up to Chico saying she's been looking for him, Chico has a restored line about how she should have come looking for him last night.

During the letter-dictating scene, there's a bit where Groucho is dictating and says "Elise--no, scratch that" and Zeppo replies "You want me to scratch Elise?" Groucho has a reply, but I've already forgotten it. Later in the scene, Zeppo is reading back the letter and reads out "Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga and McCormack. Scratch Elise." Groucho snaps, "Now you've got McCormack scratching Elise!" and there's a little more back and forth.

In the scene where Margaret Irving tries to get the painting back from Harpo and he keeps handing her newspapers, there's a restored bit where she says to him "You know what I want!" and Harpo gives a naughty smile. When they start chasing each other around shortly thereafter, he smacks her on the behind with one of the papers.

Image quality is once again a massive improvement over what was released on DVD, with the almost non-stop scratches and dirt gone. It looks great.

The improvement with the next film Monkey Business was not as dramatic, but it also looks very handsome, definitely superior to what we've seen before.

Third night:

Not much to say about the last of the 4K Marx Brothers restorations, Horse Feathers. Sadly, the scene where the boys visit Thelma Todd is still peppered with censor cuts. It's another good-looking job overall. There are a handful of scenes where there is some bad jitter in the source element that has not been quite eliminated. Barring a better source element turning up, it's hard to imagine the film looking much better than this. -- Gary

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

The Hound of the Baskervilles
Twiilight Time
Blu-ray
 Hammer hits one out of the park with this 'ripping good' Sherlock Holmes tale, tilted heavily toward gothic mystery and horror. Peter Cushing and André Morell excel in heroic roles, while Christopher Lee doesn't have to play a monster, just a coward. Terence Fisher's directing skill is at its height, and Jack Asher's impressive cinematography looks just like other early Technicolor Hammers. Plus two audio commentaries. They say this wasn't a hit, but it seemed to play forever in my neck of the woods -- I must have seen it in the theater twice, years after its release. On Blu-ray from Twiilight Time.
6/18/16

Fantastic Planet
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 René Laloux's marvelous animated Sci-fi tale is still in a class of its own, due to its high level of imagination and creativity. On a distant planet, a race of humans must fight to survive against the dominant alien culture: 40-foot talk blue humanoid creatures. Who would have thought that limited animation could look this good? The designs are by the impressive artist Roland Topor. The extras contain two more excellent René Laloux animated shorts. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
6/18/16

and

Rollercoaster
Shout! Factory
Blu-ray
 A mad extortionist is blowing up rollercoaster rides. Safety inspector George Segal must stop him because the beaches theme parks must stay open! Producer Jennings Lang's by-the-numbers suspense thriller is light on suspense and thrills, but the cast is good and the screenplay at least partly intelligent. And hey -- it's got a teenage Helen Hunt! Also with Richard Widmark, Susan Strasberg, Timothy Bottoms, Henry Fonda and Harry Guardino in competent cameos. On Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.
6/18/16

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Hello!

Totally cramped for time this week -- I'm working a full time job at the moment and trying to keep up. But I love the writing !

Gary Teetzel says that Kino Classics will be releasing a Blu of Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler on September 16. I skipped one or two improved versions in the last ten years, so I hope it looks good. Both Gary and I are holding on to our old Image DVDs, for the David Kalat commentary.

My friendly Czech contact tells me that Totalfilm's newly restored Ikarie XB-1 will be in release in his country soon; I only hope that some slick, smart Blu-ray company picks it up for Region A. A really terrific 6-minute selection of scenes is viewable here: Ikarie XB 1 (1963) ukázka restaurované verze/digitally restored version It's TIGGER FUN for everyone! (that's a furtive inside reference.) Plus the preview lets one hear the creepy music for the exploration of the derelict space ship.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

La Chienne
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 It's the time-honored tale of the cuckolded lover, his heartless woman and 'the other guy,' told in terms that Émile Zola would endorse. Jean Renoir's first full-length talkie is a little masterpiece of social observation and humorous indifference to sentimental niceties; Michel Simon is terrific as the clerk who falls into the trap of a tramp and her pimp. The presentation includes a second, short Renoir feature as well, and both are in perfect condition. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
6/14/16

Gold
Kino Classics
Blu-ray
 The Nazis can't even keep their National Socialist propaganda out of a simple science fiction fable. Hans Albers is the Aryan King Midas as a scientist, and gorgeous Brigitte Helm the Englishwoman who thinks he's peachy keen. The climax is pure Sci-Fi heaven, set in an unstable 'Atomic Fracturing' installation wa-ay deep down in a mineshaft under the ocean. It's alleged that the allies tried to destroy the film after the fall of Berlin -- as director Karl Hartl's massive Alchemy machine seemed too much like something built to make Atom bombs. On Blu-ray from Kino Classics.
6/14/16

and

The Magnetic Monster
KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray
 Ivan Tors and Curt Siodmak 'borrow' nine minutes of dynamite special effects from an obscure-because-suppressed German sci-fi picture, write a new script, and come up with an eccentric thriller where atom scientists behave like G-Men crossed with Albert Einstein. The challenge? How to make a faceless unstable atomic isotope into a worthy science fiction 'monster.' Richard Carlson and King Donovan are the intrepid 'A-Men,' who must don odd costumes to match footage from a German movie made twenty years earlier. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
6/14/16

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Hello!

How about some quick links? Eagle-eyed Gary Teetzel spotted Bhautik Joshi's amusing animation video over at Nerdist: 2001: A Picasso Odyssey. It needs no more explanation, as they say.

Over at The Passionate Moviegoer, Joe Baltake has a brief new 'Cinema Obscura' article up about Fritz Lang's Die Müde Tod, aka Destiny. It's a really, really dark Film Blanc. Kino has slated a Blu-ray release for August.

Thanks for reading, back on Saturday -- ! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

Shield for Murder
KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray
 Dirty cops were a movie vogue in 1954, and Edmond O'Brien scores as a real dastard in this overachieving United Artists thriller. Dreamboat starlet Marla English is the reason O'Brien's detective kills for cash, and then keeps killing to stay ahead of his colleagues. And all to buy a crummy house in the suburbs -- this man needs career counseling. John Agar and Emile Meyer costar; the film got noticed for Meyer's performance and some fairly brutal scenes. Directed by Howard W. Koch and Edmond O'Brien. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
6/11/16

They Were Expendable
The Warner Archive Collection
Blu-ray
 John Ford's best war movie does a flip-flop on the propaganda norm. It's about men that must hold the line in defeat and retreat, that are ordered to lay down a sacrifice play while someone else gets to hit the home runs. As the Philippines fall to the Japanese, the U.S. forces try to hold out as long as they can, without relief. Robert Montgomery, John Wayne and Donna Reed are excellent, as is the recreation of the Navy's daring sideshow tactic in the Pacific Theater, the 'speeding coffin' Patrol Torpedo boats. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
6/11/16

and

Doctor Strangelove
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 Criterion's special edition of Stanley Kubrick's doomsday comedy is more powerful than ever in a 4K remaster; and it even comes with a top-secret mission profile package and a partial-contents survival kit. A Kubrick fan can have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. The extras combine the best of the old Sony featurettes with new interviews; the film is still a knockout that everyone needs to see. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
6/11/16

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Hello!

Scilla Gabel says, 'welcome to my dreams.' Correspsondent Stefan Andersson wrote in with some new European disc news -- although it isn't on Amazon.de yet, a Deutsche Company called Subkulture is set to release a Blu ray of Giorgio Ferroni's pretty-darn wonderful Mill of the Stone Women, under its German title Die Mühle der versteinerten Frauen, on June 30. The news comes at a website called DVD-Forum, dateline June 7. From what I can tell reading in German, three distinct versions will be present, French (90 min.), International (95) and Italian (96). Two versions will have an English track but none will have English subtitles. Come on, Yankee disc boutiques, import this movie! Wasn't a DVD one of the very first Mondo Macabro discs, back in 2004? (That's still a pretty good disc, there.)

And some welcome reference help from correspondent Bob England, in reference to my ignorance curiosity about different kinds of High Dynamic Range discs. He sent me two informative links about the new formats: What is HDR for TVs, and why should you care?, and Everything We Know About Ultra HD Blu-ray. Thanks Bob!

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

The Wave
Magnolia Home Video
Blu-ray
 Norway gets the old-fashioned disaster film genre up on its feet again with a well-made, scary story set in a Northern fjord, where a devastating tsunami is a genuine threat. Excellent acting by a great cast helps too -- with no BS or hype, we grow steadily anxious for the threatened family. Just how can an entire town evacuate in just ten minutes? The effects are excellent but the drama is better. This got good critical notices last year, but only a thin U.S. theatrical distribution. In Norway, it was a blockbuster. On Blu-ray from Magnolia Home Video.
6/07/16

Hello, My Name is Doris
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Blu-ray
 Sally Field bounces back in this story of mismatched love - or a romantic delusion... that is 3/4 charm and 1/4 wishful thinking. The May-October romance isn't an outright farce like Harold and Maude, so a few of the comic situations are somewhat wince-inducing. Or am I just feeling my own 'October' discomfort? Field fans should love it anyway. With Max Greenfield and Tyne Daly, plus a gallery of deleted scenes that include an alternate, more serious opening scene. On Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
6/07/16

and

Here Comes Mr. Jordan
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 Here's a sterling example of what Hollywood occasionally excelled at in the golden age: a liberating fantasy that encourages us to better appreciate our lives. A cosmic goof leaves a man with fifty years left to live without a body -- so heavenly troubleshooters try to find him a new one. Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains and Edward Everett Horton star in possibly the most magical of movies known as Film Blanc. With an excellent 'discussion' feature between critic Michael Sragow and producer Michael Schlesinger. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
6/07/16

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Hello!

Yes, proof!  That search for a book jacket a few days ago uncovered a number of goodies in Savant's unholy disorganized mess files. The first I've put up here is self-explanatory. I honestly forget if we had to show these cards when we came into the Cannon building. Mo and Yo were security conscious but I don't recall ever being challenged for I.D.. Anyway here it is just for its own sake. Look at all that hair. And it's not white.

The second item is something I pasted together years earlier when I was editing TV commercials. The younger people I met in advertising were almost as frustrated as I was -- I longed to be doing more than editing Andrew Duggan's voice for Denny's commercials. Well, it was an incredible voice. We used to say it was pre-equalized, pre-mixed. Somewhere in my attic is a fake Sea World commercial that I cut when nobody was looking, where the park's new summer attraction is "Lovable, Educational Gorgo - see him frolic and play at NO extra charge!"

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

Saturday June 4, 2016

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Savant's new reviews today are:

Le amiche
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 Made before his international art-film breakthrough, Michelangelo Antonioni's drama is as good as anything he's done, a flawlessly acted and directed story of complex relationships -- that feature his 'career' themes before the existential funk set in. It's one of the best-blocked dramatic films ever... the direction is masterful. With Eleanora Rossi Drago, Gabrielle Ferzetti, Yvonne Furneaux and Valentina Cortese. Filmed on the streets of Turin, in 1955. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
6/4/16

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Warner Archive Collection
Blu-ray
 John Ford puts a Technicolor sheen on Monument Valley for this second cavalry picture, with John Wayne doing some of his most professional acting work. An old soldier prepares to retire, but he's worried about an expected Indian uprising. Joanne Dru plays coy, while the real star is rodeo wizard Ben Johnson and the dazzling cinematography of Winton C. Hoch. With John Agar, Victor McLaglen, Harry Carey Jr., Mildred Natwick and George O'Brien. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
6/4/16

Antonia's Line
Film Movement
Blu-ray
 Marleen Gorris' absurdist, slightly magic realist fable about a strong woman who takes charge in a rural Dutch community offers a kind of matriarchal utopia -- where decisions are made with patience and understanding, the weak are protected and women aren't abused. Actually, the empowered females take control of their own lives just by sidestepping traditions. Starring the charming Willeke van Ammelrooy. It's a very different Oscar winner for Best Foreign film and the first directed by a woman. On Blu-ray from Film Movement.
6/4/16

and

The Whip Hand
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
 I guess Howard Hughes was a friend of Minnesota Nazis? William Cameron Menzies directs a Cold War thriller about an insidious germ warfare conspiracy -- an early paranoid suspense tale with apocalyptic consequences. A reporter finds himself trapped in a remote Minnesota town, where mysterious things are happening at a place called 'The Lodge.' The story behind the movie's making -- and then remaking -- is even more fantastic: this is the movie that was partially re-shot to effect a 'villain swap": Nazis for Commies. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
6/4/16

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Hello!

Not a lot to report tonight, and I already went through the disc schedule last Tuesday -- But I did indeed get in discs of They Were Expendable, Hello, My Name is Doris, The Ox-Bow Incident, Invisible Invaders, Gold, and the special edition of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

I did spend part of the weekend digging through files that need to be organized, looking for stuff related to an upcoming project. And I finally found it all, including this 1946 hardbound copy of Gerald Kersh's original book of Night and the City, which I tore through in 2005 while researching an audio commentary. Do you like that original dust cover? You'll be surprised by the kinds of bargains that can be had for vintage film-related novels online, if you know what to look for and aren't set on collector's items, such as autographed copies. I got started doing this when an assistant editor at the Cannon Group loaned me paperbacks of books by David Goodis, Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, etc. We were real hardboiled fanatics for a while

So I'm stepping out, spending an actual Friday night outside the house... everybody who's not in a flood or a heat wave, enjoy the weekend!

Glenn Erickson