Showing Soon; Colossus, High Noon Again & Bette Davis On Tour… March 19, 2008
Posted by John Hodson in : DVD News & Info, Showing Soon , 12 commentsShowing Soon in R2
More of what’s upcoming for U.K. home entertainment fans in the world of (mostly) classic film and television…
Not the most reliable of sources I know, however, for what it’s worth, a poster on IMDB claims that the 1970 sci-fi classic Colossus; The Forbin Project - released by Universal to howls of derision as a cheapo pan and scan transfer in the U.S. - is coming to the U.K. as an OAR anamorphic ‘Special Edition’ complete with an audo commentary from director Joseph Sargent and star Eric Breaden. Now, it would be easy to dismiss that, but several etailers have a U.K. release listed as coming from Fabulous Films on May 19. I’d rest easier if/when it appears on the Fabulous Films website, but, there’s a glimmer is there not?
Early May brings John Cleese and Connie Booth’s Romance With A Double Bass: “…a truly delightful film and an important piece of film history. Based on a short story by Anton Chekhov this project was one of John Cleese’s first post-Python projects. Romance With A Double Bass was the second writing collaboration for Cleese and Connie Booth, and their first on screen appearance together, before they created the classic, Fawlty Towers.”
The film also starts a host of British talent including June Whitfield, Graham Crowden, Freddie Jones, Jonathan Lynn and Andrew Sachs.
Also May, Universal release a whole host of titles some re-releases, some that have previously been trapped in various box sets, among them Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair (1948) with Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich & John Lund, Leo McCarey’s 1934 Mae West vehicle Belle Of The Nineties, Preston Sturges 1940 comedy Christmas in July, two Dietrich films, Frank Borzage’s Desire (1936) and Von Sternberg’s Dishonored (1931), plus two from Douglas Sirk; All That Heaven Allows (1955) with Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson & Agnes Moorehead and Has Anybody Seen My Gal? with Hudson and Piper Laurie. More Sirk, Lubitsch et al; other titles on the same slate include Dracula’s Daughter, The Flame Of New Orleans, Angel, The Tarnished Angels, Follow The Boys, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, Golden Earrings, House Of Dracula, Magnificent Obsession, Mary Of Scotland, Morocco, My Little Chickadee, Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, Pittsburgh, Send Me No Flowers, and Shanghai Express - Universal also re-releases Dracula (1931) at the same time; hopefully the latest restoration which made it to the ‘75th Anniversary Edition’ in R1.
A cash-in release in May - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the 1982 TV version of the Broadway hit with Angela Lansbury, George Hearn & Cris Groenendaal. Extras for the upcoming (May) Warners SE of O Lucky Man! have been passed at the BBFC; the U.K. edition seems to replicate the U.S. set, including the documentary ‘O Lucky Malcolm’ (and is also included on the new SE of A Clockwork Orange both sides of the Pond).
I mentioned a 4 DVD SE release for Shallow Grave in June a while back; I should add that a Blu-ray disc is being released the same month. Some etailers are also showing June Blu-ray releases for The Boys From Brazil and Black Narcissus from ITVDVD; if the latter follows the same pattern as their recent Capricorn One Blu-ray release, it should come without any of the Network SD release’s extras, which will be a shame, but my God, the prospects of that gorgeous restoration in High Definition..! It’s almost (almost) enough to tip me into the HD camp.
Optimum continues its relentless (and movable) schedule. first up, they appear to have bumped that Assault On Precinct 13: Special Edition to September. In June, alongside the release of Angels One Five (we hope…), they are also putting the same film in a DVD ‘War’ triple with The Dambusters and Aces High.
Still in June - and these were mooted some time ago from Optimum, so be aware they could disappear off the schedule once again - ‘Screen Icons’ sets for Gerard Depardieu (4 discs) and, a month later, Brigitte Bardot (also four discs). In July, another in their ‘Boulting Brothers Collection’, the 1960 film Suspect, featuring Tony Britton and Virginia Maskell with Ian Bannen, Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Thorley Walters, Raymond Huntley and Kenneth Griffith; look out for Spike Milligan as an Irish caretaker! Optimum have also boxed Richard Attenborough in a ‘Screen Icons’ set in July (five discs), and they use those sometimes dangerous words ‘Ultimate Collection’ to describe a 15 DVD set dedicated to Jean Luc Godard. There’s also a release from the Studio Canal owned outfit for John Boorman’s Emerald Forest. No details yet of the content of any of these - let the speculation begin…
June, and Odeon release Peter Walker’s 1972 film The Flesh & Blood Show; the same company looks set to release 1949’s School For Randle, with Frank Randle (natch), it having been certified at the BBFC.
It was originally included as an extra by Fox on the U.K. SE release of Carousel (which is based on the same story), then pulled, though it is included with the German and U.S. sets - Fritz Lang’s 1930 film Liliom has been passed at the BBFC for release by the BFI, who have also had Anthony Asquith’s superb silent thriller A Cottage on Dartmoor certified for DVD, and coming our way May:
“Shot at British Instructional Films’ newly opened Welwyn Studios, A Cottage on Dartmoor marked another milestone for Anthony Asquith following his impressive 1928 debut Shooting Stars. A straightforward but beautifully realised tale of sexual jealousy, the film easily counters the entrenched criticism that British cinema in the silent era was staid, stagy and lacking emotion.”
In a recent Showing Soon, I mentioned that Warner were releasing Burt Lancaster’s hugely enjoyable romp The Crimson Pirate in April, but now I’m flabbergasted (and very contrite) to see that I was wrong; the release is actually coming from - gulp - PD specialists Orbit Media. I’m not sure how Orbit have secured the rights to The Crimson Pirate, (and Orbit have titles in their catalogue where rights issues are, shall I say, confusing…) but I would warn potential purchasers that past transfers from this outfit have been among the poorest ever committed to DVD. Caveat Emptor…
Metrodome release Lewis John Collins’ 1976 film The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea with Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson at the end of May alongside 1952’s The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By, scripted and directed by Harold French from Georges Simenon’s novel of the same name; stars Claude Rains and Marius Goring. Sony give another outing to Groundhog Day, on Blue-ray, early June.
Shameless are set to release two more giallo’s; from 1971 Aldo Lado’s Glass Dolls (aka La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro) in May, and in June the 1974 What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (aka La Polizia Chiede Aiuto), Massimo Dallamano’s sequel to What Have You Done to Solange?; “…a perverted murderer preys on Italian schoolgirls while prowling a dark underworld of vice and ‘cappuccino sex’. The police investigate and soon discover evidence of a teenage prostitution racket.”
Showbox release another set of ’50s Group 3 films in June in the shape of the Long Lost Comedy Classics Box Set: Vol.2 (4 Discs) featuring:
Miss Robin Hood: A newspaper columnist conspires with an elderly fan to steal a secret whiskey formula from a wealthy distiller. However, it’s not long before Scotland Yard is on the case!
You’re Only Young Twice: A young girl Ada Shore, arrives at Skerryvore University in Scotland in search of her long lost uncle who was once a subversive Irish poet but is now working under another name as the University Gate Keeper…
Brandy For The Parson: A young couple on a yachting holiday become involved with Tony Rackham who is smuggling brandy from France. Through various mishaps, they find themselves personally responsible for transporting the brandy kegs to London, whilst being pursued by Customs officials.
Time Gentlemen Please: The PM is planning a celebration visit to the model village of Little Hayhoe. However, local lay-about Dan Dance refuses to work, so he’s shipped off to the local almshouse where he awaits an uncertain, yet very funny future.
Axiom films release Wim Wenders Wings of Desire in June, alongside Paris Texas; I’ve no idea what extras if any are included, but retailing around £15, they’ll have to be good. Yume release Nigisa Oshima’s Night And Fog in Japan (aka Nihon No Yoru To Kiri) at the end of June.
Vintage television, and in April they’ll be dancing in the streets of Stoneybridge with the release of an eight disc set that contains the whole of Absolutely called, aptly, Everything!
Network’s next two Armchair Thriller offerings will be Victim and Dying Day. They’ve also added yet another iteration of Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead to their schedule (May) and Jason King; The Complete Series (seven discs), for June. June TV also includes Takin’ Over The Asylum, and the two-disc The Paul Merton Collection (no details as yet).
I can’t for the life of me fathom what’s happening with Fox in R2, but they seem to have abandoned new classic releases altogether. There has been nothing of note in ‘08, certainly no new Studio Classics or Cinema Reserve titles - their only tactic seems to be that old standby: ‘when in doubt, re-release it in a steelbook’. Appalling…and quite worrying.
High Noon; Paramount’s License to Thrill…
A quick huzzah for an upcoming U.S. release; Lionsgate has scheduled High Noon as a two-disc SE for June. Effectively, it will be the set that Paramount abandoned some 18 months ago now, when they made that sudden and depressing about face that left their Republic holdings still in the hands of Lionsgate. Happily, the new set will boast that eye-wateringly wonderful restoration and transfer that has already been enjoyed by fans in Holland, France and Australia (you can read about it here), all the extras from previous releases, plus (the come-on for those of us that already have this) a new and potentially fascinating 50 minute plus documentary. Can’t wait to see it.
Apparently, word has it that Paramount has opened its vaults to Lionsgate and will allow them access, at last, to elements they have been busy restoring over the past few years; if that news is accurate - and Paramount, we know, appears to have little or no interest in classic releases themselves - we could at last see some spanking discs from the Republic catalogue instead of the sometimes awful fare that Artisan / Lionsgate have foisted on fans in the past. Licensing - to Lionsgate, Criterion and possibly others - does appear to be the way forward as far as Paramount is concerned. Now, what about The Quiet Man..?
Bette Davis on Tour…
They called her the ‘First Lady of Film’ – and Bette Davis saw no reason to disagree. “I always had the will to win,” she once proclaimed. Now the career of one of Hollywood’s most colourful grandes dames is being celebrated by the U.K. film channel TCM (Turner Classic Movies), the BFI and distributors Park Circus, with nationwide screenings of 11 of her most memorable dramas to coincide with the centenary of her birth on 5th April, 2008.
The 11 titles include new 35mm prints of Jezebel, The Letter and The Little Foxes, together with a fully restored digital print of All About Eve, which has been back in selected cinemas since the end of November 2007. The tour was launched at the Glasgow Film Festival in February, and it continues through to July, with over 50 cinemas thoughout Britain taking part.
TCM pays its own tribute to this tempestuous screen icon, with an on air season airing on the channel in April 2008. ‘Bette Davis on Tour’ represents ‘a unique opportunity to admire an actress whose contribution to motion picture history lives on.’
More information including broadcast times, full tour map, a run-down of the titles on offer, and more click here to visit the special TCM UK Bette Davis page.