Showing Soon; Coppola, Winner, a Bloodbath…& Visual Poetry from the BFI April 7, 2008
Posted by John Hodson in : DVD News & Info, Showing Soon , 12 commentsMore news of shiny digital discs on their way to fans of classic film and TV in the U.K….
Several etailers now have a list of the extras for the upcoming Godfather Trilogy Remastered. There appear to be some new extras, but be aware 
that a few may be renamed ‘carry overs’ from the old set’s bonus disc, and it is possible that all the extras from that disc will not be replicated. We’ll see; in the meantime we have ‘…Full film restoration with involvement from Francis Ford Coppola’ (actually the work of Robert Harris; the new set’s cover carries Coppola’s signature as a form of ‘rubber-stamp’), plus the following:
Special Features
5.1 audio tracks
The Godfather in Worldwide Popular Media
The Godfather and the Modern Gangster Film
Restoring a Classic Film
Take the Cannoli: Feature on the famous scene
The Godfather on the Red Carpet
Ten Things You Didn’t Know About The Godfather
Easter Egg – An Excerpt From The Family Guy
Behind the Scenes
Additional Scenes
Family Trees
Trailers
Academy Award speeches
Biographies
At the end of this month, Axiom release Gudie Lawaetz’s 1974 documentary Mai ‘68, ‘…which chronicles the Parisian uprisings of students, young people and disaffected intellectuals in May of 1968, an event that coincided with a nationwide trade-union strike’. That Colossus rumour, mentioned in a previous Showing Soon, has pretty much firmed up. The blurb:
Fremantle Home Entertainment and Mediumrare Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of Colossus: The Forbin Project on 26th May 2008 priced at £15.99. The ultimate super computer creates the ultimate terror in this sci-fi suspense thriller. When computer genius Charles Forbin creates a massive computer complex that is capable of independently regulating the national defence of the United States, it appears that no enemy will ever be able to penetrate its sovereign borders.
But such a promising thought turns into a stunning nightmare when it’s discovered the Russians have built an equally sophisticated computer and that these two “doomsday machines” have linked, sharing classified information and national secrets. Desperately Forbin and his Soviet counterparts try to stop the all-knowing “monster” computers from seizing command of the world’s nuclear missile stockpiles.
Colossus: The Forbin Project stars Eric Braeden, Susan Clark and Gordon Pinsent in the film based on the novel “Colossus” by DF Jones.
Extras include: Commentary Track from the film’s director: Joseph Sargent, Stills Gallery, Original Publicity Material.
Artwork at DVD Times here, shows the words ‘Widescreen Edition’, so we know that the rumour of anamorphic OAR is highly likely.
This is something of a surprise, also from the Fremantle subsidiary Mediumrare. More blurb:
Fremantle Home Entertainment and Mediumrare Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of The Sentinel on 19th May 2008 priced at £14.99. When a beautiful model, Alison Parker (Cristina Raines) rents a gloomy New York apartment little does she realise the unspeakable horrors that await her behind its mysterious doors.
Based on Jeffrey Konvitz’s best-selling novel, The Sentinel also stars Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum , Ava Gardner, Jose Ferrer, Burgess Meredith and Beverly D’Angelo.
Features include: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English DD2.0, Commentary Track from the film’s Director Michael Winner, Film Intro: Michael Winner, Photo Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer, Biographies.
Nice artwork, and a commentary track from the famed insurance salesman; what more could you ask? I’m in. Details again at DVD Times, here.
This sumptuous looking set was mentioned briefly previously, but now Showing Soon has the full specs:
The BFI have announced a major documentary collection due for release on April 28th. Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1960 (BFIVD756). Featuring 40 films on 4 DVDs, this extensive collection is a major retrospective of the British documentary film movement during its period of greatest influence.
These films – many of which are made available for the first time since their original release – capture the spirit and strength, concerns and resolve of Britain and its people before, during and after the Second World War.
These diverse and compelling films are fascinating historical documents, bearing witness to the social and industrial transformations of the rapidly changing world, but they are also striking in their different approach to the form.
Using poetry, dramatic reconstruction, modernist techniques and explicit propaganda, these film-makers found fresh, new ways to get their message across.
The collection contains both classic documentaries and lesser-known films, including Paul Rotha’s Shipyard (1935), Arthur Elton’s Housing Problems (1935) and Humphrey Jennings’ sublime Words for Battle (1941), Listen to Britain (1942), and emotive A Diary for Timothy (1946). Also featured are films from directors such as Ruby Grierson (Today We Live, 1937), Basil Wright (Children at School, 1937), Paul Dickson (The Undefeated, 1950) and Donald Alexander (Five and Under, 1941). This box set also includes new interviews with some of the directors featured on the discs, a 15-minute film of John Grierson (the ‘father’ of documentary) addressing a packed audience at the National Film Theatre in 1959, and is completed by an extensive booklet containing introductory essays, biographies and notes on all of the films by leading researchers and scholars in the field of documentary film-making.
The entire programme has been programmed from within the BFI with extensive input from Patrick Russell, Senior Curator (Non Fiction). All titles have been remastered specially for this DVD set, from the best available materials preserved within the BFI National Archive. Many of these films have not been available since they were first released, and only a very small number have been published on DVD or VHS before. Comprehensive collection, large number of titles chronicling Britain through 20 years of huge change. The programme contains a good number of famous but hard-to-find ‘favourites’ (eg DIARY FOR TIMOTHY, LISTEN TO BRITAIN, THE UNDEFEATED) in addition to numerous rare gems and lesser known titles.
Full List of Films:
INDUSTRIAL BRITAIN (Robert Flaherty, 1931), WORKERS AND JOBS (Arthur Elton, 1935), HOUSING PROBLEMS(Arthur Elton, Edgar Anstey, 1935), SHIPYARD (Paul Rotha, 1935), PEOPLE OF BRITAIN (Paul Rotha, 1936), CHILDREN AT SCHOOL (Basil Wright, 1937), FAREWELL TOPSAILS (Humphrey Jennings, 1937), TODAY WE LIVE (Ruby Grierson, Ralph Bond, 1937), EASTERN VALLEY (Paul Rotha, Donald Alexander, 1937), IF WAR SHOULD COME (no director credited, 1939), BRITAIN AT BAY (Harry Watt, 1940), TOMORROW IS THEIRS (James Carr, 1940), THEY ALSO SERVE (Ruby Grierson, 1940), TRANSFER OF SKILL (Geoffrey Bell, 1940), FIVE AND UNDER (Donald Alexander,1941), ORDINARY PEOPLE (Jack Lee, J B Holmes 1941), WORDS FOR BATTLE (Humphrey Jennings, 1941), BUILDERS (Pat Jackson, 1942), LISTEN TO BRITAIN (Humphrey Jennings, Stewart McAllister, 1942), NIGHT SHIFT (J D Chambers, 1942), THE COUNTRYWOMEN (John Page, 1942), SUMMER ON THE FARM (Ralph Keene, 1943), WORDS AND ACTIONS (Max Anderson, 1943), FENLANDS (Ken Annakin, 1945), CHILDREN’S CHARTER (Gerard Bryant, 1945), A DIARY FOR TIMOTHY (Humphrey Jennings, 1946), BRITAIN CAN MAKE IT No 1 (Francis Gysin, 1946), LAND OF PROMISE(Paul Rotha, 1946), COTTON COME BACK (Donald Alexander, 1946), CHASING THE BLUES (J D Chambers, Jack Ellitt, 1947), THE BALANCE (Paul Rotha, 1947), FIVE TOWNS (Terry Bishop, 1947), A PLAN TO WORK ON (Kay Mander, 1948), THE DIM LITTLE ISLAND (Humphrey Jennings. 1948), WHAT A LIFE! (Michael Law, 1948), MINING REVIEW 2ND YEAR No 11 (Peter Pickering, 1949), FROM THE GROUND UP (no director credited, 1950), THE UNDEFEATED (Paul Dickson, 1950), TRANSPORT (Peter Bradford, 1950)On-disc extras:
CLOSE UP: RECOLLECTIONS OF BRITISH DOCUMENTARY(40 mins) - New interviews with some of the people who worked on these films, in which they discuss how they became involved in documentary film-making, recall their experiences working with John Grierson, Paul Rotha, Humphrey Jennings and Donald Alexander, and discuss working on individual films. Interviewees are: Pat Jackson (Dir. BUILDERS), Wolfgang Suschitzky (Cinematographer COTTON COME BACK and others), Peter Bradford (Dir. TRANSPORT), Peter Pickering (Dir. MINING REVIEW 2ND YEAR No 11), Paul Dickson (Dir. THE UNDEFEATED)JOHN GRIERSON AT THE NFT (1959) (13 mins) - A record of an address by John Grierson at the National Film Theatre in August 1959 to mark their “Thirty Years of British Documentary” season. Grierson discusses some of the difficulties which beset the founders of the British Documentary movement in the 1930s including the different agendas within the movement - political and aesthetic - which informed their work, some of the film-makers who inspired their work, international reaction to their films and his hopes for the future of the British documentary film.
Booklet:
This set will be accompanied by an extensive illustrated booklet – 96 pages - which will contain:
- An introduction to the DVD set by Patrick Russell, Senior Curator (Non Fiction) at the BFI National Archive
- A series of introductory essays on documentary film-making in the 1930s, wartime, and post-war periods
- Credits and film notes for each of the 40 films on the programme. These pieces have been commissioned from various researchers and scholars in the field including our own non fiction curatorial team.
- Biographies and analysis of the contribution of key figures in the documentary movement in this period
The set is very attractively pitched, as low as £25.99 at Play.com and apparently the booklet is bound properly, not merely stapled; box art at DVD Times, here. Writing of BFI pricing, their May DVD of John Huston’s A Walk With Love and Death is just £8.99 at Play.com - are we seeing a new price policy from the usually high-end BFI?
And still the BFI goodies come. The end of this month sees Volume 7 in the BTF The Age of The Train Series which will contain 17 titles:
Disc 1:
The North Eastern Goes Forward (1962)
Right Time Means Right Time aka The Pain Train (1969)
Motorsport Tries Motorail (1969)
Discovering Railways (1977)
Current Affairs on the Midland (1980)
Railways Conserve the Environment (1970)
Discover Britain by Train (1978)
Old Sam the Signalman (1982)Disc 2:
Journey Inter-City (1972)
Power to Stop (1979)
Inter-city 125 (1976)
New Age for Railways (1979)
The Stone Carriers (1982)
The Finishing Line (1976)
Robbie (1979)
Centenary Express (1980)
Sir Peter Parker Talks to Jimmy Saville (1982)
ITVDVD are releasing David Lean’s Great Expectations on Blu-ray in mid-June. As said in my piece of the Lean Centenary, this is one of 10 Lean films that have recently been given new restorations; if the date is correct it will be the first offered, newly washed and brushed up. How it looks on HD may determine just how many classic film fans switch to the greater resolution offered by the Blue side…
Showing Soon mentioned Second Sight’s April release of Ronald Neame’s Hopscotch recently. Here’s the blurb:
Screen greats Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson star in celebrated director Ronald Neame’s classic spy-caper Hopscotch.
Matthau was nominated for a Golden Globe for his starring role in this hilarious comedy, released for the first time on DVD on 21 April 2008, courtesy of Second Sight.
Miles Kendig (Mattheu) is a veteran CIA agent who finds himself reduced to a desk job after the arrival of new boss Myerson. Refusing to take it lying down he disappears, links up with former lover and ex-agent (Jackson) and begins to write a tell-all autobiography, threatening to lift the lid on the world’s top intelligence agencies. He soon has both the CIA and the KGB in hot pursuit but Kendig is a hard man to keep up with.
Originally written by Brian Garfield as a conventional espionage story he adapted it for the big screen along with Bryan Forbes as a cloak-and-dagger escapade that makes for hugely entertaining viewing.
Special Feature – Introduction by director Ronald Neame and writer Brian Garfield
The film is already available in R1 courtesy of Criterion; this release presumably replicates the introduction from that disc.
Still with Second Sight and their May release of Eyes Without A Face:
Visionary director Georges Franju’s masterpiece Eyes Without A Face (Les Yeux Sans Visage) is considered to be one of the greatest, most influential and disturbing horror films ever made.
Previously unavailable in the UK on DVD, this true horror classic makes its debut courtesy of Second Sight on 12 May 2008.
Starring respected French actor Pierre Brasseur alongside stunning Italian beauty Alida Valli and Edith Scob this is an extremely unsettling and sometimes poetic horror that caused huge controversy on its initial cinema release.
Guilt-ridden after recklessly crashing his car and leaving his daughter (Scob) severely disfigured, celebrated plastic surgeon Dr Gennesier (Brassuer) becomes obsessed with restoring her beauty by transplanting a new face onto her mutilated features. Aided by his devoted assistant Louisa (Valli), young women are lured back to his home to become unwitting ‘donors’ in his horrific procedures.
One of the most interesting personalities in French cinema, master filmmaker Franju creates a stunningly chilling atmosphere made all the more eerie by Oscar winning cinematographer Eugen Shufftan’s powerful imagery.
Special feature: Georges Franju: Visionary – a 10 minute feature on the director.
Again, from Criterion in R1, but the documentary on this disc appears to be new.
At least one etailer has Lutz Becker’s The Double-Headed Eagle (1973) coming from Odeon in June, plus A Candle For The Devil (with Judy Geeson), that’s alongside the previously released titles including The Flesh And Blood Show and The Man On The Eiffel Tower. The Voice Of Merrill, with Valerie Hobson, Edward Underdown and James Robertson Justice, is another release from Odeon - also scheduled for June. I should mention at this point that an Amazon reviewer has stated that Odeon’s recent release of Cone of Silence, with Peter Cushing, is a pan and scan transfer of a ’scope film - nasty (EDIT; Hmmm - it looks like IMDB is the source of this information, and the fact that, according to the Amazon customer, the opening credits are show quite wide, then the film reverts to what appear to me from the decent looking screen grabs I’ve seen, something like 1:66.1, which would be more like it for a British film of this vintage - I’d be grateful for any further positive information on this.)
Redemption, meanwhile, will release Alan Birkinshaw’s Lake District set slasher Killer’s Moon in July, and Nucleus Films are unleashing the Kenny Everitt 1984 bomb Bloodbath At The House Of Death on an unsuspecting world the previous month:
Nucleus Films are pleased to announce the worldwide DVD premiere of the long lost cult 1983 horror spoof Bloodbath at the House of Death. From a script by comic legend Barry Cryer, the film boasts a highly impressive cast with Kenny Everett (The Kenny Everett Television Show), Pamela Stephenson (Not the Nine O’Clock News), Gareth Hunt (The New Avengers), Don Warrington (Rising Damp), Cleo Rocos (Celebrity Big Brother) and the late great Vincent Price himself as The Sinister Man!
Unseen anywhere since the early 1980s, Nucleus Films have spent over a year painstakingly tracking down the rights owner, and can now confirm that we have recently signed a license agreement enabling the films’ release. Bloodbath at the House of Death will be transferred from the original negatives during the coming weeks and will be issued on DVD later this year in its original 1.85:1 cinema ratio and will be 16×9 enhanced for widescreen TVs.
Negotiations are said to be also in place for DVD extras and interviews. There’s a link to the UK trailer here.
TV releases, and the press release for G.F. Newman’s breath-taking and brilliant Law and Order released this month by 2|entertain:
Law and Order garnered immense critical acclaim when first broadcast on April 6th 1978, but also drew a series of damning complaints for the portrayal of the British judicial system. Each episode of this controversial four-part drama series concentrates on one aspect of the criminal justice system, presenting an investigation from the perspectives of the police force, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system.
Unseen since its transmission 30 years ago, Law and Order will be available on DVD for the first time on 7th April 2008.
Law and Order features a talented cast, including Eastenders stalwarts Derek Martin (Charlie Slater) John Bardon (Jim Branning) and Peter Dean (Peter Beale) as well as Alan Ford (Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).
Produced by Tony Garnett and written by BAFTA award winning writer GF Newman (Judge John Deed), Law and Order is a gripping tale of police and judicial corruption. Law and Order, cited as the original ‘Factional Drama’ tells the story of chancer Jack Lynn (Peter Dean) a career criminal, and bent copper DI Pyall (Derek Martin) who is determined to imprison Lynn, even if it means fitting him up with armed robbery. The programme follows the two characters from arrest right through to incarceration offering Newman’s often criticised view on the British police force and those who enforce the law.
Newman’s insights into the inner workings of British law and order, exposing the inadequacies of the judicial system, resulted in a large public outcry as well as shouts of condemnation and accusation from the House of Commons. Newman ‘s Law and Order conjures up the murky 1970s Metropolitan underworld populated with bent coppers on the make, “grasses”, conniving lawyers and career criminals.
With its searing look at widespread corruption and abuse in the police, Law and Order arguably still provides the most complete glimpse of police culture to date.
Special Features include Criminal Minds - a specially shot documentary about the making of Law and Order which contains interviews with the original cast and crew.
Network release the Brian Blessed interpretation of Long John Silver - Return To Treasure Island: The Complete Series (3 Discs) - at the end of May. Come June, Universal releases Murder She Wrote - Seasons 1-8 Box Setwith a whopping £154.99 rrp. More ‘God’s waiting room TV’; July and Paramount have Diagnosis: Murder - Season 2 and MacGyver - Season 6, while Acorn plan a Murder Most English set, and Warner V - The Complete Series. Universal will also offer Allo Allo - Series 6 & 7, and Life Begins - Series 2 comes from ITVDVD. Looking waaay ahead to August (be aware - this far out, these could change) Rumpole Of The Bailey - Series 6 comes from Fremantle HE, The Streets Of San Francisco - Season 1, Part 1 and The Untouchables - Season 1, Part 1 both from Paramount and Sutherland’s Law - Series 1 from Acorn.
This is only a year old production, but I really enjoyed Daphne, which is coming from 2|entertain in June: ‘…Set during the years between the Rebecca plagiarism trial and the writing of Daphne Du Maurier’s short story The Birds, including her relationship with her husband Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, and her largely unrequited infatuations with American publishing tycoon’s wife Ellen Doubleday and the actress Gertrude Lawrence.’
A fascinating and beautifully realised BBC drama.