"Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I bought the region 2 DVD:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Farewell-My-...7068179&sr=1-2

which is full-screen and vhs-quality, and not very good vhs quality at that. I bought it under the assumption it would look better than the vhs.

The film is meticulously designed and photographed to evoke 1940s noir, and only a newly struck print and a new transfer would do it justice.

I would buy a region 1 DVD in a heartbeat.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Roger ebert has a review on it.. Actor Jack O'Halloran from Superman 2 was in this movie.. it was his first film, and also his most favorite. I know that Jack is also interested in a better version of it on dvd.

Jacob


http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...501010318/1023

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Count me in, too. Excellent modern paean to classic film noir. One of only a handful of notable 1970's films I don't yet own.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

anyone know who owns the rights to it?

Jacob

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

It was originally out on Artisan, thru their deal with Carlton, who controls the ITC/AFD stuff, and Lions Gate has been releasing many of that library, like RAISE THE TITANIC, MARCH OR DIE, etc, but all using horrible P & S tape masters, so it seems like this, if Lions gate reissues it, will fall into the same nightmare. ):

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I wish they would remaster this and put it out with excellent "Goodnight My Love" (1972) as an extra. It was a TV-movie but Richard Boone's Marlowe/Spade-ish character was fantastic. Michael Dunn and Barbara Bain were both brilliant.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

However, if Return of the Pink Panther is any indication, this might now be controlled by Universal. The only moderately recent ITC release I can think of that has been handled by Lionsgate is The Last Unicorn.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Saw it on the big screen back when.

Love it. Would definitely like to see its release.

Anybody seen this pop up on cable?

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Actor Jack O'Halloran is working on getting this movie released in a proper dvd special edition. here is a link over at the IMDB about it.

Jacob

IMDb :: Boards :: Farewell, My Lovely (1975) :: New DVD

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I saw it on the big screen when it came out. I've always liked the film, with Mitchum's narration and the evocative 40's style music score. I'd definitely spring for a decent OAR DVD.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

One of my most wanted titles - horrible DVD, one of the worst. The David Shire score is fantastic, too, and everything about the film works. I really doubt that Jack O'Halloran has any pull to get anything released on DVD, but maybe I'm missing something. Unless "Jacob" is Jack.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I am his webmaster for his site.

Jack O'Halloran: The First Unofficial Site!
he told me that he was looking into it.
Jacob

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I don't believe this is correct - he is a credited writer on The Killing and that would not have been allowed had he been blacklisted. I've read many, many books on the blacklist and have never seen Jim Thompson's name listed.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Billy's correct. Although Thompson was at one time a member of the Communist Party, he had severed his ties with them well before the blacklist.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I just watched this DVD the other day, it being one of my favorites. I would definitely upgrade the current DVD if a new one were available (I've never seen this film except on the DVD.)

BTW, it was mentioned above that Stallone plays a guy who has eyes for Frances Amthor's daughter. It seems pretty obvious to me that the girl is Amthor's lover, not her daughter. (Haven't read the book, just going by the movie here.)

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

He most certainly is credited on The Killing. I'd have to put on Paths of Glory to check that, but I'm telling you that in the mid-50s if Thompson had been blacklisted he could not have received credit on the film, and he does. Again, I have read many books on the blacklist along with many articles and Thompson's name has never appeared on any blacklist that I've seen. Your bringing it up here is the first time I've ever heard anyone make that supposition. I don't know where these "citations" were cited, but, you know, if it was the Internet I'd take it with a grain of salt.

By the time Douglas and Kubrick used Trumbo it was five years later and McCarthy was done. Both Spartacus and two months later Exodus credited Trumbo - however, it was Preminger who insisted on crediting him, even though Exodus came out a couple of months later, Preminger announced to the press before filming began that it was his intention to credit Trumbo - Douglas and Kubrick followed suit, but did not fight that particular battle.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

If you want to come off as being authoritative on this subject, you would do well to distinguish between the HUAC (HOUSE UnAmerican Activities Committee) and the activities of an American Senator that had nothing to do with Hollywood.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

Oh, okay. HUAC and Senator McCarthy were done - how's that? Why don't you just address the issue at hand instead of picking nits? Someone made a blatant statement that Jim Thompson was blacklisted - no links, no nothing. I stated that it would not have been possible for him to have been credited on a film had he been blacklisted. That's the fact of the matter. I also clarified which director fought the battle for Trumbo to receive credit, and it wasn't Kubrick nor producer Kirk Douglas.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

The girl does not appear in the book. That entire sequence is a "re-imagining" of Raymond Chandler's original. For example, in the novel Amthor is a man. For what it is worth, I think it's an excellent piece of "re-imagining".

I agree it is obvious that the girl is Amthor's lover.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

I don't mean to be confrontational - I mean to set the record straight. One of my pet peeves is the propagating of incorrect information on the Internet - it's how this stuff becomes accepted as fact. After my first post about this, another gentleman posted that I was correct, and I am. I'm not bragging about it. You used the word "citations" on the net and finally provided a link to one - on britannica.com. I read it. It's one line in a very short piece written by - who? No sources cited, no nothing, just the line. If you go to wikipedia.com and read the long entry there you will find no mention of blacklisting (at least I couldn't find any) - you will find many other things and the sources from which they came. If Mr. Thompson had been blacklisted or even graylisted, it would be in that entry.

Furthermore, in Robert Polit's exhaustive biography of Jim Thompson, the word "blacklisting" appears three times in its over five-hundred pages - and none of its appearances refer to Mr. Thompson. In fact, I quote this line:
"he (Thompson) would never endure the silent scourge of the blacklist."

I should think that would put to rest the incorrect comments in this thread. Again, at the time of The Killing and Paths Of Glory, it would not have been possible for Mr. Thompson to receive on-screen credit if he'd been blacklisted. That is an easy fact to check.

The wikipedia entry can be found here:

Jim Thompson (writer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

And the biography is available everywhere.

And about getting a DVD release for Farewell, My Lovely - scroll up and you can read my comments about it.

Re: "Farewell, My Lovely" - how about it??

"Of course & obviously, I stand humbly corrected if I have this wrong."

Apparently not.