- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,428
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Once you really give it some thought, the concept doesn't seem as odd as it might first appear.
French director extraordinaire, and son of famous artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, having made the move to the U.S., and under contract to Fox, making a film about a swamp deep within the backwoods of Georgia during a nondescript time period.
Once you consider the interactions between the players in his previous film, Rules of the Game, or a "gentlemanly" war in The Grand Illusion, or even the earlier Toni, you begin to understand what might have caught his attention.
Not a great film, by any means, but a very good film, with a stellar cast, Swamp Water generally looks very nice in this new Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time. While dupes can be a bit iffy, production photography looks far better. With an image that appears to be harvested from a well-used fine grain (occasional scratches can be seen), it's not bad considering the way that Fox treated their nitrate library.
The overall look of the film as far as grain is okay, and dupe dependent.
The track is problematic, as all that seems to survive is a moderately serviceable affair with a rather strident character in the high end.
Overall, Swamp Water is an important addition to the Blu-ray format. As far as quality is concerned, it's quite okay.
Stars (out of a potential 5)
Image - 3
Audio - 2
An interesting film, especially when one looks at the huge cast of Fox contract players placed in the project, much of which was shot on location in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. The cast must have been thrilled.
That cast includes: Walter Brennan, Walter Huston, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Mary Howard, Eugene Pallette (whose voice in problematic tracks actually screeches -- The Ghost Goes West comes to mind), Ward Bond, Guinn Williams, Joseph Sawyer. It was shot by Peverell Marley, and I'd bet that Mr. Furmanek would have a few comments about his work.
RAH
French director extraordinaire, and son of famous artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, having made the move to the U.S., and under contract to Fox, making a film about a swamp deep within the backwoods of Georgia during a nondescript time period.
Once you consider the interactions between the players in his previous film, Rules of the Game, or a "gentlemanly" war in The Grand Illusion, or even the earlier Toni, you begin to understand what might have caught his attention.
Not a great film, by any means, but a very good film, with a stellar cast, Swamp Water generally looks very nice in this new Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time. While dupes can be a bit iffy, production photography looks far better. With an image that appears to be harvested from a well-used fine grain (occasional scratches can be seen), it's not bad considering the way that Fox treated their nitrate library.
The overall look of the film as far as grain is okay, and dupe dependent.
The track is problematic, as all that seems to survive is a moderately serviceable affair with a rather strident character in the high end.
Overall, Swamp Water is an important addition to the Blu-ray format. As far as quality is concerned, it's quite okay.
Stars (out of a potential 5)
Image - 3
Audio - 2
An interesting film, especially when one looks at the huge cast of Fox contract players placed in the project, much of which was shot on location in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. The cast must have been thrilled.
That cast includes: Walter Brennan, Walter Huston, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Mary Howard, Eugene Pallette (whose voice in problematic tracks actually screeches -- The Ghost Goes West comes to mind), Ward Bond, Guinn Williams, Joseph Sawyer. It was shot by Peverell Marley, and I'd bet that Mr. Furmanek would have a few comments about his work.
RAH
