haineshisway
Senior HTF Member
It is here. It is mine. Morocco this evening.
It's a long roadIt is here. It is mine. Morocco this evening.
So happy you've joined the OLED fold. It's the best TV I've ever owned without a doubt.My set is coming later this week and I can't wait. I bought a 65" OLED today, and these films, many of which I'll be seeing for the first time, will be among the very first I watch on my new TV!
So happy you've joined the OLED fold. It's the best TV I've ever owned without a doubt.
Andrew, I envy your discovery of these films - I think you'll love them. I've just finished SCARLET EMPRESS, and finally it looks as it should - ravishing. Later tonight, DEVIL IS A WOMAN.
Yes. I saw what I believe was a nitrate 35mm print at MOMA in the 70's and it was amazing. The clarity, sheen and glow of the grey scale was beyond belief. All the jewels around Ms. Dietrich's neck glittered wherever she walked to the point that one needed sunglasses. And everything was so tactile. The texture of clothes and hair, even the shadows stood out in a way I had never seen either before or since. Previously I had watched Morocco in 16mm a number of times, but this was a completely different experience. And of course I was hoping that this Blu-Ray would finally reproduce to some extent the luster and glow that was present in that 35mm nitrate so many years ago. But I'll take what I can get.Morocco - I understand it's the weakest in the set - I wasn't horrified by it or anything, but one does wish it were a bit better. I did have the complete set in pristine 16mm prints and my Morocco looked incredible. But this is fine, and I'm looking forward to the better elements.
Tonight I watched Dishonored - made one year after Morocco and THAT is what Morocco should look like but sadly doesn't. Again, while one wishes it were better, it's still fine and watchable. Dishonored has always been the weak sister in the von Sternberg/Dietrich films, but I've always liked it - it's wacky in certain ways, but that just makes it all the more von Sternbergian. And then I watched Shanghai Express, which looks fantastic, I thought, right up there with Dishonored and maybe even better. So, Blonde Venus next (my personal favorite).
I curious, which movie was that?Nick von Sternberg... ...was a grip on my little movie
Jackie Cooper was great in SKIPPY; I wish Universal would release it...My set came today, and I watched Blonde Venus first, also my favorite of their films together and the first Dietrich film I ever saw (on television). The transfer has a couple of small scratches here and there, and grain haters are going to loathe it, but I was impressed by the detail in many shots. The opening bathing scene with the girls was the clearest it's ever been (clearly some of them are nude, though in one shot Dietrich appears to have on a suit as some straps seem visible when she swims away). I have always loved the songs in the film especially "I Couldn't Be Annoyed" and "You Little So-and-So" along with the fetching lullaby she sings in her head voice in German.
Little Dickie Moore is so precious. This was a couple of years before the first juvenile Oscar was awarded (to Shirley Temple), but he and Jackie Cooper should have had them for their work as tiny tots. Jackie, of course, got a legitimate Oscar nomination for Skippy, but Dickie never did.
Also watched all three bonus features on this disc. I'm sure all of the discs in the set will be equally intriguing and filled with fine bonus material.