haineshisway
Senior HTF Member
Had a nice double bill viewing experience this night, both new Twilight Time Blu-rays.
First up was The Detective starring Frank Sinatra. Let's just be kind and say the film is very much of its time and if you don't do context this film probably isn't for you. Just remember it was 1968 and the portrayal of the gay scene back then is just what you'd expect. A year later, Boys in the Band and Stonewall would help to change that. It's a very episodic film that eventually circles around on itself and ties up its plot points neatly by the end. Sinatra plays Detective Joe Leland and is very good in it, and the supporting cast is terrific - Lee Remick (so beautiful), Jack Klugman (doing wonders with not much), Robert Duvall, Ralph Meeker, Al Freeman, Jr., Jacqueline Bissett, William Windom, and in a jaw-dropping performance (and I'm not sure I mean that in a good way, Tony Musante. Renee Taylor is also amusing as Klugman's wife. Back when it came out it was a very hard-hitting film, and broached several then-taboo subjects. Thank goodness we've come a long way, baby. Except there is one rather prescient bit having to do with a cop "accidentally" shooting a person of color, well... The score by Jerry Goldsmith, who's channeling a bit of Alex North in the main title, and prefiguring his own Chinatown score that would come six years later, is really good. And so is the transfer, which looks clean as a whistle and accurate. One interesting thing – the film is based on Roderick Thorp’s novel – a few years later he wrote a sequel called Nothing Lasts Forever, also featuring Detective Joe Leland. That one had a good plot – Leland is trapped in a high-rise office building when German terrorists take it over. Sound familiar? Yes, they changed the detective’s name to John McLane and turned it into Die Hard. But here’s the interesting thing: Sinatra had a clause in his 1968 contract that he had to be offered the role should a sequel ever be made. And so, they indeed offered him the role – he was 73 at the time.
Then came Born Free. Sometimes a movie comes along that just unexpectedly captures the audiences' fancy, and Born Free did just that in 1966. I don't think anyone could have predicted how huge a hit it would be. It's a charmer - funny, touching, colorful, and Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers (real-life man and wife) playing Joy Adamson and her husband, are just wonderful. And all the various lions who played Elsa are also wonderful. But there's another star in this film and I'm just not sure it would have been the hit it was without the other star - that would be John Barry, whose iconic score makes the film magic, pure and simple. I'm told that this Sony Grover Crisp restoration was not easy - I have no idea why, but the result is splendid. It looks great.
Next up will be Kings Go Forth and boy will THAT be nice to see after living with the non-anamorphic DVD for so long.
First up was The Detective starring Frank Sinatra. Let's just be kind and say the film is very much of its time and if you don't do context this film probably isn't for you. Just remember it was 1968 and the portrayal of the gay scene back then is just what you'd expect. A year later, Boys in the Band and Stonewall would help to change that. It's a very episodic film that eventually circles around on itself and ties up its plot points neatly by the end. Sinatra plays Detective Joe Leland and is very good in it, and the supporting cast is terrific - Lee Remick (so beautiful), Jack Klugman (doing wonders with not much), Robert Duvall, Ralph Meeker, Al Freeman, Jr., Jacqueline Bissett, William Windom, and in a jaw-dropping performance (and I'm not sure I mean that in a good way, Tony Musante. Renee Taylor is also amusing as Klugman's wife. Back when it came out it was a very hard-hitting film, and broached several then-taboo subjects. Thank goodness we've come a long way, baby. Except there is one rather prescient bit having to do with a cop "accidentally" shooting a person of color, well... The score by Jerry Goldsmith, who's channeling a bit of Alex North in the main title, and prefiguring his own Chinatown score that would come six years later, is really good. And so is the transfer, which looks clean as a whistle and accurate. One interesting thing – the film is based on Roderick Thorp’s novel – a few years later he wrote a sequel called Nothing Lasts Forever, also featuring Detective Joe Leland. That one had a good plot – Leland is trapped in a high-rise office building when German terrorists take it over. Sound familiar? Yes, they changed the detective’s name to John McLane and turned it into Die Hard. But here’s the interesting thing: Sinatra had a clause in his 1968 contract that he had to be offered the role should a sequel ever be made. And so, they indeed offered him the role – he was 73 at the time.
Then came Born Free. Sometimes a movie comes along that just unexpectedly captures the audiences' fancy, and Born Free did just that in 1966. I don't think anyone could have predicted how huge a hit it would be. It's a charmer - funny, touching, colorful, and Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers (real-life man and wife) playing Joy Adamson and her husband, are just wonderful. And all the various lions who played Elsa are also wonderful. But there's another star in this film and I'm just not sure it would have been the hit it was without the other star - that would be John Barry, whose iconic score makes the film magic, pure and simple. I'm told that this Sony Grover Crisp restoration was not easy - I have no idea why, but the result is splendid. It looks great.
Next up will be Kings Go Forth and boy will THAT be nice to see after living with the non-anamorphic DVD for so long.
