Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (3 Viewers)

[Walter Kittel]

Robert - Thanks for the heads up on the upcoming release of The Set-Up on Blu-Ray. I don't order a lot these days, but this will be arriving soon. Definitely a great film. I first watched it on DVD back when a lot of film-noir was being released on that media, and was really impressed with the film. Loved the rogues gallery of supporting characters in this film; which accentuated the atmosphere of the film.

- Walter.

 

[David Weicker]

Is there anyone else excited about the following titles?

Coming 2020 on Blu-ray!
Three Classics Starring Screen Legend Gary Cooper!
Brand New 4K Masters!
Sold Separately!

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) with Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, Sir Guy Standing, C. Aubrey Smith, Kathleen Burke and Douglas Dumbrille – Directed by Henry Hathaway

The General Died at Dawn (1936) with Madeleine Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, Dudley Digges, Porter Hall and William Frawley – Directed by Lewis Milestone

Beau Geste (1939) with Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward, Brian Donlevy, J. Carroll Naish, Albert Dekker and Broderick Crawford – Directed by William Wellman

I’ve been waiting anxiously for the announcements of these titles since they were ‘confirmed‘ months ago on the other forum.

Not a fan of General Died At Dawn, but the other two will be first day purchases.

 

[JohnMor]

Can’t wait for the 3 Coopers. Great news.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Were those two films the only ones they appeared in together?

They star in the film Crook's Tour, which is a supplement on The Lady Vanishes blu ray (Criterion).

 

[Matt Hough]

Is there anyone else excited about the following titles?

Coming 2020 on Blu-ray!
Three Classics Starring Screen Legend Gary Cooper!
Brand New 4K Masters!
Sold Separately!

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) with Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, Sir Guy Standing, C. Aubrey Smith, Kathleen Burke and Douglas Dumbrille – Directed by Henry Hathaway

The General Died at Dawn (1936) with Madeleine Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, Dudley Digges, Porter Hall and William Frawley – Directed by Lewis Milestone

Beau Geste (1939) with Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward, Brian Donlevy, J. Carroll Naish, Albert Dekker and Broderick Crawford – Directed by William Wellman

Yes, indeed! Excited! Thrilled! Over the moon!

 

[Matt Hough]

BTW, I'm going to have to buy those Warner Archives for September from Oldies.com (or Deep Discount who are slightly higher). I went to Best Buy, and the first one I pulled up, My Favorite Year, was sold out. Oh, brother!

 

[bujaki]

Ditto! I haven't seen any of these films since repertory screenings in NY sometime in the '70s. I did see Bengal Lancers in my home town theater in the '50s. That was probably a 35mm nitrate print that was just laying somewhere in the studio exchange and never returned to the States.

 

[Robert Crawford]

BTW, I'm going to have to buy those Warner Archives for September from Oldies.com (or Deep Discount who are slightly higher). I went to Best Buy, and the first one I pulled up, My Favorite Year, was sold out. Oh, brother!

If you buy two of them at $17.99, you get free shipping from Best Buy.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Woman On the Beach. Director On the Loose. What was Jean Renoir smoking? I enjoyed the surrealistic drowning dream moments, but this plot is so simplistic, the fact he spends a year editing, reshooting, and re-editing (per Muller's comments) make it obvious he was wildly overthinking what to do with this film. "It's a meditation." No, it isn't. The actors don't remotely convey the inner turmoil that is generously attributed to them. And that's on the director not really knowing what he's going after. (Elia Kazan where are you?) Or the studio justifiably baffled. I liked the sets, Joan's makeup (I always like how they used overdrawn lipstick in those days to make their lips appear bigger; today it's just collagen injections), , Ryan's horse, the mercifully brief length... and well, that's about it. The music was way over the top as Robert points out. Count this as an existential film experiment stuck in the wrong country and system.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This evening's movie was "Angel on My Shoulder" (1946) starring Paul Muni, Claude Rains and Anne Baxter. Similar to "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), but from the perspective of the other side of good vs. evil. It's been a long time, since, I watched this movie as I couldn't remember very much of the movie except a few sequences and the film's ending. Not nearly as good as "Here Comes Mr. Jordan", but it still has its moments. The TCM app's presentation wasn't good at all, so it's probably derived from the same transfer as my 2000 VCI DVD. It was amusing seeing Rains playing the "Devil" in this film and then comparing his performance to his "Angel/Mr. Jordan" role in the 1941 movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Mike Clark's Blu-ray review of "Man Without a Star" which I don't totally agree with as I take issue with his assertion that the film falls apart in the last 10-15 minutes. Anyhow, I did laugh out loud at a couple of Clark's written lines.

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/man-without-a-star-review/

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Sounds like I need to upgrade my DVD of The Setup to the BD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sounds like I need to upgrade my DVD of The Setup to the BD.

Most definitely!

 

[Robert Crawford]

My "Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection" Blu-ray boxset arrived today so I decided to watch "The Hitch-Hiker" (1953) again that is scheduled November 16th on "Noir Alley". Wow! Talk about looking good compared to previous home video releases. I'm going to watch this Blu-ray again to listen to Imogen Sara Smith's audio commentary.

TCM's Noir Alley Revised 2019 schedule.

03-09-19: D.O.A. (1950)
03-16-19: High Sierra (1941)
03-23-19: Lady in the Lake (1946)
03-30-19: Border Incident (1949)
04-06-19: 99 River Street (1953)
04-13-19: Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
04-20-19: M (1951)
04-27-19: Woman on the Run (1950)
05-04-19: Nightmare Alley (1947)
05-11-19: White Heat (1949)
05-18-19: Key Largo (1948)
05-25-19: Dead Reckoning (1947)
06-01-19: The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
06-08-19: Nora Prentiss (1947)
06-15-19: Pickup on South Street (1953)
06-22-19: Shadow on the Wall (1950)
06-29-19: On Dangerous Ground (1951)
07-06-19: The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
07-13-19: The People Against O'Hara (1951)
07-20-19: While the City Sleeps (1956)
07-27-19: Thieves' Highway (1949)
09-07-19: The Big Clock (1948)
09-14-19: Nocturne (1946)
09-21-19: The Woman on the Beach (1947)
09-28-19: The Harder They Fall (1956)
10-05-19: Trapped (1949) replaces The Bribe (1949)
10-12-19: Clash By Night (1952)
10-19-19: This Gun For Hire (1942)
10-26-19: Force of Evil (1948) replaces A Woman's Secret (1949)
11-02-19: Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
11-09-19: Johnny Eager (1941)
11-16-19: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
11-23-19: Kansas City Confidential (1952)
11-30-19: The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
12-07-19: Berlin Express (1948)
12-14-19: Criss Cross (1949)
12-21-19: Cash on Demand (1961) replaces I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
12-28-19: Repeat Performance (1947)
01-04-20: The Big Sleep (1946)
01-11-20: The Captive City (1952)
01-18-20: The Big Night (1951)

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched The Woman on the Beach this evening. I loved Eddie's information before and after. Always interesting and very much so for this unknown (to me) movie.

As for the film itself, I think this time the critics got it right. I found it empty, vapid even. Motivations seemed all over the place, and intentions seemed to vary with the sea breezes and sea gulls. I did not understand burning the paintings at all. Might have been some crude kind of symbolism for cleansing himself of his past deeds and behaviors, but practical? When he's showed no discernible sign of writing talent? What are they to live on? Just dumb from beginning to end.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My "Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection" Blu-ray boxset arrived today so I decided to watch "The Hitch-Hiker" (1953) again that is scheduled November 16th on "Noir Alley". Wow! Talk about looking good compared to previous home video releases. I'm going to watch this Blu-ray again to listen to Imogen Sara Smith's audio commentary.

TCM's Noir Alley Revised 2019 schedule.

03-09-19: D.O.A. (1950)
03-16-19: High Sierra (1941)
03-23-19: Lady in the Lake (1946)
03-30-19: Border Incident (1949)
04-06-19: 99 River Street (1953)
04-13-19: Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
04-20-19: M (1951)
04-27-19: Woman on the Run (1950)
05-04-19: Nightmare Alley (1947)
05-11-19: White Heat (1949)
05-18-19: Key Largo (1948)
05-25-19: Dead Reckoning (1947)
06-01-19: The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
06-08-19: Nora Prentiss (1947)
06-15-19: Pickup on South Street (1953)
06-22-19: Shadow on the Wall (1950)
06-29-19: On Dangerous Ground (1951)
07-06-19: The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
07-13-19: The People Against O'Hara (1951)
07-20-19: While the City Sleeps (1956)
07-27-19: Thieves' Highway (1949)
09-07-19: The Big Clock (1948)
09-14-19: Nocturne (1946)
09-21-19: The Woman on the Beach (1947)
09-28-19: The Harder They Fall (1956)
10-05-19: Trapped (1949) replaces The Bribe (1949)
10-12-19: Clash By Night (1952)
10-19-19: This Gun For Hire (1942)
10-26-19: Force of Evil (1948) replaces A Woman's Secret (1949)
11-02-19: Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
11-09-19: Johnny Eager (1941)
11-16-19: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
11-23-19: Kansas City Confidential (1952)
11-30-19: The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
12-07-19: Berlin Express (1948)
12-14-19: Criss Cross (1949)
12-21-19: Cash on Demand (1961) replaces I Died a Thousand Times (1955)
12-28-19: Repeat Performance (1947)
01-04-20: The Big Sleep (1946)
01-11-20: The Captive City (1952)
01-18-20: The Big Night (1951)

This new Kino Blu-ray does have some scratches. However, this BD is a far cry from what I've seen previously of this film. I'm going to compare this Blu-ray to the 2013 Blu-ray release. Both are from Kino and both stated they're derived from restorations with the 2019 BD saying it's a brand new 2K restoration. Frankly, this isn't a full blown restoration. I'm going to pay particularly close attention to the scenes with the scratches. It might not be today, but I'll do that comparison in the next day or two.

 

[Matt Hough]

And this week's Noir Alley, The Harder They Fall, is one of the most incisive boxing movies ever made. It's also heartbreaking (one of the few boxing movies that can drag a tear from the eye without sentimentality or gross manipulation, e.g. The Champ). And with Bogie in bad physical shape before the camera (though his wry, ironic way with lines never deserts him), that makes it doubly sad.

 

[Robert Crawford]

And this week's Noir Alley, The Harder They Fall, is one of the most incisive boxing movies ever made. It's also heartbreaking (one of the few boxing movies that can drag a tear from the eye without sentimentality or gross manipulation, e.g. The Champ). And with Bogie in bad physical shape before the camera (though his wry, ironic way with lines never deserts him), that makes it doubly sad.

It’s a difficult movie for me to watch, but will do so with my HD digital on Saturday.

 

[cda1143]

This new Kino Blu-ray does have some scratches. However, this BD is a far cry from what I've seen previously of this film. I'm going to compare this Blu-ray to the 2013 Blu-ray release. Both are from Kino and both stated they're derived from restorations with the 2019 BD saying it's a brand new 2K restoration. Frankly, this isn't a full blown restoration. I'm going to pay particularly close attention to the scenes with the scratches. It might not be today, but I'll do that comparison in the next day or two.

These films are also streaming this month on the Criterion channel. I wonder how they compare. I don’t on the Blu-rays so I can’t say.

Chris

 

[Matt Hough]

It’s a difficult movie for me to watch, but will do so with my HD digital on Saturday.

I'm looking forward to Eddie's comments on it about as much as for any movie he's done this year. And I'd sure like to see a Blu-ray of this fine film somewhere in the near future.