Frank Perry: Eclipse Worthy? (1 Viewer)

[Claude North]

Went to a screening of Ladybug Ladybug and decided that Frank Perry would be a good candidate for a Criterion Eclipse collection. He has made a number of interesting films (David & Lisa, The Swimmer, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Last Summer, Play It As It Lays, Man on a Swing), many of which have never been released on home video. He's not the most well-known director, but I've yet to see a film of his that I haven't liked, and I think he is deserving of such a DVD release.

 

[Richard--W]

Good idea. Frank Perry's gut-wrenchers seemed to have slipped into oblivion. I would really like to experience them again. An Eclipse collection, or individual Criterion releases, would put the world back in touch with this true dramatist and perhaps facilitate a greater appreciation for his most frequent collaborator, director of photography Gerald Hirshfeld.

 

[BillyFeldman]

A screening of Ladybug, Ladybug??? Where?

 

[walter o]

problem is, all the films are held by different studios, thus making this almost impossible. BTW, DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE and LAST SUMMER deserves a DVD release.

 

[Bob Graham]

Definitely Eclipse worthy, but as Walter says, his studio films were release by many different companies. Personally, I'd like to see a release of DOC and I'd like to see MGM/Sony re-do RANCHO DELUXE which looks terrible in its current version.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

What a wonderful idea! It is too bad that most of the films are scattered about among the studios. He is certainly one of the most neglected filmmakers of the New Hollywood era.

It's a stretch, but DIARY... has a little extra weight these days because of the presence of Frank Langella who is now earning the best plaudits of his career (at least in terms of film) for FROST/NIXON. LAST SUMMER, DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE, PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (which has been airing on Sundance), 'Doc,' LADYBUG LADYBUG, MAN ON A SWING are sorely in need of legitimate DVD releases. Most of these were never even available on VHS or, as in the case of DIARY, only at the very dawn of the format (it even got a Discovision release!).

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

double post

 

[Claude North]

International House in Philadelphia. They're hosting a three-day retrospective of the films of Frank and Eleanor Perry. On Thursday, they screened David & Lisa and The Thanksgiving Visitor, and tonight, they're showing The Swimmer. I'm hoping that they'll decide to screen more of his films at a later date.