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Frankenheimer's The Iceman Cometh on April 1 (1 Viewer)

Rain

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Having received my copy of Metropolis today, I also got a new DVD catalogue from Kino.

On April 1, they will be releasing the first of 3 sets of DVDs of "the finest collection of plays brought to the screen in the history of American cinema."

Of particular interest is a film that I have been curious about some time, John Frankenheimer's 1973 film of


The Iceman Cometh


starring Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan and Jeff Bridges.

The specs can be found here (click on "News").

What is not mentioned on the website, but is mentioned in the printed catalogue, is the running time: 239 min, meaning it will be the complete version and not the shorter cut.

Just thought I'd post this in case anyone might be interested.
 

Robert Crawford

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Glad to hear this since last year, I bought the dvd with the television adaptation of it that was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Jason Robards and a young Robert Redford among others.




Crawdaddy
 

Roderick Gauci

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I also wish to thank Rain for sharing this wonderful news with us!

Although I have never seen any of the American Film Theater productions, I am aware of their historical importance in reproducing on film several great plays from renowned playwrights worldwide and featuring extraordinary casts of well-known cinema and stage actors.

While I am mostly interested in two of Kino’s first five offerings – THE ICEMAN COMETH and BUTLEY - the fact that they will be also available as a Box Set is pretty hard to resist. Strangely enough, though Kino in its Press Release state that ALL 14 AFT productions made between 1973-1975 will be unveiled on DVD in 2003, a search on the “All Movie Guide” provided only 13 titles while a similar one on the “IMDB” listed only 12! So, does anybody know what is that elusive 14th title? For the record, here are all the AFT productions I know of:

1.THE THREE SISTERS (Laurence Olivier, 1970; based on Anton Chekov’s play; with Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates and Derek Jacobi)
2.A DELICATE BALANCE (Tony Richardson, 1973; based on Edward Albee’s play; with Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Betsy Blair, Kate Reid, Joseph Cotten and Sam Waterston)
3.THE HOMECOMING (Peter Hall, 1973; based on Harold Pinter’s play; with Michael Jayston, Vivian Merchant, Cyril Cusack and Ian Holm)
4.THE ICEMAN COMETH (John Frankenheimer, 1973; based on Eugene O’ Neill’s play; with Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Bradford Dillman, Clifton James, George Voskovec, Sorrell Booke, Moses Gunn and Evans Evans)
5.BUTLEY (Harold Pinter, 1974; based on Simon Gray’s play; with Alan Bates, Jessica Tandy and Georgina Hale)
6.LOST IN THE STARS (Daniel Mann, 1974; based on the musical by Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill; with Brock Peters, Raymond St. Jacques and John Williams)
7.LUTHER (Guy Green, 1974; based on Edward Anhalt’s play; with Stacy Keach, Hugh Griffith, Robert Stephens, Patrick Magee, Leonard Rossiter, Alan Badel, Julian Glover, John Gielgud, Judi Dench and Maurice Denham)
8.RHINOCEROS (Tom O’Horgan, 1974; based on Eugene Ionesco’s play; with Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder and Karen Black)
9.GALILEO (Joseph Losey, 1975; based on Bertolt Brecht’s play; with Topol, Colin Blakely, Clive Revill, Margaret Leighton, John Gielgud, Michael Gough, Edward Fox, Tom Conti, Patrick Magee, John McEnery and Michel Lonsdale)
10.IN CELEBRATION (Lindsay Anderson, 1975; based on David Storey’s play; with Alan Bates)
11.JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS (Denis Heroux, 1975; based on the musical by Eric Blau and Mort Schumann)
12.THE MAIDS (Christopher Miles, 1975; based on Jean Genet’s play; with Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Vivian Merchant)
13.THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH (Arthur Hiller, 1975; based on Robert Shaw’s play; with Maximillian Schell and Luther Adler)

I did search some reasonable candidates which might be the fourteenth title like OTHELLO (1965), THE MARAT/SADE (1966), THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969), A DOLL’S HOUSE (1973) and HEDDA (1975), but none of them seem to have been produced for the AFT. Still. I must say that overall it’s an excellent group of films which promise thought-provoking drama and exceptional performances.

Unfortunately, Kino (and many another DVD production company) are apparently not very keen on updating their websites by informing their patrons of upcoming releases. Besides, even though I did apply online for the Kino catalog several months back, I have received nothing of the sort so far! Even though I do know of some of their upcoming releases (some of which are highly anticipated by myself and I’m sure a lot of others) like Erich von Stroheim’s BLIND HUSBANDS (1919)/THE MAN YOU LOVED TO HATE (1980), FOOLISH WIVES (1922) and QUEEN KELLY (1928); the Lon Chaney versions of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923) and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925); the Douglas Fairbanks/Raoul Walsh version of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924); Fritz Lang’s SPIES (1928), THE WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929) and LILIOM (1934); and one of my favorite films - Luis Bunuel’s L’AGE D’OR (1930), it would still be nice to be kept abreast of any choice supplements which might compliment the main feature on the DVD.

Anyway I love Kino's work in general and, incidentally, their GRIFFITH MASTERWORKS (1909-21), GERMAN HORROR CLASSICS (1919-24), DIE NIBELUNGEN (1924) and METROPOLIS (1926) sets should be on their way to me as I write!
 

Rain

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I did search some reasonable candidates which might be the fourteenth title like OTHELLO (1965), THE MARAT/SADE (1966)...
If you are referring to Peter Brook's film, which was a presentation of the Royal Shakespeare Company, MGM owns the rights and have already released it on DVD.

Typical of many of MGM's catalogue titles, the DVD is subpar (and not even anamorphic, despite the fact that it was only just released last year).
 
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I've just referred back to my original (Australian ) program for the first American Film Theatre season of 7 films. ( keeping those programs occasionally comes in handy ) It lists a total of 12 titles only, 7 from the first series and 5 listed as coming in the second. So, 12 SEEMS like the correct number.

The title listed that doesn't appear to belong to the AFT is The Three Sisters.

As for Iceman, I was 17 when it came to town and its 239 minutes seemed like an eternity. It screened with 2 intermissions ! I was obviously too young to properly appreciate the film, though I have pleasant memories of some of the others, especially Lost in the Stars.
 

James_Garner

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Heres info on the missing 14th movie:

Philadelphia, Here I Come (1975): 'The eternal Irish dilemma - to leave or to stay, beautifully written with flashes of warm humour, well performed by a quality Irish cast.' TV TIMES
Starring: Siobhan McKenna, Donal McCann, Des Cave
Directed by: John Quested

This movie was made by AFT, but never released.
i found info athttp://www.3dd-entertainment.co.uk/latest/latest3.html
 

Roderick Gauci

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Today I received a slew of Kino DVDs - the GRIFFITH MASTERWORKS and GERMAN HORROR CLASSICS Box Sets, the 2-Disc Set DIE NIBELUNGEN (1924) and METROPOLIS (1926) - and they included a handsome mini-catalog of their releases including some upcoming titles.

Of interest to those who posted in this thread should be the other 2 sets (as yet undated and with no specs announced) in "The American Film Theater" collection, which are as follows:

Box Set 2 - THE THREE SISTERS (1970), A DELICATE BALANCE (1973), THE HOMECOMING (1973), LOST IN THE STARS (1974) and THE MAN IN THE GLASS BOOTH (1975).

Box Set 3 - GALILEO (1975), IN CELEBRATION (1975), JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS (1975) and PHILADELPHIA, HERE I COME! (1975).

The third set will only include 4 DVDs but the price is the same as the others!

I'm not interested as such in acquiring all 14 titles but, after a little calculation, I found out that I'd still be better off, in the long run, by getting the entire series!
 
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Very happy to see Man in the Glass Booth is coming to DVD. Probably Maxmillian Schell's finest performance and a really powerful story.
 

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