Kino-Lorber Insider Announcement Thread (Read Guidelines Post #3) (4 Viewers)

[Vegas 1]

Very much looking forward to this one. It's based on the novel Le Retour Des Cendres by Hubert Monteilhet which was the source material for the acclaimed 2014 German film Phoenix (available from Criterion). However, both films are very different. The 1965 film goes the mystery thriller route while the 2014 film is more of a psychological drama about survival. It would make a great double feature to see how the same material is handled so differently.

I don't believe I have seen this (Return from the Ashes) sounds interesting.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 6th!

The Front Page (1974) with optional English subtitles
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Michael Schlesinger and Mark Evanier
• NEW Interviews with First Assistant Director Howard G. Kazanjian and Assistant to Billy Wilder Rex McGee
• NEW Interview with Actor Austin Pendleton
• Theatrical Trailer

Color 105 Minutes 2.35:1 Rated PG
From Billy Wilder, the legendary director of The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution and One Two Three comes this classic comedy based on the play by Ben Hecht (Notorious) and Charles MacArthur (His Girl Friday) with a screenplay by Wilder and the great I.A.L. Diamond (Irma La Douce). Ruthless newspaper editor Walter Burns (Walter Matthau, Charley Varrick) and his crack ace reporter Hildy (Jack Lemmon, Avanti!) believe together they can cover any story. The only problem is their team is being broken up as Hildy has decided to get married and leave the newspaper business altogether. As Hildy grooms his replacement, his retirement is derailed when the story of the century breaks and all of Chicago is in hot pursuit. The stellar cast includes Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Carol Burnett (Annie), Vincent Gardenia (Moonstruck), David Wayne (The Three Faces of Eve), Allen Garfield (Busting), Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny), Charles Durning (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Herb Edelman (The Odd Couple), Martin Gabel (Marnie), Harold Gould (Love and Death) and Dick O’Neill (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three).

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 6th!

A Foreign Affair (1948) with optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride
• Theatrical Trailer

B&W 116 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
From Billy Wilder, the legendary director of Five Graves to Cairo, Double Indemnity, Some Like It Hot, Irma La Douce and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes comes this classic comedy that mixes romance with hard-boiled wit in a story about stiff-necked Iowa congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur, Easy Living) mired in jaded postwar Berlin. As she investigates the morale of American troops, she is cynically wooed by fellow Iowan Captain John Pringle (John Lund, The Mating Season), who is trying to cover up his affair with Nazi-tainted chanteuse Erika von Schlütow (Marlene Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution). In this often amusing and forever endearing film, Wilder peppers the love story with tart dialogue and satiric jabs at Midwestern naïveté. A Foreign Affair features the wonderful character actor Millard Mitchell (Singin’ in the Rain) as Colonel Rufus J. Plummer.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 13th!

Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954) In French with optional English subtitles

• A 4K Restoration!
• Audio Commentary by Film Critic Nick Pinkerton
• Interview with filmmaker Jean Becker (13:23)
• Interview with actress Jeanne Moreau (4:50)
• Interview with Professor Ginette Vincendeau (7:46)
• Theatrical Trailer

Jacques Becker’s (Le Trou) Touchez Pas Au Grisbi occupies a significant part in French cinema history; it exerted a huge influence on subsequent directors such as Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Doulos), Henri Verneuil (The Sicilian Clan) and Claude Sautet (Classe Tous Risques). Max (Jean Gabin, Port of Shadows) is an aging gangster who manages to pull off his final heist, a spectacular gold bullion robbery at Orly airport. All is well until Max’s former girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau, Viva Maria!) tips off a rival gangster, Angelo (Lino Ventura, Razzia Sur La Chnouf). Angelo kidnaps Max’s partner and best friend and threatens to kill him unless Max hands over the loot from his robbery. Touchez Pas Au Grisbi was the birth the French policier, a European transposition of the fantastic American gangster films and film noirs of the 1940s. Based on a book by Albert Simonin (Cold Sweat) and beautifully shot in striking black-and-white by Pierre Montazel (Hi-Jack Highway).

 

[Robin9]

Coming August 6th!

A Foreign Affair (1948) with optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride
• Theatrical Trailer

B&W 116 Minutes 1.37:1 Not Rated
From Billy Wilder, the legendary director of Five Graves to Cairo, Double Indemnity, Some Like It Hot, Irma La Douce and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes comes this classic comedy that mixes romance with hard-boiled wit in a story about stiff-necked Iowa congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur, Easy Living) mired in jaded postwar Berlin. As she investigates the morale of American troops, she is cynically wooed by fellow Iowan Captain John Pringle (John Lund, The Mating Season), who is trying to cover up his affair with Nazi-tainted chanteuse Erika von Schlütow (Marlene Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution). In this often amusing and forever endearing film, Wilder peppers the love story with tart dialogue and satiric jabs at Midwestern naïveté. A Foreign Affair features the wonderful character actor Millard Mitchell (Singin’ in the Rain) as Colonel Rufus J. Plummer.

View attachment 58868

A lovely film with a wry view of post-war Europe. My only regret is that Billy Wilder did not give the leading male role to Fred MacMurray who would have been better than John Lund. (He would also have been better than Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina) Towards the end of his life Fred MacMurray said in an interview that Billy Wilder cast him only when he couldn't find anyone else. He was entitled to be slightly bitter.

 

[Thomas T]

A lovely film with a wry view of post-war Europe. My only regret is that Billy Wilder did not give the leading male role to Fred MacMurray who would have been better than John Lund. (He would also have been better than Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina) Towards the end of his life Fred MacMurray said in an interview that Billy Wilder cast him only when he couldn't find anyone else. He was entitled to be slightly bitter.

I can't feel too sorry for MacMurray. He turned down the William Holden role in Wilder's Sunset Boulevard because he found it too unsavory.

 

[Garysb]

I can't feel too sorry for MacMurray. He turned down the William Holden role in Wilder's Sunset Boulevard because he found it too unsavory.

Odd he would find the "Sunset" role too unsavory yet he did take the role he played in "The Apartment".
At age 41 or 42 I think he would have been too old to play Joe Gillis in "Sunset". He was only 9 years younger than Gloria Swanson.

 

[Robin9]

I can't feel too sorry for MacMurray. He turned down the William Holden role in Wilder's Sunset Boulevard because he found it too unsavory.

I've never heard that one before. If it's true, it supports Fred MacMurray's sour assessment that Billy Wilder only offered him roles that other actors refused.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 13th!

Razzia Sur La Chnouf (1955) In French with optional English subtitles

• A 4K Restoration
• Audio Commentary by Film Critic Nick Pinkerton
• Theatrical Trailer

Razzia Sur La Chnouf is based on a novel by the legendary writer Auguste Le Breton (Rififi, Bob Le Flambeur) with direction by Henri Decoin (One Step to Eternity) — After a spell in the U.S.A., master criminal Henri Ferré dit ‘Le Nantais’ (Jean Gabin, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi) returns to Paris and is recruited by Paul Liski (Marcel Dalio, To Have and Have Not), head of a major narcotics ring, to oversee and improve the efficiency of their distribution. Merchandise has been disappearing and unreliable dealers must be eliminated. For the latter, Henri is assigned two hitmen, Roger le Catalan (Lino Ventura, The Sicilian Clan) and Bibi (Albert Rémy, The Train). Released as Razzia in the U.S., Razzia Sur La Chnoufthrillingly explores the criminal underworld of 1950s Paris.

 

[Thomas T]

I believe it was around September 2018 when Kino Lorber announced a new 2K remaster of The Gun Runners (1958) with Audie Murphy. Is this still on Kino's schedule or has it been canceled?

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

I believe it was around September 2018 when Kino Lorber announced a new 2K remaster of The Gun Runners (1958) with Audie Murphy. Is this still on Kino's schedule or has it been canceled?

Coming soon.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 13th!

Port of Shadows (1938) with optional English subtitles

• A 4K Restoration
• Introduction to the movie by professor/film critic Ginette Vincendeau (HD - 6:24)
• On the Port of the Shadows - documentary (HD - 44:10)
• Theatrical Trailer

Port of Shadows (Le Quai Des Brumes) is director Marcel Carné’s (Children of Paradise) controversial adaptation of the Pierre Mac Orlan novel of the same name. Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean (Jean Gabin, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi), an army deserter looking for another chance at life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, when acts of both revenge and kindness turn him into front-page news. Port of Shadows starkly portrays an underworld of lonely souls wrestling with their own destinies, a quintessential example of poetic realism, one of the classics of the golden age of French cinema. Co-starring the blue-eyed phenomenon Michèle Morgan (The Chase) in her first major role and the menacing Michel Simon (The Train), with stunning cinematography by Eugen Schüfftan (The Hustler).

 

[Thomas T]

Coming soon.

Thank you!

 

[Tom St Jones]

Coming August 6th!

The Front Page (1974) with optional English subtitles
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Michael Schlesinger and Mark Evanier
• NEW Interviews with First Assistant Director Howard G. Kazanjian and Assistant to Billy Wilder Rex McGee
• NEW Interview with Actor Austin Pendleton
• Theatrical Trailer

Color 105 Minutes 2.35:1 Rated PG
From Billy Wilder, the legendary director of The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution and One Two Three comes this classic comedy based on the play by Ben Hecht (Notorious) and Charles MacArthur (His Girl Friday) with a screenplay by Wilder and the great I.A.L. Diamond (Irma La Douce). Ruthless newspaper editor Walter Burns (Walter Matthau, Charley Varrick) and his crack ace reporter Hildy (Jack Lemmon, Avanti!) believe together they can cover any story. The only problem is their team is being broken up as Hildy has decided to get married and leave the newspaper business altogether. As Hildy grooms his replacement, his retirement is derailed when the story of the century breaks and all of Chicago is in hot pursuit. The stellar cast includes Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Carol Burnett (Annie), Vincent Gardenia (Moonstruck), David Wayne (The Three Faces of Eve), Allen Garfield (Busting), Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny), Charles Durning (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Herb Edelman (The Odd Couple), Martin Gabel (Marnie), Harold Gould (Love and Death) and Dick O’Neill (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three).

View attachment 58863

I damn near bought this on DVD just 3 days ago! Guess procrastination IS NOT ALWAYS a bad thing...

 

[Matt Hough]

I damn near bought this on DVD just 3 days ago! Guess procrastination IS NOT ALWAYS a bad thing...

After making do with the hideous pan and scan DVD for a long time, I finally caved last year and bought the widescreen version on DVD greatly reduced in price. Glad to have the movie coming in high definition. Its warm, rich look should be great in HD.

 

[greg.shoemaker]

Coming August 13th!

Port of Shadows (1938) with optional English subtitles

• A 4K Restoration
• Introduction to the movie by professor/film critic Ginette Vincendeau (HD - 6:24)
• On the Port of the Shadows - documentary (HD - 44:10)
• Restoring 'Le Quai des brumes' - featurette (HD - 10:34)
• Theatrical Trailer

Port of Shadows (Le Quai Des Brumes) is director Marcel Carné’s (Children of Paradise) controversial adaptation of the Pierre Mac Orlan novel of the same name. Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean (Jean Gabin, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi), an army deserter looking for another chance at life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, when acts of both revenge and kindness turn him into front-page news. Port of Shadows starkly portrays an underworld of lonely souls wrestling with their own destinies, a quintessential example of poetic realism, one of the classics of the golden age of French cinema. Co-starring the blue-eyed phenomenon Michèle Morgan (The Chase) in her first major role and the menacing Michel Simon (The Train), with stunning cinematography by Eugen Schüfftan (The Hustler).

View attachment 58923

Lots of Gabin to look forward to! Would PEPE LE MOKO be in the pipeline? And a big shout out to you and KL for your devotion to film.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 27th!

Day of the Outlaw (1959) with optional English subtitles
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Jeremy Arnold
• Theatrical Trailer

(1959) B&W 92 Minutes 1.85:1 Not Rated
Screen legend Robert Ryan (The Wild Bunch, The Professionals) stars alongside Burl Ives (The Big Country) and Tina Louise (TV’s Gilligan’s Island) in this bleak and wintry western from cult director André De Toth (Pitfall, The Indian Fighter). Tough-as-nails Blaise Starrett (Ryan) is about to face a showdown with a fellow rancher whose wife Starrett happens to be in love with. But this small-town conflict is nothing compared to what's on the horizon when outlaw Jack Bruhn (Ives) and his vicious gang ride into town. On the lam after a brutal robbery, the outlaws terrorize the townspeople and hold them captive, even as Bruhn lies dying from a bullet wound to his chest. When Starrett eventually leads the homesteaders on a trail out of harm's way, the tension explodes to an unforgettable climax. Filled with action and suspense, this is one Day you'll never forget! Top-notch screenplay by legendary writer Philip Yordan (The Man from Laramie), based on a novel by television veteran Lee E. Wells (Highway Patrol). Wonderfully shot by Russell Harlan (Witness for the Prosecution) and featuring Nehemiah Persoff (Some Like it Hot), Lance Fuller (This Island Earth), Elisha Cook Jr. (I Wake Up Screaming) in strong supporting roles.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming August 27th!

Man Without a Star (1955) with optional English subtitles
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Toby Roan
• Theatrical Trailer

(1955) Color 89 Minutes 2.00:1 Not Rated
Screen legend Kirk Douglas (Lonely Are the Brave, The Vikings) stars in this exciting King Vidor (Duel in the Sun) western about a rugged loner who becomes caught up in a bloody range war when he falls in love with two beautiful women. Dempsey Rae (Douglas) is a wandering cowboy who doesn’t like the fact that his open spaces are being fenced in by greedy ranchers and decides to help a town fight back against ranch owner Reed Bowman (Jeanne Crain, Leave Her to Heaven) after he meets the town’s sexy madam (Claire Trevor, Stagecoach). Loved by western buffs for its offbeat humor and Douglas’s witty performance, Man Without a Star features a top-notch script by Borden Chase (Red River) and D.D. Beauchamp (The Man from the Alamo) with stunning photography by the great Russell Metty (Midnight Lace). William Campbell (Escape from Fort Bravo), Richard Boone (Hombre) and Jay C. Flippen (Thunder Bay) co-star in this classic action-packed western.

 

[Rodney]

Great to see more westerns coming!
I'm definitely in for Man without a Star, but I was hoping for a remaster for Day of the Outlaw as I am not sure if the commentary alone will be worth double dipping from the MoC Region B release.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Great to see more westerns coming!
I'm definitely in for Man without a Star, but I was hoping for a remaster for Day of the Outlaw as I am not sure if the commentary alone will be worth double dipping from the MoC Region B release.

I'm in the same boat as I already have both of these films on Region "B" Blu-rays. I'm going to watch both of those discs then make my determination whether to double dip or not. I know that "Man Without a Star" is Region-free.