Kino-Lorber Insider Announcement Thread (Read Guidelines Post #3) (18 Viewers)

[borisfw]

They used to play it on AMC back when AMC was a good channel . I seem to remember liking it. Can't wait for the Blu.

 

[RobertMG]

I've only seen it once via NY broadcast TV, two generations ago.

Frank S Nugent who as a columnist was a frustrated screenwriter who went on to write some great screenplays liked Anthony Quinn the best - one of Lamour's early films sounds like a fun watch!

 

[Robin9]

I'm looking forward to watching this movie for the very first time.

I've never seen it either.

This was my capsule review of it:

Set in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the government is shutting down the railway line out of Madrid after the final evening train pulls out. In GRAND HOTEL style, a disparate group of characters, good and bad, rich and poor, desperately seek a spot on the train and for some it's a matter of life and death. They include an American journalist (Lew Ayres), an aristocrat (Dorothy Lamour), a deserting soldier (Robert Cummings), an Army Captain (Anthony Quinn), an escaped convict (Gilbert Roland), a Baroness (Karen Morley), a sleazy lounge lizard (Lee Bowman), a girl (Helen Mack) of ill repute and the daughter (Olympe Bradna) of an executed political prisoner. Directed by James P. Hogan, it's varied in its story lines, some are more interesting than others. Hogan manages to slowly build up the tension as you're rooting for your favorite people to make the train safely but wouldn't you know it, the one character I liked the most doesn't make it! It's a programmer and while it doesn't quite have the star line up of GRAND HOTEL or MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, I found it quite engaging. The film features one of Anthony Quinn's rare good roles in the 1930s (he career didn't hit high gear until the 1950s) and Robert Cummings is as awful as ever. With Lionel Atwill and Henry Brandon and Alan Ladd is supposed to have a bit in here but I didn't catch him.

Thank you for that. It sounds like a film I'd enjoy.

 

[JoeDoakes]

This was my capsule review of it:

Set in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the government is shutting down the railway line out of Madrid after the final evening train pulls out. In GRAND HOTEL style, a disparate group of characters, good and bad, rich and poor, desperately seek a spot on the train and for some it's a matter of life and death. They include an American journalist (Lew Ayres), an aristocrat (Dorothy Lamour), a deserting soldier (Robert Cummings), an Army Captain (Anthony Quinn), an escaped convict (Gilbert Roland), a Baroness (Karen Morley), a sleazy lounge lizard (Lee Bowman), a girl (Helen Mack) of ill repute and the daughter (Olympe Bradna) of an executed political prisoner. Directed by James P. Hogan, it's varied in its story lines, some are more interesting than others. Hogan manages to slowly build up the tension as you're rooting for your favorite people to make the train safely but wouldn't you know it, the one character I liked the most doesn't make it! It's a programmer and while it doesn't quite have the star line up of GRAND HOTEL or MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, I found it quite engaging. The film features one of Anthony Quinn's rare good roles in the 1930s (he career didn't hit high gear until the 1950s) and Robert Cummings is as awful as ever. With Lionel Atwill and Henry Brandon and Alan Ladd is supposed to have a bit in here but I didn't catch him.

That's very interesting. What strikes me is that this is perhaps a missing link between Grand Hotel, where the cast were merely engaged in bourgie type activities, and the disaster film, where they had to contend with plane malfunctions, earthquakes, sinking ships, and fires.

 

[RobertMG]

That's very interesting. What strikes me is that this is perhaps a missing link between Grand Hotel, where the cast were merely engaged in bourgie type activities, and the disaster film, where they had to contend with plane malfunctions, earthquakes, sinking ships, and fires.

That clearly came from the NYT's review

 

[JoeDoakes]

Frank S Nugent who as a columnist was a frustrated screenwriter who went on to write some great screenplays liked Anthony Quinn the best - one of Lamour's early films sounds like a fun watch!

John Ford's resident scribe.

 

[ahollis]

So it looks like everyone is excited about this release as I am.

 

[cadavra]

That's very interesting. What strikes me is that this is perhaps a missing link between Grand Hotel, where the cast were merely engaged in bourgie type activities, and the disaster film, where they had to contend with plane malfunctions, earthquakes, sinking ships, and fires.

Actually, I think you'll find that SHANGHAI EXPRESS (also Paramount) is the true antecedent of this.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sunday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming Soon on Blu-ray & DVD!

Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World (1961) Starring Gordon Scott, Yôko Tani & Hélène Chanel - Riccardo Pallottini (Take a Hard Ride) – Directed by Riccardo Freda (Caltiki, the Immortal Monster).

 

[Thomas T]

Sunday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming Soon on Blu-ray & DVD!

Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World (1961) Starring Gordon Scott, Yôko Tani & Hélène Chanel - Riccardo Pallottini (Take a Hard Ride) – Directed by Riccardo Freda (Caltiki, the Immortal Monster).

View attachment 125827

Yes! More peplum please!

 

[dana martin]

Not... the Gordon Scott film I was expecting to get released next, I was thinking loincloth, but I will defiantly be happy to add this to the rotation of limited releases of peplum that has been released.

 

[timk1041]

So it looks like everyone is excited about this release as I am.

Can get rid of my MOD now.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

I was about to ask if Kino might consider anything in the peplum/sword-and-sandal genre in the future and here it is. Can't wait to get this one. May there be more soon!

 

[JamesSmith]

Sunday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming Soon on Blu-ray & DVD!

Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World (1961) Starring Gordon Scott, Yôko Tani & Hélène Chanel - Riccardo Pallottini (Take a Hard Ride) – Directed by Riccardo Freda (Caltiki, the Immortal Monster).

View attachment 125827

Eh. . . do you wonder if the poster is better than the movie?
--jthree

 

[Randy Korstick]

Eh. . . do you wonder if the poster is better than the movie?
--jthree

They usually are just like any b movie but that doesn't stop them from being fun.

 

[Rick Thompson]

Music by Les Baxter, otherwise known for writing the Tiki Bar classic "Quiet Village," the hit recording by Martin Denny.

 

[JohnMor]

Music by Les Baxter, otherwise known for writing the Tiki Bar classic "Quiet Village," the hit recording by Martin Denny.

He also scored the Roger Corman Poe films and a few others at AIP.

 

[Dick]

He also scored the Roger Corman Poe films and a few others at AIP.

His score for THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER is actually quite beautiful, and is commercially available in full stereo. I believe AIP Records was supposed to release this on LP way back in the 70's, but it never happened. Intrada finally released it on a 1200-copy limited release in 2011, now long out of print, of course, selling for nearly $100. If you can find one in the secondary market for less, it's terrific. PIT AND THE PENDULUM, also scored by Baxter, can be had, but not as an official release, and only in mono with sound effects mixed in, which is distracting.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Here's the tentative May Schedule:

May 3rd
Francis the Talking Mule: 7 Film Collection (1950-1956) Brand New 2K Masters by KL

May 10th
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VII [The Boss (1956) | Chicago Confidential (1957) | The Fearmakers (1958)] - New 2K Masters by KL
Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983) 3-D Restoration by 3-D Film Archive

May 17th
Violent City (1970) aka The Family - 4K and 2K Restorations
Stunt Rock (1977) 4K Restoration
Last of the Dogmen (1995) 4K Restoration Supervised by Director Tab Murphy & Cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Almost Summer (1978) Scorpion/KL Co-Release - New 2K Master

May 24th
Flower Drum Song (1961) Brand New 2K Master by KL
Without Warning (1980) Brand New 2K Master by KL
Times Square (1981) 4K Restoration by KL
Jude (1996) Scorpion/KL Co-Release

May 30th
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) 4KUHD
For a Few Dollars More (1965) 4KUHD

 

[timk1041]

Thank you. I almost forgot about the Francis collection. Are the later ones going to be in widescreen?