Monsieur Verdoux (1947) (The Criterion Collection) - March 26, 2013

[iScottie]

Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

Disc Features
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Chaplin Today: “Monsieur Verdoux,” a 2003 program on the film’s production and release, featuring filmmaker Claude Chabrol and actor Norman Lloyd
Charlie Chaplin and the American Press, a new documentary featuring Chaplin specialist Kate Guyonvarch and author Charles Maland
New video essay featuring an audio interview with actress Marilyn Nash
Radio advertisements and trailers
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and reprinted pieces by Chaplin and critic André Bazin

Charlie Chaplin plays shockingly against type in his most controversial film, a brilliant and bleak black comedy about money, marriage, and murder. Chaplin is a twentieth-century Bluebeard, an enigmatic family man who goes to extreme lengths to support his wife and child, attempting to bump off a series of wealthy widows (including one played by the indefatigable Martha Raye, in a hilarious performance). This deeply philosophical and wildly entertaining film is a work of true sophistication, both for the moral questions it dares to ask and the way it deconstructs its megastar's lovable on-screen persona.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=10124

[RipleyLV426]

Loving the new Chaplin films we've been finally getting from Criterion these past 2 years. Surprised they picked Verdoux over others like City Lights or The Kid but I want all of them so I'm not complaining (well, expect for the fact that I want them all now,lol)

Like the cover art too...with all the "faces of Verdoux" and the shadow of the woman across his many visages!

[iScottie]

I believe we will see City Lights before the year is over. Hopefully it comes out around May, as it seems appropriate, in my opinion.

[RipleyLV426]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I believe we will see City Lights before the year is over. Hopefully it comes out around May, as it seems appropriate, in my opinion.

Hope so, City Lights is my fav

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by RipleyLV426

Hope so, City Lights is my fav

Mine Too!! Hopefully it will arrive later this year. I’ll be definitely picking Verdoux too.

[jacksonwalker]

Yes, "City Lights" is the ultimate Chaplin. But you can count on "The Circus" before "City Lights".

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by RipleyLV426

Loving the new Chaplin films we've been finally getting from Criterion these past 2 years. Surprised they picked Verdoux over others like City Lights or The Kid but I want all of them so I'm not complaining (well, expect for the fact that I want them all now,lol)

Like the cover art too...with all the "faces of Verdoux" and the shadow of the woman across his many visages!

I'm not suprised. If you haven't already noticed, a lot of great directors have at least one movie not yet on blu-ray even though they should've been by now. David Fincher's Panic Room and Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou come to mind. Both directors have very devoted fans that want each and every title from these directors. Once we've got them all, there's a lot less to be excited about. We're "done" collecting in a certain way.

They seem to keep at least one title by each director from us for prolonged periods of time so when the time finally does come, EVERYONE dives right in and buys it but in the mean time we're forced to buy into other titles, which makes them money they perhaps wouldn't be making.

Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke will be either the last two ghibli films released or they'll be in the last two announcements. Need to keep fans buying everything else in the mean time.

If there's nothing to look forward to, people won't buy the lesser titles in the mean time to get their fix.

[HuggyBear73]

Everything Chaplin is a must buy. Love this one!

[bigshot]

City Lights s already out on bluray in Europe

[EVERYONE LIES]

It seems there is only one Chaplin movie per year, we might not see City Lights 'til 2015 or 2016

[RipleyLV426]

Originally Posted by bigshot

City Lights s already out on bluray in Europe

Yes, but they're region locked.

[runnersdialzero]

Definitely give this movie a shot if you haven't seen it. It's the most non-Chaplin movie he made. This one is almost Hitchcock-esque.

It's a black comedy. Pretty dark for the 40s. Only his second full talkie. And he doesn't play the Little Tramp.

[starman15317]

I've been trying to watch some of Chaplin's movies recently, but I haven't seen this one yet.

[14728]

Under the genres for this film, it doesn't say Dark Humor, even though it is.

[Ndume]

Terrific film. One of Chaplin's most underrated pictures. A must-buy, for sure.

Originally Posted by 14728

Under the genres for this film, it doesn't say Dark Humor, even though it is.

It's a very precarious balancing act, exploiting such macabre material for laughs, but Chaplin (cast against type) does it brilliantly.

[MPeriolat]

Never seen it and, much to my shame, must admit I had never heard of it until the Criterion announcement. Just focus so much on the silent Chaplin that, except for Great Dictator, this one slipped under my radar.

So... those who have seen it, sell me on it please. Right now, priority goes to getting Gold Rush and Dictator in that order, but I am willing to be educated.

[mjcavinder]

I can't wait for The Circus

[jamesbobo]

I've had the pleasure to see a number of Chaplin films, this one included, the way they should be seen, in a movie theater. But this is almost as good.
Those other films? The Great Dictator, A King in NY, Modern Times, The Gold Rush.
No, I'm not 90 years old. There was a nearby movie theater that showed old films.