British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Is there a resource or list of these old British theatrical horror shorts? Information seems to be thin on the ground.

There used to a website that had a fairly comprehensive list called Pass The Marmalade which was run by Darrell Buxton. Unfortunately, this has now disappeared. The only other resource I have to hand is Jonathan Rigby's English Gothic. There's also the Ten Years of Terror book, which is limited to just the 1970's.

In addition to the shorts you mentioned, there's also items such as The Return [1973], The Man and the Snake [1972] and Red [1976], although none of these would fit 'folk horror' either.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Probably would be DVD only, but I'd be all over a colour restored YOTSO like a venereal rash.

Reading the interview I'm not surprised both Year of the Sex Olympics and 1984 were mentioned. No doubt DVD only but colourised YotSO (preferably with the irritating missing pixel fixed) would be a must buy, a straight black and white reissue not so much unless they add some good extras.

Re 1984, am I right to believe the book enters the public domain come 2020 meaning Orwell's estate can no longer block any adaptations or re-releases their of?

[witchmania]

Originally Posted by Cosmo Valdemar

I'd always hoped that Lindsey C. Vickers' 'The Lake' and the feature-length 'The Appointment' would make a nice Flipside package; sadly I can't detect that from Ben Stoddart's comments.

The Appointment is absolutely superb. It's got such a weird atmosphere hanging over it. Would be fantastic to see it given the Flipside treatment.

I'd really love to see I Start Counting too, maybe with that recent Basil Kirchin documentary as a bonus feature?

[GaryCouzens]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Reading the interview I'm not surprised both Year of the Sex Olympics and 1984 were mentioned. No doubt DVD only but colourised YotSO (preferably with the irritating missing pixel fixed) would be a must buy, a straight black and white reissue not so much unless they add some good extras.

Also, HOH subtitles would be a good idea. The original DVD (which I had, and sold on) didn't have them, which didn't help as the soundtrack was quite muffled in places.

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Re 1984, am I right to believe the book enters the public domain come 2020 meaning Orwell's estate can no longer block any adaptations or re-releases their of?

Orwell died in 1950, so his copyright will lapse on 1 January 2021.

Similarly, Richard Strauss's copyright will expire on 1 January 2020, so there will be nothing preventing his music being included on a release of Dance iof the Seven Veils. (I've seen the copy on Youtube, and the soundtrack is pretty much wall-to-wall Strauss.)

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Originally Posted by witchmania

The Appointment is absolutely superb. It's got such a weird atmosphere hanging over it. Would be fantastic to see it given the Flipside treatment.

I'd really love to see I Start Counting too, maybe with that recent Basil Kirchin documentary as a bonus feature?

Another film with a weird atmosphere and is overdue a release is The Lifetaker, but I understand that the rights-holders are difficult to deal with?

[Spiderwalk]

Originally Posted by witchmania

The Appointment is absolutely superb. It's got such a weird atmosphere hanging over it. Would be fantastic to see it given the Flipside treatment.

I'd really love to see I Start Counting too, maybe with that recent Basil Kirchin documentary as a bonus feature?

I've been wanting a decent copy of I Start Counting for many, many years. I guess that Flipside is the best bet for a possible release someday.

Trunk Records released the soundtrack recently:

https://trunkrecords.greedbag.com/bu...art-counting-0

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Shame about Woman In Black. Had as feeling some sort of contractual snafu was holding it up as I'd have expected someone, probably Network, to have put it out years ago. Especially with the release of the 2012 (?) Hammer version.

Though contrary to the interview it was released in the UK (on VHS in the early 90's) WIB is, along with 1984 and Year of the Sex Olympics, one of the last major Nigel Kneale works decades OOP or never even available on home video.

Now off to properly read the interview itself.

Interesting bit about the theatrical play being the reason. That's the first I have heard about it.

The rumors I have heard previously said that Susan Hill was not very fond of the ITV production and did not want to see it released, or that it was tied up with the movie rights and therefore shelved indefinitely, as has certainly happened to a lot of other productions that were remade over the years.

Disheartening, also about the potential for BD releases of the Ghost Stories for Christmas, but yes, at least it is good to know that they have someone that cares for these things and pushes for their release. I ought to put her on my Christmas card list.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by GaryCouzens

Similarly, Richard Strauss's copyright will expire on 1 January 2020, so there will be nothing preventing his music being included on a release of Dance iof the Seven Veils. (I've seen the copy on Youtube, and the soundtrack is pretty much wall-to-wall Strauss.)

That may be why Ben Stoddart says that there may be movement on this soon - better for the Strauss estate to make some money from it than none at all. Though one would have thought the BFI Great Composers release would have been the perfect time.

[sjt]

Originally Posted by GaryCouzens

Similarly, Richard Strauss's copyright will expire on 1 January 2020, so there will be nothing preventing his music being included on a release of Dance iof the Seven Veils. (I've seen the copy on Youtube, and the soundtrack is pretty much wall-to-wall Strauss.)

What would you expect? It's a biography - of sorts - of the composer; and one which the Strauss estate managed effectively to have banned on grounds of defamation, with questions in the Houses of Parliament at the time, and contrite promises from the BBC never to screen it again.

They're not generally that interventionist (I knew Alice, Strauss' daughter-in-law): endless usage - from the BBC's The Epic that Never Was and Kubrick's 2001 onwards - of the opening of Also Sprach Zarathustra has largely gone unpoliced. And Fox's 1954 Black Widow turns upon the scheming ingénue's obsession with Toscanini's recording of The Dance of the Seven Veils from Strauss' Salome, forever being played on that then new-fangled wonder the L.P. somewhere either in the background or indeed foreground, which was authorised easily enough.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by GaryCouzens

Also, HOH subtitles would be a good idea. The original DVD (which I had, and sold on) didn't have them, which didn't help as the soundtrack was quite muffled in places.

Orwell died in 1950, so his copyright will lapse on 1 January 2021.

Similarly, Richard Strauss's copyright will expire on 1 January 2020, so there will be nothing preventing his music being included on a release of Dance iof the Seven Veils. (I've seen the copy on Youtube, and the soundtrack is pretty much wall-to-wall Strauss.)

Only have YotSO on VHS so wasn't aware there were no subtitles.

Thanks for correcting the maths re 1984 (and Dance of the Seven Veils)

[CrockettandTubbs]

Details of the Woodfall set are up on dvdcompare.net -

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparison....php?fid=46942

[witchmania]

Originally Posted by Spiderwalk

I've been wanting a decent copy of I Start Counting for many, many years. I guess that Flipside is the best bet for a possible release someday.

Trunk Records released the soundtrack recently:

https://trunkrecords.greedbag.com/bu...art-counting-0

Hadn't realised Trunk had released this - thanks for the link!

Yeah, if Flipside do get to release I Start Counting, this doc would surely make for a great extra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE9WXY9Rh7g&ebc=ANyPxKrgmvu6PTfqGNvJaKZVLpNFSye20EezjklfIrDjqu-G7W82pfNx_5OTPuB84j0CbfDXzup-_rcZJmw__p9ovTwrrpgnAA

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by witchmania

The Appointment is absolutely superb. It's got such a weird atmosphere hanging over it. Would be fantastic to see it given the Flipside treatment.

I'd really love to see I Start Counting too, maybe with that recent Basil Kirchin documentary as a bonus feature?

I Start Counting is I believe an MGM administered United Artists title so I'm surprised someone hasn't snapped up the licensing rights years ago. I'm hazarding a guess it might be issues with surviving elements coupled with restoration costs and low(ish) potential sales holding it back, which of course would make it an ideal Flipside title.

[GaryCouzens]

Originally Posted by sjt

What would you expect? It's a biography - of sorts - of the composer; and one which the Strauss estate managed effectively to have banned on grounds of defamation, with questions in the Houses of Parliament at the time, and contrite promises from the BBC never to screen it again.

Sorry, slightly unclear phrasing on my part. What I meant was that there is hardly a scene without Strauss's music on the soundtrack, and a higher proportion of music than there is in the other Russell composer biopics. The BFI Screenonline (which Michael Brooke used to run) has a couple of clips from the scenes which don't have music in them.

You can sense the BBC were nervous even before the film was shown - the version on Youtube includes the BBC continuity announcer at the start stressing that the film was Russell's personal interpretation, as well as warning about scenes of violence.

That Youtube version is very faded. Apparently the archive copy is in much better shape so a Blu-ray in two years' time should hopefully look good, though whether the film was shot in 16mm or 35mm I'm not sure. (I asked Michael B, and he didn't know.)

By the way, there's another Russell composer biopic that wasn't included in the BFI Great Composers set - Bartok (1964). Apparently the issue there is a lot of third-party footage which would need to be licensed, used by Russell to get round the fact that a BBC budget wouldn't stretch to filming in Hungary.

[sjt]

There's actually another one, Russell's second Monitor mini-biopic dating from 1961, Prokofiev: Portrait of a Soviet Composer which I don't suppose I've seen in more than thirty years, but which in its brief running time - c.30' - packed an awful lot of political punch and eye-opening imagery of a similarly necessity-driven level of invention as the Bartok piece. I'd love to see it again. The Strauss - which it's true I've only seen latterly in the magenta mush version on YouTube - I can certainly live without, in any state of repair, partly because it is just defamatory rubbish with absolutely no regard for the truth, and partly because dear old Christopher Gable might well have been a great dancer, but was at best a very subfusc actor...

[RiFiFi1955]

Great announcements today! I see Eye of the Needle says "newly remastered"...wonder if it will be from a different master then that of the Twilight Time release stateside.

[rapta]

Some pics of the very handsome Woodfall set courtesy of Twitter:









Not rushing to pre-order it but will definitely grab it at some point. Lucky I don't already own Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, making this a rare case of non-double dipping, but the titles I most want aren't being released separately yet (Girl With Green Eyes, A Taste of Honey). I guess if the set does go OOP they may release the remaining titles separately.

[Cremildo]

I wanted Tom Jones and The Entertainer separately, but the set has so many other strong films and looks so good (I love that there are individual cases for each release) that I've decided to save and buy it in a few months' time. Those photos above helped make up my mind. Might be a contender for best of the year - at least for those who are interested in classic British cinema.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by rapta

Some pics of the very handsome Woodfall set courtesy of Twitter:

Very nice. Some double-dips in there for me, but a must-have set. I ordered at the current Amazon price of GBP 59.99. With the VAT deduction, I can have it shipped to the US by Global Priority and still pay less than that.

[DefLeppard]

Originally Posted by rapta

Some pics of the very handsome Woodfall set courtesy of Twitter:

[Show spoiler]







Not rushing to pre-order it but will definitely grab it at some point. Lucky I don't already own Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, making this a rare case of non-double dipping, but the titles I most want aren't being released separately yet (Girl With Green Eyes, A Taste of Honey). I guess if the set does go OOP they may release the remaining titles separately

.

Beautiful looking slip box ! Wish they'd used first print B&W artwork on SNSM and TLOLDR ,also other titles carry so-so artwork. These 'aesthetics' issues aside, it will be one of the best releases by BFI for 2018.

Not sure if I've read this here or anywhere else but wasn't there a plan for vol.2 ? Hope BFI continues with selections such as Room At The Top , Up The Junction ,Alfie, Woman in a Dressing Gown.

I have posted this earlier but asking again as I have not followed up since then - will there be a 2BD for Tom Jones (Amz listing points this as 9 discs) ?