British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[FantasticMrFox]

I receive my Sight & Sound print subscription every month in just a transparent plastic bag over here in Germany. Most of the time they’re in fine condition, that’s why I’ve never complaint.

[nitin]

Otto Preminger is a major forgotten director IMHO. He definitely had hits and misses but his hits were as great as his misses were embarrassing. Fallen Angel probably perfectly encapsulates what I am getting at. This is not too well known a film, with many other noirs usually mentioned well before anyone gets to this one, including Preminger’s own Laura, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Angel Face (my personal favourite Preminger noir).

And as noir, it’s not all that good as a murder mystery and the ending feels rushed, but Preminger and cinematographer Joseph LaShelle conjure up imagery here that can the line the pages of any book that wants to demonstrate what classic noir looks like. That imagery, paired with a classical style full of long tracking shots, goes a long way to create a seductive and involving mood but Preminger‘s psychological exploration of his characters routinely upends the noir conventions of the femme fatale, the downtrodden anti hero and the fatalistic gloom that usually hovers over everything all the way to the end.

And then there is Linda Darnell, largely unknown at the time, but walking through this film like Hayworth did in Gilda and The Lady from Shanghai, like Tierney did in Laura, like Bacall did in The Big Sleep, like Gardner did in The Killersand like Greer did in Out of the Past. She unfortunately does not have the screen time each of those actresses and characters did in those other films, but every time she is on screen, you are hard pressed to look at anything else but her. Dana Andrews‘ character repeatedly plans to leave town and that would definitely have been the smart thing to do, but Darnell’s beauty and salty performance and attitude also repeatedly demonstrate why the smart thing to do is not always the thing to do!

I saw this off the BFI blu in the Preminger noir set (the TT editions of the other two films in the set are superior but there is no other blu alternative for this film now that TT is gone and Fox under Disney is generally ceasing the licensing of titles at least for the near future). It’s a reasonable encode of a decent but clearly older master that is over sharpened. But the beautiful cinematography is still nicely preserved and the contrast is exceptional, particularly once you take the gamma down a couple of notches from normal as the disc is otherwise encoded with too high a gamma setting.

[Stoicdelon]

Alain Robbe-Grillet box for £20.69, just had to grab one!

[sjt]

Originally Posted by nitin

Otto Preminger is a major forgotten director IMHO......

Bearing in mind he directed sixteen films for Fox between 1938 and 1953 - two or three of them uncredited, working anonymously behind the scenes, mainly with the ailing Lubitsch - it's surprising how few of them have found their way onto blu ray, largely overshadowed by the bloated, hucksterish efforts he made in the 1960s when he'd stopped being primarily a filmmaker and had become a media-manipulating, self-important showman instead.

The 13th Letter deserves to be far better known than it is (if indeed it is at all). And though it's incorrigibly soapy, Forever Amber - in 1947 the most expensive film ever made - really should have been made available here by someone before now, not least because Fox had an excellent full restoration to hand which was used in France, looking gorgeous but alas with forced French subtitles on the English audio version.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by sjt

And though it's incorrigibly soapy, Forever Amber - in 1947 the most expensive film ever made - really should have been made available here by someone before now, not least because Fox had an excellent full restoration to hand which was used in France, looking gorgeous but alas with forced French subtitles on the English audio version.

There's the Twilight Time release that doesn't have forced subs (no clue if it uses the same master).

[Aclea]

Sadly either it doesn't or the French disc isn't that good - it's a problematic old master on the TT release and with their close ties to Fox (Nick Redman even produced the soundtrack CD for Fox) I'm they'd have used a newer restoration if available.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by sjt

Bearing in mind he directed sixteen films for Fox between 1938 and 1953 - two or three of them uncredited, working anonymously behind the scenes, mainly with the ailing Lubitsch - it's surprising how few of them have found their way onto blu ray, largely overshadowed by the bloated, hucksterish efforts he made in the 1960s when he'd stopped being primarily a filmmaker and had become a media-manipulating, self-important showman instead.
The 13th Letter deserves to be far better known than it is (if indeed it is at all). And though it's incorrigibly soapy, Forever Amber - in 1947 the most expensive film ever made - really should have been made available here by someone before now, not least because Fox had an excellent full restoration to hand which was used in France, looking gorgeous but alas with forced French subtitles on the English audio version.

I have not yet seen The 13th Letter (I have the DVD) and admittedly I have not seen heaps of his post 50s output, but I really rate Advise and Consent and also quite like Bunny Lake is Missing . But his 40s and 50s work has a number of gems including Laura, Fallen Angel, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Whirlpool, Angel Face, Daisy Kenyon and of course Anatomy of a Murder.

[burdette]

Just got the Bergman/Rossellini set plus both Chaplins Essanay and Mutual Comedies sets for approx 23,5 £ at Rarewaves. Incredible!

[Jerry2345]

Originally Posted by nitin

Otto Preminger is a major forgotten director IMHO. He definitely had hits and misses but his hits were as great as his misses were embarrassing. Fallen Angel probably perfectly encapsulates what I am getting at. This is not too well known a film, with many other noirs usually mentioned well before anyone gets to this one, including Preminger’s own Laura, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Angel Face (my personal favourite Preminger noir).

[Show spoiler]And as noir, it’s not all that good as a murder mystery and the ending feels rushed, but Preminger and cinematographer Joseph LaShelle conjure up imagery here that can the line the pages of any book that wants to demonstrate what classic noir looks like. That imagery, paired with a classical style full of long tracking shots, goes a long way to create a seductive and involving mood but Preminger‘s psychological exploration of his characters routinely upends the noir conventions of the femme fatale, the downtrodden anti hero and the fatalistic gloom that usually hovers over everything all the way to the end.

And then there is Linda Darnell, largely unknown at the time, but walking through this film like Hayworth did in Gilda and The Lady from Shanghai, like Tierney did in Laura, like Bacall did in The Big Sleep, like Gardner did in The Killersand like Greer did in Out of the Past. She unfortunately does not have the screen time each of those actresses and characters did in those other films, but every time she is on screen, you are hard pressed to look at anything else but her. Dana Andrews‘ character repeatedly plans to leave town and that would definitely have been the smart thing to do, but Darnell’s beauty and salty performance and attitude also repeatedly demonstrate why the smart thing to do is not always the thing to do!

I saw this off the BFI blu in the Preminger noir set (the TT editions of the other two films in the set are superior but there is no other blu alternative for this film now that TT is gone and Fox under Disney is generally ceasing the licensing of titles at least for the near future). It’s a reasonable encode of a decent but clearly older master that is over sharpened. But the beautiful cinematography is still nicely preserved and the contrast is exceptional, particularly once you take the gamma down a couple of notches from normal as the disc is otherwise encoded with too high a gamma setting.

I also recently watched this, and I think you hit the nail on the head: while the murder mystery isn’t anything spectacular, the visual style and overall atmosphere is really how I imagine film noir.

Originally Posted by nitin

I have not yet seen The 13th Letter (I have the DVD) and admittedly I have not seen heaps of his post 50s output, but I really rate Advise and Consent and also quite like Bunny Lake is Missing . But his 40s and 50s work has a number of gems including Laura, Fallen Angel, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Whirlpool, Angel Face, Daisy Kenyon and of course Anatomy of a Murder.

I was really surprised to see that Advise and Consent is still not available on Blu-ray, I consider it one of his best. I haven’t seen Bunny Lake yet, but have always been curious about that one. I’ll probably order it one of these days...

Of the ones you mention, I also haven’t seen Angel Face and Daisy Kenyon, the former, which are also high on my watchlist (especially the former, which unfortunately also has not yet been released on Blu)...

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Jerry2345

I was really surprised to see that Advise and Consent is still not available on Blu-ray, I consider it one of his best.

It's unclear who currently owns it -- and Preminger's next film, The Cardinal -- possibly Preminger's estate. Both films were released theatrically by Columbia; it seems like Hal Roach Studios had home video rights back in the VHS days; and Warner released both on DVD about 15 years ago.

[floor pie]

Originally Posted by nitin

Otto Preminger is a major forgotten director IMHO. He definitely had hits and misses but his hits were as great as his misses were embarrassing. Fallen Angel probably perfectly encapsulates what I am getting at.

I think the best part of the film was

[Show spoiler]Dana Andrews' hot dog eating game. He was chomping away at those bad boys like nobody's business.

[AlexJRascal]

"BFI Summer Sale. BFI Blu-rays and DVDs from £7.99"

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/...ial-offer.html

[justwannaboogie]

Originally Posted by AlexJRascal

"BFI Summer Sale. BFI Blu-rays and DVDs from £7.99"

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/...ial-offer.html

Much of which is already significantly cheaper on rarewaves.com and doesn't incur a £2.50 delivery fee.

[Danse Macabre]

Originally Posted by AlexJRascal

"BFI Summer Sale. BFI Blu-rays and DVDs from £7.99"

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/...ial-offer.html

I presume the first print blu rays that come with the booklets are long gone by now?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by AlexJRascal

"BFI Summer Sale. BFI Blu-rays and DVDs from £7.99"

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/dvd-blu-ray/...ial-offer.html

I still have an order I placed on June 23rd in "Pending" status. What makes them think I'll snap at a sale?

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by Danse Macabre

I presume the first print blu rays that come with the booklets are long gone by now?

God I hate that crap. Arrow does it too and it actually discourages me from picking up older releases outside of Ebay. Indicator does this the right way. You should always know what you’re getting when you pay for it.

[TheHistorian]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

God I hate that crap. Arrow does it too and it actually discourages me from picking up older releases outside of Ebay. Indicator does this the right way. You should always know what you’re getting when you pay for it.

A million times this!

I won't buy back catalog from Arrow for this reason. I didn't realize it was a significant BFI issue too. I'll pay more on the secondary market and not have to gamble. I agree that Indicator does this best. Eureka is good as well.

[thuata]

Originally Posted by Danse Macabre

I presume the first print blu rays that come with the booklets are long gone by now?

To my knowledge the BFI doesn't remove booklets from regular releases, I've never had a BFI blu-ray that didn't come with one, it's something I really appreciate from them.

[Rayjg]

It’s an unfortunate policy change on their part. I know it effects release going back about a year. I don’t know if it was meant to apply retroactively to older releases.

[Rutger Lundgren]

Originally Posted by thuata

To my knowledge the BFI doesn't remove booklets from regular releases, I've never had a BFI blu-ray that didn't come with one, it's something I really appreciate from them.

It does now. I bought Bait a week or two after the release, and the booklet was already gone.