Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by brainofj72

Unfortunately that won’t work for me because I live in an apartment complex and everything goes to one mail building.

Sometimes the USPS marks packages as delivered, but later delivers them several days later. I'd give it a few days to see what happens.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

Sometimes the USPS marks packages as delivered, but later delivers them several days later. I'd give it a few days to see what happens.

I've had that happen to me a couple of times.

[jbieste]

Originally Posted by brainofj72

Unfortunately that won’t work for me because I live in an apartment complex and everything goes to one mail building.

You should still as the first step go your local USPS office, notify them you didn't receive the package and ask to verify where they show it being delivered. Typically as the next step they will check with carrier to see if the carrier remembers the package. If it's a large complex where all the boxes are in one building you might be out of luck but you should verify with USPS that it was indeed delivered to the correct location before checking with TT and/or your apartment management.

[mja345]

I checked out another under-the-radar gem from TT, Martin Ritt’s 1957 “No Down Payment”. The film focuses on four couples in their mid to late-thirties living in a Southern California housing development. The couples are played by Tony Randall and Sheree North, Joanne Woodward and Cameron Mitchell, Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens, and Barbara Rush and Pat Hingle. Randall is an alcoholic car salesman with ambitions of grandeur, Hunter a scientist conflicted about his career, Hingle an affable storeowner and Mitchell a temperamental aspiring police officer. North wants Randall to sober up and settle on a more steady career, Owens is worried people think she can’t do anything beyond look beautiful, Rush is more conservative than her more open-minded husband and Woodward is constantly trying to please her volatile husband.

The film touches on a number of subjects, ranging from rape to infidelity to racism to contemplating what the hell the point of it all really is, and manages to avoid the heavy-handidness that plagued a lot of “message” films from this era. It helps that the film is guided by the always steady hand of Ritt and features a superb cast. The work is strong across the board, but Randall, Woodward and Mitchell are particularly outstanding. Woodward gives a crushingly vulnerable performance as a naïve young woman who is trying to salvage a guy who is, quite frankly, a total a-hole. Woodward is the most talented actress in the film (not a knock on the other three actresses, just a testament to how excellent Woodward is), is given the most challenging role and knocks it out of the park.

Randall does some of his best work as a man whose alcoholism has him in a permanent fog, deluding himself with visions of grandeur, failing to realize that the one thing that could enable his success is being absolutely honest with himself and his family. Randall’s character is a bit of a lost soul and he allows himself to be completely weak, which many actors won’t allow themselves to do. Mitchell, a great character actor but a guy who looks like he would call you “boy” a lot, plays a man who can be called a prick at best, a psychopath at worst. I mention Mitchell’s physical appearance because it tended to get him typecast a bit as a-holes, but Mitchell leans into the role. He’s there to be the husband that a lot of unfortunate women have to put up with, the guy who holds his wife to a high standard he doesn’t even begin to apply to himself and inflicts his own misery upon her. He commits a shocking act in the end and the film addresses it with brutal honesty, particularly for 1957.

The film is old-fashioned in the sense that it relies on eight actors doing credible work and confronts the content in a fairly straightforward fashion. But it felt less dated than I thought it would, a credit to the terrific direction of Ritt. There’s a moment early in the film where Hingle and Rush embrace and talk about how wonderful it is to live in the community that they do. The moment projects a subtle cynicism from Ritt that is subsequently followed by several scenes of savage arguments between the various couples. It is handled in a subtle, smart way that is typical of the film. Twilight Time’s BD looks fantastic and I absolutely recommend picking up the film.

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Just want to show which Blu Rays I have from Twilight Time so far. Easily some of my favorite movies (The Song of Bernadette and Peyton Place rank among my Top 100) and I can't wait to eventually sit down and seem them in HD.

[Dailyan]

"Peyton Place" was one of my first Twilight Time purchases and was how I heard about Twilight Time in the first place when I searched for a Blu of it. It's the best soap-opera epic of the 50s. Being from Maine, that on-location scenery is amazing to see in CinemaScope and Franz Waxman's score is beautiful.

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

"Peyton Place" was one of my first Twilight Time purchases and was how I heard about Twilight Time in the first place when I searched for a Blu of it. It's the best soap-opera epic of the 50s. Being from Maine, that on-location scenery is amazing to see in CinemaScope and Franz Waxman's score is beautiful.

I blind bought the DVD after watching the trailer on one of the 20th Century Fox Studio Classics DVDs (The Song of Bernadette or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Not sure..). Even on that format it looked great. Absolutely fell in love with it.

[somethingblu]

Originally Posted by mja345

I checked out another under-the-radar gem from TT, Martin Ritt’s 1957 “No Down Payment”. The film focuses on four couples in their mid to late-thirties living in a Southern California housing development. The couples are played by Tony Randall and Sheree North, Joanne Woodward and Cameron Mitchell, Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens, and Barbara Rush and Pat Hingle. Randall is an alcoholic car salesman with ambitions of grandeur, Hunter a scientist conflicted about his career, Hingle an affable storeowner and Mitchell a temperamental aspiring police officer. North wants Randall to sober up and settle on a more steady career, Owens is worried people think she can’t do anything beyond look beautiful, Rush is more conservative than her more open-minded husband and Woodward is constantly trying to please her volatile husband.

The film touches on a number of subjects, ranging from rape to infidelity to racism to contemplating what the hell the point of it all really is, and manages to avoid the heavy-handidness that plagued a lot of “message” films from this era. It helps that the film is guided by the always steady hand of Ritt and features a superb cast. The work is strong across the board, but Randall, Woodward and Mitchell are particularly outstanding. Woodward gives a crushingly vulnerable performance as a naïve young woman who is trying to salvage a guy who is, quite frankly, a total a-hole. Woodward is the most talented actress in the film (not a knock on the other three actresses, just a testament to how excellent Woodward is), is given the most challenging role and knocks it out of the park.

Randall does some of his best work as a man whose alcoholism has him in a permanent fog, deluding himself with visions of grandeur, failing to realize that the one thing that could enable his success is being absolutely honest with himself and his family. Randall’s character is a bit of a lost soul and he allows himself to be completely weak, which many actors won’t allow themselves to do. Mitchell, a great character actor but a guy who looks like he would call you “boy” a lot, plays a man who can be called a prick at best, a psychopath at worst. I mention Mitchell’s physical appearance because it tended to get him typecast a bit as a-holes, but Mitchell leans into the role. He’s there to be the husband that a lot of unfortunate women have to put up with, the guy who holds his wife to a high standard he doesn’t even begin to apply to himself and inflicts his own misery upon her. He commits a shocking act in the end and the film addresses it with brutal honesty, particularly for 1957.

The film is old-fashioned in the sense that it relies on eight actors doing credible work and confronts the content in a fairly straightforward fashion. But it felt less dated than I thought it would, a credit to the terrific direction of Ritt. There’s a moment early in the film where Hingle and Rush embrace and talk about how wonderful it is to live in the community that they do. The moment projects a subtle cynicism from Ritt that is subsequently followed by several scenes of savage arguments between the various couples. It is handled in a subtle, smart way that is typical of the film. Twilight Time’s BD looks fantastic and I absolutely recommend picking up the film.

This truly makes me want to get this. Tony Randall portraying an alcoholic already has me. Martin Ritt is one of my favorite directors but for some reason I've not come across this film. I love all the actors and this sounds right up my alley. Who could direct fierce arguments between people better than Ritt? No one. The confrontations in his film 30 years later in the film "Nuts" is testament his master craft's touch. Dreyfuss, Stapleton, Streisand and Malden infuse THAT films with so much emotional energy. Their "battles" are quite memorable.

[somethingblu]

Originally Posted by ilenewoodsfan99

I blind bought the DVD after watching the trailer on one of the 20th Century Fox Studio Classics DVDs (The Song of Bernadette or The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Not sure..). Even on that format it looked great. Absolutely fell in love with it.

I saw this on TV as a kid (and pan and scan at that) and never fully captured its brilliance until I actually saw it in its original aspect ratio on DVD. I've had this bluray for about a year now and plan on watching it for Mother's Day. What better event? It has such an amazing cast. I would love to see the sequel get a bluray release but who knows if that will ever happen? Eleanor Parker and Mary Astor and the standouts in the sequel, to my eyes at least.

[somethingblu]

Originally Posted by ilenewoodsfan99

Just want to show which Blu Rays I have from Twilight Time so far. Easily some of my favorite movies (The Song of Bernadette and Peyton Place rank among my Top 100) and I can't wait to eventually sit down and seem them in HD.

The Barefoot Contessa is a revelation on bluray! I had the old DVD from MGM and this easily tops it. The transfer is beautiful, almost like watching a painting. I think I bought this when it was first released by Twilight Time as its one of my favorite later Bogart films.

[dkelly26666]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I've had that happen to me a couple of times.

Me, too. But unfortunately not the time I lost the TT package. Some neighbor got that one and kept it.

At least it was one title, and not a big package of multiple titles. That was how I looked at it at the time, LOL.

[billydillydilly]

I once had a Screen Archives order lost in the mail... "Harold And Maude," "Woodstock," "The Blue Max," and "The Driver."

I guess I was so crushed that I never re-ordered any of them...

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by somethingblu

This truly makes me want to get this. Tony Randall portraying an alcoholic already has me. Martin Ritt is one of my favorite directors but for some reason I've not come across this film. I love all the actors and this sounds right up my alley. Who could direct fierce arguments between people better than Ritt? No one. The confrontations in his film 30 years later in the film "Nuts" is testament his master craft's touch. Dreyfuss, Stapleton, Streisand and Malden infuse THAT films with so much emotional energy. Their "battles" are quite memorable.

If you need another reason to buy No Down Payment, there’s terrific b&w widescreen cinematography by Joseph LaShelle.

[hariseldon]

FWIW department -- 3rd or 4th reappearance of this title.

DOCTOR DOLITTLE is back in stock again at TT.com -- about 15 copies.

[RCRochester]

I was watching the copy of The Effects of Gamma Rays... that I bought during the sale last month and it got me to thinking of other Paul Newman-Joanne Woodward collaborations and I realized that I have never seen From The Terrace. Seeing as it's a Fox title and also on sale I decided to blind buy it. But I couldn't buy just one, particularly as the shipping to Canada would be more than the item itself. So I decided to pick up a few of the $4.95 titles I was curious about. Then I saw a few more $8.95 titles I liked. Then I became worried that if anything ever happened to my copy of the Tony Rome double-feature I might never be able to replace it cheaply, so I bought a back-up copy of that. So now last month's "This is probably going to be my last big order from Twilight Time" is now this month's "My order of ten titles has just shipped."

[Aclea]

Welcome to my world.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Welcome to my world.

Yeah, I told myself this month I was not going to take part in anymore sales after the current Criterion 30% off sale, but then Eureka had the Billy Wilder sale and I grabbed two. As for TT films the last two I really want to get are Don't Bother to Knock and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?.

[Aclea]

It begins....

https://translate.google.com/transla...eb&prev=search

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment ends Blu-ray and DVD sales
April 9, 2020

Shortly before the long Easter weekend, there is unfortunately still bad news to announce. As the colleagues from Mediabiz have learned, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany GmbH will end the physical distribution of Blu-rays and DVDs in Germany and Austria in calendar week 26 (June 22-28, 2020). The letter to retailers shows that orders will still be accepted until June 19, 2020, and the last delivery of Blu-rays and DVDs is scheduled for June 23, 2020 at the latest. Thus, the title " Jojo Rabbit ", which is currently scheduled for June 2020, will be the last title that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will be distributing itself. Further 20th Century Studios productions will probably be brought onto the market by the parent company Disney.

With the discontinuation of the distribution of Blu-rays and DVDs, the takeover of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment by the Disney group, which already bought large parts of 20th Century Fox in May 2019, will probably be completed. Source: Mediabiz.de

The bastards even chose my birthday for last orders.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Aclea

It begins....

I assume that will also extend to their MGM releases as well (the Fox/MGM distribution deal is also up in June). I'm almost caught up with all the Fox titles I want from both studio and boutique releases but it's still a shite situation.

[Aclea]

They've been dumping Fox backcatalog titles in the UK for ￡2.99 ($4), so the writing's pretty firmly on the wall. It's probably only because they don't want JoJo Rabbit on the Disney label (I can see them treating that as Song of the South 2 in the future) that it's lasted as long as it has.