The Swimmer (1968)

[Akijama]

The Swimmer Blu-ray

Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present the ultimate late-60s studio-produced cult film, The Swimmer. In his finest performance, Burt Lancaster stars as Ned Merrill, a man who confronts his destiny by swimming home, pool by pool, through the suburban nightmare of upper-class East Coast society. Based on the acclaimed short story by John Cheever, and directed by Frank Perry (Diary Of A Mad Housewife, Mommie Dearest), The Swimmer is a film like no other, a feature-length Twilight Zone episode by way of The New Yorker.

[Show spoiler][quote]
UPDATE (1/8):



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It's coming to Blu from Grindhouse Releasing!

Coming soon on Blu-Ray! Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present the Deluxe Edition of this late 60s Burt Lancaster classic, with a stunning new HD master created trom super-high resolution 4K scans of the original film elements, and loads of extras.

Interesting. I was sure that either Criterion or TT will release it. Fantastic news, nonetheless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HuleRy4oh8

[bgart13]

Grindhouse Releasing has been in business for quite a while. It was co-owned by Sage Stallone, who passed last year suddenly. It's now run by the others, including Academy Award winning editor, Bob Murawski. Lots of goodies will be coming...

[Akijama]

Originally Posted by bgart13

. Lots of goodies will be coming...

Hope so! The Big Gundown and The Swimmer are a great way to enter the Blu market.

[obscurelabel]

This is fantastic news, The Swimmer is one of the best films of the 1960s. I'm ashamed to say that the only films of Perry's that I have seen are this one and Rancho Deluxe, but they are both fantastic. I have the Olive blu-ray of Man on a Swing, about which I've heard mixed reviews, but it sounds pretty fascinating regardless; I need to watch it ASAP. And Play It as It Lays is one that I've never seen, have wanted to for years; somebody get this to blu now -- it hasn't ever made it to DVD as far as I know.

[NoirFan]

The Swimmer is about as far from 'grindhouse' as one can get, but a welcome release regardless.

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

The Swimmer is about as far from 'grindhouse' as one can get, but a welcome release regardless.

Are you kidding? Nothing screams "Grindhouse" like films adapted from the works of John Cheever!!

[Jobla]

I've never bought a title from Grindhouse Releasing to my knowledge, but I might start with THE SWIMMER.

[Dr. Seymour Love]

Wow, I've still got the old dvd of this one. Joan Rivers(!) has a small part in this one. I would much rather see Perry's Last Summer on blu, which Warner Archives have been working on as a dvd release for what seems like years.

[jah13]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

The Swimmer is about as far from 'grindhouse' as one can get, but a welcome release regardless.

Originally, SWIMMER and BIG GUNDOWN were announced awhile ago as part of an offshoot brand, Box Office Spectaculars. I don't care if SWIMMER ain't exactly "grindhouse." It is a textbook example of "late night" movie...by that, I mean the kind of movie that many discovered on sleepless nights when SWIMMER was playing the "late show" or "late late show" on television. It is one of the weirder, sadder, and blatantly anti-commercial star vehicles (particularly, pre-1970s) pictures and I never tire of it. I just hope I don't have wait until 2014 for this sucker.

For the LAST SUMMER admirers who have not seen it, you must see THE SWIMMER. According to Bruce Davison, in Shock Cinema #43, Frank Perry explained to the kids in LAST SUMMER that they were the children of Ned Merrill, Burt's character in THE SWIMMER. When you see THE SWIMMER, you will see that that direction is perfectly apt.

[Jobla]

Well, Lancaster spends most of the film in a nearly naked state, so maybe it's vaguely appropriate for a grindhouse label.

[Hintermann]

Is there any chance this might be a Criterion release? The off-beat nature of the film theme must appeal to them.

[kidglov3s]

Daww I was hoping for date and details.

Back to the Lucinda River.

[Akijama]

Originally Posted by Hintermann

Is there any chance this might be a Criterion release?

No. It's coming from company called Grindhouse Releasing.

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by Hintermann

Is there any chance this might be a Criterion release? The off-beat nature of the film theme must appeal to them.

The OP is an announcement that Grindhouse Releasing is putting this out. This is a one-page thread. Come on, now.

[Buscemi]

Originally Posted by Dr. Seymour Love

Wow, I've still got the old dvd of this one. Joan Rivers(!) has a small part in this one. I would much rather see Perry's Last Summer on blu, which Warner Archives have been working on as a dvd release for what seems like years.

The uncut version of Last Summer is lost, which is why we have yet to see a disc release on that one. After its original release (where it was rated X), Allied Artists re-cut the film to get an R rating (as they wanted a younger audience). After Allied Artists went under, it seems as if a lot of archival material was destroyed (also, some of their films have fallen into public domain).

Reportedly, Perry's estate has an uncut print but that too is missing.

[baheidstu]

Wow, fantastic news. This was originally released from Columbia, so it appears that Sony are just licencing their titles all over the place these days.

I've been wanting to get this for a long time but held out on importing the DVD (the Region 1 release is long OOP). This is actually airing on TCM tonight (Oct 30) I believe as one of Gilbert Gottfried's(!) top picks, so it's been all over my Facebook feed, so there's a great chance for anyone who might be interested to check it out.

Cinema Retro also did a fantastic article on it some time in the last year.

Looking forward to this release. The ending is so haunting, but it's a wonderful film.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

The uncut version of Last Summer is lost, which is why we have yet to see a disc release on that one. After its original release (where it was rated X), Allied Artists re-cut the film to get an R rating (as they wanted a younger audience). After Allied Artists went under, it seems as if a lot of archival material was destroyed (also, some of their films have fallen into public domain).

Reportedly, Perry's estate has an uncut print but that too is missing.

If that's true it's sad news. I saw the X-rated version when the film first came out. I still have my old VHS copy and have recorded the TCM broadcast but, of course, they're the R version and full frame.

[jvorhees]

I like a lot of Burt Lancasters work, which is of course mostly mainstream stuff, but this looks interesting.

[rkolinski]

This is going to be on TCM tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

This is going to be on TCM tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Co-hosted by Gilbert Gottfried, of all people. I'll have to say he picked some good movies-Of Mice and Men, Freaks, and The Conversation.

Just an observation about the film:

[Show spoiler]Have you noticed that as he makes his journey from pool to pool each encounter is more unpleasant, even hostile, than the previous one? I suppose it parallels his life which also is spiraling downward.