Fritz Lang on Blu-ray

[Richard--W]

I'm excited for the English-friendly blu-ray of The Thousand Eyes Of Dr. Mabuse (1960)
coming May 11 from Eureka. It's been a long wait.

[Dr. Humbert]

Originally Posted by jayembee

It's rather astonishing that the vast bulk of Lang's filmography is out on Blu-ray. By my reckoning, the only ones missing at this point are:

European films:

Half-Caste (1919) -- lost
Master of Love (1919) -- lost

Le testament du Dr. Mabuse a.k.a. The Last Will of Dr Mabuse (1933) -- a French-language version of Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse shot simultaneously; available on Criterion's DVD of Testament.
Liliom (1934) -- On the Carousel BD in The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection, but only in SD.

American Films:

Fury (1936) -- MGM (controlled by Warner)
Rancho Notorious (1952) -- RKO (controlled by Warner)
Clash by Night (1952) -- RKO (controlled by Warner)
The Blue Gardenia (1953) -- Warner

(C'mon, WAC!!!)

You and Me (1938) -- Paramount (controlled by Universal)

(What are the odds that this might be a part of KLSC's second Universal deal? Hmmm...)

American Guerilla in the Philippines (1950) -- Fox

On edit: Oh, I suppose I should include Journey to the Lost City (1960), a dubbed re-edit of the two Indian Epic films released by AIP. As far as I know, it's only available on DVD from Sinister Cinema.

Fury is the very obvious missing gem on Blu-ray. The other Warner titles are pretty good too but Fury is great. Hope Warner get on with it.

[Richard--W]

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse is due in the mail tomorrow from diabolik dot com.

Can't wait to see it in hi-def with new translated English subtitles.

[Reddington]

For anyone interested, the BFI site has a lengthy interview piece on Lang from the Summer 1967 issue of Sight and Sound magazine:

https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/...terviewed-1967

[GeoffOliver]

I’ve been committed to collecting all of Hitchcock’s surviving films for the longest time (Blu-ray, plus DVD for the ones not yet available), and while I’m also a massive fan of Lang, I don’t seem as enthusiastic about doing so for him. He directed many masterpieces, but he also made some odd and kinda terrible movies that I have no desire of paying much money for (Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, those Indian films). Hitchcock’s films, even his lesser ones (Under Capricorn and The Paradine Case are the only ones that felt like “completist” purchases for me), still feel like a part of a larger canon of work, and worth studying for hardcore fans, but maybe that’s just me. What does everybody else think?

I did just pick up Lang’s The Return of Frank James, which is a sequel to a film he didn’t even direct, but it was only $7.95 on Hamilton Books, and I doubt I would’ve paid much more for it. I also found a $30 used copy of Man Hunt on Amazon, and I’ve heard great things about that film, but I mostly got it because it also starred Joan Bennett.

[fred25_Ca]

I only own the silent film collection and M. Prior to now, I had only seen Metropolis and M but I've started to watch his silent films and i'm having a blast. Spiders and Destiny were both great and i'm halfway through Mabuse and loving it. I'm still not sure I will continue my marathon passed M. Is the sequel to Mabuse worth it and is it available in a region A-friendly international version?
Also, which one of his American movies would you guys recommend the most? Thanks!

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Is the sequel to Mabuse worth it and is it available in a region A-friendly international version?

Depends on which sequel you're talking about. There are two:



The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) is terrific. There's a Region B (locked) Blu-ray from Eureka! Masters of Cinema.

There's also a DVD edition from Criterion that includes a French version filmed by Lang simultaneously with the German version.

Lang's final film is The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse (1960), also available in a B-locked edition from Eureka. It's a gas, but not (imho) up to the previous two films.

Also, which one of his American movies would you guys recommend the most? Thanks!

Without question, his best American film is The Big Heat (1953), currently available in a Region Free edition from Indicator.

He also had a terrific run of four films:
Man Hunt (1941) (from Twilight Time, but OOP [US] & Signal One [UK])
Hangmen Also Die! (1943) (from Cohen [US] & Arrow [UK])
Ministry of Fear (1944) (from Criterion [US] & Indicator [UK])
The Woman in the Window (1944) (from Kino [US] & Eureka [UK])

His first American film, Fury (1936) is also terrific, but only available on DVD (from Warner). It needs a lot of restoration before it can be released on BD.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Without question, his best American film is The Big Heat (1953), currently available in a Region Free edition from Indicator.

He also had a terrific run of four films:
Man Hunt (1941) (from Twilight Time, but OOP [US] & Signal One [UK])
Hangmen Also Die! (1943) (from Cohen [US] & Arrow [UK])
Ministry of Fear (1944) (from Criterion [US] & Indicator [UK])
The Woman in the Window (1944) (from Kino [US] & Eureka [UK])

His first American film, Fury (1936) is also terrific, but only available on DVD (from Warner). It needs a lot of restoration before it can be released on BD.

I agree about The Big Heat being his best American film.

But also, don't forget:

You Only Live Once on BD from ClassicFlix
Scarlet Street on BD from Kino Classics
House by the River on BD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics

[silverlakephil]

Echoing Jayembee’s recommendations, I would also recommend Secret Beyond The Door as one of his better American releases. Awhile ago, I enjoyed his German Indian Epic twofer, The Tiger of Eschanpur and The Indian Tomb, it has some gorgeous Technicolor cinematography. The Film Movement release is highly recommended.

[UnionJackMix]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

I agree about The Big Heat being his best American film.

But also, don't forget:

You Only Live Once on BD from ClassicFlix
Scarlet Street on BD from Kino Classics
House by the River on BD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics

I am waiting for delivery of Scarlet Street as it's one of the few KL region-free releases - can't wait.
Also there is a German company that started a series called Edition Film Noir and House By The River is one of them and I am waiting until I have a moment to research their quality as they are only on DVD and I'd hate to see a BD released later one.
The images I googled for the latter movie are right up my alley.

[UnionJackMix]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

I'm excited about this new box-set coming December 6. It includes the first hi-def transfer
of Lang's final film in the trilogy, followed by all five sequels in the correct aspect ratios.
They may not be the greatest films ever made but they are smart excercises in atmosphere
and style of the genre Lang all but invented, and I enjoy them.



Dr. Mabuse's Masterpiece

The reviews of this set are really not painting a good picture! Is this set really this bad? They talk about edited movies, missing titles and music... Can someone who has it advise? Shall I just start to get those released by Eureka instead?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

I agree about The Big Heat being his best American film.

But also, don't forget:

You Only Live Once on BD from ClassicFlix
Scarlet Street on BD from Kino Classics
House by the River on BD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics

I was trying to limit myself.

Fred25 was asking "which one", but I couldn't resist mentioning some others. As it was, I didn't want to stop with four more.

[fred25_Ca]

Thanks guy, I just ordered most of the titles you recommended me. Too bad about Fury, I would have loved to watch it during my marathon but I can't bring myself to buy the dvd. :P
I'm not a huge film noir fan but I love espionage movies.

[GeoffOliver]

Scarlet Street is fantastic, and it gets surprisingly very dark in the last act.

The film is public domain, and Kino actually sourced their transfer from The Library of Congress. I think it’s possible that they could reissue the film sourced from better elements now that they have an actual deal with Universal (who likely has the best elements).

[MalteseCrow]

I'm in sort of the opposite situation as Fred; I've watched most of his talkie noir films but none of his silent films yet or his early espionage talkies with the exception of Ministry of Fear. Of the films I've seen, here's how I'd rank them:

THE GREAT:
1. Scarlet Street
2. Ministry of Fear
3. The Big Heat

THE GOOD:
4. The Woman in the Window
5. While the City Sleeps

THE OK:
6. Secret Beyond The Door
7. Human Desire

THE WTF?:
8. Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

I also own Metropolis, M, Spies, the first two Mabuse films, Cloak and Dagger, YOLO, Man Hunt, Hangmen Also Die!, and House by the River but I haven't watched them yet!

Scarlet Street is probably in my top 10 movies of all time. I just think it's phenomenal.

[GeoffOliver]

I think You & Me might be a solid prediction for Kino’s Universal deal.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by GeoffOliver

I think You & Me might be a solid prediction for Kino’s Universal deal.

They've dismissed it as being part of their Universal deal. Hopefully things change.

[GeoffOliver]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

They've dismissed it as being part of their Universal deal. Hopefully things change.

Aw, that sucks. I wonder if it’s because of elements issues, or maybe Criterion has it. Kino seems to release every Fritz Lang film they can get their hands on.

Also, does their silent film boxset ever go on sale? I really want it, but I don’t want to pay $90.

[cheez avenger]

The Criterion Channel has Dr Mabuse the Gambler in the complete 4hr+ version along with Testament of Dr Mabuse.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by GeoffOliver

Aw, that sucks. I wonder if it’s because of elements issues, or maybe Criterion has it. Kino seems to release every Fritz Lang film they can get their hands on.

Also, does their silent film boxset ever go on sale? I really want it, but I don’t want to pay $90.

Judging from the Koch DVD of You and Me, the elements look like they're in okay shape (but maybe I'm wrong) but it looks like it's from an SD master—so perhaps it's possible it's a lack of HD master. Hopefully you're right and the reason Kino doesn't have it is because another distributor has it.

As far as the Lang silent film box set, I think it occasionally goes on sale during Kino's big site wide sales. I think I've seen it for $70 or so.