Blu-ray/DVD/Streaming Reviews & News
Entries from February 2015
BY DOUG OSWALD
I’m
a sucker for military movies. I’ve enjoyed the genre since I was a kid and that
pleasure continues to this day. As a former military guy, it matters very
little to me the time period or whether the movie is attempting to present a
message as long as the story is good and holds my interest. Director Tom Jeffrey's “The Odd Angry
Shot†is a military movie about the Vietnam War which certainly held my
interest and with great enthusiasm.
Many
see the Vietnam War as America going it alone and for the most part that’s true
in terms of troops sent and the high cost. Almost forgotten now and little
discussed at the time is that there was an alliance between South Vietnam and
America which included South Korea, Thailand, Laos, Taiwan, Philippines, Iran,
West German, Spain, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Australia
is among the members of this alliance to send troops to Vietnam and “The Odd
Angry Shot†is about a fictional deployment of Australians in the late 1960s.
The movie is based on the novella of the same name by William R. Nagel who
served as a cook in the Australian Army and deployed to Vietnam. He was a keen
observer during his time in Vietnam and created an award winning story of
military service.
The
movie is notable as one of the earliest movies to deal directly with combat
during the Vietnam War and specifically the soldiers of the Australian Army.
Sets for the movie were built on the Sydney Showgrounds in Sydney, New South
Wales, and later transported to the Australian Army’s Jungle Warfare Training
Center in Canungra, Queensland. This is where those serving in the Australian
Army trained before deploying to Vietnam.
The
movie is in a different category from Vietnam movies like “Apocalypse Now,†“The
Deer Hunter†and “Platoon†which take their subject very seriously and have
much to say about the war. The movie isn’t quite a comedy or even dark comedy,
but the tone is unusual compared to most movies about this war. “The Odd Angry
Shot†is a more light-hearted and even snarkier than those movies and resembles
“M*A*S*H†with a bit of “Catch-22.†Its focus is a group of men as we follow
them from pre-deployment at home in Australia to engaging the enemy in Vietnam.
When not out on patrols, where some receive the literal odd angry shot, they
deal with the inevitable boredom of deployments with beer drinking, writing
home to family, receiving “Dear John†letters, joking around, friendly brawls
and passing the time with a scorpion/spider fight.
The
movie features a mostly Australian cast, some of them recognizable as character
actors in Australian movies made over the past 35-years. John Jarratt plays the
central character, Bill, and has appeared in a wide variety of mostly
Australian productions from “Picnic at Hanging Rock†to the recent “Django
Unchained.†Probably the biggest name outside of Australia is Bryan Brown as
Rogers in one of many fine performances. Fans of “Mad Max†will recognize Tim
Burns in a “blink or you’ll miss him†part as a birthday party guest at the
beginning of “The Odd Angry Shot.†He was memorable as Johnny the Boy in “Mad Max,â€
the guy faced with sawing off his own foot at the end of that movie.
The
Blu-ray includes a nice pile of extras including the trailer, an interview with
stunt man Buddy Joe Hooker and one of the better audio commentary tracks I’ve
listened to in a while with director Tom Jeffrey, producer Sue Milliken and
actor Graeme Blundell. It’s entertaining and the contributors are enjoying
their time discussing and reminiscing about their work on the movie.
The
movie looks terrific and sounds great. Regardless of your personal feelings of
the Vietnam War, this movie is an outstanding addition to any war movie
collection or fan of Australian cinema and certainly worthy of repeat viewings.
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By Lee Pfeiffer
There are those who consider the Peter Sellers/Blake Edwards 1968 collaboration "The Party" to be an underrated comedy classic, while others feel it is a complete misfire. Count me among the latter. I can appreciate the audacity of making a minimalist comedy that was largely designed to be improvised- but there lies the rub. Sellers and Edwards succeeded in their quest to make this experimental film based on a threadbare script (60 pages) but the movie has a patchwork, almost desperate feel about how to fill up 99 minutes of screen time with what amounts to approximately 15 minutes of inspired material. Sellers is in top form, performance-wise, playing Hrudni V. Bakshi, an almost surrealistically polite Indian actor who we first see playing the title role in a big budget remake of "Gunga Din". With millions of dollars on the line, it's up to Bakshi to carry off his pivotal death scene so that a massive explosion can be detonated that will destroy an expensive set. In the film's funniest scenes, Bakshi drives the director crazy by screwing up even the simplest of tasks and prolonging his death scene for an absurd period of time. Then, carrying through on the age-old "Ready when you are, C.B" joke, he inadvertently ends up detonating the explosives and destroying the set before the cameras are rolling. Bakshi is immediately fired and his name is added to a studio blacklist so that he will never be hired again. Through a slight error, however, the studio boss, Fred Clutterbuck (J. Edward McKinley) mistakenly assigns his name to the invitation list of a party he is holding at his posh L.A. home. Thinking he has been forgiven for his costly mishaps, Bakshi is all too happy to attend the party, where the Hollywood "A" list crowd will be assembled.
Things start off promisingly as Sellers' ability for clever improvisation pays off. His initial Maxwell Smart-like bumblings are low-key enough to be believable. He mingles with the ever-growing crowd of snobbish party-goers and makes the acquaintance of a beautiful actress, Michele Monet (Claudine Longet), who is constantly being sexually harassed by her date, a hyper-mode, chauvinistic studio executive, C.S. Divot (Gavin MacLeod) who becomes increasingly desperate to bed her right there in the house where the party is taking place. For reasons never explained-and which defy credibility- she finds herself smitten by the innocent Bakshi and the two flirt, much to the consternation of Divot, who is the executive who fired Bakshi only the day before. In another strained plot device, he fails to recognize the same bumbling man he chastised and fired. The film traces Bakshi's increasingly disastrous mishaps at the party, which become more surrealistic with every passing minute. Comic actor Steve Franken appears as a tuxedo-clad waiter who walks about serving champagne on a tray but who has a nasty habit of taking liberal gulps of the bubbly himself. Edwards features the character in interminable amounts of footage, as the waiter becomes increasingly drunk. Although the scenes are skillfully played by Franken, the one-note joke becomes another repetitious absurdity. By the end of the film Edwards pulls the plug on any semblance of sanity and resorts to pure chaos. The midst of over-flowing toilets, sexual escapades, overbearing kids and their drill instructor-like nanny (a woefully underutilized Jean Carson), Edwards centers the action on a large swimming pool where, inexplicably, the household teenagers arrive with their hippie friends and a baby elephant (!) in tow, though it is never explained how suburban kids get their hands on a baby elephant. Then the pool is submerged in a never-ending sea of soap bubbles as everyone parties with the semi-submerged elephant. Keeping in mind that the film was released at the dawn of the hippie era, every major studio tried desperately to tap into the youth market, Blake Edwards included. Devoid of any meaningful concept of how to end the movie, he obviously decided that if he put in blaring music and a bunch of drunken or drug-induced party goers, the psychedelic imagery would mask the lack of genuine comedic content. The epilogue of the movie finds Bakshi mercifully back in real life, but driving a vintage 1930s three wheel classic British sports car by the Morgan Motor Company. (The car's appearance in the film became somewhat iconic.) He pays a visit to Michele's apartment and it becomes clear the two will form an unlikely romance.
Despite my reservations about "The Party", I can heartily recommend the new Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. The first reason is because there are many people who seem to think this film is terrific and the opinion of this reviewer is definitely in the minority. The second reason is the quality of the Blu-ray itself, which does justice to one of the film's greatest assets, its creative production design by Fernardo Carrera. The transfer looks great and the colors practically leap out of the screen. Over a decade ago, MGM, which initially released the film on DVD, commissioned extras to be shot for inclusion in a special edition of "The Party". For reasons unknown, those extras were never released in the United States but were included on a UK DVD release. Why MGM didn't feel the extras were worth including in the North American market is a mystery because they feature extensive insights from Blake Edwards and other cast and crew members. Fortunately, Kino Lorber managed to rescue some of these bonus extras for inclusion on this release. One featurette details the over-all making of the film, while another is particularly fascinating, as it points out how this movie marked the first time that a video assist technique was employed on a major studio film. The innovation involved attaching a video camera to the main 35mm camera, thus allowing Edwards to view what he had just shot instead of having to wait for the dailies. It was a refinement of a technique that Jerry Lewis had been experimenting with for years. Edwards realized this would change how films were shot and at one point ended up buying the rights to the technology before relinquishing them back to the inventor, who by this point, had found a way to build a video camera inside the 35mm camera. Edwards states that he simply didn't have time to run the company while in the middle of making films, though he acknowledges that his decision probably cost him a small fortune in future profits. The Blu-ray also includes the original trailer and career over-views of Edwards and producers Walter Mirisch and Ken Wales.
So there you have it: a rare case where I can't recommend the main feature but enthusiastically recommend the Blu-ray special edition.
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BY LEE PFEIFFER
A long time ago in our own galaxy, major American television networks once aspired to raise the quality of the medium through the presentation of prestigious TV movies and mini-series. The trend began in earnest in the 1970s and continued through the next decade before a new generation of executives decided to dumb down the quality in favor of sensationalism. Ironically we are living in what many consider to be a new "Golden Age" of television- but the caveat is that most of the good stuff requires viewers to pay to view it through HBO, Showtime, Amazon Prime and Netflix. American network "free" TV is pretty much worth what we're paying for it with an endless array of smutty sitcoms, various "reality" shows that star real-life miscreants and a largely indistinguishable batch of urban cop shows that have so exhausted the premise that I expect CBS to announce "NCIS: Mayberry" as a new series. Add to this the interminable number of commercials and you have a medium that is self-destructing before our eyes. Even if you can become engrossed in a mystery show, the mood is rather negated by seeing countless ads for male sexual stimulants coupled with warnings that a dangerous side effect might be a four hour erection. (I have yet to meet a middle aged male who wouldn't welcome this particular "ailment".) Yet we still have visual records of the glory days of American television and that includes the availability on DVD of many high quality TV productions that were known as the "Movie of the Week". All three major networks sank a lot of money into these ventures and attracted top names to star in them. The format also afforded many aspiring young talents behind the cameras to emerge in prominence, the most notably Steven Spielberg', whose 1971 TV thriller "Duel" remains a timeless classic.
The Warner Archive has released the 1973 TV movie "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" as a burn-to-order title. The film was originally telecast in 1973, an era when some fine work was being done in the realm of the horror genre. (Both "Don't Look Now" and "The Exorcist" were released theatrically that year.) Kim Darby gives a fine performance as Sally Farnham, a young wife who has inherited a large, old world house that had once belonged to her grandparents. She moves in with her husband Alex (Jim Hutton), an up-and-coming executive whose workaholic ways causes some occasional tension in the marriage (this being an era in which the standard role for women was to keep the house tidy until her hubby came home.) The couple begins a vigorous and ambitious redecorating project and hire an interior designer (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) to redo most of the rooms. Things go well enough initially but when Sally pokes around a long-neglected study she ponders why the fireplace has been bricked up to make it as secure as a bank vault. Mr. Harris (William Demarest), a long-time handyman who worked for Sally's grandparents, informs her that he bricked up the fireplace at the insistence of her grandfather. Without telling her precisely why, he advises her to leave well enough alone and not pursue plans to make the fireplace operational. In true horror movie tradition, she instantly ignores his advice and breaks through part of the brickwork, opening a vent to a seemingly bottomless drop below. Before you can say "Vincent Price!", strange things start happening. Sally feels as though she is being watched and she hears eerie voices whispering throughout the house. In another tried-and-true horror movie tradition, her husband instantly dismisses her concerns- even when she realizes her imagination isn't playing tricks on her.
From almost the very beginning of the film, director John Newland lets the viewer in on the fact that the house is indeed haunted, though her forestalls showing us the intruders. Instead, we hear them whisper and giggle among themselves as they celebrate being free to roam the house. They know Sally by name and make it clear that they intend to steal her soul and make her one of them. The action picks up when Sally and Alex host a prestigious dinner party for his business contacts. The party goes disastrously off course when Sally catches her first glimpse of who is menacing her. It is a gnome-like little creature that stands about one foot tall and he is perched directly beneath her at the dinner table. She screams in panic and of course the creature slips away before anyone else can see him, leading Alex to chastise her later for ruining a perfectly good dinner party. She is later menaced by the creatures while she is in the shower (another horror movie tradition). This is followed by what appears to be the accidental death of visitor to the house, but Sally knows it was murder caused by the gnome creatures. With Alex leaving on a business trip, Sally does defy one horror film tradition by vowing to get the hell out of the house instead of staying around to see what happens next. Before she can leave, however, the little devils manage to incapacitate her with a sleeping pill. Only the presence of her friend Joan (Barbara Anderson) prevents them from taking her into their lair beneath the house. Joan begins to believe that everything Sally has feared is actually true and in a tense climax, the house is plunged into darkness and Joan races against time to save her friend from an unthinkable fate.
"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" has built a loyal following over the decades after it's sensational initial telecast in 1973. The film is extremely well-made and intelligently scripted by Nigel McKeand. Darby and Hutton offer some real star power and William Demarest, who was primarily known for playing cranky old guys in comedies, is well-cast in a highly dramatic role that he carries off very effectively. Director Newland, an old hand at supernatural tales (he hosted the TV series "One Step Beyond") might have milked more suspense from the script by never actually showing the creatures that menace Sally. However, given the fact that he chose to do so, it must be said they are genuinely creepy. The special effects are all the more impressive given the fact that the film was made in the pre-CGI era. The cackling little demons sound like Munchkins but there's nothing cute about them. Thanks to some very good makeup effects, they provide some memorably chilling images.
The Warner Archive edition contains a bonus audio commentary track with horror movie screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick ("Final Destination", "Day of the Dead") and film historians Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton and Sean Abley. The three are definitely in full "Mystery Science Theatre" mode, joking and mocking various aspects of the production. They pounce on the casting, saying that Darby looks like Jim Hutton's daughter instead of his wife and take some very funny potshots at the awful '70s styles Darby is seen sauntering around in. (They refer to her wardrobe as a form of birth control.) Just when their sarcasm about the film seems to be going into the realm of disrespect, they make it clear that they very much admire the film as a whole and appropriately commend key aspects of the production. Their commentary is consistently insightful when discussing its place within the horror genre but at least two of them seem a bit ignorant of movie history in general, as evidenced by the fact they have no idea that Jim Hutton was a major star in the 1960s and 1970s. One of the commentators does at least know that "he's Timothy Hutton's father". In all, the commentary track is a very nice bonus feature one would not readily expect to find on a title such as this.
"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is a bit dated in concept and execution but it stands light years ahead of most of the gore-drenched "dead teenager" movies that define the horror genre today, as evidenced by the lackluster response accorded to the 2010 big screen remake.
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BY LEE PFEIFFER
Vinegar Syndrome has released a limited edition (1,500 units) dual format edition of the 1978 adult movie hit "Pretty Peaches" by director Alex deRenzy, who was perhaps the most prolific director the medium had ever seen. deRenzy didn't crank out cheapo grind house movies. Instead, he tried to incorporate relatively high production values, often shooting in outdoor locations. He also had an eye for attracting some of the most exotic actresses of the era. "Pretty Peaches" is one of deRenzy's most notable achievements. The movie introduced Desiree Costeau, who would go on to be a legendary name in erotic cinema. deRenzy made hardcore movies with some substance and style and this title is no exception. The plot finds the title character, Peaches (Costeau), an amiable but air-headed young beauty, racing along in her jeep in a hurry to get to Virginia City, Nevada, in the hopes of attending her father's civil wedding ceremony to his second wife, a young black woman with an insatiable sexual appetite. Peaches arrives just in the nick of time for the ceremony but after making some small talk with her father, she speeds off again in her jeep en route to San Francisco. Along the way, her jeep goes off the road and she is knocked unconscious. Two young men race to her assistance but, upon examining the scantily-clad Peaches, become sexually aroused. One of them goes so far as to violate her while she is still unconscious. When she finally awakes, she has complete amnesia. The men use this to their advantage by convincing her that they own the jeep and offer her a ride to San Francisco, where they coincidentally share an apartment. Peaches goes along but is troubled by the fact that she can't recall her name or anything about her background. While in the big city she tries to find professional help but ends up receiving treatment from a mad, sex-crazed doctor whose "therapy" consists of inducing enemas! She doesn't fare much better when she applies for a job as an exotic dancer and ends up being violated by a gang of lesbians. Peaches is also uncomfortable living with her two male companions, who have a steady stream of loose women over to the apartment who they bed down without any regard for privacy concerns. Ultimately, she meets a handsome, kindly psychiatrist who offers to help her if she drops by his house that evening. Naturally, this offer isn't what it seems, either, and Peaches ends up in a major orgy where her memory is jolted back in an unpleasant way when she sees her own father (!) participating in the goings-on.
"Pretty Peaches" is very much from the school of 1970s erotica that blended slapstick comedy with hardcore sex. As the title character, Desiree Costeau is quite a find- at least in terms of her physical qualifications. She also gives an amusing performance, though it's doubtful Katharine Hepburn lost much sleep about her entry into the acting profession. The film is populated with other mainstays of the adult film industry of that time period including John Leslie, Joey Silvera and Paul Thomas. Juliet Anderson (aka "Aunt Peg") also makes her screen debut in this flick playing an assertive maid who ends up in a threesome with Peaches' dad and his new bride. Director deRenzy has good instincts when it comes to turning down the comedy elements when the action gets hot and he does provide some genuinely erotic sequences- but in the aggregate, the film will probably appeal most to those who like to mix laughs with their salacious cinematic thrills.
The Vinegar Syndrome transfer is just about perfect, having been remastered from a 35mm source print. Chances are the film looks better today than it did on the big screen. The release contains some special features including three trailers for other deRenzy films and an interview with film historian Ted Mcilvenna, who knew deRenzy since the 1960s. Mcilvenna was a social activist in San Francisco who was fighting for sexual freedom and crusaded against the archaic laws in Britain that criminalized homosexuality until 1967. he relates how deRenzy was so prolific in his work that he once discovered 19 completed feature films in his archive that the director had not gotten around to editing. There is also a rare interview with deRenzy himself, shot on VHS tape shortly before his death in 2001. Vinegar Syndrome believes this is the only known filmed interview with deRenzy.
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BY LEE PFEIFFER
Director/screenwriter Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" has been released by Sony as a dual format Blu-ray/DVD package that also includes a digital edition of the film. The film lives up to the almost unanimous acclaim it has received since it opened last year. It is also a front-runner for this year's Best Picture Oscar. What Linklater did was nothing short of historic: filming the same story in real time with the same actors over a twelve year period. The audaciousness of the project makes the mind reel, in terms of the physical logistics alone. Linklater had to shoot around his actor's other filming schedules, ensure that the production funds wouldn't dry up and work with an ever-revolving crew in varying locations throughout Texas. To be fair, director Michael Apted's historic "Up!" series has been filming updates every seven years for his series that has traced the lives of schoolchildren he first met in 1964. However, Apted's amazing achievements are in relation to a documentary, while Linklater has crafted a fictional, big studio release.
The film traces the life of a young boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who we first meet as a toddler. The script, which is based on challenges Linklater experienced in his own childhood, allows us to witness Mason growing up on camera through his 18th birthday. There are plenty of speed bumps encountered along the way. When we first meet him and his sister Samantha (played by Linklater's own daughter Lorelei), the kids are already the product of a single mother household, his parents having split up shortly after he was born. Their mom (Patricia Arquette) and father, Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) have a fractured relationship. Seems dad has been less-than-attentive to his family's needs and disappeared for a year to Alaska for vague reasons. He's now back in their lives and hoping to establish a civil relationship with his ex. She's having none of it. With their father back in their lives, he tries hard to make up for his past negligence, taking them for weekend excursions and giving them the few luxuries he can afford: arcade games, bowling and fast food. However, the kids witness the emotionally shattering experience of seeing their mother and father fight whenever they are in each other's presence. (Note to divorced parents: even if you hate your ex, don't let your kids know it. They already have enough psychological trauma to deal with.) Meanwhile, mom is trying hard to improve her kid's lives but the results are not encouraging. She has to rely on her mom to watch the children while she tries to juggle going to work and attending night classes in order to get a college degree. (The film succeeds in providing a moving look at the plight of single parents.) An attractive woman, she has virtually no time for herself and nothing akin to a social life. Thus, she is vulnerable to any man who seems sincere. She goes through more failed relationships and marriages, all of which leave her growing children in a constant state of uncertainty. The family moves frequently, disrupting whatever stability the school system had provided to the kids. They constantly have to make new friends but when they do, relationships always prove to be temporary. With the passage of the years, dad remarries and fathers a baby with his new wife. The relationship between him and their mother becomes more accepting and cordial as the kids go through the normal cornerstone moments of their lives: grade school, high school and on to college. The fact that we are watching the actors age in real time adds profoundly to the emotional impact of the story.
"Boyhood" is so brilliantly realized as a cinematic concept that you forget you are watching a work of fiction. Most of the credit must go to Linklater, whose direction is superb and whose script is written the way people act and talk in real life. The characters are sincere, flawed people who find it hard to cope with the pressures of everyday life. The kid's father is an overage juvenile; their mom is a long-suffering woman who has gotten old before her time. Every time she thinks she has found a tiny sliver of happiness, it turns out to be an illusion. She gets her degree and begins teaching at a community college where she meets an established professor, Bill (Marco Perella), who is an affable, divorced dad with two kids the age of her own son and daughter. Things start off swimmingly but over time deteriorate as he falls victim to alcoholism and becomes physically abusive. The sequence in which their mother tries to extract from the house against the wishes of her threatening husband is a disturbing reminder of what so many women must deal with in real life. The film ends with Mason heading out on his own for college dorm life. By this point, we think we know him personally, having watched him mature through the years. As played by Ellar Coltrane, Mason is an admirable and polite, if not occasionally sullen, young man who is already somewhat cynical about life and who seeks to walk to his own drumbeat. The film ends on an optimistic note, which is appropriate after suffering along with him through so many years. Coltrane gives an assured, self-confident performance and he is more than matched by Lorelei Linkater as his sister. In fact, the performances of every actor in the film, right down to the minor supporting roles, are nothing less than superb. Linklater provides them with some sterling dialogue but the film does feature a couple of sequences that feel forced and out of place. They depict the kids assisting their dad in campaigning for Obama in the 2008 election. Nothing wrong with that, but he shoehorns a superfluous character into a brief scene to depict him as a right wing fanatic who implies he would shoot the kids if they ever stopped on his property again to campaign for "Barack Hussein Obama". The country certainly has no shortage of such lunatics but the scene is the only one that feels artificial because it implies an ugly generalization about anyone who didn't support Obama. (Linklater doesn't see the irony in the fact that, in another sequence, it is the dad who encourages his kids to illegally remove a campaign sign from the law of a John McCain supporter.) It's a minor quibble but the scenes risk alienating part of the audience for a film that, otherwise, is apolitical and speaks truth to people of all beliefs and backgrounds.
The video release is curiously short on bonus extras. There is only a featurette about the making of the film in which we are treated to behind the scenes footage of the cast throughout the years. There are also extensive interviews with Richard Linklater and the major cast members that have far more poignancy than those found in the usual "making of" production shorts. The featurette has a particularly moving moment when Linklater finally shoots the last scene for the film: a sequence in which Mason is driving to college on a remote desert highway, surrounded by stunning vistas. It's moving to watch Ellar Coltrane put the finishing touches on a project that had been part of virtually his entire life. The inclusion of this segment only makes us wish all the more than Linklater and his cast had provided a commentary track. Undoubtedly, this will be made available on a future "Super Duper Deluxe" release of the film. For now, however, this edition of "Boyhood" merits "must-see" status.
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Warner Home Video has made good on its promise to rectify some glitches on its otherwise magnificent recent release of the entire "Batman" TV series. Two episodes were accidentally included that were incomplete. The "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds" episode was missing its epilogue and the "Hi Diddle Riddle" episode lacked its opening narration. Additionally, some fans complained that Warner's did not include the very brief tags at the end of episodes that promoted who the villain would be in the next telecast. Anyone who purchased the set on either Blu-ray or DVD was invited to register for replacement discs, which have now been sent out. In addition to providing complete versions of the aforementioned episodes, the two new discs also have an extended bonus section featuring the previously missing "villains" promos. Additionally, Warner's has included a couple of brief but cool bonus segments that weren't included on the original release. These are a promotion advising viewers to tune in the for the next evenings broadcast to see the unveiling of some new additions to Batman and Robin's arsenal. These included the Batboat and the Batcycle. Another brief segment is a promo for a rebroadcast of the very first episode of the series.
For more on the "missing footage" advisory, click here for Warner's original press release.
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BY LEE PFEIFFER
"Sex is only dirty if you're doing it right."- Woody Allen
Well, "Fifty Shades of Grey" has finally opened and- predictably- it looks to be an international blockbuster. All over the world, BDSM ("Bondage, Discipline, Submission and Masochism", for the uninitiated) will be the flavor of the week as couples dabble in getting naughty. But the very notion that the real world of this peculiar sexual fetish could be accurately presented in a none-threatening, Harlequin romance-like manner is negated by the fact that the film is rated R and has been released by a major studio. True, there was a brief period of time when major movie studios did push the envelope in terms of depicting raw sexual freedoms. Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" was made over forty years ago but would be considered un-releasable by the Hollywood suits who run the industry today. Even United Artists, which had the courage to distribute the X-rated sensation back in the day, tried to have it both ways by re-issuing the film a few years later in a "safe", R-rated version, which was about as pointless as re-cutting "The Sound of Music" and eliminating the songs. As with the source novel, the film version of "Fifty Shades" will become a sensation with people who think they're being daring by tying up their giggling partner to a bed post while playfully spanking them. Meanwhile, look for this Disneyfication of a sexual fetish to reach into other mediums- especially network television, which hasn't produced a truly original idea in decades. You can almost see the executives sitting around the long tables trying desperately to figure out how to work a bondage and discipline theme into mainstream fare:
"Hey, let's do a kinky TV remake of "My Fair Lady". We can have the leading actress sing "The Pain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plain"!
"Forget that, we have to find out how to merge this stupid Duck Dynasty craze in with kinky sex. How about reviving "The Beverly Hillbillies" and calling the lead characters the Clamp-etts?"
It all leads to the question of whether any sexual practice can still be edgy if you can picture your parents and grandparents indulging in it. Small wonder that those who participate in the "real" world of BDSM have scoff at the pure vanilla depiction of their fetishes in "Fifty Shades".
Anyone who considers for a minute whether to explore the world of sado-masochism would be well-advised to see director Christina Voros's 2013 documentary "Kink", which has just been released on DVD, appropriately, by Dark Sky Films. The movie, produced by actor James Franco, caused a buzz and won acclaim on the film festival circuit (including Sundance) for its unstinting look at how BDSM is marketed to those who find it stimulating. Director Voros deserves praise for going all the way and not sanitizing the shocking depictions of these dark and generally sinister practices. The film makes no judgments either for or against those who indulge, but concentrates entirely on the business aspect of marketing BDSM-themed videos. The movie centers on the company Kink.com which is located in a gigantic building in San Francisco that was once used as an armory. The company's founder, Peter Acworth, an affable, forty-something Brit, relates how he got very wealthy by catering to people's darkest sexual desires. He takes us on a tour of the cavernous facility, pointing out that the foreboding nature of the huge, empty rooms suits his purposes just fine, as they provide ready-made film sets. The film observes some productions- in- the making, both straight and gay-themed. Voros interviews both cast members and directors, all of whom take their work very seriously and take pride in turning out slick, professional productions. It becomes abundantly clear that this is no longer your father's version of S&M films, which were generally relegated to old B&W 16mm loops in which naked guys in black socks and garters lamely "whipped" bored actresses, who had one eye on their wristwatch to see when quitting time was. Within the bowels of the Kink building, any number of productions are going on simultaneously. A surprising number of the directors are females, including at least one butch lesbian. They come across as generally intelligent and likable. All of the participants maintain that the secret to Kink.com's success is that they only hire real life adherents of BDSM both in front of and behind the cameras. They have female casting directors who go through a massive array of available "talent" to weed out actors who might only be motivated by money. The theory is that such individuals can't fake finding pleasure in pain and generally have to be fired. Other actors are eliminated because of objections from the leading actresses. (One male co-star is eliminated on the basis that "He's a vagina hog- he never wants to get out!") Acworth states with pride that his productions are also very well monitored in attempts to ensure that all participants are healthy and enthused. He acknowledges that there is a certain danger of someone going too far and hurting a submissive, especially when said submissive routinely cries "Stop!" but really means "Keep going!" Thus, every submissive must employ a "safe" word that, if uttered, means that all action must cease immediately. The film humanizes the participants in this peculiar practice as much as possible. In between takes on a film in which a woman is being ravaged by a group of men, the cast chats amiably about such mundane topics as organic diets and the lure of a good chicken pot pie. A few minutes later, we watch people willingly subject themselves to almost unspeakable tortures. A gay "bottom" is submerged in a bathtub while an innocent-looking young woman is violated by a sex toy mounted on what can only be described as an automated piece of industrial machinery. This is not for the squeamish. Voros doesn't go so far as to show actual penetration, but doesn't hold back on showing full frontal nudity and sexually aroused males.
Continue reading "DVD REVIEW: "KINK" (2014), INSIDE THE "REAL" WORLD OF BDSM"
Fans of The Andy Griffith Show can now escape those chopped-up re-runs on cable TV by purchasing the complete series on DVD. Now you can relish 6400 minutes of one of the great sitcoms in TV history - all uncut on 40 DVDs! As Don Knotts' Barney Fife would say- "This is big!" Click here to order discounted from Amazon at save $160!
Cinema Retro has received the following announcement:
The most celebrated lawman of the Old West rides again
in the complete series (1955-1961) of the popular classic television Series The
Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Hugh
O'Brian stars as the famed marshal whose exploits with Doc Holliday, Bat
Masterson and the Clanton Gang are boldly brought to life in episodes based on
actual events. With his signature Buntline Special pistol in hand, Wyatt Earp
held posts in a series of increasingly lawless towns and battled dangerous men
in his efforts to keep the peace. Through Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City and Tombstone, Wyatt's reputation
as a just and formidable marshal grew, culminating in a storied gunfight that
would seal his legend.
This complete series includes all six seasons on 30 DVDs,
approximately 100 hours of content. Also included in this collectors set are
interviews with stars Hugh O’Brian and Mason Alan Dinehart III and an historical
timeline of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
Available through major on-line retail outlets.
If you haven't yet picked up Timeless Media's fantastic boxed set, Gene Autry: The Complete Television Series, we're happy to present the original press release from December, 2013:
One
of the most influential performers in American history, Gene Autry is the only
entertainer with all five stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, one each for
Radio, Recording, Motion Pictures, Television and Live Performance. In a career
that spanned more than three decades, Autry built a media empire, thanks to his
box-office smash musical Westerns, cross-country rodeo tours and a diverse
music career that included the million-selling hit Christmas classic ‘Rudolph,
the Red-Nosed Reindeer.’
Timeless
Media Group, a division of Shout! Factory, has released The Gene Autry Show: The Complete
Television Series on DVD. For
the first time, all 91 episodes from the show’s five season run, uncut and
fully restored from Autry's personal film and television archive, will appear
together in a 15 DVD box set. The collection also boasts a bevy of bonus
content, including select episodes of Autry’s Melody
Ranch radio show, vintage
Autry commercial appearances, film trailers and photo galleries; as well as a
bonus DVD showcasing classic episodes from Autry’s other Flying ‘A’ Pictures
television series The Range
Rider, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Jr. and The Adventures of Champion.
Originally
airing on CBS from 1950-1956, The
Gene Autry Show features a
wide range of guest stars, including Gail Davis, Denver Pyle, Sheila Ryan,
Clayton Moore, Donna Martell, Alan Hale Jr., Elaine Riley, Harry Lauter,
William Fawcett, Gloria Winter, Lee Van Cleef, Lyle Talbot, Chill Wills, John
Doucette, Fuzzy Knight, the Cass County Boys, and Dick Jones.
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BY DON STRADLEY
“Paper Mask†is a movie that reminds me of those dreams
we all have, the ones where we show up at work or school and aren’t prepared
for a major meeting or test. I think these dreams show our terror of
being exposed as frauds. I also think they serve another function –
they’re the brain’s way of telling us to wake up. The brain knows we have to
get out of bed, so it creates an unpleasant scenario to jolt us from our
sleep. In a way, our brain knows what buttons to push to get us moving in
the morning.
Still, it’s interesting that so many of us
fear being revealed as a fraud. It must be a universal dread.
I imagine lawyers have dreams where they aren’t
prepared for a trial. School teachers, too, must have dreams where they
enter a classroom without knowing the day’s lesson. I suppose the most
well-known of these dreams is the one where an actor has to go onstage but
doesn’t know his lines. But these dreams must be especially terrifying for
doctors, for few things could be more horrible than entering surgery and not
knowing what to do.
“Paper Mask†never quite approaches the atmosphere of a
nightmare – it’s about a young man who sneakily assumes the identity of a
doctor and gets a job at a small London hospital. At times he probably
wishes it was all a dream, such as his first night of duty when he’s met by
badly wounded people, people crying out for pain killers, and a man who’s
nearly lost a leg in a motorcycle accident. The phony doctor looks
the part, but even rookie nurses can see he’s overwhelmed by the blood and
agony of the emergency ward.
The sham artist, played by Paul McGann, had
previously worked as an orderly in another hospital. He resented doctors,
insisting to his pals that they were arrogant, overpaid jerks. Early in the
film he sees an ex-girlfriend and her new doctor boyfriend in a car crash. He
pulls them from the wreckage; she’s alive, but her beau is dead. McGann
finds the fellow’s application to a nearby hospital; as if to prove his own
theory that doctoring is easy, he takes the dead man’s place at the job
interview.
McGann has, as one character tells him, the luck of the
devil. He passes the interview, even as he stumbles when asked about the posh
school he allegedly attended.
Strangely, we’re compelled to celebrate along with
McGann as he endures his horrendous first night on the job and gradually passes
himself off as a doctor. He’s cagy, learning how to read X-rays by betting an
older nurse she can’t identify certain problems. He loses each bet, but slowly
learns his way around an X-ray. All is well until he eventually botches a
procedure and causes the death of a patient.
As in the best novels of Cornell Woolrich or
Patricia Highsmith, the plot thickens and the body count rises. Director
Christopher Morahan, a veteran of BBC dramas and comedies, doesn’t go for
laughs or dark humor in “Paper Mask.†Instead, he keeps things quick and tight
until we know McGann will have to do something desperate to keep up his ruse.
McGann is quite good as an ego-driven man who dives into a charade and always
seems on the verge of cracking. I like how he occasionally plucks out an
old American tune on a banjo, sometimes jubilantly, sometimes forlornly.
His favorite song, not surprisingly, is ‘The Great Pretender’.
Amanda Donahoe is very good as a feisty nurse who falls in love with McGann, as
is Tom Wilkinson as an older doctor who suspects McGann isn’t legit. (Yes, it’s
the same Wilkinson who taught the blokes how to dance in “The Full Montyâ€.)
I also loved how the movie subtly touched on the ever
present British class divide. The working class McGann had begrudged
doctors, but when he arrives at his new job, he finds that certain doctors
resent the high-class schooling found on his phony credentials. “We just
want someone who cares,†hisses Wilkinson. “We don’t care about your bloody
superior education!†When McGann sneaks into his alleged alma mater to research
his “pastâ€, a boy accosts him. “I don’t believe you went here,†the boy says.
“Your clothes look cheap.†McGann ignores him. “I could report you,†the boy
says. “And I could break your neck,†McGann answers.
The movie succeeds because we get to know McGann
so well that we identify with his fear of discovery. But are we supposed
to feel alarm at the movie’s end, when he’s still out there, putting more
people at risk? That’s where the movie gets a bit muddy. Who is the
real villain of the piece? Is it McGann, or the medical profession? In
retrospect, the most frightening moment of the movie is when Wilkinson informs
McGann that he won’t be fired, for it would make the hospital look bad.
The idea that a hospital would rather keep an inept doctor than attract
attention for having hired him in the first place is enough to make one
shudder.
(This DVD is region-free format)
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BY DOUG OSWALD
Infidelity,
homophobia, suicide, prostitution, sex, blackmail, racism, pompous military
officers, family disagreements, GI bar fights and inter-racial relationships.
“Pearl†dips into all this and more in a three-part TV mini-series from 1978. The
series borrows liberally and literally from movies like “From Here To Eternity,â€
“In Harm’s Way,†“Tora! Tora! Tora! and “Midway,†and also serves as a
forerunner for one of the best TV mini-series of this kind, “The Winds of War.â€
Each
episode opens with narration by Joseph Campanella explaining the impending Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor and the oblivious nature of Americans enjoying their
stay in paradise. John Addison’s title music evokes the tropical locale and
plays over scenes of vintage Honolulu photos prior to America’s entry into WWII.
Hawaii was a much more exotic place even after WWII.
The
melodrama of the series is focused on the American residents of Honolulu in the
days prior to the attack interspersed
with scenes of the Japanese Navy making its way across a stormy Pacific ocean.
The Japanese are depicted as all business in this series, which is a shame
because it would have been interesting to get a sense for what the characters
were thinking personally about the audacious military strategy..
The
Japanese carrier scenes and most of the aerial attack scenes are represented by
footage literally taken from the classic 1970 movie, “Tora! Tora! Tora!†The Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor occurs halfway through the second episode, after we’ve
met the characters and know all of their dalliances in paradise.
The
series features a “Who’s Who†of some of the well-known movie and TV stars from
the late 1970s: Angie Dickinson, Dennis Weaver, Robert Wagner, Lesley Ann
Warren, Tiana Alexandra, Gregg Henry, Katherine Helmond, Adam Arkin, Brian
Dennehy, Max Gail, Char Fontane, Audra Lindley, Richard Anderson, Marion Ross,
Allan Miller and Mary Crosby.
The
series was written by Stirling Silliphant, no stranger to melodrama, as he
wrote the screenplays for “In the Heat of the Night,†“The Poseidon Adventure,â€
“The Towering Inferno†and “The Swarm†as well as thrillers like “Shaft in
Africa,†“The Killer Elite,†“The Enforcer†and “Telefon.†The story is
entertaining and held my interest throughout. The more salacious topics are
handled as one would expect from a late 1970s TV production which means there’s
a lot of talking about sex, but we see very little action other than the military
type.
The
battle scenes are also sanitized for a late ‘70s TV audience and limited mostly
to nurses aiding men in bandages, the main characters discussing the attack and
scenes the attack taken from the aforementioned “Tora! Tora! Tora!†In the era
of “Saving Private Ryan†and “Furyâ€, the series feels a bit lacking in this
respect, but this was typical of TV at that time.
The
performances are pretty one dimensional, but the cast is engaging with their
allotted time on camera. The period costumes and vehicles help as does the
on-location filming in Hawaii. The popularity of “Pearl,†a Warner Bros.
production broadcast on ABC, may have influenced the choice by Columbia and NBC
to produce the similar six episode TV mini-series remake of “From Here to
Eternity†in 1979 which then became a short lived 11 episode series in 1980.
I
watched “Pearl†when it was first
broadcast back in 1978 and I’m glad it’s available for those who enjoy this
type of war time melodrama. The two-disc set is part of the Warner Archive
collection and is manufactured on demand. There are no extras on this three
part mini-series which clocks in at four-hours and 39 minutes.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
BY DOUG OSWALD
“Frauleinâ€
begins with a close-up shot of the spires of a Gothic cathedral, organ music
playing on the soundtrack and air-raid sirens blaring as a statement appears on
screen: “Cologne on the Rhine during the last weeks of World War II.†The scene
moves down to street level as German civilians and soldiers run for bomb
shelters as destruction rains down on them. An American prisoner of war makes
his escape during the chaos and he stumbles upon the home of a college
professor and his daughter.
Mel
Ferrer plays the American POW, Captain Foster MacLain. He meets the Fraulein of
the movie, Erika Angermann, played by Dana Wynter. She helps him evade capture
during a search of her father’s home. We learn about a fiancé she has not seen
in over two years. She learns later from a letter that he has been wounded and is in a
hospital. McLain thanks her and the professor, who gives him a coat- a precious
gift under the circumstances. After McLain departs, shots are heard and Erika fears he was killed or wounded. While she is grappling with that scenario,
another air raid takes place, during which her father is killed..
Erika
heads for the safety of her uncle’s home in Berlin at a time when many Germans are
fleeing the Russian advance and heading to the American lines. A middle-aged married
couple has also taken refuge in her uncle’s home and soon a group of Russian
soldiers move in as well. The Russians get drunk and murder Erika’s uncle who
has hidden her in a bedroom. The married couple discloses her location and a soldier
is killed in a fall from the roof while trying to rape Erika. Taken into
Russian custody and charged with murder, Russian Colonel Dmitri Bucaron (Theodore
Bikel) takes a liking to Erika and orders her release.
The
war is over, but Colonel Bucaron’s kindness comes at a price. He fancies the
shy and beautiful Erika as his mistress and while out drinking, Erika befriends
Lori, played by Dolores Michaels, a piano player in a Berlin nightclub
entertaining Russian soldiers. Lori helps Erika escape and make her way to the
American line where she is taken in by the married couple from her uncle’s
house. They’re living well as pimps and seek to make Erika one of their
prostitutes. Erika flees yet again after being harassed and aided by an
American soldier. She ends up meeting up with Lori, who gets her a job in the nightclub where Lori
plays piano and Erika is one of several girls waiting her turn to get dunked
while sitting on a chair over a dunk tank as American GIs take turns tossing
balls at a target. Erika’s humiliation and her situation seems hopeless when
McLain, now promoted to Major, re-enters her life.
The
movie is episodic and melodramatic in this story of a German woman preserving
her dignity amid the degradation many German women had to endure in the final
days of the war and its immediate aftermath.. She swallows her pride several
times throughout the movie in order to survive and she bends, but never breaks.
The
movie is directed by Henry Koster, known for many classic movies from
light-hearted favorites such as “The Bishop’s Wife,†“The Luck of the Irish,â€
“The Inspector General†and “Harvey†to more dramatic fare like “The Robe,†“A
Man Called Peter,†“The Virgin Queen,†“D-Day the Sixth of June†and “The Story
of Ruth.†At the end of his career he directed several enjoyable comedies with
James Stewart, “Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation,†“Take Her, She’s Mine†and “Dear
Brigitte.â€
The
story, based on the book by James McGivern, was almost certainly sanitized in
typical Hollywood fashion of the day. Contrary to the provocative image
depicted on the advertising art for this June 1958 release, Erika maintains her
virginal purity throughout as her dignity and future happiness is challenged.
Dana
Wynter is terrific as the shy German girl Erika. Interestingly, Wynter was born
Dagmar Winter in Berlin, Germany, grew up in England, moved to Rhodesia after
WWII and studied medicine at Rhodes University in South Africa. She was discovered
on the English stage and signed a seven year contract with 20th Century Fox in
1955. Retro movie fans will remember her from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,â€
“D-Day the Sixth of June†(working with Koster for the first time), “Sink the
Bismarck!,†“On the Double,†“The List of Adrian Messenger,†“Airport,†“The
Questor Tapes†and appearances in dozens of TV series from the 1950s to the
early 1990s.
Dolores
Michaels is very good as Erika’s less shy friend Lori, a piano playing bar maid
who is the complete opposite of Erika, but with the stereotypical heart of
gold. Another great female supporting role is Maggie Hayes as Ferrer’s military
aid, Lt., Berdie Dubbin.
Mel
Ferrer is charming and good natured as the American soldier who finds Erika and
falls in love with her. Theodore Bikel is underused but still memorable as the Russian Army Colonel
Bucaron. Pivotal to the story is James Edwards as Corporal Hanks in an
important supporting role. Edwards is probably best remembered for playing noble
military characters in many movies including “Home of the Brave,†“The
Manchurian Candidate†and “Patton.â€
John
Banner, fondly remembered as Sergeant Schultz in “Hogan’s Heroes,†appears in a
brief scene as a health inspector delivering bad news about Erika which is intercepted
by Lori. Unknown to Erika is that she’s been registered as a prostitute,a
development that adds considerable drama to the story and her hopes of
immigrating to America.
“Frauleinâ€
is a burn to order DVD released as part of the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives
and there are no extras on the disc. The sound quality on the disc is crisp
with a score by Daniele Amfitheatrof. The colors
look good, if a bit washed out in some scenes. The movie was filmed in
CinemaScope, but is presented full frame for this release. It is a pity that
Fox didn’t see fit to preserve the widescreen image for this release. While much
of the movie appears to have been filmed on sets, there are several second unit
shots of the Rhine River that would have looked very nice in widescreen. I
really enjoyed “Fraulein†and it is recommended for those who enjoy WWII
melodrama.
BY LEE PFEIFFER
I have seen virtually every James Bond clone released by major studios during the 1960s but "Assignment K" had eluded me until it was released as a burn-to-order title by the Sony Choice Collection. I was expecting another low-brow effort done on a small budget and perhaps affording some guilty pleasures throughout. However, "Assignment K" was a pleasant surprise. It's an intelligently written, well-acted espionage yarn that goes to some lengths to avoid Bondisms in favor of a realistic scenario populated by realistic characters. The film was directed by the woefully under-rated Val Guest, whose talents were generally dismissed at the time as workmanlike competence but which today seem much more impressive. (Guest had some spy movie experience, having previously directed key segments of the multi-director farce "Casino Royale".)
Stephen Boyd stars as Philip Scott, a high-powered executive of a London-based toy company. When we first meet him, he is attending an international trade show in Munich. We learn very quickly that the dapper, charismatic Scott is actually a secret agent of sorts. There are cryptic messages passed and even more cryptic conversations that take place at the toy fair as well as Scott's luxury hotel. (He seems to have a Bondian expense account, if nothing else.) The plot centers on a real MacGuffin: something about sneaking a strip of vitally important microfilm back to MI6 in London. Naturally, there are bad guys who want the microfilm, too, though I was never clear about precisely what information the strip contains. Nevertheless, Scott is not above mixing business with pleasure and during the course of his visit to Munich he meets Toni Peters (Camilla Sparv), a gorgeous young Swedish woman on holiday at a ski resort. She initially resists his attempts to get a date, but finally she relents. Scott goes all out to show her a good time and his substantial expense account certainly aids in the effort. He takes her a non-stop, dizzying agenda before succeeding in getting her back to luxurious villa. It isn't long before the undercover man is literally under the covers with his new flame. Before long, the two are madly in love- and Scott doesn't seem to be bothered by that gentleman's code for secret agents that dictates you shouldn't get too romantically involved with any "civilians". Scott's selfish obsession with Toni is understandable. (Hey, she looks like Camilla Sparv!). However, his judgment proves wrong when he continues to date her even after one of his contacts is murdered on a ski slope by adversaries who are after the microfilm. Ultimately, Toni is kidnapped and held for ransom, the price being that Scott must identify his key contact in Munich. Surprisingly, he agrees to do so, though the resolution of the problem is a little confusing in terms of his motivation. Throughout the plot, Scott keeps assuring the perplexed Toni that the real danger is over and the couple returns to London. Here, we see Scott report to his MI6 boss, Harris (played with amusing world-weariness by Michael Redgrave), who reminds him that he is putting an innocent girl in jeopardy. Sure enough, Toni is kidnapped once again, thus forcing Scott to follow in 007's footsteps in one key respect: he goes to the "toy company's" version of gadget master "Q" (Geoffrey Blaydo,n in an amusing reprise of virtually the same character he played in "Casino Royale") in order to use hi tech methods of tracking down where the kidnappers are located. He also imposes on the branch to devise a time bomb in a desperate attempt to free the innocent woman whose life he has now placed in danger. That's the extent of the hardware and gadgetry used in this film. Scott doesn't drive fantastic cars, nor does he have the ability to press buttons to get himself out of jams. He loses fist fights and takes beatings in a refreshing nod to realism.
Boyd's character is in the mode of Harry Palmer: he's clearly not enamored of moonlighting as a secret agent. (Unlike Palmer, he freelances, and thus can quit the profession at any time.) His cynicism, however, never reaches the depths of Alec Lemas, the despondent protagonist played by Richard Burton in "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold". Lemas was so cynical and disillusioned that you felt all the joy had been sapped from his life. Scott, however, adopts Palmer's ability to thumb his nose at his superiors but has not lost his joie de vivre when it comes to his vices: smoking, drinking and bedding beautiful women. The character is very well played by Stephen Boyd, an actor who could go over-the-top occasionally (see "The Oscar"!) Here he delivers one of the most restrained and impressive performances of his career. Sparv provides the kind of old world, spy girl glamour that is in short supply nowadays- and she is a more than competent actress, as well. The supporting cast is terrific and includes the great Leo McKern and Jeremy Kemp as heavies, as well as an appearance by Jan Werich, who originally filmed sequences as Blofeld in "You Only Live Twice" only to be replaced by Donald Pleasence. The film has an exotic look to it, as director Guest maximizes locations in London, Austria and "West Germany". (Isn't it satisfying that we can now eliminate "West" and "East" when describing Germany?) The plot is a bit confusing but the characters and dialogue are intriguing and there are some genuine surprises that are unveiled at the climax of the story. The only complaint is the musical score by Basil Kirchin, which is far too lightweight and zippy for a film with this somber premise.
"Assignment K" didn't make much of an impact during its initial release. Perhaps audiences were so jaded by the tidal wave of spy movies. In the U.S., the film was released as the second feature on the same bill with the horror film anthology "Torture Garden" and was dismissed by the New York Times in a few sentences that indicated it was nothing more than a glorified travelogue. It's a pity because if the film had received the reception it deserved, Boyd could have continued to play the character of Philip Scott in some well-warranted sequels.
The Sony Choice Collection DVD has a fine transfer, but is devoid of any extras, including a trailer or even a menu. Can't this film get some respect?
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