Kudos to everyone at Kino Lorber for bringing about this vitally important set. Here is the official press release:

New York, NY -- November 13, 2018 -- Kino Classics is proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers, a monumental 6-disc collection, curated by Shelley Stamp (author of Lois Weber in Early Hollywood) and executive produced by Illeana Douglas, celebrating the ground-breaking early female directors of American cinema who helped shape the language of film.

Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers will become available on Blu-ray and DVD November 20, 2018, with a SRP of $99.95 for the Blu-ray and $79.95 for the DVD. The films in this collection are accompanied by music scores composed by Renee C. Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and others. Special Features include an 80-page booklet with essays and photos, eight short documentaries featuring Interviews with historians and archivists, and audio commentaries for select films.

Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers continues the legacy begun by Pioneers of African-American Cinema, equally ambitious in scale, and every bit as historically significant. Presented in association with the Library of Congress (and drawing from the collections of other world-renowned film archives), Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is the largest commercially-released video collection of films by women directors, focusing on American films made between 1911 and 1929 -- a crucial chapter of our cultural history.

Featuring 2K and 4K restorations of more than 50 films, including features, shorts and fragments, this collection includes more than 25 hours of material, not only showcasing the work of these under-appreciated filmmakers, but also illuminating the gradual changes in how women directors were perceived (and treated) by the Hollywood establishment. Included are films by such pioneering filmmakers as Ruth Ann Baldwin ('49-'17), Grace Cunard (The Purple Mask), Dorothy Davenport (Linda, The Red Kimona), Alice Guy-Blaché (Algie the Miner, The Little Rangers, Matrimony's Speed Limit, The Ocean Waif), Zora Neale Hurston (ethnographic films), Cleo Madison (Eleanor's Catch), Frances Marion (The Song of Love), Alla Nazimova (Salome), Mabel Normand (Caught in a Cabaret, Mabel's Blunder), Ida May Park (Bread), Nell Shipman (Back to God's Country), Lois Weber (Hypocrites, Suspense, Scandal, Where Are My Children?), Elsie Jane Wilson (The Dream Lady), Marion E. Wong (The Curse of Quon Gwon), and many more.

By showcasing the ambitious, inventive films from the golden age of women directors, we can get a sense of what was lost by the marginalization of women to "support roles" within the film industry.

"The names Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber, Dorothy Davenport Reid, and other significant female directors deserve to have their names celebrated next to DeMille's, and Griffith's as the early pioneers of Hollywood," said Illeana Douglas. "Just as these woman told powerful stories to raise awareness and educate, we must do the same! I am honored to be a part of Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers, so that these films, and filmmakers, can be put in the pantheon of cinema where they belong."

"Women played an extraordinary role in early filmmaking, but this history has been largely forgotten," said Shelley Stamp, author of Lois Weber in Early Hollywood. "I'm so thrilled that these films have been restored and re-scored so that contemporary audiences will have a chance to see what female filmmakers were up to 100 years ago."

In the early decades of cinema, some of the most innovative and celebrated filmmakers in America were women. Alice Guy-Blaché helped establish the basics of cinematic language, while others boldly continued its development: slapstick queen Mabel Normand (who taught Charlie Chaplin the craft of directing), action star Grace Cunard, and LGBTQ icon Alla Nazimova. Unafraid of controversy, filmmakers such as Lois Weber and Dorothy Davenport Reid tackled explosive issues such as birth control, abortion, and prostitution. This crucial chapter of film history comes alive through the presentation of a wide assortment of films, carefully curated, meticulously restored in 2K and 4K from archival sources, and presented with new musical scores.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Twilight Time has released the 1969 British anti-war comedy/drama "The Virgin Soldiers" as a limited edition (3,000 units) Blu-ray. Adapted from  the 1966 novel by Leslie Thomas,who based the tale on his personal experiences while serving in Malaya in the early 1950s when British troops were called into action to quell political unrest and violent uprisings. The film has been compared to Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" which was released the following year and which focused on American forces serving in the Korean War. Both films were riding the wave of anti-Vietnam War protests and their geographical locations could easily be swapped for those in Vietnam. Additionally, the two movies both have a similar tone in that they mix a cynical, comedic view of life in the military with morbid scenes that display the carnage of the conflicts. In "M*A*S*H" the human toll of war is confined to scenes in the operating room where over-stressed surgical teams try to save the lives of those who were badly wounded. In "The Virgin Soldiers", the horrors of war come late in the film with a surprise attack by insurgents on a train carrying soldiers to an location where they were supposed to enjoy some leave time. But there are major differences in the way the story lines are presented. The Altman film dealt primarily with the antics of a trio of wiseguy anti-Establishment types while "The Virgin Soldiers" chronicles the personal experiences of a private, Brigg (Hywel Bennett) and a young civilian woman, Phillipa Raskin (Lynn Redgrave), who is forced to live on a military base where her father (Nigel Patrick) serves as the R.S.M. Most of the screen time is devoted to the Brigg character as he tries to get through his obligatory stint in National Service unscathed. The film presents the usual scattershot collection of men in the regiment as an eclectic bunch ranging from cowards to unlikely heroes. There is even an openly gay couple, which defies credibility since homosexuality in British society was considered to be a criminal act at the time.

The early part of the movie depicts the young soldiers as untested, naive and afraid of actually going into combat- all perfectly human concerns. They are also bored on the base due to lack of female companionship and are desperate for sex with any available woman. Amidst an atmosphere in which his fellow soldiers brag about their sexual conquests, Brigg nervously tries to arrange losing his virginity while posing as an experienced lady's man. He tries to satiate his sexual desires with a local hooker, Juicy Lucy (winningly played by Tsai Chin), whose heart of gold extends to giving credit on account to any soldier who suffers impotence from performance anxiety. The unit's sergeant, Driscoll (Nigel Davenport), instills military discipline in his charges while also acting as a father figure, recognizing that these frightened young men are far away from home and are facing a conflict in an exotic land that they don't even understand. A parallel plot centers on the miserable existence of Philippa whose father is a strutting misogynist and comically inept figure. Her mother (played by Redgrave's real-life mum Rachel Kempson) is a dippy eccentric whose primary focus seems to be on the well-being of her pet goldfish. Phillipa is much-desired by every soldier on the base, given the lack of females in their vicinity. They view her as a sultry woman of the world when, in fact, she, too, is also a virgin, much to the consternation of her father, who constantly derides her for not yet having taken up with a man. He even chides her by telling her that the local gossip speculates she might be a lesbian. Phillipa is emotionally alone in the world in a location she can't relate to and doesn't want to be in, much like the young recruits on the base. She refuses to be a temporary bed mate for soldiers who are moving on.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Any retro movie lover would be forgiven for thinking there would be a multitude of pleasures in The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday, a 1976 Western comedy top-lining such considerable talents as Lee Marvin, Oliver Reed, Robert Culp, Kay Lenz, Elizabeth Ashley, Sylvia Miles and the always watchable Strother Martin. Sadly, the film is a complete misfire with nary a true guffaw to be found throughout. The movie is directed by Don Taylor, who helmed some fairly good films including Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Damien: Omen II and The Final Countdown. However, comedy is not Taylor's strong suit, as evidenced by the over-the-top elements of the movie. The quasi plot finds Marvin as Sam Longwood, an eccentric plainsman who is partnered with Indian Joe Knox (Oliver Reed) and  Billy (Strother Martin) in an attempt to track down their former partner Jack Colby (Robert Culp) who fled with the haul the gold hoarde the four men had discovered years before. Colby has used the stolen loot to establish himself as a respectable politician. Sam, Joe and Billy concoct a scheme whereby they will blackmail Colby into returning their share of the money by kidnapping his wife Nancy Sue (Elizabeth Ashley), a loud-mouthed and obnoxious woman who has had romantic ties to Sam in the past. For reasons far too labored to go into, the trio of men are also accompanied by a seventeen year-old prosititute named Thursday (Kay Lenz) who is seeking to escape the clutches of her former madam (Sylvia Miles).

The film has boundless energy but the non-screenplay leads the characters to dead-ends. Taylor inserts numerous slapstick comedy bits that bring out the worst in Marvin, as he goes into his over-acting mode routinely. Most embarrassing is the bizarre casting of Reed as a Native American. Cursed by having to wear a mop-haired wig and grunting "Me Tarzan, You Jane"-style dialogue, Reed does the most harm to the image of the Indian since the massacre at Wounded Knee. The film lurches from extended fistfights to boring chase sequences, all designed to mask over the fact that the script is a bland, pasted together conconction. There is also a jaunty musical score by John Cameron that is played almost non-stop, causing you to keep the remote on "mute" mode. The only people to emerge relatively unscathed are Lenz, Culp and Martin, who provided whatever wit and charm the film boasts. On paper, the project probably looked promising, but in terms of any genuine laughs...well, they went that-a-way.

Kino Lorber has released the film on Blu-ray with a good transfer and an abundance of trailers (including one for this movie) that prove to be far more entertaining than the main feature. 

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Racial tensions are flaring in the deep South. White supremacists are marching with members of the Klan, as progressive counter-protestors face off against them amidst a media frenzy. Confederate banners are proudly waved opposite those displaying the American flag. You would be forgiven for thinking this scenario describes the USA in the year 2018 but in actuality it's the setting for the 1996 political thriller "The Chamber", based on the novel by John Grisham. Like other Grisham cinematic tales, it's a complex story of eccentric characters, some laudable, others villainous, and its decked out with an atmosphere of Southern fried hatred. The film opens in Mississippi in 1967 when a Jewish civil rights lawyer makes the fatal mistake of taking his two young sons to work with him on the very day the Klan has placed a time bomb in his office. The resulting blast kills the boys and injures the father, who later commits suicide, leaving his widow (Millie Perkins) to cope with a lifetime of unspeakable sorrow. The story then cuts to the present day (1996) where we find Adam Hall (Chris O'Donnell),  a bright, dedicated young lawyer, determined to intervene on behalf of the man who was convicted of the hate crime and who is now about to be executed after many years of exhausted appeals while on Death Row. The culprit is Sam Cayhall (Gene Hackman) and he is Adam's grandfather, though the young man has never met him. This introduces the first problem with the screenplay by the usually estimable William Goldman: we are never really clear about why Adam is so dedicated to savING the life of a grandfather he has never met. He is clearly haunted by the fact that his own father committed suicide when Adam was a child, presumably out of the overwhelming shame of being Sam Cayhall's son. Adam's motives are left murky, especially when there is no doubt that Sam did plant the deadly device in the lawyer's office. Is Adam grasping at straws in trying to reclaim some dignity for his family's name or is he on to something more intriguing? Because this is a Grisham tale, our hero does turn detective and learns that Sam had at least one co-conspirator, a local white supremacist (Raymond J. Barry) who was never on law enforcement's radar. Turns out he is actually Sam's brother and has been living under an assumed name. In a dramatic meeting, Sam's brother implores him not to spill the beans and to continue to cover for him until he is executed a few days later in the gas chamber. Sam responds with a verbal onslaught against his brother, screaming out that the plan was never to kill anyone. If that's the case, why is Sam willing to go to his death to continue to cover up for his slime bag brother? The question is left ambiguous. 

There's a lot of legal maneuvering as Adam exhausts the options available to save Sam, who he has met and formed a bond with. Behind Sam's exterior of hatred and racism we learn there is a deep-thinking, intelligent man who is more nuanced than one might think when it comes to race relations. This warm, fuzzy side of the character doesn't ring true and seems to be a plot contrivance to make the audience sympathize with his plight. Helping matters is the fine performance by Gene Hackman, which goes a long way to making Sam accessible from an emotional standpoint even if his conversion is unconvincing. (After all, he still had willingly carried out a terrorist action in the name of racism.) The supporting cast includes Faye Dunaway as Sam's estranged and long-suffering daughter who saw him murder a black man when she was a child. She's now living the life of a Southern belle and is not too happy with being outed as Sam's offspring. The script does allow for father and daughter to have a somber reunion in prison and it's one of the few scenes that works credibly in the film. (It's also enjoyable to see Hackman and Dunaway reunited for the first time since "Bonnie and Clyde" 29 years earlier.) Lela Rochon is tossed into the mix in an under-written role as a young African American attorney who is being manipulated by the Mississippi governor (David Marshall Grant, playing the role like Snidely Whiplash) to befriend Adam in order to find out what legal strategies he is employing. The implication is that the Governor and other top officials have a lot to fear if Sam is not executed on schedule, but these factors are left frustratingly murky.

BY TIM MCGLYNN

“Life’s a banquet, and most sons of bitches are starving to death!”

The Warner Archive has just released the Blu-ray version of Mame, 1974’s film version of the hit Broadway show. The musical itself was based on the play Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell, also a film and also available from the Warner Archive.

On paper, this movie had “hit” written all over it with Mame’s Broadway director Gene Saks on board along with Bea Arthur (Saks’ wife) and Jane Connell reprising their stage roles. The popular score by Jerry Herman was augmented with a new song, Loving You. Phillip H. Lathrop was the cinematographer, Onna White staged the production numbers and veteran composer/arranger Fred Werner supervised the music.

The casting of the title role created controversy at the time as the star of the Broadway version of Mame, Angela Lansbury, was overlooked in favor of television and film legend Lucille Ball. It was decided at the time that Ms. Ball would draw a larger audience as film musicals had been sputtering at the box office. Previous efforts such as Paint Your Wagon, Hello Dolly and Lost Horizon had been financial disasters, and the studio wanted to stack the deck in favor of Mame breaking this trend.

Lucille Ball had never been known as a singer and at age 63 she may have not been as nimble on her feet as she was in earlier musicals. One just has to remember her taming the cat dancers with a whip in MGM’s Ziegfield Follies in 1946. Ms. Ball’s performance as Mame Dennis is still enjoyable and, if anything, is somewhat restrained. Scenes involving a comic foxhunt with Mame riding sidesaddle and a disastrous stage debut could have turned into Lucy Ricardo style slapstick, but were wisely held in check by director Saks. Ms. Ball conveyed warmth, strength and gentle humor in her performance as the eccentric, but lovable aunt.

The story follows the young and recently orphaned Patrick Dennis being sent to New York to live with his only living relative: his father’s sister Mame, a free-spirited bachelorette socialite. Mame instantly takes a liking to her nephew and vows to show him all the culture and unconventional personalities of Manhattan during the late 1920s. Her friends include a stage actress of dubious talent, the headmaster of a Bohemian nudist school, a less- than- successful stockbroker and a loyal houseboy.

Mame’s escapades with Patrick are made aware to his guardian, a conservative bank president, who sends the child to boarding school. Despite this setback, Auntie Mame remains the main influence on her nephew’s upbringing, and the story tracks their relationship through Patrick reaching adulthood and his preparations to marry. Along the way Mame encounters the stock crash of 1929, employment in customer service, marriage to a Southern aristocrat and a sudden tragedy. Her one constant through everything is her loving relationship with young Patrick.

A fantastic supporting cast includes Bea Arthur as actress Vera Charles, Jane Connell as Patrick’s nanny Agnes Gooch, Robert Preston as Mame’s love interest Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, George Chiang as the houseboy Ito, Joyce Van Patten as Southern belle Sally Cato, Bruce Davison as the adult Patrick and John McGiver as Mr. Babcock, Patrick’s guardian.

Musical highlights include the beautifully staged title number sung by Robert Preston, a touching duet, My Best Girl, between Mame and Patrick, the hilariously wicked Bosom Buddies, where Mame and Vera confirm their lifelong friendship and a genuine holiday moment with the charming We Need a Little Christmas.

The script by Paul Zindel does drag a bit in the second act as adult Patrick contemplates marriage. There is an awkward jump as one wedding is called off and another takes place. Zindel does include many of the one-liners that made the stage version so humorous. Chiang, the houseboy answers a call from Mame’s financial adviser asking “he wants to know what to do with your stocks before he jumps out the window.” Vera enters the room after an all-night binge and declares: “Somebody has been sleeping in my dress!”

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Kevin Costner stars in and directs the triumphant cinematic masterpiece Dances with Wolves, based on the novel by Michael Blake. Available November 13th, 2018 from Shout! Factory, this breathtaking three-disc Steelbook Collector’s Edition includes the original theatrical cut for the first time on Blu-ray, an extended cut of the film and an entire disc of bonus features. 

Winner of seven Academy Awards®, including Best Directing and Best Picture, this modern classic tells the story of Lt. Dunbar (Costner), a Civil War hero who befriends a tribe of Native Americans while stationed at a desolate outpost on the frontier. What follows is a series of unforgettable moments — from Dunbar’s tender scenes with Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell), to the thrilling, action-packed buffalo hunt. Experience the excitement, emotion and sweeping beauty of this cinematic treasure as never before on Blu-ray!

Dances with Wolves Bonus Features

Disc One: Theatrical Cut

Disc Two: Extended Cut

·        Audio Commentary with actor/producer/director Kevin Costner and producer Jim Wilson

·        Audio Commentary with director of photography Dean Semler and editor Neil Travis

Disc Three: Bonus Features

·        A Day in the Life on the Western Frontier

·        The Original Making of Dances with Wolves

·        The Creation of an Epic - A Retrospective Documentary

·        Music Video

·        Five Vignettes (Second Wind, Confederate March and Music, Getting the Point, Burying the Hatchet, Animatronic Buffalo)

·        TV Spots

·        Theatrical Trailer

·        Poster and Photo Galleries

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN 

How you’ll feel about MGM’s “The Last Hunt” (1956), a grim depiction of the decimation of the buffalo herds out west in the 1880s, depends on how you feel about actually seeing buffalo shot down before your eyes while the cameras rolled. Writer/director Richard Brooks wanted the film to be a searing indictment of the men who ravaged the western frontier, especially those who made their living hunting bison. For the sake of authenticity, he and producer Dore Schary went out on location to Custer National Park, South Dakota, where they still have a small herd of buffalo. They got some spectacular footage of the buffalo stampeding over the Black Hills and had government permission to film during the annual “thinning of the herd,” when sharpshooters are invited to kill a limited number of buffs to keep them from overpopulating. As a result. there are scenes in “The Last Hunt” in which we see buffalo hunters Charlie Gilson (Robert Taylor) and Sandy McKenzie (Stewart Granger) shooting down a dozen or more of the majestic beasts as they sit peacefully unaware by a watering hole. It is isn’t a reenactment. It’s real and it’s disturbing to watch.

But that was Brooks’ intent. He wanted to show how greed and hatred of the Indian brought the buffalo to near extinction. Buffalo hides not only brought the hunters a good price but in their minds a dead buffalo meant less meat for the Indians. Brooks personifies these attitudes most vividly in the psychopathic Charlie Gilson. He is a man who hates everything, especially buffalo and Indians. He gets a real kick out of killing, too. He says it makes him feel alive. Taylor is convincing as a truly bad man, although his performance is somewhat one-dimensional. In most of the scenes, he’s either drunk and surly or just plain mean and surly.

On the other hand, McKenzie is a gentler soul who only agrees to go on the hunt when his small herd of cattle is wiped out by a buffalo stampede. He has no animosity against Native Americans and keeps telling Charlie he needs to chill out. Granger gives a good performance as a nice guy, but he’s almost too nice to be believable. Also in the hunting party are Lloyd Nolan as Woodfoot, a skinner with a peg leg and Russ Tamblyn as Jimmy, a redheaded half-breed, whom Charlie can barely tolerate. Woodfoot could have been an Ahab-type character with a grudge against buffalo for losing his leg, but he’s more philosophical than that. He’s seen a lot. He explains Charlie’s hatred for Indians to Jimmy by showing how much alike they are. He says Charlie eats without a fork, just like an Indian, he’s free with his women just like an Indian, he even blows his nose in his fingers like an Indian. “But you see, Charlie don’t like himself very much,” Woodfoot says, “so it’s only natural he’d hate Indians.”

The four men manage an uneasy coexistence until their pack mules are stolen one night by a small band of roving Indians. Sandy and Woodfoot are willing to let it go, but Charlie rides off after them with blood in his eye. He tracks them down, kills them and wounds an Indian Girl (Debra Paget) traveling with a small boy. He brings the girl and boy back to camp and beds down with her, much to Sandy’s dislike. Charlie gets drunk and mistreats the girl, while Sandy seethes, but remains silent. Sandy and the Indian girl begin to get closer, however, when Charlie’s not around or just passed out and tension slowly builds.

Things come to a head when Sandy hesitates to shoot a white buffalo because he knows it has religious significance to the Indians. Charlie has no such qualms. He knows the hide will bring a price of $2,000. He kills it and now both the Indian girl and the white buffalo hide become the sources of conflict that eventually leads to a violent and chilling climax.

“The Last Hunt” is an interesting film made by an interesting director. Like some of Richard Brooks’ other films, such as “In Cold Blood” and “Bite the Bullet,” it’s hard-hitting, almost merciless, in its portrayal of the darkness that lies just below the thin veneer of civilization. It could have been a classic, but it has become a victim of the era in which it was made. It’s not likely that any major studio today would release a film showing the deliberate killing of live animals, no matter what the reason. For one thing PETA would make life miserable for the film makers, and today’s audiences would most likely condemn it as well. The casting of Debra Paget as the unnamed “Indian Girl” is another strike against it. The casting was not Richard Brooks’ fault. Movie studios in 1956 never cast Native Americans in major roles. Indian characters were usually played by Mexican actors like Delores Del Rio or Gilbert Roland. Paget does a great job, but it’s a false note in a film that tries so hard to be authentic.

But the biggest problems with “The Last Hunt” is its slow pace. The film focuses too much on the five main characters bogged down in their own personal conflicts. It takes forever for McKenzie to finally have his fill of Charlie’s constant bullying and mean-tempered treatment of the woman and the half-breed. He’s too mild-mannered and when the final showdown does happen it’s a long, drawn out affair that lacks suspense.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Universal City, California, November 1, 2018 – Five of some of the most timeless holiday films come together on Blu-ray™ and DVD in The Original Christmas Specials Collection: Deluxe Edition available now from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Featuring all-new bonus features and unforgettable characters, experience these five classic holiday specials with your whole family.

‘Tis the season to enjoy the timeless holiday classics in The Original Christmas Specials Collection: Deluxe Edition featuring 5 unforgettable stories.  Produced by the legendary Rankin/Bass, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and The Little Drummer Boy feature iconic Animagicâ„¢ stop-motion animation and Frosty the Snowman and Cricket on the Hearth are beautifully illustrated. Starring the voice talents of Fred Astaire, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, Danny Thomas, Burl Ives and many more, these favorites also feature some of the most beloved songs of the season and are sure to entertain audiences of all ages for generations to come!

The Original Christmas Specials Collection: Deluxe Edition includes Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970), The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Cricket on the Hearth (1967). Along with The Original Christmas Specials Collection: Deluxe Edition, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town are also available in individual new Deluxe Editions on Blu-RayTM and DVD.

BONUS FEATURES:

·        The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass: An all-new documentary celebrating the legacy of the holiday specials created by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass including interviews with filmmakers and historians.

·        Restoring the Puppets of Rudolph: Discover how the puppets from the beloved special were restored.

·        Reimagining Rudolph in 4D: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer attraction film.

·        Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Attraction Film: A short stop-motion film originally created for a Rudolph 4D experience.

·        T.E.A.M. Rudolph and the Reindeer Games: A video storybook including the untold story of the Reindeer Games

·        Frosty the Snowman Original Pencil Test

·        Commentaries on Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

·        And much more!

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“YOUNG REBEL WITH A MOVIE CAMERA”

By Raymond Benson

Arrow has released an interesting time capsule of a boxed set that features early work by director Brian De Palma and starring a very young Robert De Niro before either of them were significant names in the motion picture industry. The films are The Wedding Party (made in 1963, released in 1969), Greetings (1968), and Hi, Mom! (1970).

De Palma had embarked on a film career in the very early 1960s when he was a student at various institutions. While at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, he collaborated with then-theatre-professor Wilford Leach (who went on to become a major stage director, designer, and writer) and Cynthia Munroe (who provided much of the script and funding) to make a feature entitled The Wedding Party. Most accounts (including IMDb) state that the movie was made in 1963; however, an essay by Brad Stevens in the accompanying Blu-ray booklet claims that the film was shot in 1964-65. It was eventually copyrighted in 1966, but wasn’t released until 1969, after the moderate success of De Palma’s first mainstream (of sorts) picture, Greetings (released a year earlier in ‘68).

The most interesting thing going for The Wedding Party is that it also sports the movie debut of De Niro, as well as Jill Clayburgh, William Finley, and Jennifer Salt (although De Niro’s name is misspelled in the credits as “Denero”—go figure). It’s one odd little movie, very low-budget, shot in black and white, and in a style reminiscent of early silent comedies (although it has sound). In a supplemental featurette, critic and filmmaker Howard S. Berger cites Richard Lester’s The Running, Jumping, and Standing Still Film (1959) as an influence, and one can see that. There is speeded-up footage in which characters run around, jump, fall, and drive cars in a comic, Keystone Cops fashion. There is also a French New Wave feel in that the picture is full of radical jump cuts. De Niro’s character, Cecil, is really a supporting role/groomsman to protagonist Charlie (Charles Pfluger), the groom of the titular event, and Josephine (Clayburgh), the bride. William Finley, who went on to star in other De Palma pictures, particularly Phantom of the Paradise, is another groomsman. The Wedding Party is a black comedy about the hypocritical rites of a wedding and the familial events leading up to it. There’s a laugh or two.

Greetings was another black comedy made in collaboration with co-writer/producer Charles Hirsch as the kind of pseudo-underground, low-budget, counterculture art film that budding filmmakers were creating to appeal to the college crowd in the late 60s (movies like Bob Rafelson’s Head or some of Roger Corman’s hippie-biker pictures come to mind). De Niro shares protagonist status with Gerrit Graham and Jonathan Warden as Jon, Lloyd, and Paul, respectively. Each young man is rebelling against society in some way. Paul wants to avoid the draft (so his pals help him be “gay”); Lloyd is obsessed with the Kennedy assassination and seeks to uncover its secrets; and Jon wants to be a pornographer. The picture is shot in a similar vein as was Wedding Party, albeit in color this time, with even more uncompromising editing. This time it’s got the whole late-60s pop thing going for it—shock-value subject matter, political commentary, drugs, violence, and sex. In fact, the latter component earned Greetings the distinction of being the first American mainstream movie to be officially given the “X” rating by the newly-established MPAA (it has since been re-rated “R”).

According to Hirsch, Greetings got mixed reviews but did good business, especially in New York, where it played well at art houses. It was decided that a sequel was in order, originally called Son of Greetings, but the title was eventually changed to Hi, Mom! Released in 1970, Mom almost received an “X” rating, but De Palma deleted part of a scene to get an “R.”

Hi, Mom! is yet another black comedy, and this one’s particularly subversive. It focuses solely on De Niro’s character, Jon, who has returned to New York after serving in Vietnam. Now he’s radicalized and wants to make a statement to the world. Hirsch calls the character “Taxi Driver Light,” and one can see a glimpse of Travis Bickle here in De Niro’s Jon. This time, Jon continues his venture into smut-making (with the help of pornographer Allen Garfield, continuing a role he started in Greetings) by filming across the street into people’s apartment windows, Rear Window-style. He falls for one of the victims of his voyeurism, Judy (Jennifer Salt). Most notable in the picture is a disturbing black and white sequence in which an off-off-Broadway troupe of black actors perform a show entitled “Baby, Be Black,” in which white audience members are forced to participate in the show, put on blackface, eat soul food, and then be terrorized by the actors (who are painted in whiteface). Not sure how this sequence would play for a modern audience! Look for early appearances by Charles Durning (credited as Charles Durnham) and Paul Bartel.

Arrow has done a top-notch job with these cinematic oddities. The High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations with original English mono audio (uncompressed LPCM) look and sound surprisingly good. There are optional English subtitles. Supplements are plentiful. There’s a new audio commentary on Greetings by Glenn Kenny, author of Robert De Niro: Anatomy of an Actor; a new appreciation of De Palma’s and De Niro’s collaborations by critic and filmmaker Howard S. Berger; new interviews with Charles Hirsch; the pressbook for Greetings; the theatrical trailer for Hi, Mom!; reversible sleeves on the two jewel cases with commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin; and booklets featuring pieces on the films by Brad Stevens, Chris Dumas, and Christina Newland, and an archival interview with De Palma and Hirsch.

All three films are curiosities, certainly fare for film historians and serious enthusiasts of De Palma and De Niro. For others, the trio will be considered very strange pieces of cinema that merely reflect the times in which they were made.

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“BEFORE #METOO THERE WAS…THE APARTMENT”

By Raymond Benson

One wonders if Billy Wilder’s magnificent comedy-drama, The Apartment, could be made today in the age of #MeToo. Probably not, despite its brilliant script, exceptional cast and performances, perfect direction, and its positive message against sexual harassment in the workplace.

Even so, in some circles The Apartment was considered controversial upon its release in 1960. Hollis Alpert in the Saturday Review called it a “dirty fairy tale.” Then again, The Apartment was coming off the heels of the hugely successful and popular Some Like it Hot, which the more-Puritan side of America may have called illicit and tawdry, too. Or perhaps co-writer and director Wilder was simply good at telling grown-up tales for adults within the context of a rapidly-maturing culture that was on the verge of a decade known for its freedom of expression. The 1960s was an explosion in breaking taboos—in all the arts, as well as in politics, civil rights, and sexual mores. It was the decade of revolution, protest, and the Pill.

Matthew Weiner was most assuredly influenced by The Apartment to create his groundbreaking television series, Mad Men, which also spotlighted sexual harassment in corporate America in the 1960s. The executives of Mad Men’s Manhattan advertising firm often behaved like their counterparts in the New York insurance company that is at the center of The Apartment. To think that Wilder did it first, and at the beginning of the actual decade in question, is a kind of eerie premonition.

In the film, written by Wilder and his relatively new (since 1957) scribe partner, I.A.L. Diamond, several executives at the firm take advantage of schlemiel C. C. “Bud” Baxter (a career-defining performance for Jack Lemmon) by borrowing the underling’s Upper West Side apartment for extramarital affairs, often with women from the office. Baxter hopes for a promotion out of the deal. One of the bosses, Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray, playing against type once again for Wilder) wants the apartment for a liaison with Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine, in a career-making performance), who is a lowly elevator operator at the firm. The problem is that Bud is sweet on Fran himself.

It’s a screwball comedy, a love story, a treatise on gender politics, and a cynical take on American morality, all done with Billy Wilder’s singular flare for caustic wit and irony. Oscar voters thought it was special, too, for the picture walked away with the statues for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, as well as Art/Set Direction (black and white) and Editing. Lemmon and MacLaine were nominated in the leading acting categories, as was Jack Kruschen (who plays an initially bewildered—and then helpful—neighbor) for Supporting Actor.

Arrow’s Blu-ray release is a marvel. The brand new 4K restoration looks astonishingly sharp and crystal clear, an absolute perfect representation of the film. It comes with an uncompressed PCM mono soundtrack, with an optional 5.1 remix in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. There’s an audio commentary by film producer and historian Bruce Block.

Unlike previous home video releases, this Arrow release contains loads of supplements. The Key to the Apartment is a wonderful and concise introduction to the movie by film historian Philip Kemp, who also provides selected scene commentary throughout the picture. The Flawed Couple is a new video piece by filmmaker David Cairns on the unique collaboration between Wilder and Lemmon. Hope Holiday, who plays one of Bud’s bar pickups, is featured in a short interview with anecdotes about the making of the movie. Of interest to budding screenwriters is an archival interview with Wilder for the WGA Oral Histories program on how he writes a script. Also included are previously-released documentaries from 2007, Inside the Apartment, a making-of featurette, and Magic Time: The Art of Jack Lemmon—but now presented in high definition. A reverse sleeve on the jewel case presents the original artwork for the film poster and newly commissioned artwork by Ignatius Fitzpatrick.

Arrow Academy is rapidly becoming one of the great classic film restorers on Blu-ray. The Apartment is a testament to its quality-control. Billy Wilder’s masterpiece (one of several!) is also a work of genius that, considering today’s sexual politics, still stands the test of time.

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BY TIM MCGLYNN

The Warner Archive has just released the 1951 RKO science-fiction classic The Thing From Another World on Blu-ray and it is a definite improvement over the current DVD edition.

Howard Hawks produced this tight 87-minute thriller from a script by Charles Lederer and the original story Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. Lederer removed the shape shifter aspects of the alien visitor and dialed back the paranoia that John Carpenter explored in his graphic 1982 remake. Here, the scientists who discovered the crashed remains of a flying saucer under the ice near the North Pole are shocked to find the remains of an extra-terrestrial. After returning to the base camp with their frozen visitor, an accident allows the creature to thaw and wreak havoc upon the researchers and the Air Force team sent to assist.

The creature, played by James Arness, needs blood to survive and reproduce, and two members of the crew are found hung upside down with their throats slit. Kenneth Tobey leads the team of soldiers and scientists, now isolated due to a storm, in a desperate battle to subdue the alien before they are all killed.

The strong supporting cast includes Robert Cornthwaite, Margaret Sheridan, Dewey Martin, Douglas Spencer and in a rare on-screen appearance, voiceover master Paul Frees. The pace is fast and furious with not a scene or line of dialogue wasted in this chilling story of do-or-die survival against a seemingly undefeatable foe. The monster, compared by the scientists to a form of plant-life, is unaffected by bullets and demonstrates it has the ability to reproduce itself after a sled dog attack severs its arm. A spectacular sequence features an attempt to incinerate the creature by dousing it with kerosene and setting it ablaze. What follows is a thrilling action set that critic Roger Ebert admitted scared him to death as a youth. Director James Cameron, in the sci-fi documentary Watch the Skies, noted it as the first full body burn in a Hollywood movie and marveled that “the entire scene was lit by the guy on fire.”

Controversy followed the completion of The Thing as to who actually helmed the film. Direction is credited to Christian Nyby, but many critics claim that the film is very close to producer Hawks in style and execution. Subsequent interviews with several cast members reveal that even the actors weren’t sure who was in charge.

Hawks and Nyby were clever in never showing an extended close up of Arness as the Thing, thus keeping him more mysterious and anonymous. Later interviews revealed that Hawks was never satisfied with the look of the creature and actor Arness was somewhat embarrassed by the costume and make-up effects. The story comes to an electrifying conclusion that asks the world, in the midst of numerous real-life UFO sightings across the country, to “watch the skies.”

The technicians at Warner Archive have done a masterful job at rescuing this favorite classic from the ravages of time. The new disc was created from a 1080p high-definition master in 1.37 preserving Russell Harlan’s claustrophobic framing and his beautiful black and white photography. All scratches, dirt, pops and instances of flicker have been removed. The contrast is sharp and the blacks are rich with fantastic detail now revealed in every scene. What might have been stock footage of the Air Force plane landing at the North Pole is crisp and appears to be second-unit work specifically for this film. Several sequences that were inserted back into the original print, such as the “close the door” scene with General Fogarty, are nearly as clear as the rest of the film. Watch for the scene where we first meet Dr. Carrington and notice that the elements on the periodic table above his head may be clearly read.

The mono sound is very crisp and makes it easier to follow the rapid-fire dialogue, which was a hallmark of Hawks’ productions. The humorous romantic exchanges between Tobey and Sheridan are especially helped by this sonic enhancement. The re-mastered soundtrack also allows us to fully appreciate the growling brass and eerie theremin tonalities from Dimitri Tiomkin’s score. The opening credits might remind you of Tiomkin’s themes during the graveyard scene in It’s a Wonderful Life, which was made at RKO six year prior to this film.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray release of The Thing from Another World is an occasion where it is definitely worth the cost of upgrading from the DVD, although the only bonus extras are a couple of trailers. This is a film that John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and James Cameron all cite as a major inspiration for their own works. This new print shimmers and would make a worthy addition to your home library.

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BY TIM MCGLYNN

“You probably think I’m beautiful, but I’m not.”

Super model Tina Cassidy (Kathryn Witt) visits Hollywood plastic surgeon Larry Roberts with a specific list of tiny imperfections that need to be corrected at the request of Reston Industries, a producer of glossy television commercials. Dr. Roberts becomes curious when he realizes that several of his recent patients have had the same type of list.

What follows is a science fiction/police procedural that involves the murder of these same models. The police become suspicious when it is discovered that all the victims were patients of Dr. Roberts

Director/Writer Michael Crichton once again makes predictions based on emerging technologies. His first feature film, Westworld (1973), pioneered the use of digitized imagery to present the point of view of Yul Brynner’s android gunslinger.

In Looker, we have actors being converted to computerized images that may be manipulated through animation. These digital actors communicate subliminal messages that cue the audience to respond favorably to the product. Once these models are scanned by the L.O.O.K.E.R. (Light Ocular-Oriented Kinetic Emotive Responses) program, there’s no need for humans to create commercials. And if the process works so well at convincing television viewers to buy, why not use it to manipulate a national election and allow a corporate-friendly Senator to be elected President?

In one effective scene, Tina returns to her home to visit with her parents and finds that they can’t take their eyes away from a comedy show they are watching. Mom and Dad have been drawn in by L.O.O.K.E.R.

Reston Industries is also preparing the L.O.O.K.E.R. technology for military applications with a gun that renders an enemy immobile for several minutes leaving no memory of the event. A henchman hired to kill Dr. Roberts employs the weapon to almost humorous effect as he taunts his victim.

A good thriller requires a great cast and director Crichton chose wisely with Albert Finney as the mild mannered surgeon Dr. Roberts. One might wonder if this character was at all inspired by the Beatles’ song of the same name. Also on hand are James Coburn as sleazy corporate head John Reston, Susan Dey as model Cindy Fairmont, the always beautiful Leigh-Taylor Young as marketing director Jennifer Long and Dorian Heywood as Lieutenant Masters.

Most people may be aware of this film only from its claustrophobic pan and scan showings on pay cable during the 80s and 90s. The Warner Archive’s’widescreen Blu-ray provides a beautifully restored edition of Looker in all its Panavision glory. The stereo sound is properly re-mastered and showcases the music score by Barry De Vorzon, who created a terrific techno-thriller soundtrack that avoided the cheese factor and aged well. And then there’s that title song, performed by Sue Saad, that will definitely earworm its way into your head for days.

This new Blu-ray version of Looker will propel you back to the 80s in style and comfort.  Bonus features are the original trailer, an informative introduction by Michael Creighton and a deleted scene that was included in the TV broadcast of the film. Another great addition to the Warner Archive library.

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