Bruce Willis's family has announced the legendary actor will be "stepping away" from acting due to health-related concerns.Willis has been diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects someone's abilities to communicate either verbally or through writing. The condition, which progresses slowly, causes degenerative harm and is usually caused by a head injury or a stroke. It is not known what the precise cause of Willis's condition is or whether it may have resulted from his work in action-oriented films. For more, click here.

Enjoy this episode of "The Saint" starring Roger Moore, originally aired in 1963 and presented by Shout! Factory. You'll see some familiar faces in the cast: Dawn Addams, Neil McCallum, Michael Bates and Angus Lennie (who appeared in "The Great Escape" the same year) among them. This episode, "The Fellow Traveler", was the second episode of Season 2. Check out Shout!FactoryTV.com for more classic shows and movies. To watch the film using the "full screen" option, click here)

Thanks to Universal, you can enjoy "Eight on the Lam" (1967) starring Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Jill St. John and Jonathan Winters. If you subscribe to their YouTube channel, you'll get access to many other uncut feature films from the studio archives. (To watch the film using the "full screen" option, click here.)

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Scholars have long debated whether it was Mark Twain or newspaper editor Charles Dudley Warner who came up with the oft-quoted quip "Everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it." Regardless, the sentiments of the quotation can easily be applied to the annual Academy Awards ceremony. Dwindling ratings, lack of enthusiasm among young movie-goers, an industry bereft of the legendary personalities audiences used to tune in to see- all of these factors have put the Oscars on pop culture life support in recent years. Who knew all it would take was one superstar in meltdown mode to make last night's ceremonies "must-see" TV? Unfortunately, the entire ceremony will always be remembered for Will Smith's act of inexcusable violence against presenter Chris Rock, who remained cool and dignified under very strained circumstances. There's no point in going into details because by now you know what happened. Smith's temper tantrum marginalized everything that followed as the attendees and viewers around the world tried to make sense of what they just saw. Forty minutes later, Smith received the Best Actor Oscar in front of an audience of boot lickers who couldn't resist giving him a standing ovation. In a bizarre speech, Smith did apologize to the Academy and the nominees, but not the man he assaulted. He then delivered a seemingly endless, self-pitying and self-indulgent, teary-eyed acceptance speech in which he insinuated that his actions were in defense of his wife, much as the character he played in the film was defensive of his family. Talk about taking Method Acting to an extreme...Somewhere along the line, Smith became almost incoherent and began to sound like Brando's Colonel Walter E. Kurtz. The Academy considered having him escorted from the auditorium, as they certainly would have if he were a mere mortal. However, they balked and allowed him to stay and enjoy the moment of his Oscar win. Tonight, top brass are meeting to consider ejecting him from the Academy because he clearly violated their ethics policies. More realistically, they are probably meeting to discuss how to justify not ejecting him from the Academy. Perhaps not coincidentally, Smith has issued a formal written statement of apology to all concerned, including Chris Rock. It reads:

“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.

I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.

I would also like to apologize to the Academy, the producers of the show, all the attendees and everyone watching around the world. I would like to apologize to the Williams Family and my King Richard Family. I deeply regret that my behavior has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us.

I am a work in progress.

Sincerely,

Will”

Well, better late than never. Believe it or not, there was a lot more to the evening than this surrealistic incident. Here are some random observations:

• I thought the premise of having a trio hosting the show-Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes- sounded like a fairly ill-conceived idea. I was wrong. It was very ill-conceived.Their entire shtick could have been eliminated without much loss to the ceremonies. Keep in mind, ABC-TV demanded that numerous category of awards be presented prior to the show in a separate ceremony, thus setting off a firestorm by insulting and marginalizing those who were affected. They ended up deceiving the audience by using clever editing techniques to imply the acceptance speeches of these winners were taking place live. Why was all this necessary? Because the network had plunked down $100 million for broadcast rights and wanted to ensure there was plenty of time for the hosts to display their comedic talents. Aside from a few good one-liners, the most impressive aspect of their contributions was the ability of potty-mouthed Amy Schumer to keep things relatively clean throughout the show.
  
• There were erratic elements to the program. Beyonce performed one of the nominated songs but she wasn't in the building, as the Academy had her in an elaborate musical extravaganza that had been pre-taped outside of the auditorium. Isn't it traditional to have the songs all performed in front of the audience? She might just as well have been in London. Then there was the pathetic pandering to youth in the quixotic hope that young people will once again make tuning into the Oscars a tradition. Good luck. Many of the people they are trying to reach don't even feel obliged to own a television. Nevertheless, there were bizarre attempts to appeal to youth including the introduction of a celebrity DJ (!) who made a brief appearance before thankfully seeming to fade into oblivion. 
  
• I usually gripe about the annual tribute to artists and industry types who passed away in the last year because inevitably they leave out plenty of notable people who deserved inclusion. This year, I didn't even attempt to make a list of the omissions, preferring to use Turner Classic Movies' annual memorial video as the gold standard of remembering the dearly departed. The Academy obviously left out a number of people because they provided a web site address you can visit to find tributes to the folks they intentionally snubbed. Oh, and keep in mind that the only reason they refuse to extend this segment is because they feel it's more important to have more jokes and comedy skits during the broadcast. I should point out that even the memorial presentation was strange. It was shown on a big screen in front of a large group of people singing and dancing as though we were in a Busby Berkeley musical. Then, Jamie Lee Curtis stopped the proceedings to pay special tribute to Betty White and later Billy Murray did the same to remember his friend, director Ivan Reitman. Two observations: I respect Betty White as much as anyone, but she was not known for her work in feature films, as she was a television icon. Also, selecting two people out of all those who passed away to receive special treatment made everyone else being honored look like chopped liver.
• As for fashion, elegance was happily in style and so was cleavage. Many of the ladies were clad in outfits with plunging necklines that would have looked at home on the cover of one of those bodice-ripper romance novels, but no problem in this corner because it provided some old style high fashion. However, it came as a surprise that the most cleavage to be revealed was courtesy of Timothee Chalamet, who was wearing a glittery woman's jacket by Louis Vuitton- minus anything under it. At least he could rest easy that no other guy was going to show up in the same outfit.
• There were the usual unwelcome political jokes but they were thankfully in short supply. Schumer, Sykes and Hall decided to stage a comedy bit involving people testing positive for Covid-19. Considering we're losing 800 people a day in America (the equivalent of a 9/11 or Pearl Harbor attack every three days), it's understandable why the premise fell as flat as a pancake.
  
• The Academy chose to use the telecast to promote it's new $400 million museum in L.A., which has been widely panned for favoring politically correct exhibitions over those that would have mainstream appeal for movie lovers. So how did they use this precious telecast time to induce people to visit the museum? By having Wanda Sykes engage in a comedic tour of the premises that was so poorly done that the segment probably persuaded anyone who intended to visit the place to reconsider their plans.
  
• Reunions were the order of the day:  Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman and a bald and bearded John Travolta from Pulp Fiction, Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez from "White Men Can't Jump" and Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro to honor "The Godfather". Coppola, newly trimmed-down, looked very healthy and happy but he was the only one who spoke in the brief segment, that also included an uninspired film clip compilation that for some reason was set to a hip-hop song! Coppola made some sentimental remarks but Pacino and De Niro said nothing at all...so what was the point of bringing them to the ceremony only to have them stand there silently? Also, Coppola should have explained that De Niro was there because of his contributions to the franchise through his Oscar-winning performance in "The Godfather Part II", as he did not appear in the original film.
  
• James Bond got plenty of  justifiable attention for the series' 60th anniversary, even if the Academy shattered fans' hopes that "No Time to Die" would land a Best Picture nomination and Daniel Craig would be nominated for Best Actor in his swansong appearance as 007. Instead, there was a nice but rather perfunctory film clip segment of highlights from the series. In a weird decision, the segment was introduced by three hunky guys who didn't even look vaguely familiar to me. They apparently are "extreme athletes", whatever that means. Presumably, internet "influencers" were not available.) Surely, given the number of illustrious people associated with the Bond series, someone of some stature could have introduced the segment. Also, the trio of "extreme athletes" name-checked each of the Bond actors- except George Lazenby, who at least was seen in the video compilation. (Can this guy ever catch a break?) Billy Eilish and her brother Finneas gave a fine live performance of their haunting title theme to "No Time to Die", which was the best of the songs nominated. It won, too, thus making this the third Bond song to win in a row. At least the Academy is atoning for not nominating so many great ones from the past.
  
• Troy Kotsur's win for Supporting Actor in "Coda" made for a moving segment, as he is only the second deaf actor to be honored with an award.
  
• Kudos to Kevin Costner who recalled the splendor of seeing "How the West Was Won" in Cinerama at age seven and extolled the majesty of the presentation and impact it had on him.
• The inclusion of "fan favorite" films was a pathetic attempt to put salve on the wounds of younger movie fans who constantly gripe about their favorite films (i.e superhero flicks) not being nominated in the major categories. Instead of explaining that the nominees are decided by industry professionals in the respective trades and that the ceremony is not a popularity contest, AMPAS decided to allow fans to vote for their favorite films and scenes from movie history. If the winners were any indication of prevailing taste, we'll be giving Pauly Shore a lifetime achievement Oscar in a few years. For the record, the "winners" of these polls were mostly of relatively recent vintage. If you expected to see the likes of "Schindler's List" or "Citizen Kane", you had to settle for "Army of the Dead". Meanwhile, more precious minutes of air time were wasted on showing meaningless clips from these action movies.
  
• Years ago, the Academy decided to stop telecasting the honorary awards to distinguished industry veterans. Fans were outraged. These were often the highlights of the ceremony, but the Academy wanted more time for dumb comedy bits and the network wanted more time for overpriced sponsor advertisements. There was a time they would at least air snippets of the honorees accepting their awards at a separate ceremony, but even that was asking too much. Thus, we got to see this years honorees: Liv Ullmann, Elaine May and Samuel L. Jackson sitting like mannequins as they were acknowledged for a few seconds. If you wonder why some of us pine away for these awards to be an integral part of the ceremonies once again, just watch this segment from the 1972 telecast when Charles Chaplin returned to America from exile in Europe after he had been blacklisted by Hollywood in the 1950s. We're never likely to see anything like this again because the Academy and ABC simply need to have more kitsch.

The show wrapped up with announcement for Best Picture but things went awry. In an admirable sentimental gesture, Lady Gaga accompanied a wheelchair-bound Liza Minnelli to the stage to commemorate the 50th anniversary of "Cabaret" and to have Minnelli read the title of the winning film. Unfortunately, Minnelli was not up to the task. She was clearly feeble and disoriented. Seeing her in such an undignified light was a painful experience, despite Lady Gaga's good intentions.

Believe it or not, I do not enjoy trashing the Oscars. It's a thankless task to bring this lumbering giant to TV every year and countless talented people work endless hours to achieve that task. Even the worst Oscar ceremonies have plenty of entertainment value and this one was no exception. The worst aspect of it- Will Smith's behavior- was beyond the producer's control as it occurred spontaneously. Although in some bizarre fashion, Smith might well have provided a reason for the Oscars to become "must-see" TV once again.

By now, you know about the bizarre incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock at last night's Oscar Awards ceremony. At first, the audience wondered if it wasn't some kind of Three Stooges-style sight gag but it quickly became apparent that the physical assault was for real. As of now, Chris Rock has chosen not to file a criminal complaint against Smith, who later in the broadcast was awarded the Best Actor Oscar. If Rock changes his mind, he won't have a problem providing evidence. Click here for Hollywood Reporter analysis of the show. 

Click here for the complete list of nominees and winners from last night's Academy Awards.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Retro movie lovers know that George C. Scott told the Academy in advance that he wouldn't be on hand to accept the Best Actor Oscar if he won for "Patton". When he did win, Scott was home sleeping, having expressed his distaste for the competitive nature of the awards.The film's producer, Frank McCarthy, accepted the award. Just two years later, Marlon Brando was a "no-show" when he won Best Actor for his career-reviving performance in "The Godfather". Instead, he sent  a young Native American woman to express why he was declining the honor. Brando, who was actively involved in social justice causes for Native Americans, was protesting the way they had traditionally been treated in Hollywood films. Unlike Scott, however, Brando gave no advance notice, thus leaving presenters Roger Moore and Liv Ullman somewhat confused about what was going on. For the record, years later Scott gave an interview to Playboy in which he criticized Brando's actions. He said that he felt it was ill-mannered to string the Academy along without telling them up front, as he had, that he intended to not accept the award. As related in Far Out Magazine, there was a third Oscar winner who refused the award: screenwriter Dudley Nichols who had won for John Ford's 1935 classic "The Informer". Nichols had refused the honor due to contentious problems relating to the Academy and industry unions. Click here to read.

“UNDER THE VENEER”

By Raymond Benson

Finally, a high definition Blu-ray disk of Robert Redford’s 1980 masterpiece, Ordinary People, has been released. To date, the film has existed on home video only on VHS and DVD, and the new Paramount Presents edition is most welcome.

People was Redford’s directorial debut, and at the time audiences and critics expected it to be good, but they didn’t count on it being that good. It took the Best Picture prize at the Academy Awards, along with a trophy for Redford for Direction, one for Alvin Sargent’s Adapted Screenplay (based on Judith Guest’s wonderful novel), and a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar for Timothy Hutton. Granted, Hutton’s character, Conrad Jarrett, is really the protagonist, i.e., the lead in the movie, so it’s one of those infuriating cases in which an actor is nominated in the wrong category. (That said, there’s no way Hutton would have won over Robert De Niro’s blistering once-in-a-lifetime performance in Raging Bull, so the studio was smart to offer up Hutton in the Supporting category, where he’d have a better than fighting chance.)

Mary Tyler Moore also received a nomination for Best Actress, and Judd Hirsch a nod for Supporting Actor (competing with Hutton). They are both brilliant, too. Moore plays against type, portraying a woman with a cold heart who has forgotten—or never knew—how to love, and Hirsch is the psychiatrist with whom we all would want to spend two sessions a week. Missing from the Oscar awards tally was Donald Sutherland, who, for this reviewer’s money, provides the performance of his career. In many ways, he’s the center of the picture. We slowly see that his stable assuredness is also cracking from the pretense going in his family. Why Sutherland wasn’t at least nominated is a head-scratcher.

The story is about a mid-to-upper class family living in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest. Everything should be as Beth Jarrett (Moore) believes it is—that their family is happy and their world is perfect. “Neat and easy,” as her husband, Calvin (Sutherland), describes how she keeps their lives. But under the polished veneer, all is not well. Not one bit. The Jarretts recently experienced a tragedy. The oldest son, Buck, drowned in a boating accident while out on the water with his younger brother, Conrad (Hutton). Not long afterwards, Conrad attempted suicide and ended up in a psychiatric hospital for four months. Now he’s home, and Conrad is having a very difficult time adjusting. He can’t relate the way he once did to his high school buddies. He can’t feel as if he’s part of the school swim team, the way he could prior to the incident. Worst of all, his relationship with his mother has deteriorated. Calvin can see the conflict between them and does his best to play referee and understanding father, but this only begins to drive a wedge between him and Beth. It’s only after Conrad starts seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Hirsch), that the teenager embarks on an excruciating but necessary emotional journey toward wellness.

The script is an honest and canny depiction of how families bury truths and put up facades. Redford’s direction is sensitively nuanced, and the acting all around is impeccable. This is powerful stuff. Ordinary People also provides one of the better positive depictions of psychiatry ever put on celluloid, and this reviewer challenges anyone viewing the film not to have welling eyes during the scene in which Dr. Berger tells Conrad, “I’m your friend.”

Beyond the quartet of principle stars, Elizabeth McGovern is striking as a high school romantic interest for Conrad, a young Adam Baldwin is effective as one of the teen swim team pals, M. Emmet Walsh has a turn as the clueless swimming coach, and Dinah Manoff has a short but significant scene as a fellow hospital patient, now out in the real world like Conrad.

But the movie belongs to Timothy Hutton. Ordinary People was his first feature film (he had made only one television movie earlier in the year, and appeared uncredited, briefly, as a child in a picture in the 1960s.) His Conrad is a virtuoso piece of acting.

The Paramount Presents feature is remastered from a new 4K film transfer overseen by Redford, and it looks crisp and colorful. The only supplements are two new, short featurettes with interviews with Hutton and author Judith Guest, plus the theatrical trailer.

Ordinary People merited every honor it received. It is an emotional roller-coaster that elevates the Hollywood family drama to an unprecedented high. Enthusiastically recommended.

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Ordinary People vs. Raging Bull

Some personal observations and opinions here. There have been critics over the years (Siskel and Ebert, for example) who have claimed that Ordinary People “stole” the Oscar from Raging Bull, which is often cited not only as the “best” movie of 1980, but of the entire 1980s decade.

I love Raging Bull and consider it a magnificent example of bravura filmmaking from Martin Scorsese. It’s slick, gorgeously shot in black and white, brilliantly edited (by Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker), and it contains not only powerhouse performances by Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty in supporting roles, but the crowning screen appearance of Robert De Niro’s career. There is no question that De Niro’s Jake LaMotta is one of the most accomplished acting displays ever.

Yes, Raging Bull is a great film… and I also find it unpleasant as hell. The brutality is visceral, and of course, that’s the point. It’s about a man who can’t control his rage. I may love the film, but I can’t say I enjoy it, if that makes any sense.

Ordinary People is not a happy story, either—that’s true. While it’s without physical violence, it is an emotionally violent tale; but it is so elegantly rendered with intelligence and, yes, beauty, that I, personally, am always moved by it. For me, it tugs at the heartstrings and the tear ducts. And while the fate of the tale’s family is a tragedy, there is the hint of hope at the end that all will be well for young Conrad Jarrett. I adore Ordinary People more every time I see it.

Ordinary People deserved the Oscar for Best Picture in 1980.

Now that Amazon's acquisition of MGM has been finalized, the company isn't letting any grass grow when it comes to exploiting the lucrative James Bond franchise, which they now co-own with Eon Productions. According to Indiewire, Eon and British 72 Films will create and produce an "Amazing Race"-style competition show based on the Bond series. The competitors will travel to locations visited by Agent 007 in a quest to win over $1 million in prize money. The series, titled "007's Road to a Million", will stream on Amazon Prime Video. For details, click here.

“A RISE AND A FALL IN TECHNICOLOR”

By Raymond Benson

A Star is Born has been made many times—as four Hollywood feature films, one television movie, and one Bollywood picture. The 1937 original, produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, is often forgotten amongst the more recent versions, such as the celebrated 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

For this reviewer’s money, the 1937 A Star is Born is superior to them all. Granted, it is obviously dated and one must place oneself within the context of the period in which the movie was released. It is also not a musical, as all the others are. The first version also deals exclusively with the motion picture industry. The second one, released in 1954 and starring Judy Garland and James Mason, did as well… but following adaptations went more into the music professions of the characters and incorporated Grammy Awards rather than Oscars. If you want A Star is Born without musical numbers, and there is ample support that the piece works more realistically without them, then the 1937 version is for you.

The Oscar winning story, by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson, was the basis of all the remakes, but here it was the origin, turned into a screenplay by Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell. The tale is by now familiar ground—a young woman becomes a star overnight while simultaneously her husband experiences ruin. A rise and a fall, all in lovely Technicolor!

Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) is an innocent but bright-eyed farmgirl who is intent on making her way to Hollywood to become an actress. Against her father and aunt’s wishes, but encouraged by her grandmother, Esther leaves the nest and goes to Tinsel Town. She quickly learns that things are not so easy. With the help of a neighbor, Danny (Andy Devine), who happens to be an assistant director, she is placed in positions where she can “meet” people. Sure enough, she encounters a big star, Norman Maine (Fredric March). Unfortunately, Norman’s glory days seem to be behind him as the bottle has dictated a gradual descent in popularity. Nevertheless, Norman is struck by Esther and finagles a screen test for her with his producer, Oliver Niles (Adolphe Menjou). Oliver immediately sees Esther’s potential, gives her the more marketable name of “Vicki Lester,” and she is off and running. Promising to quit drinking, Norman asks Esther to marry him, and she accepts. But as Esther/Vicki becomes more successful, Norman falls off the wagon and their relationship goes off the rails.

There is one scene that exists in all the versions of A Star is Born, and that is when the husband embarrasses his wife during her moment of triumph at an awards ceremony—here the event is the Oscars, as it is in the 1954 edition. The moment is powerful and excruciating, and it is one of the reasons both Gaynor and March were nominated for Best Actor and Actress for the film.

Producer Selznick was known for overseeing lavish, gorgeous productions, and A Star is Born fits the bill. Beautifully photographed in that distinctive, vivid 1930s Technicolor by W. Howard Greene (who received an Honorary Oscar for his achievement), the picture displays the glitz and glamour of that bygone, mythical Hollywood era. Director Wellman was nominated for his efforts, and the movie was up for Best Picture (the category was called Best Production then).

Gaynor is especially good, and March is always brilliant. The supporting cast—Menjou, Devine, May Robson, Lionel Stander, and Edgar Kennedy—is stellar.

The picture, while assuredly a drama that takes a hard look at the alcoholism destroying Maine, is also striking for the amount of humor it contains. There are many Hollywood in-jokes, such as when Gaynor impersonates several leading actresses of the day when she is waitressing at a star-studded party. Stander, Devine, and Kennedy, known for their comedic turns, also provide much of the levity.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray is a new, meticulous 4K restoration from the original nitrate Technicolor camera negative, and it looks absolutely fantastic. In keeping with Warner disks that employ “A Night at the Movies” supplements, this one contains a treasure trove of extras. The 1938 cartoon, “A Star is Hatched,” is one of those Looney Tunes that features Hollywood star caricatures, and it’s hilarious. A 1937 comic short featuring Joe Palooka and Shemp Howard, “Taking the Count,” is amusing, and two other vintage shorts—“Mal Hallett and His Orchestra” and “Alibi Mark”—are also entertaining and indicative of the type of fare one would see at the theater in those days. The disk also incudes two different Lux Radio Theater broadcasts of the story—one from 1937 featuring Janet Gaynor and Robert Montgomery, and one from 1952 starring Judy Garland and Walter Pidgeon. The theatrical trailer rounds out the package.

This new region-free Blu-ray edition from Warner Archive is a must for fans of any version of A Star is Born. The 1937 original, though, is and will always be grand entertainment. Highly recommended.

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“YOU GOTTA GET A GET”

By Raymond Benson

(NOTE: Much of this review is repeated from an earlier Cinema Retro review of a previous Blu-ray release.)

In the world of the Jewish Conservative Orthodox community, a divorce is truly final only when the husband presents his wife with a “get”—a document in Hebrew that grants the woman her freedom to be with other men. Likewise, the wife must accept the get before the man can re-marry, too.

This is the crux of the story behind Hester Street, an independent art-house film that appeared in 1975, written and directed by Joan Micklin Silver. Starring Carol Kane, who was nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Gitl, a newly arrived immigrant to New York City in 1896, and Steven Keats as her husband Yankl, who, in an attempt to assimilate, in public goes by the name “Jake.” Jake has been in America for a while and isn’t looking forward to the arrival of his wife and son from Europe, for he has begun an affair with a wealthy, assimilated actress in the Yiddish theatre named Mamie. When the very traditional Gitl arrives with her son, the marriage disintegrates.

Luckily, Gitl meets Bernstein, an Orthodox man who is much more suited for her requirements, seeing that Jake has become something of a capitalist cad. Therefore, she needs a “get” from Jake so that both husband and wife can divorce and go their separate ways. That’s when Mamie’s money comes into play.

Silver beautifully rendered this period drama on a miniscule budget. Location shooting took place in and around New York’s lower east side, where much of the flavor of the late 19th Century Jewish Orthodox community is still pretty much the same. Replace the cars with horses and buggies, get the correct vintage costumes, and you’re more than halfway there. The dialogue is mostly in Yiddish (with English subtitles), thus making it an American foreign language film—an oddity in 1975, to be sure (although Coppola’s The Godfather Part II appeared a year earlier with a great amount of its dialogue spoken in Sicilian).

Keats plays Jake as a rake and a rascal, but our perception of him is not that of a villain. In many ways, he is the generic immigrant who came to America and sincerely tried to assimilate, become “American,” and leave the Old Country traditions behind. His fault is that he dreams of making big money in the States and this becomes his all-consuming desire, forgetting that he has a wife and son. Kane’s character and spot-on portrayal not only illustrates the role of females in the Orthodox community, but in many ways is a commentary on the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s.

Hester Street is a terrific little film that went out of print on DVD years ago and became a collector’s item on the resale market until a Blu-ray release appeared in 2015. With that also now out of print, Cohen Media Group has issued a welcome new edition in a 4K restoration. Filmed in black and white by Kenneth Van Sickle, the picture is grainy and flat—much like the early silent cinema of the that era!—which actually is quite appropriate for the movie’s setting. That said, the new restoration considerably sharpens the images and the display is the best seen since the movie’s 1975 theatrical release. The feature comes with an archival audio commentary with director Silver and producer Raphael D. Silver.

Also new to this release is supplementary material not present on the previous Blu-ray. Approximately eight minutes of an alternate opening sequence, with commentary by Daniel Kremer (author of an upcoming book about Silver and her work), is an interesting find. There are two relatively recent video conversations with director Silver and film historian Shonni Enelow about the making of Hester Street and Silver’s career as a filmmaker (Silver died in 2020). There are also vintage interviews with Carol Kane, Doris Roberts, and both Joan and Raphael Silver, likely ported over from the old DVD release. The restoration trailer rounds out the package.

Hester Street is an excellent synagogue discussion-group item for American Jews who want to explore the immigration scene and the topics of tradition and assimilation; but it is also a good educational piece for non-Jews who want to learn a little bit about New York history and the Jewish Orthodox religion. Recommended.

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BY CHRIS WADE

Of all the actors to emerge in the 1970s, there are few, if any, as captivating, unpredictable and exciting as James Woods. He began the decade, and his on screen career for that matter, for legendary director Elia Kazan in The Visitors (1972), and in the next few years established himself as one of American film's most promising young performers. He turned up as villains in such classic TV shows as Kojak and Streets of San Francisco, but he also appeared in some major 70s movies too, such as 1973's The Way We Were, Arthur Penn's Night Movies (1975) and The Gambler (1975). But it was his performance in The Onion Field (1979) which really signalled his arrival, as the sociopathic cop killer Greg Powell. The film, based on Joseph Wambaugh's best-selling non-fiction book, was a critical smash and earned Woods his first wave of acclaim. It was a stunning performance, equally charismatic and frightening, and it brought in a new face for cinema, an actor so convincing in his intensity that you would have been scared of him had you met him in the street.

Of course, it was really only the beginning. Into the next decade he proved himself to be one of American cinema's most reliable, quirky, and appealing character actors, appearing in such classics as Eyewitness (1981), David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1983), Sergio Leone's masterpiece Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Against All Odds (1984), Oliver Stone's Salvador (1986), for which he received his first Oscar nomination, Best Seller (1987), Cop (1988) and True Believer (1989). It was one of the most remarkable runs for any actor of the era.

Woods went on to appear in more than his fair share of stand outs in the following decades, in such films as Chaplin (1991), The Hard Way (1992), The Specialist (1994), Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995), for Oliver Stone again in both Nixon (1995) and Any Given Sunday (1999), in Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides (1999) and John Carpenter's Vampires (1998). His filmography reveals an almost faultless body of work.

I first had the idea to write a book about Woods' filmography in May 2021. I had interviewed James in 2020 for a book I had written about Once Upon a Time in America and, somewhat unexpectedly, we had stayed in touch. After I put together a retrospective article for a vintage film magazine I sometimes put out (Scenes), I presented the idea of a full book. He said he was OK with that, but I presumed I would just write it and that would be it. No, he was happy to do interviews- and we certainly did. For months in fact, we would speak every week for hours on end, going over his many classics, from his early career days in the 1970s, through his iconic films, right up to the most recent work. I got the chance to interview the likes of Sharon Stone, Debbie Harry, Oliver Stone and Jim Belushi, not to mention having Dolly Parton herself write the foreword (she and Woods made a film together, Straight Talk). However, for the most part the book is a journey through the career of James Woods, with Woods himself acting as a sort of tour guide through his canon, and in the process, a part of film history itself; beginning in the early Seventies with his experiences with such directors as Sydney Pollack, Kazan, Harold Becker and others, through his turbulent but rewarding work with Oliver Stone and numerous other legendary filmmakers.

Woods said to me at one point that the book was turning into a conversation between two film lovers, one of whom just happened to be James Woods. And that, I believe, sums it up rather well. This is a film lover's book, and it has the distinction of having its subject as a kind of co-author. The resulting book, The Films of James Woods, is a journey through a film career, yes, but it is also a relaxed, freewheeling chat between two men, one in the UK, one in America, and one who just happens to be a cinema legend. There is no gossip in the book, no tell-all tattle, but a lot of movie talk. A hell of a lot, in fact.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

First 4K Ultra HD in the Paramount Presents Line Debuts May 17, 2022
with New and Legacy Bonus Content

One of the greatest Westerns in cinematic history arrives for the first time ever on 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (HDR) as part of the Paramount Presents line when THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE debuts May 17, 2022 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Four-time Academy Award®-winning^* director John Ford brought together an all-star cast for what is considered by many critics to be a quintessential—and yet pioneering—Western late in his storied career.  Starring James Stewart and John Wayne (together for the first time), alongside Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, John Carradine and Lee Van Cleef, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE tells the engrossing story of a senator (Stewart), his old friend (Wayne), and a despicable outlaw called Liberty Valance (Marvin). 

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE was selected in 2007 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”  Adapted from a short story by Dorothy M. Johnson, the screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck gave us the often-quoted line “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Meticulously remastered in stunning 4K Ultra HD for its 60^th anniversary this year, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is presented in collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the film’s original theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments.  The release also includes access to a Digital copy of the film and a Blu-ray Disc™ with a new Filmmaker Focus featuring film historian Leonard Maltin discussing John Ford, the film, and its legacy.  The Blu-ray™ also includes legacy bonus content as detailed below:

· Filmmaker Focus - Leonard Maltin on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance—NEW!

• Feature commentary by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, along with his archival recordings with John Ford and James Stewart                                  
• Selected scene commentary with introduction by Dan Ford, along with his archival recordings with John Ford, James Stewart and Lee Marvin                                  
• The Size Of Legends, The Soul Of Myth                                 
• Chapter 1: Changing Of The Guard                                           
• Chapter 2: The Irascible Poet                                     
• Chapter 3: The Hero Doesn't Win, The Winner Isn't Heroic                                            
• Chapter 4: Most Things Happen By Accident                                       
• Chapter 5: The Great Protector                                 
• Chapter 6: Spotlight - Lee Marvin                                             
• Chapter 7: Print The Legend                                       
• Original Theatrical Trailer           

About Paramount Presents

This collectible line spans celebrated classics to film-lover favorites, each from the studio’s renowned library.  Every Paramount Presents release features never-before-seen bonus content and exclusive collectible packaging.  Additional titles available in the Paramount Presents collection on Blu-ray include: Fatal Attraction, King Creole, To Catch a Thief, Flashdance, Days of Thunder, Pretty In Pink, Airplane!, Ghost, Roman Holiday, The Haunting, The Golden Child, Trading Places, The Court Jester, Love Story, Elizabethtown, The Greatest Show on Earth, Mommie Dearest, Last Train From Gun Hill, 48 HRS., Another 48 HRS., Almost Famous, A Place in the Sun, Nashville, Bugsy Malone, Breakdown, The Sheik, Vanilla Sky, Ragtime, Harold and Maude and Ordinary People.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Warner Archive has released a Blu-ray edition of the 1966 thriller Eye of the Devil. The MGM movie, directed by J. Lee Thompson, is one of the last major B&W studio releases. The film had a troubled production history. The female lead had been Kim Novak, but when she was injured during filming, Deborah Kerr took over and had to reshoot all of her scenes - a costly and troublesome process. However, this meant that Kerr was reunited with her Separate Tables co-star David Niven (the pair would be seen on screen again the following year in Casino Royale). Eye of the Devil is an atmospheric thriller with supernatural overtones. Niven plays the heir to a massive French vineyard, though he keeps his distance from the massive rural chateau, preferring to be with wife Kerr and their two young children in an urban setting. An emissary from the vineyard summons him back to the chateau, presumably because the harvest is failing, but Niven's emotional turmoil indicates that there are other factors dictating why he is reluctant to return. When Kerr and the children show up, things deteriorate quickly. Kerr finds the locals to be frightened and unfriendly. Inside the chateau, the staff and Niven appear to be collaborating on hiding information from her. Additionally, a strange brother and sister team (Sharon Tate in her first major role and David Hemmings) are an omnipresent and threatening presence. Kerr ultimate suspects that the presence of a local priest (Donald Pleasence) is inciting people to dabble in witchcraft and the black mass. All of this leads to the prequisite sequences in which a helpless woman is tempted to poke about dark castle corridors and crypts to find the facts.

The film is disturbing from minute one, largely because it is devoid of any humor whatsoever. Every minute exudes a sense of menace. The cinematography adds greatly to the tension and the cast is highly watchable, even if no one attempts to hide their full-throated British accents while playing French characters. (The exteriors were shot in France, the interiors were filmed at MGM's Borehamwood Studios). The movie is consistently engrossing, even if it never reaches the level one might expect, given the sterling cast. Tate makes a significant visual impression, but it should be noted that her immaculate British accent was dubbed.  The new region-free Blu-ray release does justice to the crisp B&W photography with a fine transfer. One quibble: Turner Classic Movies often shows an original production featurette from the film. One wishes it was included with this release, which features only the trailer as a supplement. However, spending any time with Niven and Kerr is time well-spent.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount:

Paramount Pictures Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Francis Ford Coppala's Cinematic Masterpiece

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – March 1, 2022 — In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s Academy Award^®-winning^* masterwork The Godfather, Paramount Pictures will be releasing all three films in the epic trilogy on 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever on March 22, 2022, with all the films having been meticulously restored under the direction of Coppola.

“I am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third of my creative life,” said Francis Ford Coppola.  “With this 50th anniversary tribute, I’m especially proud Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is included, as it captures Mario and my original vision in definitively concluding our epic trilogy. It’s also gratifying to celebrate this milestone with Paramount alongside the wonderful fans who’ve loved it for decades, younger generations who still find it relevant today, and those who will discover it for the first time.”

Coppola’s masterful film adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel chronicles the rise and fall of the Corleone family and the film trilogy is rightfully viewed as one of the greatest in cinematic history.  In preparation for the 50^th anniversary of the first film’s original release on March 24, 1972, Paramount and Coppola’s production company American Zoetrope undertook a painstaking restoration of all three films over the course of three years.  Every effort was made to create the finest possible presentation for today’s audiences who can watch the films using technology that has advanced dramatically since 2007 when the last restoration was completed by eminent film historian and preservationist Robert Harris.  Using that work as a blueprint, the team spent thousands of hours to ensure that every frame was evaluated to create the most pristine presentation while remaining true to the original look and feel of the films.

The monumental effort included the following:

• Over 300 cartons of film were scrutinized to find the best possible resolution for every frame of all three films.
• Over 4,000 hours were spent repairing film stains, tears, and other anomalies in the negatives.
• Over 1,000 hours were spent on rigorous color correction to ensure the high dynamic range tools were respectful of the original vision of Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis.
• In addition to the 5.1 audio approved by Walter Murch in 2007, the original mono tracks on
  The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II have been restored.
• All work was overseen by Coppola.

“We felt privileged to restore these films and a little in awe every day we worked on them,” said Andrea Kalas, senior vice president, Paramount Archives.  “We were able to witness first-hand how the brilliant cinematography, score, production design, costume design, editing, performances, and, of course, screenwriting and direction became famously more than the sum of their parts.  It was our commitment to honor all of the filmmakers’ exceptional work.”

Newly restored and remastered in Dolby Vision, all three films in the landmark trilogy will be released together with HDR-10 on 4K Ultra HD Digital and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray^™ for the first time ever.  The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set will include The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, and Coppola’s recently re-edited version of the final film, Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.  The disc set includes legacy commentaries by Coppola, as well as access to Digital copies of The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II and Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

In addition to the widely available 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set, a 4K Ultra HD Limited Collector’s Edition will also be released in deluxe packaging and includes a hardcover coffee table book featuring stunning photographs, as well as portrait art prints on archival paper.  Both 4K Ultra HD sets include new bonus content including an introduction to The Godfather by Coppola, a featurette about the preservation process, photos by acclaimed photographer Steve Schapiro, home movie footage, and comparisons of the new restoration to earlier versions of the films.  A full list of new and legacy bonus content follows:

NEW BONUS CONTENT:

·         Introduction to The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola

·         Full Circle: Preserving The Godfather—Paramount Pictures archivists detail the incredible restoration process with archival footage showing the evolution of the film through various home entertainment incarnations as picture and audio technologies make quantum leaps over the decades.

·         Capturing the Corleones: Through the Lens of Photographer Steve Schapiro— In this reflective and frank discussion, special photographer Steve Schapiro shares his unique perspective and cherished memories as a witness to the making of this seminal film.  Commentary on curated archival images makes for a fascinating, never-before-seen addition to the production’s history.

·         The Godfather: Home Movies— An assortment of 8mm home movie footage shot in 1971 offers a candid glimpse into the production of The Godfather.  Shot on location at the Norton family estate on Staten Island’s Emerson Hill, this is the first time it’s been made available to the public.

·         Restoration Comparisons— Before and after highlights showcase extensive picture quality improvements to The Godfather.

LEGACY BONUS CONTENT:

• The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn’t
• Godfather World
• Emulsional Rescue—Revealing The Godfather
• …when the shooting stopped
• The Godfather on the Red Carpet
• Four Short Films on The Godfather

o The Godfather vs. The Godfather: Part II

o Cannoli

o Riffing on the Riffing

o Clemenza

· The Family Tree

· Crime Organization Chart

· Connie and Carlo’s Wedding Album

· 2008 Credits

· Behind the Scenes

o A Look Inside

o On Location

o Francis Ford Coppola’s Notebook

o Music of The Godfather

§ Nino Rota

§ Carmine Coppola            

o Coppola & Puzo on Screenwriting

o Gordon Willis on Cinematography

o Storyboards – The Godfather: Part II

o Storyboards – The Godfather: Part III

o The Godfather Behind the Scenes 1971

· Additional Scenes

· Galleries

· Trailers

· Acclaim & Response

· Additional Material

· The Filmmakers

· The Godfather: Part III—newly remastered and restored versions of the original theatrical cut and Coppola’s 1991 cut (note: these are exclusive to the 4K Ultra HD Collections)

Newly restored and remastered versions of The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, and Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone will also be available together on Blu-ray^™ with access to Digital copies and the new and legacy bonus content detailed above.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Few actors had the screen and stage presence of Yul Brynner. There never was an actor quite like him and there hasn't been since. Like most thespians, Brynner had his share of good movies as well as those that fell considerably short of their potential. Nevertheless, the man never gave a false performance. He came across as supremely self-confidant even when he must have suspected the material he was given proved to be far below his considerable talents. Much of his self-confidence seemed to stem from an inflated ego. Robert Vaughn once told me that when Brynner arrived on the set of "The Magnificent Seven" in Mexico, he was still firmly in the King of Siam mode that had seen him win an Oscar. Vaughn said he carried himself as though he were real life royalty at all times. You didn't chat with him casually. Rather, he would grant you an audience. As Brynner's stature as a top boxoffice attraction began to wane, he returned over and over again to his signature role in stage productions of "The King and I" and found his mojo and star power were still very much intact when it came to touring in front of live audiences. His exotic look and manner of speaking were invariably intoxicating. Given Brynner's enduring legacy as a Hollywood icon it's rather surprising to remember that he had very few major hits. "The King and I" in 1956 was his star-making vehicle and his role in "The Ten Commandments", released the same year,  helped build on his success. However, with the exception of the surprise success of "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960, Brynner proved to be more of a reliable on screen attraction than a powerhouse draw in the way that John Wayne, Cary Grant and Burt Lancaster were regarded. For most of Brynner's screen career, he top-lined in major studio releases that were relatively modest in terms of production budgets. Since this was during an era in which a decent profit for a film made it a success, Brynner remained popular for many years. By the 1970s, however, his clout had diminished considerably. He would have only one memorable big screen success during the decade- his brilliant appearance as the murderous robot in "Westworld" (1974). He would concentrate primarily on stage work until his death in 1985.

"Invitation to a Gunfighter" is the kind of mid-range vehicle that defined most of Brynner's career in Hollywood. Released in 1964 by Stanley Kramer's production company, the film is a perfect showcase for Brynner in that it lacked any rival star power and afforded him a smorgasbord of scene-stealing opportunities.  The story opens in the wake of the Confederate surrender that marked the end of the Civil War. Matt Weaver (George Segal), a veteran of the Confederate army, is making an arduous journey home to his Texas ranch on foot through the desert. When the exhausted man finally reaches the small town he calls home, he gets a rude welcome. His ranch is now occupied by another man who claims he bought the deed from the township. Matt soon learns that he is despised by the locals because he is the only man to have served in the Southern army. He is notified by the town's political kingpin, Sam Brewster (Pat Hingle), that a technicality has been used to seize ownership of his ranch. He also advises him to move on out of town because he is no longer welcome there. Matt, however, is not about to be cheated. He confronts the new owner of his house and is forced to shoot him dead in self-defense. Brewster manipulates the facts and accuses Matt of being a murderer. Matt takes possession of his ranch and uses firepower to hold off the townspeople. He is surreptitiously visited by his former lover Ruth (Janice Rule), who admits that she could no longer bear waiting for him to return from the war. She reluctantly married Crane Adams (Clifford David), a local Union war veteran who lost an arm in the conflict. Since then, Crane has become an alcoholic with a violent temper and his relationship to Ruth has devolved into a loveless marriage of convenience.

Unable to lure Matt from his besieged homestead, Brewster takes the step of announcing to the town council that he will hire a gunslinger to kill him. Coincidentally, a man with the exotic name of Jules Gaspard d'Estaing overhears the offer. He is just passing through on a stagecoach ride but is immediately intrigued. d'Estaing convinces Brewster that he is a master gunfighter and demonstrates his prowess with a pistol. Brewster hires him on the spot but d'Estaing is in no hurry to carry out the mission. Instead, he sees the townspeople for what they are: cowardly hypocrites and delights in humiliating Brewster in front of them.  d'Estaing is an intimidating presence to the townspeople. They can't pinpoint his ethnicity and know nothing of his background. He dresses immaculately, speaks fluent French, plays the harpsichord  and chain smokes Churchill cigars (though I wonder what they called them in this era before Churchill was born.) Ever provocative to his hosts, he stirs the pot even further by moving into the house of Crane and Ruth Adams. Predictably, it isn't long before Ruth is entranced by this larger-than-life man of mystery who dresses like a dandy and is highly cultured- the very opposite of her own husband and Matt. Tensions rise as Crane correctly suspects a romance may be brewing. d'Estaing insists he intends to carry out his mission to kill Matt, despite Ruth's protests, but he later makes it clear to her that he intends to manipulate the situation so that Matt is spared and Brewster is dragged down in disgrace.

The film, directed with admirable if unremarkable competence by Richard Wilson, is a slow-moving, talky affair that leads to some intelligent discussions about race relations and the horrors of bigotry. (This was, after all, a production financed by Stanley Kramer, who never heeded the old adage, "Leave the messages to Western Union!"). What saves the movie from devolving into a completely pedantic affair is the charisma of Yul Brynner. It also helps that he is playing an interesting character with a mysterious background and the revelations he makes to Ruth about his life only make him even more intriguing. This is a "thinking man's" western that touches on social issues as well as the desperate plight of women in the old West, when their survival often saw them entering dreadful marriages simply for financial security and protection. Brynner gets fine support from Janice Rule and rising star George Segal and Pat Hingle plays the town's pompous boss with appropriate, sneering superficial charm.

"Invitation to a Gunfighter" is by no means a classic but it does afford viewers to spend some time with Yul Brynner and that is always time well-spent.

The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

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Cinema Retro continues covering films that are not currently available on home video in the U.S. or U.K. 

BY BRIAN HANNAN

"Sanctuary" is an overheated melodrama that stands as a classic example of Hollywood’s offensive attitudes to women. Nobel prize-winning author William Faulkner could hardly blame the movies for sensationalising his misogynistic source material since, if anything, the movie took a softer line. The story is told primarily in flashback as headstrong southern belle Temple Drake (Lee Remick) attempts to mitigate the death sentence passed on her maid Nancy (Odetta). Given that such appeals are directed at Drake’s Governor father (Howard St John), and that the maid has been condemned for murdering Drake’s infant child, that’s a whole lot of story to swallow.

Worse is to follow. Drake takes up with Prohibition bootlegger Candy Man (Yves Montand) after being raped by him and thereafter appears happy to live with him in a New Orleans brothel - the “sanctuary,” no irony intended, of the title - despite him slapping her around. The film steers clear of turning her into the prostitute of the original book, but pretty much sets up the notion that high class women will fall for a low-class tough guy whose virility is demonstrated by his brutality. In other words a “real man” rather than the dilettantes she has previously rejected.

After the Candy Man dies, Drake returns home and marries wealthy suitor Gowan Stevens (Bradford Dillman) who blames himself, rightly, for Drake falling into the clutches of the gangster in the first place. But a past threatening to engulf her precipitates the infanticide.

Faulkner was a Hollywood insider, adapting Sanctuary for The Story of Temple Drake (1933) and earning high praise for his work on Bogart vehicle To Have and Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946). The success of The Tarnished Angels (1957) starring Rock Hudson, The Long, Hot Summer (1958) with Paul Newman and The Sound and the Fury (1959) headlined by Yul Brynner had sent his cachet rocketing. But all three were directed by Americans – Douglas Sirk and Martin Ritt – who had a distinctive visual style and an ear for what made melodrama work.

Sanctuary had been handed to British director Tony Richardson (Look Back in Anger, 1959) and he didn’t quite understand how to make the best of the difficult project. So while Lee Remick manages to suggest both strength and fragility, and makes her character’s wanton despair believable, Yves Montand is miscast and Bradford Dillman fails to convince even though portraying a weak character. Too many of the smaller roles appear as cliches. And it’s hard to believe the maid’s motivation in turning murderer.

What was acceptable steamy melodrama in the 1930s fails to click three decades on. Faulkner’s thesis that high-falutin’ women want a man to master them and furthermore will fall in love with their rapist seems to lack any understanding of the female mind and will not appeal to the modern sensibility any more than it did on release. Lee Remick is what holds the picture together, in part because she plays so well the role of a woman embracing degradation, and refusing – no matter how insane the idea appears – to let go of the man she believes is the love of her life. It’s not Fifty Shades of Grey, but it’s not that far off that kind of fantasy figure, and given the success of that book, it’s entirely possible there is a market for what Faulkner has to peddle.

Despite my criticisms of "Sanctuary", it still deserves to be available on home video for retro movie lovers to form their own opinions.

(Although "Sanctuary" is not available on home video, it can be streamed as a public domain title on YouTube.) 

BY LEE PFEIFFER

It isn't often that you might expect to read the word "delightful" in a review of a Charles Bronson movie but "From Noon Till Three" is just that: a delightful 1976 send-up of the traditional Western genre. In fact it seems like this was the year in which numerous revisionist Westerns were released. They included "Buffalo Bill and the Indians", "The Outlaw Josey Wales", "The Missouri Breaks" and John Wayne's final film, "The Shootist". By 1976 Charles Bronson was an established screen presence for about two decades.He was a familiar face to American movie-goers who liked his work as a supporting actor but it was the European market that elevated him to star status. Bronson finally began to get top-billing in Westerns and action films and became reasonably popular in America. But it was the 1974 release of his smash hit "Death Wish" that saw him soar to the level of superstar. The film was a mixed blessing. Bronson made some good films in the following years but eventually succumbed to the lure of a quick pay check, cranking out low-end urban crime movies that were often as absurd as they were over-the-top. "From Noon Till Three" allows Bronson and his real life wife and frequent co-star Jill Ireland a rare opportunity to flex their comedic muscles, which they do impressively. 

Bronson plays Graham Dorsey, a member of small time gang of bandits who are riding into a one-horse town to rob the bank. The film's opening is quite eerie as the bandits become unnerved when they discover there isn't a single living soul anywhere in the town. This sets in motion a "Twilight Zone"-like beginning that is quickly explained as a nightmare Dorsey is suffering, but is nonetheless quite effective for grabbing the viewer's attention.  When the gang nears the actual town, Dorsey's horse goes lame and must be shot. He rides double with another bandit until they reach the opulent mansion house of Amanda (Jill Irleand), an attractive widow who resides in the countryside with only a maid and servant as companions. When the bandits arrive on her doorstep, she is home alone and is understandably filled with anxiety being in the company of the men, who demand she give them a horse. She lies and says she doesn't have one- and Dorsey validates her story, opting to stay behind at the house while the robbery takes place. He finds Amanda very desirable but none-the-less acts like a gentleman- though as her tough facade fades, she becomes susceptible to his charm. Dorsey claims he suffers from incurable impotence, a ploy that works when Amanda finally volunteers to "cure" him. This results in the pair spending several heavenly hours together enjoying sexual adventures and falling in love. When word reaches Amanda that Dorsey's fellow bandits have been captured, she implores him to try to save them from hanging. Dorsey pretends to ride to their rescue, but instead bushwhacks a traveling con man and adopts his identity. The other man is mistaken for Dorsey and shot dead by a posse. Dorsey is ironically arrested because the man he is impersonating is also wanted by the law. Got all that? Things get really complicated when Dorsey spends a year in prison, studying (ironically) how to be a banker. He intends to return to Amanda and live their dream of moving to Boston, where he can get a job as a bank manager. When he returns to the woman he has been obsessing over for the last year, the reception he receives from her is something less than welcoming. Seems that since she believed Dorsey was dead, she set about memorializing him in a memoir titled "From Noon Till Three", a scandalous record of the hours in which they made love and fell in love. In the book, Amanda relates tall tales about Dorsey's crime exploits that he had previously bragged about...and she takes a bit of intentional creative license by describing him as an elegant, dashing man when, in fact, he looks like what he is: a saddle tramp. To say much more would spoil the fun. Suffice it to say that the film really kicks into gear when Dorsey discovers that Amanda's memoir has become an international sensation and she is idolized worldwide by both men and women. She doesn't have much incentive to now admit that Dorsey is not only alive and well but also falls considerable short of the handsome hunk the world has come to imagine.

"From Noon Till Three" is stylishly directed by Frank D. Gilroy and its based upon his novel of the same name. Gilroy had the magic touch in terms of bringing out the best in both Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland, both of whom rarely had an opportunity to demonstrate their flair for light comedy and they are both terrific. Gilroy, who also penned the screenplay, took advantage of a new era of cynicism in major films and "From Noon Till Three" proved to be far ahead of its time in predicting how the general public can be bamboozled into believing urban legends if they are marketed creatively enough. (Coincidentally, Paddy Chayefsky's "Network", released the same year, took an equally cynical view of the current day  TV news industry.)  The movie is a wealth of small pleasures and unexpected plot turns and boasts a fine score by Elmer Bernstein and impressive camerawork by Lucien Ballard, not to mention an impressive mansion house set by Robert Clatworthy. I don't want to overstate the merits of the film but I do want to point out that even if you're not a Bronson fan you should give this one a try.

"From Noon Till Three" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. 

Click here to order Kino Lorber DVD edition from Amazon

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

Peter Cushing, André Morell, Yvonne Mitchell, Donald Pleasence in a new restoration of

Nigel Kneale’s 1954 adaptation of the George Orwell classic

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the BFI:

BFI Blu-ray/DVD, iTunes and Amazon Prime release on 11 April 2022

George Orwell’s enduring dystopian masterpiece is brought vividly to life in this celebrated BBC production. Adapted by Nigel Kneale (The Quatermass Experiment), NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (directed by Rudolf Cartier) broke new ground for television drama when first broadcast in 1954. On 11 April, tying in with a Nigel Kneale season at BFI Southbank, the BFI brings this classic production to Blu-ray and DVD in a Dual Format Edition, and to DTO via iTunes and Amazon Prime. Experience Orwell’s haunting vision of a society dominated by relentless tyranny and the subversion of truth – a world in which Big Brother is always watching you.

Featuring a stunning central performance from Peter Cushing (The Curse of Frankenstein, Star Wars) as the doomed Winston Smith, this small-screen landmark has been newly restored by the BFI using original film materials from the BBC Archive and the BFI National Archive. Numerous extras include a newly recorded audio commentary by television historian Jon Dear, host of Nigel Kneale podcast Bergcast, with Toby Hadoke and Andy Murray, and a newly filmed conversation between the BFI’s Dick Fiddy and historian Oliver Wake, on the myths that have grown up around the production in the last 60-odd years.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR is released alongside the BFI Southbank centenary celebration of screenwriter Nigel Kneale. A season, NIGHTMARES AND DAYDREAMS, runs throughout April in partnership with Picturehouse to commemorate Kneale’s contribution to British television. His adult drama and tense thrillers with a sci-fi or horror slant went on to influence the likes of John Carpenter, Stephen King and Ben Wheatley. Often enthralling and terrifying, Kneale’s visionary work showing on the big screen includes the restored version of NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. The screening, on Monday 4 April at 6.30pm in NFT1 will be followed by a panel discussion. Other titles screening in the season include FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, QUARTERMASS AND THE PIT, THE YEAR OF THE SEX OLYMPICS and THE WOMAN IN BLACK and there will be a special table reading of OUT OF THE UNKNOWN: THE CHOPPER, as part of the BFI’s Missing Believed Wiped programme.

Picturehouse Crouch End will be hosting a day-long event on Saturday 23 April featuring expert panellists and members of cast and crew looking at Kneale’s film and TV work and his influence and legacy. Events include a live reading of ‘lost’ 1942 radio play YOU MUST LISTEN, and screenings of several of Kneale classics, including THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT: CONTACT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED, THE STONE TAPE, AGAINST THE CROWD: MURRAIN and LATE NIGHT STORY: THE PHOTOGRAPH.

Special features

• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Newly recorded audio commentary on Nineteen Eighty-Four by television historian Jon Dear, host of Nigel Kneale podcast Bergcast, with Toby Hadoke and Andy Murray
• Late Night Line-Up (BBC, 1965, 23 mins): members of the cast and crew look back on the controversies surrounding this adaptation of Orwell’s classic
• The Ministry of Truth (2022, 24 mins): in conversation with the BFI’s Dick Fiddy, television historian Oliver Wake dispels some of the myths that have grown up around the groundbreaking drama over the course of the past half century
• Nigel Kneale: Into the Unknown (2022, 72 mins): writer, actor and stand-up comedian Toby Hadoke and Nigel Kneale biographer and programmer Andy Murray try to unpick who Kneale was, what he did and why his work still matters today
• Gallery of rare images from the BBC Archives
• Original script (downloadable PDF)
• Newly commissioned sleeve artwork by Matt Needle

·         ** First pressing only** Illustrated booklet with essays by Oliver Wake and David Ryan; credits and notes on the special features.

Product details

RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1445 / 12

UK / 1954 / black and white / 113 mins / English language, with optional subtitles for the Deaf and partial hearing / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 // BD50: 1080p/50i, 25fps, mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 1.0 mono audio (24kHz/16-bit)

Order from the BFI Shop here:

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/nineteen-eighty-four-dual-format-edition.html

BFI DVD/Blu-ray releases can be ordered from home entertainment online retailers or from the BFI Shop at https://shop.bfi.org.uk/

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DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY WOWS THEM AT BAFTA AWARDS

OSCAR WINNER WILLIAM HURT DEAD AT 71

OUT OF THE PAST: LEE MARVIN VS. GENE HACKMAN IN "PRIME CUT" (1972)

REVIEW: MARTIN SCORSESE'S "THE LAST WALTZ" (1978); CRITERION SPECIAL EDITION

WHY ELVIS TURNED DOWN CO-STARRING WITH JOHN WAYNE

OUT OF THE PAST: GEORGE KENNEDY'S TCM TRIBUTE TO JAMES STEWART

"PLANET OF THE APES" DANCE PARTY VIDEO!

OUT OF THE PAST: HOME MOVIES FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS 1965

"WE WANT OUR BLU-RAY AND DVD!"- "A PLACE FOR LOVERS" (1969) STARRING MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AND FAYE DUNAWAY

"MAGNUM P.I. : THE COMPLETE SERIES" COMING TO BLU-RAY FROM MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT

FROM THE TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES ARCHIVE: BURT REYNOLDS' TRIBUTE TO SPENCER TRACY

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