The
Citadel
(1938/MGM*)/Enchanted
College
(1945/RKO*)/Finis
Terrae
(1929/MVD/Eureka! Blu-ray)/Splendor
In The Grass
(1961/*all Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Town
Without Pity
(1961/United Artists/MGM Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: C+/C+/B/B-/C+ Extras: C/C/B-/B-/D Films:
B-/C+/B-/B-/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
All Blu-rays (save Finis
and Pity)
are now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive
series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for dramas that span nearly 100 years...
King
Vidor's The
Citadel
(1938) has Robert Donat as the new doctor in a small Welsh town,
meeting a woman (Rosalind Russell) he gets involved with, but not
before he discovers all kinds of corruption and worse in the town
that can often be very dangerous. Supporting turns by Rex Harrison,
Ralph Richardson and Cecil Parker leading a fine cast gave this
British production acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic and made it
a hit that received four Academy Award nominations. I can see why.
It
also shows how good British filmmaking was at the time and remained
so into WWII before things got really, really bad. They could
compete with Hollywood, France, Germany and the rest of the world,
with the talent and work to back it up. Donat is usually remembered
for working with Hitchcock, but his career was much more and this
films shows how this too.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer, live action shorts The
Ship That Died
and Strange
Glory
and animated Warner classic The
Daffy Doc.
John
Cromwell's The
Enchanted College
(1945) is a drama with a slight fantasy twist, as Robert Young falls
in love with Dorothy McGuire, but he is scarred up from his WWII
service (the make up is not too hideous here, but this is pre-Tom
Savini work after all) and she is not happy with how she looks
either. That is until they go to the title locale and suddenly find
they become beautiful and free of scars, wounds and unhappiness with
their appearances.
This
only happens after they get married reluctantly, but soon happens and
the locale used to be for people on honeymoons. Did that give it any
magic? The screenplay (co-written by DeWitt Bodeen and no less than
Herman J. Mankiewicz!) wants those details to stray as mystified as
love itself and that lends up selling the storylines and audience a
little short. The leads are fine with solid support from the likes
of Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick, Hillary Brooke and Richard
Gaines, but only expect so much if you check
it out. Hope the 1924 silent original version with Richard
Barthelmess gets restored at some point soon.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer
and two radio drama adaptions of the film (in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono): Lux
Radio Theater
(9/3/45) and General
Electric Theater
(9/24/53).
Jean
Epstein's Finis
Terrae
(1929) is a landmark French film about four fishermen who decide to
go out for three months in Bannec, an islet that is rather isolated.
When one of them gets a very bad infection in his thumb, he has to be
rushed to get medical help, but it takes forever with time of the
essence and some betrayal starts to come through.
With
a title meaning 'end of the earth' and worse, the film makes you feel
like you are trapped as well and as intended, you are and yet, there
is all this beauty around you and the juxtaposition give the film a
poetry that is rare in filmmaking and I hear so many people saying
various films are poetic. I do not always buy that, but it is the
case here, and not just because it is a silent film. Nice it has
survived as well as it has and is one of the key silent films
everyone should see at least once.
Extras
include:
Impressions
on Jean Epstein
- new interview with film historian and critic Pamela Hutchinson on
the life and work of the director
Stranded
- new video essay on Finis
Terrae
The
Bottom of the Wave
- an archival appreciation of Finis Terrae by Joel Daire
Limited
Edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by John Dunn
and
a Limited Edition collector's booklet featuring a new essay on Finis
Terrae
by Jean Epstein expert Christophe Wall-Romana and archival writing
by the director.
Elia
Kazan's Splendor
In The Grass
(1961) is a fine pairing of Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (in his
first film!) the hands of an ace director, a couple stuck in a small
town in the 1920s, trying to be together agains the oppressive norms
of the people there. Wood reaches new heights as an actress, Beatty
is a natural and this is a character study of them, the town and all
of its often petty people.
This
may run just over two hours, but no time is wasted it letting us see
the town, getting to know everyone and quickly understanding the
situation. It is also the kind of film that put Kazan on the map and
also the kind of film few seem to be able to make today, so there are
several good reasons to see this and if you have before, revisit it.
Now restored, it is especially accessible and a bit ahead of its
time.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer and documentary on the
Director: Eliza
Kazan: A Director's Journey.
Last
but not least, Gottfried Reinhardt's Town
Without Pity
(1961) is a U.S./German co-production with Kirk Douglas as a lawyer
taking on a case of four soldiers being accused of sexual assault
against a young lady in an attempt to echo the likes of Anatomy
Of A Murder
as intelligent, mature, adult-themed dramas started to slowly become
more naturalistic and realistic in a bid to be more honest and
effective.
E.G.
Marshall is the prosecuting attorney, Frank Sutton (Sgt. Carter on
the classic hit TV sitcom Gomer
Pyle, U.S.M.C.)
and Robert Blake play two of the soldiers, so there are some familiar
faces among the really effective German cast. Even by today's
standards, some of this can be hard to watch, with some graphicness
for its time, but this is the kind of film Douglas was becoming known
for, so it is on par with the likes of Paths
Of Glory
and Sweet
Smell Of Success.
The
only think to note and it is a criticism of the film since its
release is that it has more voice-over work than it needed or should
have had, actually hurting the cinematic side of the film its the
possibilities of silences that would have made this more effective.
You'll see (or see again if you have seen this before like I have
eons ago) when you watch it, but its nice to have it out on Blu-ray,
even if it is a basic edition.
Richard
Jaeckel, Christine Kaufmann, Barbara Rutting, Ingrid Van Bergen, Alan
Gifford and Karin Hardt also star.
There
are sadly no extras.
Now
for playback performance, where all the restorations deliver. The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on The
Citadel
can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a
transfer to all previous releases of the film thanks to a nice,
restored transfer that looks solid for its age. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix has also been restored
well, but it cannot hide the age or sonic limits of the film.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Cottage
can also show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior
a transfer to all previous releases of the film, though expect some
softness from the way it was filmed. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix has also been restored
well, but it also cannot hide the age or sonic limits of the film.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Finis
is in remarkably good shape for a film its age and from an impressive
4K scan, so expect to be impressed, while the
PCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mix is also the best here by default because
it is a new music score, but the image is so good, they match up
better than you might expect.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Splendor
looks really good, better than the old DVD version and is a decent
representation of the kind of 35mm
dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor prints of the film one would
have seen at the time. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono
lossless mix is also better than the old audio on the DVD version and
is the best this film will ever sound.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Town
can show the age of the materials used at times, but this looks
really good otherwise. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix in English and
subtitled German is as good as it will ever sound, maybe also if they
release a version without all that voiceover.
To
order
any of the three Warner Archive Blu-ray discs, go to this link for
them and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo
