London Town (1946) Golden Salamander (1949)

[MrT]

London Town with Sid Field and Petula Clark, and The Golden Salamander with Trevor Howard, are both listed at Moviemail for September release in Odeon's "Best of British" series. Good news! London Town DVD | British Film | Films by Movie Mail UK
MrT

[julian_craster]

Good news- but are they aware that two versions of London Town exist in the ITV archives ?

Don't settle for anything less than the London premiere version which has 30 minutes of additional material, including the wonderful, bizarre Daffodil Hill Ballet, choreographed by Agnes de Mille, no less !

[MrT]

I think a quick email to Odeon is called for. Would be really great if the full uncut version was released! Perhaps we could all send emails today?!

[Brief Encounter]

Don't worry, I informed Odeon of this a while back when they were first planning it. So hopefully it is the original version!

Apparently the BFI wanted to charge an access fee for their restored print, which is a shame...

[julian_craster]

Apparently the BFI wanted to charge an access fee for their restored print, which is a shame...

I suppose if the NFA funded the restoration, this is only reasonable.......I hope Odeon are using the best quality print available, and have not used an inferior copy from the ITV/Rank vaults....

I would also pay particular attention to the length of the film on the new DVD....... Amazon says 112 minutes.....Quinlan (in his British Sound Films book says 126 minutes) - so what is missing ? As 'Daffodil Hill' is my favourite bit, I am a bit worried !

London Town [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Sid Field, Petula Clark, Greta Gynt, Kay Kendall, Tessie O Shea, Wesley Ruggles: Film & TV





London Town [DVD] (UK 1946 in Technicolor)

Actors: Sid Field, Petula Clark, Greta Gynt, Kay Kendall, Tessie O Shea
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Format: Dolby, PAL
Region: Region 2
Studio: Odeon Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 19 Sep 2011
Run Time: 112 minutes

The first ever DVD release of this classic British musical comedy which has been unseen for over thirty years (or ten years if you had the Carlton Cinema channel...) .

Roll up! Roll up! London Town is one of the BIGGEST films ever made in Britain!
Comedy legend Sid Field plays comedian Jerry Sandford who comes to London from the provinces expecting to make his fortune - only to find himself stuck in the wings as the unloved understudy. Determined to help her dad hit the big time, his daughter Peggy (a young Petula Clark) decides to take matters into her own hands.....
One of Rank s biggest-budget films, London Town is packed with classic tunes (?) and show-stopping dancing, this gorgeous Technicolor fantasy is effervescent entertainment of the finest vintage!
Extra Features include: Stills Gallery, Booklet notes and Best of British trailers.

A triumph…in its own class --The Times

See:
http://www.odeonent.co.uk/product.asp?cid=&pid=2594

[Brief Encounter]

Well, I think the tunes are classics, but I think I'm very much in the minority there...

The time could be adjusted for PAL: Television Standards - PAL to NTSC - DVDs and MPEG-2
126m is 120m... ok, still a bit short! But I'm hopeful it's the full print...

[Brief Encounter]

As I suspected, it's more like 'unseen for twenty years':
BFI | Film & TV Database | LONDON TOWN (1946)

I believe it was first shown on TV at the insistence of the Petula Clark Society!

[Mr Pastry Time]

My old Betamax off air is still going strong!

[Brief Encounter]

Time is slightly different on the Odeon site - longer!
http://www.odeonent.co.uk/product.as...2594&n=11&m=92

[Johnallan]

I've not seen this film myself but Halliwell describes it as 'Disastrous, tasteless, tawdry and sluggish'. I would like to see it but am reluctant to shell out yet more hard-earned cash on a lemon. Does anyone in the know agree with him or was he just having a bilious day?

[Brief Encounter]

If you like musicals, the songs and production numbers are a treat. The rest could be described as 'sluggish' indeed.

[Nick Dando]

I'm looking forward to seeing Golden Salamander again, so I've put my order in with Amazon. It has Wilfred Hyde White in a rather unsympathetic role - not his usual affable self at all - in fact rather sleazy.

Nick

[MrT]

London Town arrived this morning and it IS the full uncut print, unseen for many years. Well done to Optimum and ITV for not just fobbing us off with the cut version again.

MrT

[Brief Encounter]

London Town arrived this morning and it IS the full uncut print, unseen for many years. Well done to Optimum and ITV for not just fobbing us off with the cut version again.

MrT

Think you mean Odeon! But good news still