More British films coming from Criterion

[Tryavna]

Rumor has it that Criterion will be releasing 49th Parallel, Green for Danger, and a boxset of Paul Robeson films in February. Among the Robeson films will be Sanders of the River and Ealing's The Proud Valley. No definite word from Criterion or any indication of extras for the Powell/Pressburger title, but I thought I should throw this out there in case people are on the verge of picking up the existing releases of 49th or Green and would prefer to wait for the Criterions. (No doubt Criterion's Green for Danger will be superior to Network's.)

Expect Criterion to update their website to reflect these and the other February titles in the next few days.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Tryavna Rumor has it that Criterion will be releasing 49th Parallel, Green for Danger, and a boxset of Paul Robeson films in February. Among the Robeson films will be Sanders of the River and Ealing's The Proud Valley. No definite word from Criterion or any indication of extras for the Powell/Pressburger title, but I thought I should throw this out there in case people are on the verge of picking up the existing releases of 49th or Green and would prefer to wait for the Criterions. (No doubt Criterion's Green for Danger will be superior to Network's.) Expect Criterion to update their website to reflect these and the other February titles in the next few days.

Rumour was correct. See their announcement about 49th Parallel.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
# New, restored high-definition digital transfer
# Audio commentary by film and music historian Bruce Eder
# The Volunteer, a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short starring Ralph Richardson
# A Pretty British Affair, a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger, which considers their WWII-era collaborators and features rare footage of the filmmakers together
# Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography
# Original theatrical trailer
# Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
# PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Charles Barr and an excerpt from Powell's 1941 premiere speech

Steve

[smudge]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Rumour was correct. See their announcement about 49th Parallel. SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES # New, restored high-definition digital transfer # Audio commentary by film and music historian Bruce Eder # The Volunteer, a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short starring Ralph Richardson # A Pretty British Affair, a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger, which considers their WWII-era collaborators and features rare footage of the filmmakers together # Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography # Original theatrical trailer # Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing # PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Charles Barr and an excerpt from Powell's 1941 premiere speech Steve

I think my bank manager would like a quiet word with you about my overdraft Steve...

SMUDGE

[ChristineCB]

I got to see 49th PARALLEL two days ago for the 3rd-time-ever, and still enjoyed it completely. This is definitely going into my collection upon its release.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by smudge I think my bank manager would like a quiet word with you about my overdraft Steve... SMUDGE

Tell him (or her) that they're worth every penny
It's worse for a completist like me. I now have 8 different DVDs of some of their more popular titles like The Red Shoes. Quite a few are exactly the same print of the film but have different extras on them.

It was a lot cheaper when their films were a lot rarer


Steve

[Stephen Bourne]

Criterion will be releasing the Paul Robeson DVD boxed set in February 2007 and it will include an interview I gave in London this year about Robeson's British films based on the chapter I wrote in my book Black in the British Frame (Continuum, 2001).

[penfold]

And an excellent book it is too....welcome to the forum...!!

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Stephen Bourne Criterion will be releasing the Paul Robeson DVD boxed set in February 2007 and it will include an interview I gave in London this year about Robeson's British films based on the chapter I wrote in my book Black in the British Frame (Continuum, 2001).

Greetings Stephen, welcome to the forum.
For anyone who doesn't know Stephen's work I can also recommend his book Brief Encounters: Lesbians and gays in British cinema, 1930-1971

Steve

[Steve Crook]

The Criterion DVD of 49th Parallel has been released.
The special edition double-disk set features:
+ New, restored high-definition digital transfer
+ Audio commentary by film and music historian Bruce Eder
+ The Volunteer, a 1943 Powell and Pressburger war-effort short starring Ralph Richardson
+ A Pretty British Affair, a BBC documentary on the careers of Powell and Pressburger, which considers their WWII-era collaborations and features rare footage of the filmmakers together
+ Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography
+ Original theatrical trailer
+ Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
+ PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Charles Barr and Powell's 1941 premiere speech


Available from Amazon.com and all good online shops.

Reviews available from:
DVD Savant
Film Critic
DVD Talk
Digitally Obsessed

And a comparison between the Criterion, Carlton & L'Institut Lumière DVDs by DVD Beaver

Steve

[orpheum]

If any of you have readers tickets at the National Archive you can access all the open files.There is in fact a very interesting film on the 49th Parallel,detailling the problems it experienced in its production in Canada.It seems some of the crew were less than happy with Powell.There are by the way thousands of other files to read.if you want to see the genesis of the production of "Forever and a Day" there is a fascinating file on this.If you do not have a ticket then all you do is turn up with i.d. and they will process your ticket there and then.It is in Kew and is well worth a visit.

[ChristineCB]

I always enjoy the DVDBEAVER comparisons. I haven't quite figured out how Aspect Ratio ("1.33 to 1") can be the same but pixel size (720x___) can be different between NTSC and PAL. Oh well...

We have our new NTSC copy on it's way and I know I'll be making a DVD-R copy for travelling purposes.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by orpheum If any of you have readers tickets at the National Archive you can access all the open files.There is in fact a very interesting film on the 49th Parallel,detailling the problems it experienced in its production in Canada.It seems some of the crew were less than happy with Powell.There are by the way thousands of other files to read.if you want to see the genesis of the production of "Forever and a Day" there is a fascinating file on this.If you do not have a ticket then all you do is turn up with i.d. and they will process your ticket there and then.It is in Kew and is well worth a visit.

I didn't know about that one. Thanks, I'll check it out.

The DVD commentary by Bruce Eder, and Powell's autobiography, give quite a lot of information about the making of 49th Parallel. Powell always drove his cast and crew hard. He could be a bully. He expected total commitment from himself and from everyone else and he could be quite scathing of someone who didn't give that commitment or wasn't as good as it was thought they should be. Like all bullies, if people argued back & stood up to him then he soon backed down and often respected them more.

They had additional problems with 49P because of having to cross the Atlantic (in wartime) and work in a different country. The Canadian authorities gave them a lot of help, Raymond Massey's brother Vincent was the Governor General at the time and it's Vincent doing that voice-over introduction to the film. But it was still very difficult to work there, especially over the range of locations used and with things like the exploding life-sized model submarine and sinking seaplane.

But nobody died

Steve

[WiseFilms]

The Paul Robeson DVD boxed set is so tantalizing to me. I wish I could find it used, so as not to kill myself financially. Maybe I could at the very least, convince the Public Library here to get it.