COLLECTION UPDATE: KINO-LORBER SUMMER 2023 SALE

 

This year I showed even less restraint than usual. Such is the madness of collecting! I placed not one, but two orders with Kino. The first one was placed on July 22, and the second on August 7, the day before the sale ended. Weirdly enough, the first order still hasn't arrived, but the second one arrived in just a few days. All Blu-rays. Here is a look at what I ordered, starting with the films I've already watched.

Two excellent British Films Noir:

THE BLUE LAMP (1950), directed by Basil Dearden, and starring a young. lean, mean Dirk Bogarde as a cop killer. The film shows incredible realism as the investigation of the crime is shown in detail. Excellent post-WW2 London locations.

BRIGHTON ROCK (1948), directed by John Boulting, and starring Richard Attenborough, Hermione Baddeley, and Carol Marsh. Fascinating Noir, based on a novel by Graham Greene, and also a riveting character study of the complex killer played by Attenborough.

DRAWING FLIES (1996), starring Jason Lee. Very strange little film featuring a good, quirky performance by Lee, who is   always worth watching. He plays a slacker who leads a group of friends into the woods, ostensibly for a camping trip. But he really is trying to locate, and maybe join forces with, Bigfoot himself. Also featuring Jason Mewes.

BREEZY (1973), directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring William Holden and Kay Lenz. Fairly predictable love story. Hippie girl Lenz imposes herself on straight-laced, wealthy divorcee Holden who is twice her age. Will they fall in love despite all odds? Take a guess! A pleasant way to pass the time.

ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (1973), starring Robert Blake, Billy Green Bush, Jeannine Riley, and Elisha Cook. Not your typical cop drama. Blake encounters prejudice and corruption from both the public he serves and his own colleagues. 

GET CRAZY (1983), directed by Allan Arkush, and starring Malcom MacDowell, Daniel Stern, and Ed Begley, Jr. All about the trials and tribulations of producing a big rock concert for New Year's Eve. Nothing terribly special, although MacDowell as a typical glam rock star is fun to watch. And it's fun seeing former teen idols Fabian Forte and Bobby Sherman in cameo roles.

BY CANDLELIGHT (1933), directed by James Whale, and starring Paul Lukas, Elissa Landi, and Nils Asther. Truly one of the most delightful films I've seen in years. A pre-code masterpiece with manservant Lukas pretending to be his master, a prince, played by suave Asther, in order to court lovely Landi, whom he meets on a train. But Landi isn't what she appears to be. Pure pleasure from beginning to end!

BACK STREET (1941), directed by Robert Stevenson, and starring Charles Boyer, Margaret Sullavan, Richard Carlson, Frank McHugh, and Tim Holt. A remake of the 1931 film with Irene Dunne and John Boles. I know this is considered to be a classic love story, but, really, watching Sullavan throwing her life away to be the mistress of a married man is beyond exasperating. Good performances, but hard to take.

ALL I DESIRE (1953), directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carlson, Lyle Bettger, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lori Nelson, Marcia Henderson, Richard Long, and Billy Gray. Miss Stanwyck is always enjoyable, even in a convoluted soap opera like this. She plays a struggling actress who left her husband and three children years ago to avoid destroying them over a scandal she was involved in. All conflicts, secrets, and resentments are smoothed over beautifully by the end of the film, as would be expected in a Sirk drama.

FREUD (1962), directed by John Huston and starring Montgomery Clift, Susannah York, and Susan Kohner, and David McCallum. Serious intellectual drama concerning the famous doctor's research into human sexual behavior. Dark sequences make it almost a horror film. Last film appearance by Susan Kohner.

IF I HAD A MILLION (1932). It took seven directors, including Ernst Lubitsch and Norman Taurog to make this episodic pre-code film. Big name cast includes: Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, W.C. Fields, Frances Dee, George Raft, and Jack Oakie.

THE FRONT PAGE (1931), directed by Lewis Milestone, and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien. Classic pre-code newspaper drama features endless shouting and people screaming into telephones. I was prepared to love this film but found it quite disappointing. A second watch may change my initial impression.

BLUE SKIES 91946), starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Joan Caulfield, Billy De Wolfe, and Olga San Juan. The oft-told story of two guys in show business competing for the same girl was pretty tired by 1946, but that doesn't matter when you have the pleasure of watching Astaire dancing to Puttin' On the Ritz and hearing Crosby croon the lovely title tune. Miss Caulfield is as vapid as it gets. But Miss San Juan is energetic and fun, and the Technicolor is gorgeous. All the songs are composed by Irving Berlin.

BACKLASH (1956), directed by John Sturges, and starring Richard Widmark, Donna Reed, William Campbell, John McIntire, Barton MacLane, Harry Morgan, and Jack Lambert.

THE EAGLE (1925), directed by Clarence Brown and starring Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, and Louise Dresser. I figured it was about time I saw Valentino in a movie.

OUTSIDE THE LAW (1920), directed by Tod Browning, and starring Priscilla Dean and Lon Chaney. 

DRIFTING (1923)

WHITE TIGER (1923). Both films directed by Tod Browning and starring Priscilla Dean.

FOOLISH WIVES (1922), directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim.

HANGMEN ALSO DIE (1943), directed by Fritz Lang.

DETECTIVE (1985). directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and starring Claude Brasseur, Nathalie Baye, and Johnny Hallyday.

THERE'S NO TOMORROW (1939), directed by Max Ophuls, and starring Edwige Feuillere.

DEATH IN THE GARDEN (1956), directed by Luis Bunuel, and starring Simone Signoret.

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (1929), directed by Dziga Vertov.

FEAR AND DESIRE (1953), directed by Stanley Kubrick, and starring Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, Kenneth Harp, and Virginia Leith.

BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1956). directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Roger Duchesne.

THE BODY OF MY ENEMY (1976), directed by Henri Verneuil, and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.