With two long-awaited British cult classics released on 13 September, the BFI's Flipside DVD & Blu-ray strand continues its ongoing quest to rescue weird and wonderful British films from obscurity.
The latest titles to be made available in new high quality Dual Format Editions are Clive Donner's much-loved Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) and, fresh from its recent theatrical run and enthusiastic re-appraisal, Bronco Bullfrog (1969) directed by Barney Platts-Mills.
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
This glossy coming-of-age comedy, directed by Clive Donner (The Caretaker), follows the exploits of sex-obsessed Jamie (Barry Evans) and his attempts to join the Swinging Sixties set and lose his virginity.
Filled with the distinctive sights and sounds of late-1960s Stevenage and based on the novel by Hunter Davies (The Beatles biography), this enduring cult classic also stars Judy Geeson and Denholm Elliot and features music by The Spencer Davies Group and Traffic. This world premiere presentation is fully uncut and re-mastered in High Definition.
Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition with a complete uncensored presentation of main feature (DVD and Blu-ray), the release will have the following extras:
- Alternative censored version (Blu-ray only);
- Alternative censored sequences (DVD only);
- Because That Road is Trodden (Tim King, 1969, 23 mins): dream-like confessional concerning the fantasies of a public schoolboy;
- Stevenage (Gordon Ruttan, 1971, 21 mins): documentary celebration of Britain's first New Town;
- Illustrated booklet with contributions from Hunter Davies, Steve Chibnall, Vic Pratt and William Fowler.
Bronco Bullfrog
Del (Del Walker), a young apprentice, and his 15-year-old girlfriend Irene (Anne Gooding) have no money and nowhere to go. Angry and frustrated, they turn to ‘Bronco Bullfrog' – fresh out of borstal and living an independent lifestyle – for a taste of fun and freedom.
Powerful and authentic, this fascinating record of the then-emerging suedehead subculture, largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from East London, is released in a re-mastered High Definition presentation.
Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition, the reelase will have the following extras:
- Everybody's An Actor, Shakespeare Said (1968, 30 mins): Platts-Mills' documentary charts Joan Littlewood's theatre work with the teenagers who would star in Bronco Bullfrog;
- Joan Littlewood interview (1968, 21 mins): the formidable and outspoken theatre director discusses her career;
- Seven Green Bottles (Eric Marquis, 1975, 35 mins): a cautionary tale of seven young delinquents, played by non-professional actors;
- Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays, photographs and film credits.
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and Bronco Bullfrog will be released on dual format (DVD and Blu-ray) by the BFI as part of their Flipside strand at the RRP of £19.99 each. |