On 22 April Indicator presents a selection of classic films, directed by and starring some of Hollywood cinema’s most celebrated talents, all available on Blu-ray for the first time.
Joseph L Mankiewicz’s Dragonwyck (1946) stars Gene Tierney and a wonderfully villainous Vincent Price in a gloriously creepy Gothic chiller; Anatole Litvak’s controversial The Snake Pit (1948) stars the great Olivia de Havilland in a towering performance as a young woman suffering a mental disorder. Max Ophuls’ The Reckless Moment (1949) is a tense and stylish film noir starring Joan Bennett and James Mason at his dastardly best; and Robert Rossen’s underrated Lilith (1964), starring Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg, is a powerful and potent drama of forbidden desire.
Mastered from the finest available materials, each of these collectable Limited Editions contains an array of new and archival extra features, English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and comes packaged with a Limited Edition exclusive booklet containing newly commissioned essays, contemporary reviews, and film credits.
Dragonwyck | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 22 April | £15.99
The directorial debut of the great Joseph L Mankiewicz (All About Eve, Suddenly, Last Summer), Dragonwyck is a glorious melding of Gothic chills and baroque melodrama. A beautiful Connecticut farm girl (Gene Tierney) finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy of madness, murder and intrigue after she agrees to become governess and nurse to the family of her distant cousin (Vincent Price).
Echoing Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940), and reuniting stars Tierney and Price for the third time in as many years (having previously starred together in Otto Preminger’s 1944 Laura and John M Stahl’s 1945 Leave Her to Heaven), Dragonwyck is a magnificently creepy chiller with a career-defining performance by Price, luminous cinematography by the legendary Arthur C Miller, and a wonderful Alfred Newman score.
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- Alternative feature presentations: the legacy High Definition remaster; and the new 4K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Interview with Vincent Price (1969): archival audio recording of the celebrated actor in conversation at London’s National Film Theatre
- Audio commentary with film historian Steve Haberman and filmmaker Constantine Nasr
- A House of Secrets – Exploring ‘Dragonwyck’(2008, 17 mins)
- Lux Radio Theater – ‘Dragonwyck’ (1946, 60 mins): vintage radio dramatisation, starring Vincent Price and Gene Tierney
- The Screen Guild Theater – ‘Dragonwyck’ (1947, 30 mins): vintage radio broadcast,starring Vincent Price and Teresa Wright
- Theatrical trailer
- Extensive image galleries: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
The Snake Pit | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 22 April | £15.99
Shocking and highly controversial at the time of release, The Snake Pit broke new ground in Hollywood cinema for its depiction of mental illness and its treatment. Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind, The Heiress), delivers an astounding performance as a young bride who suffers a breakdown and finds herself committed to an asylum.
Director Anatole Litvak (Sorry, Wrong Number, Anastasia) had to fight to persuade producer Darryl Zanuck to back the film, but the result remains one of the most potent and powerful films to tackle the subject and was an influence on later works such as Sam Fuller’s Shock Corridor (1963), Robert Rossen’s Lilith (1964) and Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- 4K remaster from original negative
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with author and film historian Aubrey Solomons
- The Battles of Olivia de Havilland (2019): critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson discusses the revered actor’s illustrious career
- Neil Sinyard on ‘The Snake Pit’ (2019): a new appreciation by the author and film historian
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Lindsay Hallam, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
The Reckless Moment | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 22 April | £15.99
The legendary Max Ophuls (Letter from an Unknown Woman, La Ronde) directs this tense and stylish 1949 film noir melodrama. Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street, Suspiria) stars as a suburban housewife who covers up a murder to protect her teenage daughter, only to find herself blackmailed by an immoral small-time crook, played by James Mason (North by Northwest, The Deadly Affair).
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Making an American Movie (2010, 42 mins): an analysis by Lutz Bacher, artist and author of Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios, on The Reckless Moment
- Maternal Overdrive – Todd Haynes on 'The Reckless Moment' (2006, 22 mins): the award-winning writer-director discusses one of his favourite films
- Focus on James Mason (2018): Sarah Thomas and Adrian Garvey explore the distinguished actor’s long career
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Samm Deighan, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
Lilith | Limited Edition Blu-ray | 22 April | £15.99
The final film by the great, yet underrated Robert Rossen (All the King’s Men, The Hustler) is a compelling tale of love, madness, and forbidden desire. Warren Beatty (Mickey One, The Fortune) stars as a young war veteran who takes a job as on orderly in a local asylum and falls under the spell of beautiful schizophrenic, Lilith (Jean Seberg – A Bout de souffle, Bonjour Tristesse).
Boasting a superb supporting cast that includes Peter Fonda, Jessica Walter, Gene Hackman and Kim Hunter, Rossen’s delicate and powerful film is one of the most under-appreciated American films of the 1960s.
Indicator Limited Edition Blu-ray features:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- The Guardian Interview with Warren Beatty (1990): archival audio recording of the celebrated actor in conversation with Christopher Cook at London’s National Film Theatre
- The Suffering Screen (2019): a visual essay by journalist and author Amy Simmons which explores cinema’s enduring fascination with female madness
- The Many Faces of Jean Seberg (2019): critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson explores the career of the famed actor
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by lecturer and broadcaster Richard Combs, an overview of contemporary critical responses, archival articles, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
- All extras subject to change
|
