This December, Indicator is offering up a diverse array of cinematic greats in Blu-ray premiere editions: an all-star Robert Altman satire, a Hitchcockian horror set on the highways of Australia, an Oscar-nominated adaptation of a Pulitzer-winning play, and neo-noir in post-war Los Angeles.
On 14 December, comes Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976), Robert Altman’s follow-up to Nashville, featuring Paul Newman, Burt Lancaster, Geraldine Chaplin, Joel Grey, Harvey Keitel, and Shelley Duvall. in addition to the film-related bonus features, this Indicator edition will contain almost an hour of rare silent films featuring the real Buffalo Bill and the stars of his Wild West shows.
Also in December come two films from Denzel Washington’s early career, Norman Jewison’s military murder mystery A Soldier's Story (1984), based on Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, gave Washington his second screen role and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Cut to a decade later, and Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) sees Washington embodying Walter Mosley’s LA private detective, Easy Rawlins, in a neo-noir classic whose reputation only continues to grow with each passing year.
Last, but by no means least, 14 December also sees Powerhouse Films giving Richard Franklin’s Roadgames (1981) the deluxe treatment. Starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis, this Australian horror classic is presented in an all-new 2020 restoration from a 4K scan of the duplicate negative, and comes with extensive bonus features, a double-sided poster, and an 80-page book.
Mastered from the finest available materials, each of these essential releases contains expertly encoded presentations, a range of new and archival extra features, English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and booklets with new essays, historical articles, contemporary reviews, and film credits.
BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS, OR SITTING BULL'S HISTORY LESSON | Blu-ray Limited Edition | 14 December 2020 | £15.99
An all-star cast – including Paul Newman, Burt Lancaster, Geraldine Chaplin, Joel Grey, Harvey Keitel, and Shelley Duvall – assembles for Robert Altman’s follow-up to his 1975 critical success, Nashville. Swapping the country-and-western scene for Buffalo Bill’s ‘Wild West’ shows of the late nineteenth century, the film is another of Altman’s pitch-perfect satires, offering a sidelong glance at the myths of America.
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
- High Definition remaster
- Two presentations of the film: the original US and UK theatrical cut (124 minutes); and the shorter European cut (104 minutes)
- Original mono audio
- From the Prairie to the Palace (1976): archival on-set documentary featuring rare footage of Robert Altman and Paul Newman
- Interview with Jim Webb (2020): the sound mixer discusses his work on the film
- Seven silent films featuring Buffalo Bill and the stars of his Wild West shows, with optional musical accompaniment by Bernard Wrigley: Annie Oakley (1895); Parade of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, No. 1 (1898); Parade of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, No. 2 (1898); Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Parade (1902); Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Far East (1910); The Life of Buffalo Bill Parts I–III (1912); and Ford Animated Weekly (1916)
- Original theatrical trailer
- Teaser trailer
- TV spot
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Richard Combs, extracts from Altman on Altman, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Peter Stanfield on the silent films of Buffalo Bill, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 3,000 copies
A SOLDIER'S STORY | Blu-ray Limited Edition | 14 December 2020 | £15.99
The murder of a black sergeant on a segregated army base in Louisiana in 1944 is investigated by a black soldier and lawyer, revealing deep-seated racism in the Deep South. Adapted from Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (for Adolph Caesar), and Best Adapted Screenplay (by Fuller himself).
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with director Norman Jewison (1999)
- Archival Interview with Norman Jewison (2010): ninety-minute, career-spanning discussion between the filmmaker and film historian David Poland
- March to Freedom (1999): documentary on the experiences of African American soldiers during World War II, narrated by Paul Winfield
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Molefi Kete Asante, an archival interview with Norman Jewison, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 3,000 copies
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS | Blu-ray Limited Edition | 14 December 2020 | £15.99
Carl Franklin confirmed his name as one of the key voices of the nineties neo-noir revival when he followed up the 1991 modern classic One False Move with this 1995 adaptation of Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins novel. Denzel Washington plays Rawlins, a private investigator in post-war Los Angeles who uncovers a web of corruption while on the search for the mistress of a wealthy businessman.
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with writer and director Carl Franklin (2005)
- Dancing with the Devil (2018): archival interview with Franklin, conducted by the Film Noir Foundation’s Eddie Muller at a Noir City screening of Devil in a Blue Dress
- Don Cheadle Screen Test (1994): videotape footage of the actor auditioning for the role of Mouse, with introduction by Franklin
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Keith Harris, an archival interview with Carl Franklin from Positif magazine, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 3,000 copies
ROADGAMES | Blu-ray Limited Edition | 14 December 2020 | £18.99
Stacy Keach (Fat City) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween) star in Richard Franklin’s 1981 Australian slasher classic, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Keach plays Quid, an American trucker who, with the help of Curtis’s hitchhiker, tracks down a serial killer active on the long, empty roads of southern Australia. This deluxe, extras-laden edition boasts an all-new 2020 restoration from a 4K scan of the duplicate negative, produced exclusively for this release.
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
- New 2020 restoration from a 4K scan of the duplicate negative, produced exclusively for this release
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with director Richard Franklin (2003)
- Audio commentary with cinematographer Vincent Monton, costume designer Aphrodite Kondos, production secretary Helen Watts, and film historian Mark Hartley (2019)
- Audio commentary with writers and programmers Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe (2020)
- Kangaroo Hitchcock (2003): archival documentary on the making of Roadgames featuring interviews with Franklin and actor Stacy Keach
- Australian Long Haul (2019): actor Stacy Keach discusses the role of Pat Quid and working in Australia
- Audio interview with Stacy Keach (2016): further thoughts on the film by the actor
- Audio interview with Richard Franklin (2001): the director recalls his early career as a filmmaker and the production of Roadgames
- Archival Interview with Richard Franklin (1981): documentary profile of the director
- Audio interview with Grant Page (2016): an in-depth discussion with the actor and stunt co-ordinator
- ‘Not Quite Hollywood’ Interview Excerpts (2008): over an hour of outtakes from Hartley’s acclaimed documentary on Australian cinema, featuring Franklin, Page, actors Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis, screenwriter Everett De Roche, and assistant director Tom Burstall
- Roadgames: A Lecture (1980): archival recording of Franklin, co-producer Barbi Taylor and composer Brian May discussing the making of the film
- Neil Sinyard on ‘Roadgames’ (2020): newly filmed appreciation by the British film historian
- …And His Ghost May Be Heard (1973): rare short film by Franklin, marking his first collaboration with Roadgames cinematographer Monton
- Script Read (1980): audio recording of a pre-production read-through, featuring Franklin and actors Keach and Marion Edward
- Music demos: excerpts from the Brian May score in demo form
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Lee Gambin, extensive archival interviews with Richard Franklin, Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis, Franklin’s 1980 Alfred Hitchcock obituary, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Mark Hartley on …And His Ghost May Be Heard, and film credits
- Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 3,000 copies
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