Studiocanal has announced three more restored titles to be released on its Vintage Classics label, with Joseph Losey's 1954 British noir The Sleeping Tiger coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital, and two fillms from pioneering female director Wendy Toye – the 1954 The Teckman Mystery and the 1962 We Joined the Navy – arriving on Blu-ray and Digital only. One of only two prominent female film directors in the era (Muriel Box was the other), Wendy Toye inspired a generation of female film-makers to pursue a career in the, to this day, male dominated film industry.
THE SLEEPING TIGER (1954) | Blu-ray, DVD & Digital | 7 November 2022
A psychiatrist, Clive Esmond (Alexander Knox) catches young gunman Frank Clemens (Dirk Bogarde) breaking into his house. Rather than send him to prison, Esmond invites the delinquent to stay at his home as a social guinea pig, believing that he can curb the fugitive’s criminal tendencies. Further tensions arise, however, when the youth begins an affair with Esmond’s wife (Alexis Smith).
Directed by Joseph Losey (under the credit of Victor Hanbury), the film was the first collaboration between Dirk Bogarde (The Servant, Accident) and Losey (The Go-Between, Mr. Klein) and marked the beginning of one of British cinema’s most important actor/director partnerships. Also starring Alexis Smith (The Age of Innocence) and Alexander Knox (Wilson), The Sleeping Tiger, looking better than ever and featuring brand-new bonus material, is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding Vintage Classics collection.
On its initial theatrical release, Victor Hanbury, the film’s producer, was credited as director rather than Joseph Losey. Blacklisted at the time after refusing to testify before the 1951 House Committee on Un-American Activities, and in desperate need of work, Losey convinced the producer to take the credit.
BLU-RAY & DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New Interview with Dirk Bogarde's official biographer, John Coldstream
- New Interview with Matthew Sweet
- Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery
THE TECKMAN MYSTERY (1954) | Blu-ray & Digital | 21 November 2022
The Teckman Mystery is a 1954 British crime mystery, directed by Wendy Toye and starring Margaret Leighton, John Justin, Roland Culver and Michael Medwin. Philip Chance is commissioned by his publisher to write the biography of Martin Teckman, a young airman who crashed and died whilst testing a new plane. But from the moment he arrives home, Philip Chance is beset by a series of 'accidents' which indicate strongly that there are people who do not want to see Teckman's past investigated.
BLU-RAY & DIGITAL SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New The Extraordinary Career of Wendy Toye Pt 1, featuring interviews with Film Historian Dr. Josephine Botting and Film Critic Pamela Hutchinson
- DVD/Blu-ray Premiere Rarely-seen Cannes prize-winning short film The Stranger Left No Card (1952)
- DVD/Blu-ray Premiere Christmas-themed short film On The Twelfth Day… (1955)
WE JOINED THE NAVY (1962) | Blu-ray & Digital | 21 November 2022
We Joined the Navy is a 1962 British naval comedy starring British film icon Kenneth More, Lloyd Nolan, Joan O’Brien and Mischa Auer Directed by award-winning Wendy Toye. Lieutenant Commander Robert Badger is an excellent naval officer with one major problem. He speaks the truth at the most inopportune times, leading him to be transferred from ship, to shore, and then to instruct at the Royal Naval College. When his remarks are repeated by one of his students to his father, an anti-military Member of Parliament he has one last chance to prove himself.
BLU-RAY & DIGITAL SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New The Extraordinary Career of Wendy Toye Pt 2, featuring interviews with BFI Curator Jo Botting and film critic Pamela Hutchinson
- Visions: Wendy Toye & Sally Potter: Two Directors (1984)
- DVD/Blu-ray Premiere short film The King’s Breakfast (1963)
- Behind the Scenes stills gallery
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