Joseph Losey on DVD

[John Hodson]

Optimum in the UK is releasing The Joseph Losey Collection in April: The Go Between, The Servant, Accident, The Criminal, Eva, Mr. Klein, The Sleeping Tiger.

[Ashirg]

It seems the set is delayed til September.

Losey's M is owned by Sony, so no matter how much Criterion would want to include it.

[Lino]

Optimum in the UK is releasing The Joseph Losey Collection in April: The Go Between, The Servant, Accident, The Criminal, Eva, Mr. Klein, The Sleeping Tiger.

The page on the Optimum site confirms that finally The Go-Between is presented in its correct AR of 1.85. Definitely the major reason for me for plunging some time in the future for this set.

Acclaimed director Joseph Losey was born in Wisconsin, USA but, falling victim to the McCarthy lead Communist witch-hunts, he moved to Great Britain and lived in exile there for the rest of his career. Initially making films in the UK under a pseudonym - including this collection’s Sleeping Tiger (1954) - Losey regained his earlier prestige with thrillers such as The Criminal (1960) and Eva (1962), reaching the zenith of his career with the critical acclaim heaped upon The Servant (1963), Accident (1967) and The Go Between (1970) – presented here having been restored to its former glory and 1.85:1 original aspect ratio. This collection also includes a rare French outing in Mr Klein (1976), also a UK DVD premiere, which won the Cesars for Best Film & Best Director for Losey in 1977.

[Lino]

Upon receiving the Losey Collection in the mail on Christmas Eve no less (!), I instantly popped The Go-Between disc in the player to see how it looked. I have to say that I'll finally be able to bin my VHS without any feelings of regret for now I am the proud owner of the best home video incarnation of this personal favorite yet.

If you're still wondering if this set is worth it, doubt no more. And for the price Amazon UK is charging for it right now, it's quite a steal for an 8 DVD set. Oh, and I love the packaging as well: it comes with a slip-on box and inside there's 4 slim-pack DVDs containing 2 discs each, which makes for some pretty wonderful shelf space saving.

[kekid]

Upon receiving the Losey Collection in the mail on Christmas Eve...

Are there English subtitles for the hearing-impaired on any of the DVD's? Thank you.

[tojoed]

Are there English subtitles for the hearing-impaired on any of the DVD's? Thank you.

I'm fairly certain there aren't. It is one of the most annoying things about Optimum.

[Lino]

Upon receiving the Losey Collection in the mail on Christmas Eve...

Are there English subtitles for the hearing-impaired on any of the DVD's? Thank you.

No, unfortunately. The only subtitles available are for the french movies, Eva and Mr. Klein. And yes, it's a nuisance that Optimum doesn't include them.

[Lino]

Just some heads-up on what extras are included in this set, since Optimum didn't bother to include them anywhere on the box nor on the website...

Only the two earlier movies, Sleeping Tiger and Big Night and the later The Go-Between are extras-less. All the rest feature the original theatrical trailers and The Criminal, The Servant and Accident all have extremely capable half-hour featurettes about Losey and the movies they feature on.

By the way, the original trailer for Mr. Klein is one of the best I've ever seen. Take a look.

[Lino]

Been on a Losey streak lately and Secret Ceremony was the next in line. My, my, didn't Losey and Liz manage to make some truly bizarre little movies... It's almost like a different director took hold of Losey. Don't get me wrong: both Boom! and Secret Ceremony are right up my alley but it's still baffling that he was able to create them.

Boom! has been widely discussed in this forum due to its association with John Waters so I won't dwell on it. Secret Ceremony on the other hand, deserves a paragraph or two. First stop, the cinematography by Gerry Fischer: absolutely astounding in its treatment of colors, at times candy-colored, other times subdued but never dull. Next stop, the acting: Mia Farrow really took me by surprise as I never in a million years would have thought her capable of portraying such a well constructed and deeply disturbing character with a very wide emotional arch. She really is the heart of the movie and manages to ingrain in your memory one of the most disturbing cinematic memories ever: the look in her eyes throughout the entire movie. Great stuff. Liz, on the other hand (and didn't the gal make some odd movie choices in her time) is on with her trademark mock-english accent with the shrill on top. Always competent and beguiling, though.

Now for the story: I won't tell you what it's all about (that's boring to hear and read, in my opinion) but let's just say that it involves incest, greedy relatives, death, and one of the most beautiful houses I've ever seen on or off the screen! Where is that house anyway? Just recently, as I was rewatching Ken Russell's Mahler, I've noticed that he uses that same house in a very brief scene but makes it look like it's some sort of church.

It has the most beautiful tiled-walls I've ever seen (cobalt blue?) and the exterior is almost as gorgeous as the interior. It's a museum-like house, filled to the brim with objects and lamps to make Woody Allen squirm with envy.

Anyone know where it is?

[tojoed]

Steaming(1985) is being released by Sony in the UK in October.

[Stefan Andersson]

Who owns Losey´s Hammer short MAN ON THE BEACH?

[tojoed]

Boom! is being released in the UK on 30th November.

[Peacock]

BOOM!

[domino harvey]

Boom goes the Discover card!

[Paul Moran]

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/film/ ... osey-1963/
freakin' sweet

Great news! I have an off-air DVD-R from a BBC2 broadcast in August 2007, but only the main and end titles were OAR 2.35:1; the rest of the film was cropped at 1.78:1.

[perkizitore]

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/film/ ... osey-1963/



freakin' sweet

A Sony title a Moviemail exclusive?
I hope it appears cheaper somewhere else soon.

[Jonathan S]

Moviemail have quite a few Sony exclusives (e.g. Father Brown with Alec Guinness). Many of them already have, or will have, R1 releases. Sony have confirmed The Damned for inclusion in their R1 "Icons of Suspense" set with five other Hammer titles.

[Ashirg]

Renown Pictures is releasing Joseph Losey's Blind Date (aka Chance Meeting) - see information at their website. It's also available at Movie Mail, but Amazon doesn't list it yet.

[bergelson]

Thanks for the info Ashirg. While looking at their other titles I was quite surprised to see Greville's "Noose" listed as well. Did anyone see it and can report about the quality of the DVD?

[Person]

Sidney Furie's 1962 film The Boys is also brilliant.