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The R2 "Ill met by Moonlight" looks fine, though Powell maintains in "Million Dollar Movie" it was shot in 1.33. But the framing looks right, so I guess that Powell didn't quite remember that this was another open matte affair.
The disc is dead cheap, so I can only recommend it to those who care for the film. Which I do not, it's the only Powell I ever saw that left me completely disappointed.

Yes, wasn't IMBM the last P&P collaboration, when their creative relationship had nearly run out of juice?... Still Powell perversely and mischievously elects to set nearly the entire film at night, so the action is all shrouded in darkness, which is perhaps the most interesting point about the affair... BTW I recorded it recently off the Beeb - was widescreen & close to 1.78:1...

At the other extreme, at the start of their collaboration, THE SPY IN BLACK is worth the CC treatment - not least for the fascinating structural and stylistic unfurling of 'The First Four Minutes' as highlighted by Charles Barr in his chapter of the same name in BFI's recent book 'The Cinema of Michael Powell' ed. Christie & Moor...

ellipsis7 wrote:Yes, wasn't IMBM the last P&P collaboration, when their creative relationship had nearly run out of juice?...

Yes, it was a difficult time for them. All the ambitious projects Powell wanted to make fell through for fear of the distributors/producers etc., and when Pressburger came up with the script for "Moonlight", Powell was less than enthusiastic. And indeed the problems with the film lie less in Powell's direction than in the dialogues, which have almost no traces of Pressburger's usual wit, and in the incredibly stiff acting. Their falling out came naturally after that, but it was a purely professional decision without any hard feelings. And they of course later did two fine films together, "Weird Mob" and the charming children's film "The boy who turned yellow" (which definitely would deserve to be included in an Eclipse P&P set, too).

Yes, "Spy in Black" would be worth the full CC treatment, as the existing disc (I have the Aussie version, but I assume the Spanish is the same) would need some improvement and cleaning up. And the film is very good, too, though I find "Contraband" more tightly constructed and even more atmospheric. I'm not sure whether I'd be too excited about a bare-bones and unrestored Eclipse version, though.

Ill Met is likewise my least favorite movie by Powell (with or without Pressburger) -- apart, of course, from the early quota quickies. It's an interesting idea poorly executed, and it fall far short of other war films from the era (Ice Cold in Alex, The Dam Busters, etc.). According to Powell himself, the blame rested squarely on the shoulders of Bogarde, who apparently just wouldn't take the film as seriously as Powell felt was needed. I'm inclined to give Powell the benefit of the doubt, because Bogarde made a number of movies around the same time where he appears to be sleepwalking through his performance (Libel, the ultra-cheap Tale of Two Cities adaptation, The Doctor's Dilemma). But as Tommaso points out, the P&P relationship had pretty much run its course as well.

Marius Goring's performance is by far the best thing that Ill Met has going for it. And it's definitely worth a look for that reason alone.

What about a double disc set containing the restored original version Gone To Earth, and it's Selznik re-edited American counterpart The Wild Heart/Gypsy Blood. That'd be fascinating, and I've been dying to see this film, which some critics regard as a forgotten masterpiece.

Best,
BR

Tommaso wrote:The R2 "Ill met by Moonlight" looks fine, though Powell maintains in "Million Dollar Movie" it was shot in 1.33. But the framing looks right, so I guess that Powell didn't quite remember that this was another open matte affair.

According to cinematographer Chris Challis, in his autobiography, Are They Really So Awful?: A Cameraman's Chronicle, he states on p.11 of the central photo stills section that the film was shot in VistaVision and there is an on-set photo which shows the camera and it has the VistaVision insignia.

Hey, Dave, you can always rely on me for camera-related trivia! Challis' book is a good read. Oswald Morris' is also well-worth reading. I wish that Gil Taylor would write an memoir before he passes away (which will be soon, I think).

Person wrote: I wish that Gil Taylor would write an memoir before he passes away (which will be soon, I think).

Gil's memoirs would be a worthy addition to the genre. From starting as a clapper loader on Hitch's Number 17 to eventually lighting Frenzy and then of course all the Kubrik and Polanski stories. There would also be hopefully some revelations about the state of affairs during the Star Wars shooting and the eventual badmouthing and hounding by Lucas' camp of him in his retirement.

At last count he was however working on a script set in the middle ages and concentrating on painting ,many based on on set photographs he had taken over the years.

Tommaso wrote:Precisely. I kept praying for/demanding it publicly in all sorts of random speculation threads here for what seems ages. And nothing happens....

So again: yes, I want a Powell Eclipse set, containing (at least): Phantom Light/Honeymoon/Bluebeard/Weird Mob/Age of Consent. If "Bluebeard" comes together with "Rosalinda" or "SBR", replace it by "The Queen's guards". But get that stuff out!

I of course agree, the more that are released the better. Although I do hesitate when you mention The Queen's Guard. Have you seen it? It won't enhance Powell's reputation if it is more widely shown.

A set of his early films could be most interesting. They were made quickly and cheaply - but most of them are still very good and you can see him trying out ideas that he often uses again in the later films.

SteveCrook wrote:I of course agree, the more that are released the better. Although I do hesitate when you mention The Queen's Guard. Have you seen it? It won't enhance Powell's reputation if it is more widely shown.

No, I haven't, and everybody (including Powell himself) keeps telling me that it's bad, so it's certainly not something I desire to see as much as the other films. But well, once you're very much into a particular director's work, you also want to see his failures, if only to round out the picture.

Tommaso wrote:No, I haven't, and everybody (including Powell himself) keeps telling me that it's bad, so it's certainly not something I desire to see as much as the other films. But well, once you're very much into a particular director's work, you also want to see his failures, if only to round out the picture.

I'm glad I saw it. It confirmed that there were some limits to his talent. That makes him seem more human

But I think that should be way down the list of those that get a public airing. After The Small Back Room, Oh... Rosalinda!!, Honeymoon, Bluebeard's Castle and even after many of the early films like Red Ensign, His Lordship, The Love Test, Something Always Happens, The Phantom Light which I would say are the very good ones of his early films.

The Queen's Guards should even come after the less good early films like Crown v. Stevens, Rynox, Hotel Splendide and the others. Because even they have their charms and their moments of interest.

davidhare wrote:Cripes!! Thanks for that Gordon - I haven't re-read the Challis book for years but I only remembered River Plate/Graf Spree as Powell's sole VistaVision outing (and it's a turkey! I far prefer Ill Met for all its longeurs.)

Wasn't Ill Met shot in VistaVision as well? Powell did a few other films in various wide-screen formats. Oh... Rosalinda!! was in CinemaScope, as was The Sorcerer's Apprentice and The Queen's Guards. Honeymoon (Luna de miel) was in Technirama.

Steve

Not having seen "Rosalinda" either, I take your word upon it. Still it seems to me that Powell's late 'bad' films simply come from a sort of mental disconnection of Powell with the material he was filming. As said above, he couldn't realise those films he wanted to do (in this case, "Undine" and that film on Richard Strauss) and had to settle either on re-using old formulas or simply on doing something completely unambitious like "Ill met by moonlight". But if you see that documentary which in on the "49th Parallel" disc it's interesting to see how excited he still was some twenty years later about meeting Leo Marks and his ideas, and well, the result, "Peeping Tom", shows him at the height of his power again. And even such an unassuming film like "Weird Mob" radiates the fun he apparently had when doing it and thus makes this little oddity definitely worth watching.

Not necessarily Criterion-related, but Thelma Schoonmaker introduced a screening of the gorgeous, restored print of Gone to Earth at Lincoln Center last night and afterwards she announced that, in addition to Small Back Room, A Matter of Life and Death (restored) and Age of Consent (the complete, original cut, also restored) will be coming out later this year via Sony/Columbia in a double-disc set with commentaries and an introduction by Martin Scorsese. She also told me afterwards that she's working hard on getting the complicated rights situation surrounding Bluebeard's Castle cleared up but that will probably take a while.

Any hint as to an edition on Gone to Earth itself? I saw the restored print too and it is indeed glorious.

The rights situation with Gone to Earth is also complicated, although not as complicated as Bluebeard's Castle (where the issue apparently lies with the Bartok Estate). Selznick wanted to have, and assumed he would have, complete control of the film as he did with just about every other project he got involved with. However, wary of their bad experience with The Elusive Pimpernel - where the film was taken completely out of their hands - P & P put a clause in their contract stating that they had control over the English-cut of Gone to Earth. Selznick re-edited his version from 110 minutes to 82 minutes, retitling it The Wild Heart and then attempted to sue P&P when they released their version in the UK. A British court upheld their right to do so, which is why the complete version exists at all.

The restoration was actually completed by Disney (according to Schoonmaker, one of the people in charge of the restoration basically snuck this in under Disney's nose) in 1999, despite the fact that their legal team believes they only have the rights to the American re-edit. As heir to the Powell estate, Schoonmaker has some control of the film, which is why screenings of the restoration can be arranged with her consent and usually with her presence, but video releases have been out of the question so far. It sounds to me like it's not really in anyone's interest to let things stand like this, though, and I was told that there is some movement, so hopefully things will work themselves out soon.

I'm not sure what materials were used for the British DVD, but while it's not bad, the colors look a lot softer than the print I saw last night, although this may just be due to a poor transfer.

The UK/Ireland R2 DVD is of the restored and digitally re-mastered original British version you refer to (restoration supervised in 1999 by Thelma Schoonmaker)... 'a classic can finally be seen as The Archers originally intended'... It's a 2001 DVD and decent enough quality for a release of that vintage (yes, slightly soft), and also includes as extra, Behind the Scenes footage courtesy of the same Thelma Schoonmaker.... Pick it up while you can.... THE WILD HEART (US Selznick version) runs for only 82 minutes, with only 35 minutes of P&P's original remaining, while this GONE TO EARTH runs the full 110 minutes, and is pure 100% P&P...

Part of the original problem was that Selznick was extremely possessive and controlling of new wife Jennifer Jones and her film work and image, so at least that's something that's gone to earth a while ago!

...I would really love to see The Wild Heart (Selznick cut) if even just for comparison purposes. Although it probably couldn't happen due to the rights issues mentioned, this would ideally be included with Gone to Earth in a DVD set.

Is the Network DVD of Tales Of Hoffmann better than the Optimum edition?

I'd go for either "The Spy in Black" or "Gone to Earth" next. From what I've heard/read, the general concensus is that "The Tales of Hoffmann" was their last great collaboration; from then on they basically went on repeating themselves until their partnership ended.

Not entirely sure what to make of this:

To Jon Mulvaney, I wrote:Are there any plans to re-issue BLACK NARCISSUS or THE RED SHOES in new DVD or Blu-ray editions?

JM wrote:Hi Jeff,

Thanks for writing! Though we'd like to put out a Blu-ray release of one of these titles, we do not have plans to re-release BLACK NARCISSUS or THE RED SHOES at this time.

Sincerely,
Jon Mulvaney

Not sure if that means they have one in particular (The Red Shoes, I guess) in mind for Blu-ray, but no DVD re-issue, or if it means they would like to put out a Blu-ray, but can't for some reason.

The new restoration of THE RED SHOES that is debuting at Cannes is major and definitive. I guarantee that will eventually come out.

While there already exists presumably a 24P HD master from which the ITV UK Blu Ray of BLACK NARCISSUS was produced...