 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 18, 2016 - 2:36 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
Abby Mann, who had written Maximilian Schell's Academy-Award-winning role in 1961's JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG, wrote the screenplay for 1962's THE CONDEMNED OF ALTONA, inspired by a 1959 play by Jean-Paul Sartre. Schell played "Franz," the elder son of a dying German industrialist (Fredric March). "Franz" had reportedly been killed several years after being cited at the Nuremberg trials for war crimes, but actually lives in seclusion in his father's household. Robert Wagner plays the younger son, and Sophia Loren is his wife. Even though he was keen to work with Loren, Kirk Douglas turned down the Maximilian Schell role. The Italian-French co-production was directed by famed Italian director Vittorio De Sica. The score featured Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 ("The Year 1905"). Nino Rota provided additional music.
Twentieth Century Fox still controls the U.S. rights to the picture, but the film has never appeared on home video in America. A foreign DVD exists, but it has neither an English-language track nor English subtitles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 18, 2016 - 12:59 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
William Inge's play A Loss of Roses opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in New York on November 28, 1959. The play is a tale set in a Depression both economic and emotional. "Lila Green," a tent show actress who’s traveling troupe has folded, finds refuge with old friends in a small town. "Helen Baird," a respectable widowed nurse and former neighbor, looks on her with motherly affection, and son "Kenny" has fond memories of the “Aunt Lila” who used to babysit him. But Kenny is now a full grown man, full of flirtation and eager admiration, and fragile Lila, dealing with the latest in a long line of abusive men, is sorely tempted by Kenny’s sincerity and youthful ardor.
Although the show only ran for 25 performances, co-star Warren Beatty was nominated for a 1960 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of "Kenny Baird." (Beatty lost to Roddy McDowell as "Tarquin Edward Mendigales" in The Fighting Cock.
When producer Jerry Wald (PEYTON PLACE) decided to bring Inge's play to the screen, he originally considered Marilyn Monroe for the role of Lila, the washed-up showgirl. However, upon Monroe's death, she was replaced by Joanne Woodward. The ironic opening sequence (undoubtedly rewritten after Miss Monroe's death) has the bleached blonde title character, upon her arrival in Hollywood, being mistaken for Jayne Mansfield by a tourist. Natalie Wood was announced for the film (then called "Celebration"), as a re-teaming with her WEST SIDE STORY co-star Richard Beymer. Presumably, she would have played a beefed up version of the supporting role that eventually went to Carol Lynley. And Eleanor Parker was announced for the role of "Helen" that eventually went to Claire Trevor.
Franklin J. Schaffner made his feature film directorial debut with the 1963 film, which had various working titles ("Woman of Summer"; "A Woman In July"), and was ultimately released as THE STRIPPER. The film featured the first collaboration between Schaffner and composer Jerry Goldsmith, whose score was released by Film Score Monthly in 2001. Although the CinemaScope film has had a pan-and-scan release on cassette, it has never been issued on DVD.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 18, 2016 - 1:49 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
THE VICTORS was a sprawling saga of a squad of American soldiers, following them through Europe during World War II, and glimpsing them in both combat and romance. The film was written, produced, and directed by Carl Foreman, coming off his success at producing 1961's THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. Foreman had sought Steve McQueen for the lead role of "Pvt. George Baker," but was turned down. McQueen did not wish to become typecast in war films, having previously played in NEVER SO FEW (1959), HELL IS FOR HEROES (1962), THE WAR LOVER (1962), and the yet-to-be-released THE GREAT ESCAPE. Vince Edwards got the role instead. Foreman lined up a stellar supporting cast, with more than a dozen name stars, including Albert Finney, George Hamilton, Melina Mercouri, and Jeanne Moreau. Foreman wanted Warren Beatty for a role that eventually went to George Peppard. And Foreman signed Sophia Loren in April 1962, but an impending court case limited her availability, and so he replaced her with Rosanna Schiaffino.
The 175-minute epic (later edited down to 156 minutes) was filmed in Italy, France, England, and Sweden. Sol Kaplan scored the film, one of his best works. The soundtrack LP was released on Colpix Records and reissued on CD by Film Score Monthly in 2005. As they had with NAVARONE, Columbia Pictures distributed THE VICTORS, which was released as their big holiday picture for 1963. The film was neither a critical nor a financial success, and it would prove to be the only film that Foreman ever directed. The film is still controlled by Columbia, and although it has played on cable television, it has not had a home video release on any format.
EDIT (9/19/16) - Further research shows that THE VICTORS has been released on DVD in Britain for regions 2 & 4. I assume that the 1.78:1 ratio listed for the film on Amazon is an error, as is presumably the 146 minute running time (given that the standard 156 minutes is shown elsewhere on the same page).
https://www.amazon.com/Victors-NON-USA-FORMAT-PAL-Reg-2-4/dp/B003AVP6AA/ref=tmm_dvd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1474304688&sr=1-1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Victors was a little like the later Big Red One, Following characters over a couple of different campaigns.
Truly wonderful firing squad set piece in the snow accompanied by Sinatras Have yourself a merry little xmas.
This sequence should be watched on youtube if you have never seen the film.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 19, 2016 - 2:21 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Rameau
(Member)
|
The Victors was a film out of its time, WW2 films had become boys-own adventures by then (The Guns Of Navarone, The Great Escape & Operation Crossbow), & The Victors was a cynical & downright sour look at war, I'm not surprised it wasn't a hit. I wouldn't be surprised if the missing footage is gone for good (it was 55 years ago), I have an old issue of Films & Filming that has a letter from director Carl Forman saying that he was quite happy with the cuts (& it's still a very long film). Apparently Sinatra was very unhappy that his recording was used in the firing squad scene (fantastic scene). Sony released it on DVD in the UK a few years ago, along with a few b/w Hammer films, The Dammed, Yesterdays Enemy & The Camp On Blood Island. The Camp On Blood Island is interesting, a Japanese POW film full of cruelty & executions, the critics hated it, I suppose it's because it was made by a horror film company, but they loved The Bridge On The River Kwai released the same year. At the time the Japanese wrote to Columbia UK asking them not to release it in the US, but they did, to good reviews & business. The interesting thing is, all these years later Japan now owns the movie (when Sony bought Columbia), & they could have buried it, but had no problem in releasing it on DVD in the UK, I suppose by then it was ancient history to Sony.
Every now & again BBC2 shows a very nice looking HD transfer of The Victors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all who participate!
Here's a quick update:
Thanks to Bob for the information on the three titles I asked about.
A note has been added to Abandon Ship! regarding the DVD from Spain.
A note has also been added to the Alfred the Great post regarding the WB DVD ON DEMAND… (thanks again Bob for bringing that to my attention).
The Dove was previously posted to the board.
St. Louis Blues
Bus Riley’s Back in Town
The Fixer
The Condemned of Altona (With English Subtitles)
Have all been added. Thanks so much especially for the added information.
Love with a Proper Stranger is a previous addition to the Board.
The Stripper
The Victors
Have been added as well.
Here is the Board as it now stands: https://au.pinterest.com/TheCinemaCafe/the-community-chest-most-wanted-by-fans-on-dvd-or-/ (Pinterest has re-formatted their boards unfortunately so now one needs to click on the image of interest to read all of the information about the title).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi Bob,
There are a couple more I have been asked about that do not appear to be on DVD or Blu-Ray that I was hoping you might get around to investigating:
Return from the Ashes (1965) directed by J. Lee Thompson
The Swinger (1966) directed by George Sydney
Thanks for any help you can provide.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 20, 2016 - 11:32 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
The Swinger (1966) directed by George Sydney
THE SWINGER was a straight Paramount production and release. Paramount originally copyrighted the film and dutifully renewed its copyright in 1994. The film has been on cable TV, but if I had to guess as to why it has not received any kind of video release, it would be because of music rights.
In addition to the film's title song by Andre and Dory Previn, the composers and lyricists for the film's songs include Marty Paich, Johnny Green, Billy Rose, Edward Heyman, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and Mel Torme. That's a lot of publishers and/or estates to deal with for a film that is not likely to be a big seller.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Swinger (1966) directed by George Sydney
THE SWINGER was a straight Paramount production and release. Paramount originally copyrighted the film and dutifully renewed its copyright in 1994. The film has been on cable TV, but if I had to guess as to why it has not received any kind of video release, it would be because of music rights.
In addition to the film's title song by Andre and Dory Previn, the composers and lyricists for the film's songs include Marty Paich, Johnny Green, Billy Rose, Edward Heyman, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and Mel Torme. That's a lot of publishers and/or estates to deal with for a film that is not likely to be a big seller.
Posted: Apr 11, 2016 - 11:46 AM Edit Post Report Abuse Reply to Post
By: Mr. Marshall (Member)
tTHE SWINGER w/Ann Margaret
took you long enuf
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE NAKED APE
?
one of those misguided PLAYBOY productions that iirc never was released
would love to see Victoria Principal, in her prime, nekkid!
brm
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE NAKED APE
?
one of those misguided PLAYBOY productions that iirc never was released
would love to see Victoria Principal, in her prime, nekkid!
brm
THE NAKED APE was based on Desmond Morris’ best-selling 1967 book The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal, a world-wide success that was translated into twenty-three languages. In 1968, independent producer Harold Hecht acquired the rights to Morris’ book and Hecht, producer Zev Bufman, and writer-director Donald Driver planned to turn it into a film. Hecht and Bufman, who were both active in Broadway theater production, had paid $85,000 for the rights and intended to make a humorous film with animated sequences. Author Morris was to act as a consultant. In 1969, Bufman and Driver finalized a production deal with Universal, believed to be the most lucrative ever between a major studio and first-time film producers.
However, by 1972, after two drafts of a screenplay, Universal shelved the project as “impossible of screen translation.” Inquiries at Columbia concurred that the property could not be made into a movie. Ultimately, Hugh Hefner agreed to co-produce the project without having read the script. Hefner’s Playboy Productions split the $1.7 million budget with Universal. Morris was uninterested in collaborating on the film, making only a few technical and spelling corrections when he was sent a copy of the script.
Murakami Wolf Productions, Inc. began work on animated sequences months before the film went before the cameras and continued after principal photography was finished. 4,500 feet of animated footage containing 21,000 drawings was produced by a team of twenty artists. These animated sequences included: A montage of Indian drawings of sexual positions; the origins of clothing; man’s attempt to adjust to the rapid advance of civilization; and a montage of still photographs depicting Christian missionaries “civilizing” an Aborigine couple.
Editor Michael Economous worked on the set as a consultant during filming, and director Driver was convinced that the unusual arrangement saved time and contributed to the cohesiveness of the film. Shooting locations included the Everglades and wooded hills around Tallahassee, FL. Chicago locations included the Civic Center, Marshall Field Museum of Natural History, and Hefner’s State Parkway mansion. Final exteriors were shot at Universal City Studios. College campus scenes were shot at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Producer Bufman hoped to persuade Leonard Bernstein to conduct the New York Philharmonic from the bottom of the Grand Canyon for the film; however, no such sequence was included. Short fragments of well-known musical pieces are used throughout the film, which has an original score by Jimmy Webb. Although the animated sequences were sometimes praised, the film received largely negative reviews. In his 17 August 1973 Los Angeles Times review, Charles Champlin wrote: “On the evidence before us, those who said that Desmond Morris’ The Naked Ape could not be made into a movie were right.” And Tony Mastroianni of the Cleveland Press concluded in a 21 September 1973 review that “Even in the ribald school of cinema, this one is only a feeble snigger, and very, very dull.”
Although the film was originally copyrighted jointly by Universal Pictures & Playboy Productions, Inc., upon the renewal of the copyright in 2001, Universal City Studios became the sole copyright holder. Assuming that the film elements still exist, it is probably just the lack of commercial viability that has kept the film from being released on any home video format.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I don't think there was much in the way of Principal nudity. It seemed pretty tame even by my pre-teen standards.
Not much nudity was allowed in PG-rated films in 1973. (Violence was another matter.) I recall that Sarah Miles' nudity in 1970's RYAN'S DAUGHTER almost got that film an [R] rating, which would have killed the box-office for MGM's would-be blockbuster. The studio made their displeasure known, and the Ratings Board caved and gave the film a [GP] rating. In 1996, the Board reversed itself and re-rated the film [R].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
