The British Film Institute will add three titles to its Blu-ray catalog in November: Thorold Dickinson's Gaslight (1940), Leslie Megahey's Schalcken the Painter (1979), and Rupert Julian's The Phantom of the Opera (1925).
Gaslight
Based on Patrick Hamilton's celebrated stage play Gaslight is a harrowing and claustrophobic film about domestic fear. Anton Walbrook (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes) stars as the terrifying husband who puts the sanity of his fragile and tortured wife (Diana Wynyard) under siege. The success of Gaslight on stage and film encouraged Hollywood studio MGM to buy the remake rights in the early 1940s, with a clause insisting that all existing prints of Dickinson's British version be destroyed. Unseen for many decades, this definitive version has been digitally restored by the BFI.
Content: First ever High Definition presentation Newly remastered by the BFI National Archive Extras to be confirmed Fully illustrated booklet with original essays
Schalcken the Painter
World premiere of this highly sought-after ghost story from the BBC, released in the BFI's acclaimed Flipside series. Based on a short story by Sheridan Le Fanu, Schalcken the Painter was originally shown in the Omnibus strand on BBC 2 during Christmas 1979. The story follows a young seventeenth century Flemish painter Godfried Schalcken, who forsakes love for ambition, but discovers that there is still a terrible price to pay for his choice. The superb cast includes Jeremy Clyde, Maurice Denman and Cheryl Kennedy.
Newly transferred to High Definition from the film materials preserved in the BFI National Archive, the release includes such as the rare, experimental Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, The Pit (1962), assistant directed by Peter Collinson.
Content: World premiere release on Blu-ray Interview with Director Leslie Megahey The Pit (1962, Edward Abraham, 25 mins): experimental film based on the classic Poe tale The Pit and the Pendulum Fully illustrated booklet with original essays Extras to be confirmed
The Phantom of the Opera
Definitive three-disc Dual Format Edition of this celebrated classic of the silent era and horror cinema.
Lon Chaney, 'the man of a thousand faces', gives his most famous performance in this first version of the oft-filmed tale. Based on Gaston Leroux's novel, Chaney stars as the Phantom , who lives in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera, and falls in love with the voice of a young opera singer. Infatuated, he kidnaps her, dragging her to the depths below where she will sing only for him.
Directed by Rupert Julian, this lavish 1925 production launched the Hollywood Gothic style which would become the trademark of Universal horror films.
Original prints of the film were fully tinted, with some sequences in Technicolor, and a rooftop scene using a special process that enabled the Phantom s cloak to show red against the blue night sky. This Photoplay restoration replicates all these effects, and is accompanied by Carl Davis celebrated score that draws heavily on Gounod's Faust, which is the opera being performed in the film.
Content: Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition Newly restored presentation of the tinted and toned 1929 version, with Carl Davis score High Definition presentation of the 1925 version, with newly-commissioned piano accompaniment Original trailers from the 1925 and 1929 versions The Man with the Lantern sequence Sequences from the sound version Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000, Kevin Brownlow, 86 mins, DVD only): Kevin Brownlow's definitive documentary Fully illustrated booklet with essays, films notes and credits
The British Film Institute has detailed its upcoming Dual Format edition of Thorold Dickinson's Gaslight (1940), starring Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, and Frank Pettingell. The release will be available for purchase online and in shops across the United Kingdom on November 18th.
Based on Patrick Hamilton's celebrated stage play, Thorold Dickinson's (The Queen of Spades, The Next of Kin) Gaslight (1940) is a harrowing and claustrophobic study of murder, abuse and lust in Victorian London.
By turns charming and cruel, Anton Walbrook (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp) excels as the sadistic husband who attempts to drive his wife (Diana Wynyard) mad to prevent her disclosing his dark past.
The success of Gaslight on stage and film encouraged Hollywood studio MGM to buy the remake rights, with a clause insisting that all existing prints of Dickinson's version be destroyed. Fortunately, Dickinson had made a 'secret' print, which was donated to the BFI and used for reference when the film was digitally remastered by the BFI National Archive.
Special Features: Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition; Spanish A B C (Thorold Dickinson and Sidney Cole, 1938, 20 mins): a short film on the Republican efforts to improve education standards during the Spanish Civil War; Behind the Spanish Lines (Sidney Cole and Thorold Dickinson, 1938, 20 mins): a companion piece to Spanish Civil War; Westward Ho! (Thorold Dickinson, 1940, 9 mins): a short film to promote the evacuation of urban children to rural areas; Miss Grant Goes to the Door (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1940, 7 mins): a short film about a German invasion from a story by Thorold Dickinson; Yesterday is Over Your Shoulder (Thorold Dickinson, 1940, 9 mins): a short film encouraging unskilled workers to join free, government organised, engineering training schemes; Original promotional materials and documents from the BFI National Archive Special Collections (downloadable PDF, DVD only); Illustrated booklet featuring full credits and essays from Henry K Miller, Iain Sinclair, Philip Horne, Peter Swaab and Michael Brooke.
The British Film Institute has detailed its upcoming Dual Format edition of Thorold Dickinson's Gaslight (1940), starring Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, and Frank Pettingell. The release will be available for purchase online and in shops across the United Kingdom on November 18th.
Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, Seven Samurai, is being prepared for a new celebratory Blu-ray release by the BFI to mark the film's 60th Anniversary.
The £19.99 disc includes the following additional features:
- Original Japanese theatrical trailer - The Art of Akira Kurosawa (2013, 47 mins): Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns discusses Kurosawa’s career and influence - 16-page booklet containing an essay and biographies by Philip Kemp, original review, and cast and credits
You can also choose to watch the film with our without the original intermission and the Blu-ray is presented in a steelbook case. A DVD edition is also being released on the same day with the same features.
The British Film Institute will release on Blu-ray director Frank Borzage's masterpiece A Farewell to Arms (1932), starring Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, Adolphe Menjou, Jack La Rue, and Blanche Friderici. Newly restored by Lobster Films, A Farewell to Arms will be available for purchase on September 22.
Synopsis: Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes and Adolphe Menjou star in this classic romantic drama based on Ernest Hemingway's novel and directed by Frank Borzage. Frederick Henry (Cooper) is an American serving as an ambulance driver in World War I. When his friend Captain Rinaldi (Menjou) introduces him to the beautiful English nurse Catherine Barkley (Hayes), Frederick immediately falls for her. The pair share a brief idyllic interlude together, but the jealous Rinaldi does his best to come between them...
Special Features: Newly restored Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition Alternative ending Original trailer Other extras to be confirmed...
The British Film Institute has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray The Werner Herzog Collection. The release will be available for purchase on July 28th.
The Werner Herzog Collection will be launched with a free screening event at Rough Trade East, Brick Lane on the BFI's Werner Herzog Day, Friday 25 July. The BFI will screen The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1975, 45 mins), Werner Herzog's rarely-shown documentary about a champion ski-jumper featuring an outstanding Popol Vuh soundtrack. The film will be introduced by a BFI film expert and will be preceded by DJs playing the best of Popol Vuh and other Krautrock classics.
Containing 18 films by the visionary German filmmaking legend, the collection includes such classics of world cinema as Nosferatu the Vampyre, Aguirre, Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, as well as a number of Herzog's acclaimed, but rarely seen short films.
THE FILMS:
The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967) | Last Words (1968) | Precautions Against Fanatics (1969) | Handicapped Future (1970) | Fata Morgana (1971) | Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) | Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) | The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) | The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1975) | Heart of Glass (1976) | How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976) | Stroszek (1977) | Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979) | Woyzeck (1979) | Huie's Sermon (1980) | God's Angry Man (1980) | Fitzcarraldo (1982) | Cobre Verde (1987).
Special Features:
All films presented in High Definition Alternative German and English versions of Nosteratu, the Vampyre Full-length audio commentaries with Werner Herzog on selected titles Alternative German and English language audio options on selected titles Newly created subtitles for all films Optional 5.1 German and English audio on selected titles Nosferatu on-set documentary (1979, 13 mins) Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank, 1980, 21 mins) Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982, 95 mins) Guardian Lecture with Werner Herzog (1988, 83 mins) South Bank Show: Werner Herzog (Jack Bond, 1982, 56 mins) Original trailers on selected titles Stills galleries on selected titles Illustrated booklet with extensive essay by Laurie Johnson; full film credits
The British Film Institute announced today that it will release a Dual Format Edition of one of British cinema's most intense sci-fi offerings, Val Guest's The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), starring Edward Judd, Janet Munro, and Leo McKern. The release is scheduled to arrive on the UK market in October.
In August, the newly remastered version of The Day the Earth Caught Fire will also be screened at the British Museum.
The British Film Institute announced today that it will release a Dual Format Edition of one of British cinema's most intense sci-fi offerings, Val Guest's The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), starring Edward Judd, Janet Munro, and Leo McKern. The release is scheduled to arrive on the UK market in October.
In August, the newly remastered version of The Day the Earth Caught Fire will also be screened at the British Museum.
I love this film and consider myself fortunate to have one of the out-of-print copies on dvd. As much as I enjoy the dvd, the Blu ray would surely be an asset to it's still stunning black and white cinematography. Any known plans of this coming out on Blu ray in America? Thanks.
Based on the best-selling novel by Ernest Hemingway, Frank Borzage's Oscar-winning film adaptation of the tragic Great War romance A Farewell to Arms has been newly restored by Lobster Films. It will be made available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, released by the BFI in a Dual Format Edition on 22 September 2014.
An impossibly handsome Gary Cooper stars as the somewhat cynical Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American enlisted in the Italian army to drive ambulances during the war. Through his doctor friend, Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou), he meets Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes), an English nurse whose fiancé was killed at the Somme. What starts as a flirtatious and casual encounter soon develops into something much deeper – but can their passion survive the terrible consequences of the war?
A hugely popular film when it was first released in 1932, A Farewell to Arms was nominated for four Oscars, winning Best Cinematography (Charles Lang) and Best Sound (Franklin Hansen and Harold Lewis).
Special Features: Alternative ending (1932, 5 mins): the ending shot for US audiences War Scenes in Italy (1915, 1 min): newsreel footage of crowds gathering in Rome to hear the announcement of Italy's entry in to the war Austrian Prisoners in a Concentration Camp (1916, 3 mins): footage of prisoners of war in Italy in 1916 The Latest Crime of the Sinister Hun (1918, 2 mins): newsreel footage of the burial of nurses and wounded soldiers killed in an air raid Frank Borzage Talks to Cecil B. DeMille (1937, 3 mins, audio): an interview from the Lux Radio Theater production of A Farewell to Arms Illustrated booklet featuring essays by Geoff Andrew, Adrian Wootton and Kent Jones
The British Film Institute has revealed that it will release a box set of recently restored films from Italian director Roberto Rossellini. The limited edition Blu-ray box set will be available for purchase on March 23, 2015.
This limited edition Blu-ray box set includes Rossellini's celebrated War Trilogy, made during and immediately after World War II - Rome, Open City, Paisà and Germany Year Zero - as well as his controversial 1948 film L'Amore starring Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini. These are the films that established Roberto Rossellini as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of all time. All of the films in this strictly limited Blu-ray box set (of 3000 numbered units) have been restored in 4K.
Content/Special Features: Rome, Open City Paisà Germany Year Zero L'Amore Booklet with film notes and complete credits And More...
British Film Institute (BFI)Rossellini: The War Trilogy, a Limited Numbered Edition box set released by the BFI on 30 March, brings together for the first time on Blu-ray Roberto Rossellini's celebrated trilogy of films made during and immediately after the World War II. Rome, Open City, Paisà and Germany Year Zero will also be released individually on DVD on the same date.
These three films provide heart-rending depictions of a Europe savaged by war, the struggles faced by ordinary people and the hope that endures. They established Rossellini as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of all time.
Special Features:
Newly remastered presentations
L'amore (Roberto Rossellini, 1948, 80 mins): Rossellini's controversial two-part anthology film showcasing the manifold talents of Anna Magnani. The first part, A Human Voice is written by Jean Cocteau, and the second, The Miracle, is written by Federico Fellini, who also puts in an acting appearance.
Children of Open City (Laura Muscardin, 2005, 53 mins): documentary featuring Vito Annicchiarico visiting key locations from Rome, Open City and sharing memories of the shoot
Into the Future (Tag Gallagher, 2009, 32 mins): visual essay on the War Trilogy by film scholar Tag Gallagher Illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Tag Gallagher, Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and Jonathan Rosenbaum, and full film credits
Rome, Open City
A landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, Roberto Rossellini's portrait of life under the Nazi Occupation remains remarkable for its sheer immediacy, tension and power.
Made in extraordinarily straitened circumstances immediately after the liberation of Rome, the film follows Manfredi (Marcello Pagliero), a partisan leader, as he attempts to evade the Gestapo by enlisting the help of Pina (Anna Magnani) fiancée of a fellow member of the underground resistance, and Don Pietro (Aldo Fabrizi), the priest due to oversee her marriage. Both Fabrizi and Magnani were well known comedic actors and perform magnificently against type.
Shot both on the ravaged streets of the city and in the studio, Rome, Open City seamlessly blends sequences reminiscent of documentary with more conventional dramatic scenes notable for their pace, precise staging and affectingly naturalistic performances. The power of this extraordinary film remains undiminished.
Paisà
Made in the aftermath of the Second World War, Paisà is constructed as a series of six encounters which take place during the liberation of Italy as Allied troops advance through the country from Sicily to the northern Po Valley, via Rome and Florence.
Shot on location using a non-professional cast alongside actors, the semi-documentary aesthetic and epic sweep of Paisà is both charming and devastating in its portrayal of the final days of war and the confusion that follows in its wake.
This classic of neo-realist cinema forms the centrepiece of Rossellini's acclaimed War Trilogy and was followed, in 1948, with the celebrated Germany Year Zero.
Germany Year Zero
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini's celebrated War Trilogy, Germany Year Zero is presented here in a new restoration.
Amidst the war-torn ruins of Berlin in the period immediately after the Second World War, a 12-year-old boy, Edmund, struggles to support his family – his ailing father and unregistered brother unable to provide for them. Left to his own devices, Edmund wanders around the devastated city, getting caught up in black market schemes and falling prey to the pernicious influence of a Nazi-sympathising former teacher with tragic consequences.
This heart-rending portrait of a decimated post-war European city is a damning indictment of war and fascism and remains one of the most affecting films in the history of cinema.
Around the World with Orson Welles (Limited Edition Blu-ray)
Release date 24th August.
AROUND THE WORLD WITH ORSON WELLES A film by Orson Welles
In 1955, the celebrated polymath Orson Welles was invited to write, direct and present his first television production - a series of travelogues exploring Europe
Part home-movie, part cinematic essay, each episode of Around the World with Orson Welles takes the viewer on a fascinating journey to meet famous people and explore the continent's most romantic cities. In Paris, we are introduced to famous artists such as Jean Cocteau; in Madrid, we attend a bullfight; and in Vienna, in an episode which was long believed lost, we are taken to the locations of The Third Man
A unique and enthralling entry in the career of the one of modern cinema's most revered figures, Welles masterful series finally receives it premiere on Blu-ray, and is accompanied by some rare and fascinating extra features/
EPISODES Pays Basque l - The Basque Countries (1955, 26 mins) Pays Basque ll - La Pelote Basque (1955, 26 mins) The Third Man in Vienna (1955, 26 mins) Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1955, 26 mins) The Queen's Pensioners(1955, 26 mins) Spain - The Bullfight (1955, 26 mins)
Special features The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles (Christophe Cognet, 2000, 52 mins): documentary and partial reconstruction exploring the making of Welles unfinished Around the World episode The Tragedy of Lurs, about the controversial Dominici murder case in France The Levin Interview with Orson Welles (John Phillips, 1967, 27 mins): rare interview of Welles discussing his work and career with Bernard Levin Fully illustrated booklet with essays and full film credits
The British Film Institute has revealed that it plans to release on Blu-ray Emir Kusturica's Underground (1995), Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine (1993), Jean-Luc Godard's Bande à part (1964), two box sets with works from Ken Russell as well as his Valentino (1977), Anthony Asquith and A.V. Bramble's Shooting Stars (1928), and Peter Watkins' Culloden (1964) and The War Game (1965).
Underground
This Palme d'Or winning film, directed by Emir Kusturica, uses the epic story of two friends to portray the history of Yugoslavia. The film follows two underground black market weapons manufacturers, Marko and Blacky, in Belgrade. Their story begins in WWII, selling weapons to the Communist resistance, and culminates when they re-emerge from the subterranean shelter during the Yugoslavian Civil War in the 1990s. The film is a testament to Kusturica's talent and won him his second Palme d'Or something which only seven directors have ever managed to achieve. One of the most iconic features of the film is its unique soundtrack by Goran Bregovi several songs from the album such as Mese cina and Kalasnjikov, became classic brass-band hits. This Blu-ray premier release of Kusturica's celebrated film is presented with the complete 5-hour TV version, Once Upon a Time There Was One Country and Aleksandar Manic's Shooting Days: Emir Kusturica Directs Underground.
Special Features: Newly remastered master Once Upon a Time There Was One Country (1995, Kusturica, 300 minutes): 6-part TV re-working of Underground Shooting Days: Emir Kusturica Directs Underground (1996, Aleksandar Manic, 73 mins): on-set documentary Other Extras TBC Illustrated booklet with new writing and full film credits Bande à part
Gleefully putting into practice D W Griffith's maxim that all you need to make a film is a girl and a gun, Bande à part (The Outsiders) is Godard's playful tribute to the Hollywood pulp crime movies of the 1940s, executed with typically Gallic cool. Franz and Arthur, a couple of streetwise chancers, team up with the shy Odile (a beguiling performance from Anna Karina, Godard's wife and muse at the time) to plan a robbery. As the trio of misfits roam the cafes of suburban Paris, do a lightning tour of the Louvre, and play-act shoot-outs, the suspicion grows that this is one heist that is not going to go according to plan. As well as superb photography by Raoul Coutard and music by Michel Legrand, Bande à part features one of the most exhilarating dance sequences in film, which so impressed Quentin Tarantino that he paid homage to it with John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, and named his production company, Band Apart, after the film. Shot in just 25 days, Bande à part was greeted with puzzlement and even distaste when first released. Over the years it has become one of Godard admirers' favourite films and is one that no French film collection should be without.
Special Features: Comprehensive interactive A-Z guide including a specially commissioned video interview with Anna Karina, Quentin Tarantino on the dance sequence, clips, stills, on-set footage and commentary by Dr Roland-Francois Lack, lecturer in the Department of French at University College London An interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard Original theatrical trailer Fully illustrated booklet with full film credits Farewell My Concubine
Critically acclaimed as one of the best films of the year, this seductive, award-winning triumph captivated moviegoers the world over. It's the compelling tale of two lifelong friends unexpectedly caught in a passionate love triangle with the woman who becomes between them Academy Award-nominated, Farewell My Concubine (1993-Best Foreign Language Film) earned the Golden Globe as best foreign film in addition to claiming Best Picture honors at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Packed with vivid, provocative imagery throughout, this sensual story of love and betrayal is the hot and exotic must-see movie of the year.
Valentino
Controversial British director Ken Russell's film starring ballet-dancer-turned actor Rudolf Nureyev as Rudolf Valentino, the adored silent screen actor of the early Hollywood age. The film begins at his funeral in 1926 and, using flashbacks, backtracks to his glory-days when the former ballroom dancer used his good-looks and charm to mould a very successful career in the movies and become one of the first male screen idols.
Ken Russell: The Great Composers Box Set
Monitor and Omnibus: Elgar (1962) The Debussy Film (1965) Delius: Song of Summer (1968)
Ken Russell: The Great Passions Box Set
Always on Sunday (1965) Isadora: the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966) Dante's Inferno (1967)
Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars opens in a British movie studio in the 1920s, where a western and a slapstick comedy are being filmed back to back. It's a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse and a searing comment on the shallowness of the star system. Despite the director credit going to veteran filmmaker AV Bramble, this is demonstrably the original work of rising talent Anthony Asquith – his dynamic cinematographic style and professional approach to the design and lighting was a step change in the quality of British features. And there's a killer ending too! Restored from material held at the BFI National Archive by our specialist team. It completes the BFI's revival of Asquith's silent film work, following on from A Cottage on Dartmoor and Underground. The new BFI-commissioned score for a hand-picked 12-piece ensemble (from the Live Film Orchestra) is by composer, conductor, arranger and saxophonist John Altman. Among his notable film scores are Little Voice and Funny Bones. He produced all the period music for Titanic and was, appropriately, a recipient of the Anthony Asquith Award for Hear My Song. (Synopsis courtesy of BFI).
Culloden
The first of two films Peter Watkins made for the BBC. Culloden Moor, 16th April 1746: the last pitch battle on British soil. The Jacobite Scottish Highlanders, under the inept command of Bonnie Prince Charlie, are faced with the Duke of Cumberland's well-drilled and ruthless English army. Based on John Prebble's meticulous historical study, Watkins' groundbreaking reconstruction parallels the escalating "pacification" under way in Vietnam in the 1960s. Winner of the Society of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) BBC Award of Merit and the British Screenwriters' Award of Merit.
The War Game
Peter Watkins' controversial and harrowing depiction of the effects of a nuclear attack on England hit the headlines when it was banned on the grounds of being too graphic and horrifying. It single-handedly opened up the nuclear debate and went on to theatrical success on both sides of the Atlantic. In spite of winning an Oscar, two Society Of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards and a Special Prize at the Venice Film Festival, The War Game remained unshown on British television for over 20 years.
The British Film Institute has detailed its upcoming dual format edition of Peter Watkins' Culloden and The War. The release will be available for purchase on March 21.
Synopsis: Culloden, Watkins first full-length film, a docudrama, made for the BBC, portrays the 1746 Battle of Culloden which in the words of the narrator 'tore apart forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlands'. The film was hailed as a breakthrough for its cinematography, as well as its use of non-professional actors and presentation of an historical event in the style of modern TV reporting.
The War Game is Watkins 1965 Academy Award-winning television drama-documentary depicting a nuclear war, written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC's The Wednesday Play anthology series. The film shows the prelude to, and immediate weeks of the aftermath, of a Soviet nuclear attack against Britain. Told in the style of a news magazine programme, the cast was made up of non-actors, with narration by Peter Graham and Michael Aspel reading quotations from source material.
Watkins is known for pushing boundaries to the extreme with his documentaries and his films continue to inspire today.
The films in this collection have been remastered to High Definition, and are presented on Blu-ray for the very first time.
Special Features: Culloden commentary by Dr John Cook The War Game commentary by Patrick Murphy Interview with editor Mike Bradsell (2015) Illustrated booklet with essays and full credits
The British Film Institute has announced that a brand new restoration of Abel Gance's legendary film Napoléon (1927) will be released on Blu-ray later this year. The new restoration will have its theatrical premiere with a live performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra of Carl Davis' score (the longest ever composed for a silent film) in early November 2016 at the Royal Festival Hall.
The new restoration was undertaken by experts from the BFI National Archive and Photoplay Productions working with Dragon DI post-production in Wales. The film has been fully regraded and carefully cleaned up.
The current version of the film was compiled by Academy Award-winning filmmaker, archivist and historian Kevin Brownlow, and is the most complete version of the film in existence. Mr. Brownlow spent more than 50 years tracking down surviving film elements.
The film runs at well over 5½ hours on screen, but live performances, which require intermissions, typically last around 8 hours.
The upcoming Blu-ray release will be the world premiere of the full version of the epic film.
A cult classic British film about late-fifties youth-rebellion set to an intoxicating Beatnik backdrop.
The film tells the story of Paul (David Farrar), a divorced architect who marries a Parisian named Nichole (Noëlle Adam), much to the displeasure of his teenage daughter Jennifer (Gillian Hills). In a bid to rebel Jennifer falls in with the London beatnik scene and a music-fuelled life of juvenile delinquency. Taking an immediate dislike to her stepmother Jenny goes out of her way to make life miserable for Nichole. When she discovers that Nichole is a friend of a stripper, she investigates and uses her stepmother's sordid past to embarrass her father.
With an all-star cast including David Farrar (Black Narcissus, The Small Back Room), Shirley Anne Field (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Peeping Tom), Christopher Lee (Lords of the Rings, Dracula) and a young Oliver Reed (Gladiator, Oliver!), the film is notable for its original music by composer John Barry, his first film commission, and the debut appearance of teen idol Adam Faith. Actress Gillian Hills went on to work with Antonioni (Blow Up) and Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange) and was the star of the cult television series The Owl Service.
Special features Remastered in 2K Alternative presentations of Beat Girl Newly filmed interview with actress Gillian Hills (2016, 20 mins) Cross-Roads (John Fitchen, 1955, 22 mins): short supernatural tale starring Christopher Lee Goodnight with Sabrina (1958, 3 mins): short glamour film Beauty in Brief (1955, 4 mins): short glamour film Fully illustrated booklet with a new essay by BFI curator Vic Pratt, and full credits
A time machine to late fifties (London) Soho, coffee bars, strip clubs, Adam Faith...Christopher Lee! I might pass on this, but will buy Expresso Bongo 1958, which the BFI are releasing at the same time.
