Imagine you're a studio executive and it's 1961. The pitch comes in: How about a western directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Sound pretty good? Nah. Incredibly, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" was a black-sheep project, made only because of Wayne's clout. Paramount declined to green-light the movie, even with its … [Read more...]
Chris Marker on DVD: Things to come
Chris Marker doesn't fit into any of the buckets or boxes we use to contain and categorize filmmakers. The operative description seems to be "cine-essayist" -- but even that open-ended bag feels too conventional. Most of the now-elderly French artist's films are documentaries, of sorts, but they're relentlessly personal, subjective and … [Read more...]
‘Jayne Mansfield Collection’ on DVD, ‘Some Like It Hot’
Fox's "Jayne Mansfield Collection" celebrates an artist whose bold films of the mid-'50s have mostly faded from cinematic consciousness -- obscured by lesser movies that followed and the hangover from an unfair reputation. That artist was Frank Tashlin, the crazy-cool director of "The Girl Can't Help It" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" … [Read more...]
‘The Searchers’ finds new life on DVD
No one needs an excuse to revisit the "The Searchers." Here's one anyway: Warner's newly restored and remastered version of the 1956 John Ford-John Wayne masterpiece finally brings home the film in an approximation of its original theatrical glory. Colors are remarkable, and images seem complete. Owners of previous versions should upgrade without … [Read more...]
‘The Wages of Fear’: Heart of ‘extreme blackness’
Henri-Georges Clouzot was a man ahead of his time. With "The Wages of Fear" the French director anticipated the golden age of over-amped, over-budget action films by three or four decades. In 1951, Clouzot abandoned the comfy soundstages of Paris, marching his cast and crew into the rocky hills of southern France. There, his craftsmen built a … [Read more...]
