The Innocents

Finch · **Posted:** Sat Feb 20, 2010 2:49 pm

Seems like Amazon have changed the date yet again because they had it down for May two weeks ago and I actually asked Michael_B about that in the Innocents thread, given how often in the past Amazon's info has proven to be inaccurate. Also, if it really is 22 March, I'd have thought we'd have gotten confirmation from official sources by now. Mind you, I want this one real bad, too (especially now that I sold the DVD).

tojoed · **Posted:** Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:41 pm

Mr Finch, I haven't tried to sell the DVD, in case they don't put "The Bespoke Overcoat" on the Blu-Ray edition. I wouldn't want to be without that small masterpiece.

MichaelB · **Joined:** Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm **Location:** Worthing

tojoed wrote:

Mr Finch, I haven't tried to sell the DVD, in case they don't put "The Bespoke Overcoat" on the Blu-Ray edition. I wouldn't want to be without that small masterpiece.

Don't worry - not only will you be getting a full 1080p transfer of The Bespoke Overcoat, but you'll also be getting another copy of the original DVD, which is being repressed for inclusion in the new Blu-ray package.

So I'd sell your DVD a.s.a.p., before word of this spreads too widely!

tojoed · **Posted:** Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:50 am

Thanks, Michael, that's wonderful news. Perhaps someone who is not going Blu yet might want it.

Finch · **Posted:** Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:55 am

My copy was sold within 2 weeks of putting it up for sale on Marketplace, so good luck. Glad to hear the Blu is definitely happening; just a question now of when it'll be out.

John Hodson · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:04 pm

Mr Finch wrote:

My copy was sold within 2 weeks of putting it up for sale on Marketplace, so good luck. Glad to hear the Blu is definitely happening; just a question now of when it'll be out.

Apparently, HMV are emailing those that pre-ordered this cancelling their orders and saying it's no longer scheduled. Oh dear; and I sold my SD copy too...

Anyone - Michael - know the score?

peerpee · **Joined:** Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:41 pm

Might be getting a new Dual Format edition?

triodelover · **Joined:** Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm

John Hodson wrote:

Mr Finch wrote:

My copy was sold within 2 weeks of putting it up for sale on Marketplace, so good luck. Glad to hear the Blu is definitely happening; just a question now of when it'll be out.

Apparently, HMV are emailing those that pre-ordered this cancelling their orders and saying it's no longer scheduled. Oh dear; and I sold my SD copy too...

Anyone - Michael - know the score?

Amazon still has a 22 March release date. Just placed my pre-order, so we'll see.

John Hodson · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:17 pm

peerpee wrote:

Might be getting a new Dual Format edition?

Hmmm; there's a thought.

triodelover · **Joined:** Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm

John Hodson wrote:

peerpee wrote:

Might be getting a new Dual Format edition?

Hmmm; there's a thought.

Isn't that what MichaelB says a few posts up? FWIW, the cover art went up at Amazon either yesterday or today but, to be honest, it looks like a Photoshop product of a BD case and the old cover.

John Hodson · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:24 pm

triodelover wrote:

John Hodson wrote:

peerpee wrote:

Might be getting a new Dual Format edition?

Hmmm; there's a thought.

Isn't that what MichaelB says a few posts up? FWIW, the cover art went up at Amazon either yesterday or today but, to be honest, it looks like a Photoshop product of a BD case and the old cover.

Doh! I'd forgotten that he had; it is possible that HMV are wrong, but there has been no press release on this thus far and I'd have expected something from the BFI by now.

peerpee · **Joined:** Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:41 pm

These things get new catalogue numbers/barcodes etc, when the product changes -- so it's probably just an unhelpful robotic HMV/Amazon response which leaves everyone in a cul de sac scratching their heads, when it should instead automatically modify people's orders to the replacement catalogue number/barcode. The internet's a teenager now and these places still haven't got to grips with this problem.

triodelover · **Joined:** Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm

peerpee wrote:

These things get new catalogue numbers/barcodes etc, when the product changes -- so it's probably just an unhelpful robotic HMV/Amazon response which leaves everyone in a cul de sac scratching their heads, when it should instead automatically modify people's orders to the replacement catalogue number/barcode. The internet's a teenager now and these places still haven't got to grips with this problem.

Like I said, Amazon is still listing a week from Tuesday for a release date. Of course, they are still listing it as a single disc release, so who knows. Amazon has always been very good at e-mailing order status changes, at least to overseas customers like me.

John Hodson · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:43 pm

The other thing that slightly bothers me is that there is absolutely no mention of it in the BFI's press release of yesterday:

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/72286/ ... april.html

triodelover · **Joined:** Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm

John Hodson wrote:

The other thing that slightly bothers me is that there is absolutely no mention of it in the BFI's press release of yesterday:

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/72286/ ... april.html

Just to play devil's advocate :twisted:

... the "headliners" for the dual format roll-out seem to be the Ozu series and their Flipside collection, two things BFI seem to be heavily invested in (for good reason). In that context, The Innocents is an "old" title. Of course, I may just be grasping at straws in the fervent hope [-o<

that my purchase ships in a week or so as promised. 8-[

tojoed · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:57 pm

triodelover wrote:

Of course, I may just be grasping at straws in the fervent hope [-o<

that my purchase ships in a week or so as promised. 8-[

Me too. I just sold my SD in the expectation of a March Blu. Fingers crossed.
Perhaps MichaelB can put us out of our misery?

John Hodson · **Posted:** Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:30 am

I've just been told by the BFI that The Innocents has been postponed until August 23, and it is likely to be BD only (although with that timeframe, it could change to a dual format release I suppose).

perkizitore · **Posted:** Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:34 am

I hope it's cheaper too, hopefully it will be 13£ instead of 18£!

bamwc2 · **Joined:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:54 am

John Hodson wrote:

I've just been told by the BFI that The Innocents has been postponed until August 23, and it is likely to be BD only (although with that timeframe, it could change to a dual format release I suppose).

I can confirm that the August 23rd date is correct. Some etailers (read amazon.co.uk) get the release dates before everything is set in stone and then they don't bother to update when the plans change.

Finch · **Posted:** Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:45 pm

This film is seeing more delays than the Borzages last year, but I'd rather the BFI takes its time to get the A/V right.

triodelover · **Joined:** Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm

Amazon is now listing the release date as 23 August.

mfunk9786 · **Joined:** Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm

They should consider listing the region as 'free' while they're at it.

Finch · **Posted:** Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:56 pm

It's licenced from Fox (at least the DVD was) so the BFI would have to come to an agreement with them about whether this can be released region-free or not. I suspect the latter.

MichaelB · **Joined:** Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm **Location:** Worthing

It's definitely Region B, in line with Fox's contractual requirements.

MichaelB · **Joined:** Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm **Location:** Worthing

Full specs announced:

Quote:

The Innocents
A film by Jack Clayton
Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave, Peter Wyngarde

An intensely unsettling experience and widely considered to be one of the greatest of all ghost stories on film, The Innocents is now brought to Blu-ray by the BFI with numerous special features.

In the performance of her career, Deborah Kerr plays Miss Giddens, an emotionally repressed vicar’s daughter, who becomes the guardian of two, apparently angelic, orphans at a secluded stately home. When the apparitions of a late governess and her sadistic lover manifest themselves to Miss Giddens, she determines to save her young charges from their ghostly evil. But just who is corrupting whom?

The Innocents’ sinister atmosphere is carefully created through its cinematography, soundtrack, and decor: Freddie Francis’s beautiful CinemaScope photography, with its eerily indistinct long shots and mysterious manifestations at the edges of the frame; an evocative and spooky soundtrack; and the grand yet decaying Bly House.

Jack Clayton’s superbly haunting film retains the ambiguity of Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw from which it is adapted and keeps us guessing until the film’s tragic conclusion. It continues to inspire today’s ‘haunted house’ movies, most notably The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001) which starred Nicole Kidman. Among the many extras are Clayton’s rare directorial debut, Naples is a Battlefield and his Academy-award winning short The Bespoke Overcoat.

Special features
• Full-feature commentary by Professor Christopher Frayling
• Filmed introduction (Caroline Millar, 2006, 26 mins): Christopher Frayling, on location at Sheffield Park House – where The Innocents was shot – on the making of the film
• The Bespoke Overcoat (Jack Clayton, 1955, 37 mins): Jack Clayton’s award-winning short, adapted from Gogol’s The Overcoat, follows a haunted tailor as he comes to terms with a friend’s death
• Naples is a Battlefield (Jack Clayton, 1944, 14 mins): Clayton’s rare (un-credited) directorial debut is a documentary account of the wartime destruction and reconstruction of Naples. Made for the RAF film unit.
• Original US Trailer (3 mins)
• Designed by Motley (2010, 14 mins): Gallery of costume designs for The Innocents by prolific British designers Motley. With introduction and audio captions.
• Illustrated booklet with sleevenote essay by the League of Gentlemen’s Jeremy Dyson, an on-set report, director biography and more

Release date: 23 August 2010
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1032 / cert 12
UK, US / 1961 / black and white / English, optional subtitles for the hard-of-hearing /
100 mins / BD50 / original aspect ratio 2.35:1 Cinemascope / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48/24-bit)

Please note that because there is an existing DVD release of this film, this is a Blu-ray only edition.

The Innocents

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