274 Night and the City

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Narshty
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274 Night and the City

#1 Post by Narshty » Mon Nov 29, 2004 6:53 pm

Night and the City

Image Image

Two-bit hustler Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) longs for a life of ease and plenty. Trailed by an inglorious history of go-nowhere schemes, he tries to hatch a lucrative plan with a famous wrestler. But there is no easy money in this underworld of shifting alliances, bottomless graft, and pummeled flesh—and Fabian soon learns the horrible price of his ambition. Luminously shot in the streets of London while Hollywood blacklisters back home were closing in on director Jules Dassin, Night and the City, also starring Gene Tierney, is film noir of the first order, and one of Dassin's crowning achievements.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Alternate presentation of the 101-minute British version of the film
• Audio commentary from 2005 with film scholar Glenn Erickson
• Interview with director Jules Dassin from 2005
• Excerpts from a 1972 televison interview with Dassin
• Comparison of the scores for the British and American versions of the film
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Paul Arthur

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Last edited by Narshty on Mon Nov 29, 2004 8:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Subbuteo
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#2 Post by Subbuteo » Mon Nov 29, 2004 7:13 pm

Bloody Great!

Martha
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#3 Post by Martha » Mon Nov 29, 2004 7:58 pm

Awesome, awesome news. And a great cover, to boot.

Wow, that was an intelligent post.

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devlinnn
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#4 Post by devlinnn » Mon Nov 29, 2004 8:23 pm

Oh dear, more Richard Widmark in the collection can only lead to one thing - here you go Martha.

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Martha
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#5 Post by Martha » Mon Nov 29, 2004 8:47 pm

You know, sometimes it frightens me how well people I've never met in real life can know me. Sigh. Thank you, devlinnn.

BWilson
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#6 Post by BWilson » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:03 pm

Commentary by The Savant himself should be pretty good.

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ola t
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#7 Post by ola t » Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:19 am

The HVE site lists this feature that Criterion are presumably hiding under the "More!":
"Two Versions, Two Scores," a look at the two different scores composed for the British and American releases of the film

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alandau
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#8 Post by alandau » Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:06 am

I have just re-examined the special features. By the way the cover art is superb. It captures the sense of alienation and despair that permeates the film.

- Audio commentary by Glenn Erickson, author of the Film Noir Reader essay on Night and the City

His commentary on Gun Crazy was excellent, and I do love Savant.

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer

If it is like Pickup, then we are in for a treat. This film has great cinematography.

- Video interview with director Jules Dassin
- Excerpts from a 1972 French interview with Dassin


Ok, sounds good, but depends on the quality and the length on the interview. Remember, we had some great interviews and commentary by Fuller on Pickup for $29.99

- Excerpts from a BBC documentary about the Hollywood blacklist

The key word here is excerpts, so don't expect anything too deep. And I wasn't too impressed with a similar documentary on Spartacus. My expectations have dwindled.

- Original theatrical trailer

WOW, how exciting.

I think Criterion should have been kinder, and packaged both Dassin films together, and the $39.99 full retail is a bit steep, considering the price of the WB noir set and the Fox classics. And to pay the same for Thieves Highway. I am sure Criterion are pricing themselves out of the market.

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colinr0380
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#9 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:58 am

No Jules Dassin commentary?

Narshty
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#10 Post by Narshty » Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:03 am

He's still on the disc for an interview, but might not have had enough to say for a full commentary. He's an old bugger nowadays - almost 93.

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zedz
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#11 Post by zedz » Wed Dec 01, 2004 4:26 pm

alandau wrote:Think the $39.99 full retail is a bit steep , considering the price of the WB noir set and the Fox classics. And to pay the same for Thieves Highway. I am sure Criterion are pricing themselves out of the market.
I think we're just getting spoilt: commentary plus two interviews, documentary and "more!" (especially if it's an alternative version of the film) is pretty generous, and far more than many of the older titles in the collection offer at that price. (Off the top of my head I can only think of three $29.99 titles that offer commentaries, and two of those are obvious special cases).

We know Criterion prices itself at the top end of the market, and it's not realistic to compare this title with the WB noir box, which was pretty amazing value even by mainstream studio standards. By their own standards this looks to be a pretty solid package to me.

kazantzakis
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#12 Post by kazantzakis » Wed Dec 01, 2004 4:34 pm

zedz wrote:I think we're just getting spoilt: commentary plus two interviews, documentary and "more!" (especially if it's an alternative version of the film) is pretty generous,
I could hardly disagree more. alandau was right on the money. Of course Criterion is unlikely to go out of business because of the consistent quality of their work all around. Comparing to the earlier releases doesnt make the newer ones more reasonable, it just makes the older ones less so.

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cafeman
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#13 Post by cafeman » Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:24 am

alandau wrote:- Audio commentary by Glenn Erickson, author of the Film Noir Reader essay on Night and the City

His commentary on Gun Crazy was excellent, and I do love Savant.

I think Criterion should have been kinder, and packaged both Dassin films together, and the $39.99 full retail is a bit steep, considering the price of the WB noir set and the Fox classics.
Especially since the WB Noir Box also contained a commentary by Savant.
alandau wrote:Still seems expensive for $39.99. I think Criterion should have been kinder, and packaged both Dassin films together.
I`d like all three of them in a box, actually.

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zedz
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#14 Post by zedz » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:15 pm

And while we're at it, can we have all the Bergmans to date in a box for $19.95?

My point is that the amount of stuff we're getting on Night and the City seems completely in line with what we should expect from a 39.95 title (I mean, what more do you expect: a dozen deleted scenes with director commentary?) Comparing it with Pickup is not that useful, as that title is almost certainly the high-water mark for extras on a lower-tier title (and there was no commentary on that one, which seems to be the most reliable determiner of pricing levels). Most 29.95 titles have two or three extras at most.

If this is a general complaint about Criterion's overall pricing levels, maybe we should have a pricing grumbles thread like on the old forum? Mr Moderator?

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Keaton
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#15 Post by Keaton » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:37 pm

I think this complains are somewhat stupid...when criterion drops the prices they could never hold their high standards. Before complaining about the prices, everyone should realize that if criterion would lower them, they would either drop to medicore "Kino-like" standards or would be forced to start release movies like Spider Man 2 or Dare Devil, in order to cope with the major studios income. With that in mind, I lookin forward to pay a bit more.

kazantzakis
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#16 Post by kazantzakis » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:55 pm

I am glad you are looking forward to even higher prices. I sure hope Criterion is listening. I just dont like to think of myself as "spoiled" because I cannot afford to pay their prices for 4-5 discs every month. The complains are not "stupid" but surely inappropriate for this thread. And of course it's all relative: if you can afford it, you think all those complaints are "stupid" and all comparisons are unnecessary. It is simply natural human selfcenteredness.

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bjeggert82
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#17 Post by bjeggert82 » Sat Dec 04, 2004 2:35 pm

So... Back on topic. Are this are Thieves' Highway single or double disc editions?

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Ashirg
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#18 Post by Ashirg » Sat Dec 04, 2004 5:09 pm

DVD Savant on his commentary:
Criterion just announced their disc of Jules Dassin's NIGHT AND THE CITY, which will reportedly have my second attempt at an audio commentary. This one has a lot more research put into it; even though I was chosen on the basis of a chapter I wrote about the movie in the first FILM NOIR READER, there was a lot about NIGHT AND THE CITY to be learned, such as the existence of a substantially different English version. Noir guru Alain Silver contributed a commentary to a second Dassin film being released at the same time, THIEVE'S HIGHWAY, and I'll be curious to see what he has to say about it.

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Steven H
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#19 Post by Steven H » Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:39 pm

back cover

It seems they've added "A Comparison of the Two Scores Recorded for the British and American Releases of the Film" which sounds Very interesting to me.

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Brian Oblivious
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#20 Post by Brian Oblivious » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:27 pm

I just saw this last night at the SF Film Noir Festival; it was a last minute add to the program. An absolutely gorgeous print that festival programmer Eddie Muller said was struck for a recent Dassin tribute in Greece. If the Criterion image is anything like this print, we will all be rejoicing in a week and a half.

The film itself is great, too. A perfect example of doomed noir complete with femme fatale, only set in London. Richard Widmark gives a magnetically frantic performance that I don't suppose I'll ever forget; he's like an overgrown child actor in this, which is perfect for his in-over-his-head character.

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ben d banana
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#21 Post by ben d banana » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:48 am

the film and this disc are indeed great, brian's description of widmark's performance is spot on (and i'm plenty jealous of his big screen viewing). the score/version comparison may create a desire for the inclusion of the entire us & uk editions, although it's pretty clear the over the top american one here is the movie for me. i don't know how much was cut out of the uk version to make up for the extra/different scenes, but it seems like viewers may have been clobbered into submission via reiteration. enjoyed the new and old dassin interviews as well. thieves' highway is definitely fun too
SpoilerShow
even w/ the studio added, ridiculous, wink-free, happy ending,
but if you have to choose (and i'm glad i didn't), the film and extras (i haven't made it to either commentary) would make this my recommendation.

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colinr0380
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#22 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:52 am

I have heard that this was one of the few films to get the geography of London right. Only having been to London once in my life, I've got not way of knowing! Does anyone know if this is the case or not?

Now hopefully Night and the City (1992) might also get a Criterion edition!

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Fletch F. Fletch
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#23 Post by Fletch F. Fletch » Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:00 pm

I finally got around to watching this movie and was struck by how visceral and intense the climatic wrestling match is! You really feel and hear every eye gouge and punch to the face. Definitely one of the highlights of this atmospheric noir.

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ben d banana
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#24 Post by ben d banana » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:13 pm

yeah, the wrestling match actually had me on the edge of my seat. a wonderfully visceral film.

edit-duh, fletch just said "visceral". call me a moron or mr. echo, either will do.
Last edited by ben d banana on Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

unclehulot
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#25 Post by unclehulot » Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:20 pm

Wow, what a fantastic film and transfer! I must respectfully disagree with dvdbeaver's rating this on a slightly lower rung transfer-wise; I think it's simply amazing that the film looks and sounds THIS much better than I've seen it before. Great care was taken with the sound, and Waxman's score makes a much greater impact this time around. The docu on the two versions of the film (and their different soundtracks) is wonderfully done -- perhaps that is my only caveat... I would have loved to have the complete UK version included on a 2nd disc. I wonder why it wasn't?

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