109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: 109 The Scarlet Empress

#101 Post by Gregory » Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:48 pm

Just came back to add that the Swiss sculptor Peter Balbusch deserves credit as well for creating the menacing statuary of Scarlet Empress, much as Otto Hunte did the memorable town clock figures in Blue Angel.

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: 109 The Scarlet Empress

#102 Post by HerrSchreck » Tue Mar 03, 2015 2:56 pm

Yes David Hare gave massive credit to both Balbusch and Drier in our commentary. The dude is a walking compendium of Joe.

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liam fennell
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Re: 109 The Scarlet Empress

#103 Post by liam fennell » Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:01 pm

Of course there is so much more to these things than the visuals! As noted, I've been looking at these things on a certain illicit substance and that is why I think so much about the visuals -- I actually had the sound turned off.

I didn't mean to downplay the sound, dialogue and the script, all of which I find equally wonderful and crucial to the whole. I'm just always staggered at how everything regarding the stories/themes is so completely played out visually on a number of levels. The imagery, and the way it reflects the other content like an infinitely regressing hall of mirrors, just overwhelms me in a way nothing else in cinema does. I agree the movies are almost impossibly funny and like Sloper says the often bad acting almost seems essential to Sternberg's aesthetic, incredibly enough. I was kind of joking when I said the extras were the stars -- though I do appreciate them more and more and more!

The lengths the man went to take credit for everything are indeed ridiculously over the top and ultimately do color the movies in a negative way. It is seriously unfair to the collaborators. People like Hans Dreier and (not in this movie, as far as I know) Jules Furthman deserve all the credit in the world for their work in these movies and Sternberg really does just dismiss them entirely in his book if he mentions them at all. Dude was maybe just a true weirdo eccentric artist of the highest caliber, for better or worse. I'm okay with that, in the final analysis, but I totally understand how it could rub a lot of people the wrong way.

I like the mostly-painted mirror room at the end of Shanghai Gesture! I forget off hand who did those paintings but that set is wonderful. I never even noticed it was a mirror room until my most recent viewing!

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barryconvex
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Re: 109 The Scarlet Empress

#104 Post by barryconvex » Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:42 am

...certain illicit substance...
you can still get LSD in this country? i thought it was totally extinct and the original formula lost forever...although i'm a robitussin DM man to the core i'm happy to know it's still alive and kicking.

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: 109 The Scarlet Empress

#105 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:57 pm

Sure you're not thinking of quaaludes?

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swo17
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#106 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:15 pm


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FrauBlucher
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#107 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:17 pm

This looks terrific...
PLUS: A book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#108 Post by knives » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:21 pm

Smart work around the Blue Angel issue as well.

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hearthesilence
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#109 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:23 pm

Holy s***, this is amazing. I wasn't sure if some of these titles would ever get released.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#110 Post by Ribs » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:24 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:This looks terrific...
PLUS: A book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme
Much like Arrow, don't get too excited by promises of a "book" - especially considering only three writers are listed. It's probably just three essays in a 60-page perfect-bound book, not a whole big thing. Better than a pamphlet, though!

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#111 Post by Finch » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:38 pm

Most excellent news - a boxset to be cherished for the rest of my life. Now, please upgrade your DVD set with the Paramount silents, Criterion.

onedimension
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:35 pm

Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#112 Post by onedimension » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:40 pm

Christmas in July - been hoping they'd put something like this together for awhile, have made sporadic suggestions. All praise the benevolent Mulvaney, who clearly listens.

onedimension
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:35 pm

Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#113 Post by onedimension » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:43 pm

hearthesilence wrote:Holy s***, this is amazing. I wasn't sure if some of these titles would ever get released.
Most have been scattered on DVD, some in decent transfers - but this is the first time they've all been put together in the context they deserve.

Hoping for the same with the Mann/Stewart cooperations someday, but Criterion has a lot of months left to fill.

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Murdoch
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#114 Post by Murdoch » Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:59 pm

I haven't been this excited by a Criterion release in a while. I adore Sternberg and Dietrich's collaborations.

Mooney
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:32 am

Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#115 Post by Mooney » Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:11 pm

I'm stunned and speechless. This is a amazing release.

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Drucker
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#116 Post by Drucker » Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:15 pm

Holly shit.

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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#117 Post by Werewolf by Night » Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:04 pm

I have been waiting for this for about 20 years. Thank you, Criterion.

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denti alligator
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#118 Post by denti alligator » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:50 pm

Yeah, I think this was on the rumored forthcoming list at the first Criteron Forum back when I joined in.... 2003?

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DeprongMori
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#119 Post by DeprongMori » Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:19 pm

I notice that the set does not seem to include two supplements from The Scarlet Empress DVD release — Documentary: "The World of Josef von Sternberg," including interview with Kevin Brownlow (30 min.), and Von Sternberg tribute by underground filmmaker Jack Smith. I understand the documentary is quite good and a unique glimpse into Sternberg’s lighting methods. It sounds like quite a loss. Anyone have thoughts on these?

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Ashirg
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#120 Post by Ashirg » Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:22 pm

Shanghai Express was rumored to be joining collection at least since October 2001...

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cdnchris
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#121 Post by cdnchris » Tue Apr 17, 2018 12:36 am

I'm pretty sure it had been rumored since Scarlet Empress was released, so 2001 sounds about right.

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Svevan
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 7:49 pm
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#122 Post by Svevan » Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:27 am

Finally! What a set.

Blonde Venus and the Golden Afro - not my favorite of the Von Deitberg collabs, but a weird and glitzy film. Worth it for the hairstyles alone.

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movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#123 Post by movielocke » Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:42 am

I remember Shanghai Express being rumored around 2001-ish because I put off watching it for a few months thinking a dvd was imminent.

As I recall during an HTF chat with criterion around 2002-2003 era they said there were no suitable materials for Shanghai Express on dvd, at least not comparable to the standard they’d released Scarlett empress in, so it had more or less been indefinitely postponed/shelved.

ethel
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:47 am

Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#124 Post by ethel » Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:27 am

The apparent absence of Jack Smith from the extras is concerning. I hope the overall impression of sober heteronormative academic analysis isn’t actually the whole story. Couldn’t they rope in John Waters, Charles Busch and Lypsinka for balance? Sheesh. The films are delirious, and the extras should ideally reflect this at some point. It’s not John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks fans who’ve lit candles and kept shrines to these films for lo these 80 years.

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Roscoe
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:40 pm
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Re: 109, 930-935 Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood

#125 Post by Roscoe » Tue Apr 17, 2018 10:27 am

Any word as to the restorations? I'm hoping they've found the missing dialogue from SHANGHAI EXPRESS.

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