Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[Cash Flagg]

DVD Beaver on Le Mepris

[MichaelB]

- Audio Commentary with Philip Kemp: Mackendrick/Ladykillers expert

Not just expert - official biographer. He knows his stuff.

[ellipsis7]

Screen Daily reports...

Optimum Releasing is taking over management of StudioCanal’s British Library Archive, including early Hitchcock films, as part of a series of initiatives aimed at protecting British film heritage.

The company will now be responsible for all clip sales and merchandising of the library, which also includes titles such as The Third Man, The Ladykillers and The Dambusters.

The initiatives, announced in conjunction with Pinewood Studios, will also include restoring a number of classic films, starting with children’s titles Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, Kind Hearts and Coronets by Robert Hamer and Lionel Jeffries’ The Railway Children. The films will be re-released theatrically and available on Blu-ray/ DVD after it has been completed.

Pinewood will also house the Canal+ Image UK library assets, including building to new storage facilities at the studio, which are expected to be completely early next year. Ivan Dunleavy, the CEO of the studio, said: “The importance of these titles to the nation and worldwide heritage cannot be under estimated.”

A bizarre categorisation of PEEPING TOM as a 'childrens film', although I suppose there's a troubled childhood at the root of the piece!...

[perkizitore]

Screen Daily reports...

Optimum Releasing is taking over management of StudioCanal’s British Library Archive, including early Hitchcock films, as part of a series of initiatives aimed at protecting British film heritage.

The company will now be responsible for all clip sales and merchandising of the library, which also includes titles such as The Third Man, The Ladykillers and The Dambusters.

The initiatives, announced in conjunction with Pinewood Studios, will also include restoring a number of classic films, starting with children’s titles Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, Kind Hearts and Coronets by Robert Hamer and Lionel Jeffries’ The Railway Children. The films will be re-released theatrically and available on Blu-ray/ DVD after it has been completed.

Pinewood will also house the Canal+ Image UK library assets, including building to new storage facilities at the studio, which are expected to be completely early next year. Ivan Dunleavy, the CEO of the studio, said: “The importance of these titles to the nation and worldwide heritage cannot be under estimated.”

Peeping Tom on blu-ray is more than welcome!

[Tommaso]

A bizarre categorisation of PEEPING TOM as a 'childrens film', although I suppose there's a troubled childhood at the root of the piece!...

Perhaps they'll throw in "The boy who turned yellow" as an extra....

[MichaelB]

A bizarre categorisation of PEEPING TOM as a 'childrens film', although I suppose there's a troubled childhood at the root of the piece!...

Perhaps they'll throw in "The boy who turned yellow" as an extra....

They'd have to licence it from ITV first, so I wouldn't bet on it.

In fact, Peeping Tom is one of the few Powell titles represented by Studio Canal - most of the classics are in the ITV catalogue (formerly Rank/Carlton/Granada).

[Tommaso]

I was only kidding about "Boy who turned yellow" anyway, at least as an extra for "Peeping Tom". But do you know what the legal situation is for "The elusive Pimpernel"? I can't really see why this is completely unavailable, given that it's a title still coming from P&P's successful period.

[ellipsis7]

THE ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL was on the BBC 2 or 3 years ago, when I recorded it, so rights issues must be relatively straightforward for them to have licensed it... Opening titles go so - '1/. London Films presents (over their Big Ben logo)... 2/.A Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Production (over Archer's target)...'

[Jonathan S]

Maybe Powell's own judgement on The Elusive Pimpernel - "a terrible mess" - is partly responsible for a DVD of it being so... elusive. I think that's a rather harsh assessment, and it ought to be made available, though having caught a couple of the many UK TV broadcasts, it's not a film I'd want to own myself.

[Cinetwist]

I think Powell's assessment is spot on to be honest, and like you, it's a title that I wouldn't care to own. In fact, it's probably the only P&P film I wouldn't revisit.

[Tommaso]

I think Powell's assessment is spot on to be honest, and like you, it's a title that I wouldn't care to own. In fact, it's probably the only P&P film I wouldn't revisit.

I think Powell was far too critical about it; but in order not to take this too far off-topic, I just posted my thoughts on "Pimpernel" in the Michael Powell thread.

[manicsounds]

For anyone who has Optimum's DVD of Sam Peckinpah's "The Deadly Companions", is it in it's cinemascop 2.35:1 ratio or is it in 1.66:1 as amazon says.

[captveg]

For what it's worth, Blus of Ran and Contempt (and the non-CC The Ladykillers) are coming from Lionsgate in February as part of their 'StudioCanal Collection'. These will likely be sourced from the same materials Criterion worked with. Bonus content TBA, but it'll probably be quite different.

[mfunk9786]

Folks with 10 copies of The Third Man, beware.

[Cash Flagg]

LionsGate will be releasing ports of the Optimum Ran, Ladykillers and Contempt Blu-rays on 2/19.

[Arn777]

Le Mepris and Belle de jour blu-rays are not available anymore at Amazon UK, anybody knows what's up with these titles, they haven't been out for a long time?

[zedz]

The Ran and Contempt Blus will surely be exactly the same ones already released in other territories. Given the mixed reviews the those discs have received, a Lionsgate / Studio Canal Third Man might just send the Criterion scalpers into early retirement!

[Arn777]

I didn't check HMV until now, I have amazon prime and quite lazy! Just surprised these have already vanished from Amazon after 2 months, but want to get Belle, just checked HMV and they are out stock. So either Optimum only pressed a few, or there is some kind of supply problem.

[Matt]

These will likely be sourced from the same materials Criterion worked with.

Same film materials, probably, but they will surely just be ports of the underwhelming Optimum discs: Ran / Contempt. I don't think anyone around here is going to be selling off their Criterion DVD versions.

[zedz]

Snap!

[Jeff]

The extras aren't the same as Criterion's, but there is some overlap. They each include a 20-page book too.

[Ben Cheshire]

I've got about six of the UK/Aussie releases, seems like Ran and Contempt were taken from pretty underwhelming prints/transfers; but if you don't own them on high def, and are a fan of the films, they both still look really good in HD, compared to SD. IMO the Ran BD features truer colours than the blown out asian BDs, but i've not seen the Criterion DVD.

The Deer Hunter is just a repackaging with better special features of the existing Studio Canal HD transfer already out in Australia on BD.

[tojoed]

These are the extras for the forthcoming DVD of The Queen of Spades., courtesy of DVD Times:
The Queen of Spades comes with a new introduction by Martin Scorsese, an analysis by Philip Horne, the original trailer and 2 audio interviews with Thorold Dickinson from 1951 and 1968.

[Sloper]

So nice to see Dickinson getting so much care and attention - I've only seen this and Gaslight, but just on the basis of those two films the man was a genius. Looking forward to Optimum's release of Secret People as well; and one of these days I'll fork out for Next of Kin, which is meant to be one of the most harrowing propaganda films to emerge from WWII.

[tojoed]

I agree entirely, and I also have only seen Gaslight and Queen of Spades.
I'm looking forward to Optimum's other Dickinsons, as you are, and full marks to them for making them available.