Fritz Lang on DVD/Blu-ray

[matrixschmatrix]

I've got the Optimum and I've seen the MGM- I didn't do screenshots or anything, but there weren't any print differences I noticed, and the Optimum definitely looks fine. No subtitles, though.

If you're looking to pick that up, Amazon wound up shipping me two copies, if you want to contact me via PM about it.

[Der Spieler]

Just watched Beyond a Reasonable Doubt on my TV (32 inches HD) and it looked OK. Not mediocre, but not too good either. It was a little on the soft side, overly bright and interlaced, with quite a few instances of combing. The print itself was not in the best of shapes, but certainly watchable. I doubt very much though that anyone seeing this on a bigger screen will get a good image. This transfer is very inferior to While the City Sleeps by the same company. Still glad we got a release at all (that's not 25$ for a shitty CD-R).

[matrixschmatrix]

Could you take a screenshot to compare with the Warner Archive ones on DVDBeaver?

[Frankinho007]

A friend of mine took the screengrabs and i made a comparison between the Exposure disc and the WAC disc.

[Der Spieler]

I don't know what your friend used to take the shots but I sure know it didn't look THAT shitty on my screen.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on the Exposure edition of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

[Der Spieler]

The review sums things up pretty well: not the best release in town, but still worth checking out.

[perkizitore]

Compared to the other editions it is the best!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

But wasn't this one of his films made in SuperScope? This DVD is 1:33. The odd amount of headspace over the characters leads me to believe this wasn't exactly made for Academy ratio, no?

[domino harvey]

Open matte, no?

[Der Spieler]

But wasn't this one of his films made in SuperScope? This DVD is 1:33. The odd amount of headspace over the characters leads me to believe this wasn't exactly made for Academy ratio, no?

I don't believe it was, even though Exposure are very firm about it.

[HJackson]

I don't know what your friend used to take the shots but I sure know it didn't look THAT shitty on my screen.

I'll second that. I just got done watching it and it was fine; not perfect, but adequate.

I'd just like to mention that the Region 2 Cornerstone release of Human Desire isn't as terrible as Gregory assumed it would be a while back. The picture quality is below that offered by the two versions samples on dvdbeaver (it is still very watchable though), but it is presented in 1.33:1 and has more information on the top and bottom of the frame than the Sony and the Japanese Columbia.

[gcgiles1dollarbin]

But wasn't this one of his films made in SuperScope? This DVD is 1:33. The odd amount of headspace over the characters leads me to believe this wasn't exactly made for Academy ratio, no?

I don't believe it was, even though Exposure are very firm about it.

David Bordwell has a Lang post in the middle of which he briefly discusses BARD's AR and by way of experiment, vertically crops the 1:37 to 2.0:1 to see if it was possibly made to accommodate both ratios. As he writes, at first quoting Jacques Lourcelles in the first paragraph:

"For both this film [While the City Sleeps] and Lang’s next film, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, the format poses a thorny problem that can be resolved only by considering aesthetic matters. The film, not shot in CinemaScope, was exhibited in Superscope (a wide format used at RKO and created through laboratory processes), and then in a normal format. Which is better? In my opinion, the wider one. Only there, for instance, do the camera movements and the newspaper-office set have their true impact. Even if the Superscope version was 'manufactured' in the lab, Lang knew that the film would be seen on the wide screen and his direction was conceived as a function of that. The same goes for Beyond a Reasonable Doubt; to cite just one instance, the first sequence showing the condemned man walking toward the electric chair is obviously conceived for the wider format."

This does lead to some intriguing speculation on how “misreadings” of films can have positive consequences. The French celebration of Lang’s 1950s films led American and British critics to reevaluate them.

The case of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt is quite parallel to that of While the City Sleeps. Released in September 1956, it too was reviewed in Variety as a non-anamorphic picture. Its U. S. publicity makes no reference to a widescreen format. But its overseas posters claim that it is in “RKO-Scope.” Huh?

By the end of 1956, the Tushinskys had split from RKO and were selling SuperScope generally. So in November 1956 RKO simply announced that it had developed “a new widescreen, anamorphic process” that would carry a ratio of 2.0:1. Historians of widescreen have assumed that this is SuperScope by another name. The same publicity announced that soon all the studio’s films would be in RKO-Scope. But RKO ceased making movies on 1 January 1957. Universal took over distributing the remaining pictures.

Again, on the basis of the posters and Lourcelles’ comments we can be confident that Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was shown in a 2.0:1 aspect ratio in some overseas markets.

Perhaps this has been well-documented elsewhere; I'd be curious to know if it has.

[tojoed]

From Exposure on November 2nd , apparently it's digitally restored and remastered, with a booklet of essays.

[Der Spieler]

That's awesome news!

[TMDaines]

Can't complain about these Langs. Been waiting for someone to plug the holes with decent, fairly priced releases.

[HJackson]

Moviemail has the release date for Secret Beyond the Door as September 15th, and an exclusive notice on their main page. I hope it isn't a mistake, as I'd like to get my hands on the film as soon as is humanly possible.

[knepo]

I am very happy to see so many new DVD releases of Lang films. I have ordered all three Exposure titles and today I got the Scandinavian edition of You Only Live Once. I am very curious about the quality of the Scandinavian version. I wanted to find out some more about Exposure dvd's. The only info I can find on the homepage is that a new site will come soon, and that the warehouse has been on fire.

I would like to find some info on Exposure titles. Is there a list somewhere?

[Forrest Taft]

I am very happy to see so many new DVD releases of Lang films.
I have ordered all three Exposure titles and today I got the Scandinavian edition of You Only Live Once. I am very curious about the quality of the Scandinavian version.

It's excellent. Identical to the Studio Canal version I believe, with a very solid transfer, and a terrific featurette with Claude Chabrol as a special feature.

[knepo]

It's excellent. Identical to the Studio Canal version I believe, with a very solid transfer, and a terrific featurette with Claude Chabrol as a special feature.

The transfer was great, and it was the Studio Canal edition. Will check out the featurette later.
I have had a long break from hunting movies and it is such a joy to find all these great releases now

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Coming next year from Wild Side France Big Heat on Blu and Human desire on DVD. Amongst others Nightfall/Tourneur and an edition of Night of the Hunter that threatens to supercede the Criterion with even more extras. Will update when there's more news.

[rainerc]

The restored Metropolis will get a German release on Oct. 28 according to the F.W. Murnau Stiftung (see http://www.metropolis2710.de/de/index.html)

[HJackson]

The picture quality on Exposure's Secret Beyond the Door is practically identical to the Wild Side edition, judging by the caps from the Wild Side on DVDBeaver. I'm not complaining though, since it's a wonderful film and I'm glad I've finally seen it. And I'm very grateful for the booklet - it isn't on the same level as something provided by Masters of Cinema, nor was I expecing it to be, but it's better than nothing.

[Der Spieler]

What? You have it already? Where d'you buy it?

[perkizitore]

It's a Moviemail exclusive until November.