Pathe

[tenia]

For those interested, here are my reviews with HD native screenshots :
Copie conforme
L'étrange monsieur Victor

I confirm the Grémillon has Eng subs for the main feature.

[Fred Holywell]

Julien Duvivier's La femme et le pantin (1959). Restored in 4K in 2020 by L'Immagine Ritrovata from a first generation interpositive. (The original negative was deemed too damaged to serve as a basis for the restoration, in addition to being incomplete.)

Review (in French): Test Blu-ray: La femme et le pantin (1959) (Pathé)

Restored trailer: La Femme et le Pantin (1959) - Version restaurée - Bande-annonce

[Finch]

Is Amazon France the best bet for importing Pathe titles for folks in the US? I used them when I was still living in Scotland as they generally (though not always) seemed a bit more affordable than FNAC, but I've not ordered from Amazon France before since my move to Maryland (or Washington State for that matter). I'm guessing Amazon FR is the way to go but would be grateful if a US resident could weigh in with their past experience. I'm anticipating that it'd be more cost effective to order something along with L'Etrange Monsieur Victor (thinking of La Roue).

[ianthemovie]

After trying and failing multiple times last year to get a copy of La Roue from Fnac (my order was delayed, canceled, back-ordered...) I had much better luck going through Amazon.fr. It still took a while for it to ship but Amazon’s tracking services and website are just way easier to navigate.

It was all worth it to get La Roue on Blu in an absolutely gorgeous box set. It takes up more shelf space than I might like (it’s huge, be warned) but it’s a treasure.

[Finch]

Thanks, ian! La Roue is a blind buy: I loved Gance's 1919 J'Accuse but couldn't get into Napoleon so I'm fine with "just" getting the reissue of La Roue which I think is just standard packaging.I'll add L'Etrange Monsieur Victor and the Jean Epstein Premiere Vague DVD to make the shipping costs less painful (might throw in After Dark My Sweet).

EDIT: Jesus, I just saw what that thing is costing, 72 Euros (swallows hard). It's still the bells and whistle edition. I need the shelf space so I'm hoping Pathe announce a standard edition down the line!

[ianthemovie]

I haven’t seen J’accuse but I actually prefer La Roue to Napoleon. Part of it may come down to a personal preference for melodrama over historical/war films but really any way you slice it La Roue is an astonishing feat of silent cinema, especially in its fully restored 7 hour version.

The main bell/whistle of the Pathe box (I.e. the main reason why it’s so large) is a thick 100+ page book of liner notes, though be aware that it’s all in French. The one disc of special features is relatively sparse, maybe slightly less than 2 hrs of footage total, all of which is also in French (and unsubtitled in English sadly, unlike the feature film). It is a beautiful package but part of me does wish it had been streamlined somehow. In any case, hope you enjoy it.

[Finch]

I just spoke to tenia via PM and decided to wait for 6 months. I don't speak or read French fluently so the book is effectively wasted on me. Flicker Alley's old DVD is listed as out of stock on their website. Eureka haven't released any major French titles on MoC lately so I figure our best bet for a UK release is probably BFI sometime in 2022. Failing that, I'm hoping Pathe announce a disc only release which I'd be very happy to support, or FA or Criterion put it out in the US. But the current release isn't feasible for me.

[L.A.]

Belphégor (1927) - Édition Limitée

Seriously, no English subs?

[L.A.]

Belphégor (1927) - Édition Limitée

Seriously, no English subs?

DVDFr listing is incorrect(?). There are English subs provided(?).

EDIT: Confirmation of subs still pending.

[tenia]

I prepared my upcoming review a few days ago and wrote there are no subs at all on Belphégor, which has French intertitles otherwise. I'll double check the BD Info scans to be sure though.

[Finch]

What's the film itself like? The artwork is intriguing!

[therewillbeblus]

I've never seen the original 1927 film, but the 1965 miniseries is an interesting comfort-food narrative if not entirely consistently engaging in its back half, wedging itself between your light campy horror fare and film noir motivated by the counterculture period of 1960s France. I originally sought it out due to von Trier citing the series as a key inspiration for Riget, though I imagine there are at least a few differences- with the era-specific material obviously one of those! For whatever it's worth, you can read my thoughts on the '65 series here

[L.A.]

I prepared my upcoming review a few days ago and wrote there are no subs at all on Belphégor, which has French intertitles otherwise. I'll double check the BD Info scans to be sure though.

According to Nitrateville there should be, also I remember seeing mention of subs somewhere. Please keep us posted.

Usually Pathe’s discs have been English-friendly, why would this be an exception? Considering La Roue (not Pathe though but still) sold like hot cakes so surely this would generate interest outside France.

[tenia]

It's actually variable. Echec au porteur has English subs but Le sang à la tête doesn't. L'étrange Mr Victor has English subs but Copie conforme doesn't.
The PR for Belphégor mentions no Eng subs, only French Intertitles and a French audio description. Fille du diable's and Meurtre à Montmartre's mention Eng subs, and that's indeed what I entered in my reviews' layouts.

EDIT : checked the BD Info files and can confirm it doesn't have English subs. I had a look at the Nitrateville related thread. As shown above, Ann Harding is incorrect when stating "Pathé always includes English subs on its Blu-ray editions.". A few releases even have forced French subs (Valmont and La prima notte di quiete).

[ianthemovie]

If you're referring to the 2020 Blu-ray release of La roue, I can confirm that the film does have English subtitles. Only the special features don't.

[Kauno]

If you're referring to the 2020 Blu-ray release of La roue, I can confirm that the film does have English subtitles. Only the special features don't.

Thank you for the confirmation. I almost bought it yesterday and now I have to.

[tenia]

If you're referring to the 2020 Blu-ray release of La roue, I can confirm that the film does have English subtitles. Only the special features don't.

For whatever reasons, I misread this one. Sorry for the confusion.

[L.A.]

Of course La Roue was from Pathe. #-o

So that means we’ll have to be extremely careful from now on when ordering Gaumont and Pathe discs (which ones are English-friendly). Amazon.fr has a 10€ off coupon (using the Amazon app and valid till mid to late June I think) when ordering over 30€. close I didn’t order Belphégor.

[L.A.]

Belphégor (1927) - Édition Limitée

Seriously, no English subs?

DVDFr listing is incorrect(?). There are English subs provided(?).

EDIT: Confirmation of subs still pending.

Interesting.

[tenia]

I doubt this Fnac CS person knows what's what regarding English subtitles on a 1927 silent movie, and that Pathé made 2 sets of BDs, one with and one without English subs.
Finally, I received the check discs only 2 weeks ago, which is quite late regarding Pathé's usual flow in this regard. I thus doubt they could be non-representative of what is available in retail.

Also, again, Pathé's PR claims only one BD release and states no English subs.

I wouldn't get my hopes too high.

[L.A.]

La Femme et Le Pantin (1929)

Tenia, does this have EN subs?

[tenia]

Both the 29 and the 59 versions have Eng subs for the main features.

[Stefan Andersson]

Reviews in French -- Blurays of Belphégor (1927), Meurtre à Montmartre and Fille du Diable:

https://testsbluray.com/2022/04/26/test ... egor-1927/
https://testsbluray.com/2022/05/01/test ... ontmartre/
https://testsbluray.com/2022/05/03/test ... du-diable/

[Stefan Andersson]

A 2K resto of the Gabin/Le Chanois Les Miserables (1958) to be available in 2022 according to this:
https://www.patheinternational.com/mine ... ASSICS.pdf

[tenia]

For those interested : I received the check discs for 3 jours à vivre and Casino de Paris, and both have English subs for the main feature.
Both movies are restored in 4K by L'image retrouvée / L'immagine Ritrovata. I quickly gave them a spin : 3 jours à vivre looked gorgeous (and interestingly with a quite contrasted B&W scale, unlike most Ritrovata B&W gradings which tend to have a rather silvery velvety aspect), while Casino de Paris seemed very dupey looking (though with a color grading that is, yes, relatively warm but pleasingly didn't seem that Ritrovata'd).