435 The Furies

[Haggai]

Well, myself and some of the other noirheads in San Francisco earlier this year were scratching our heads over what that script was all about. But we definitely appreciated seeing the brilliant visuals in a properly struck print.

[vivahawks]

Love love love this film, and Anthony Mann. I've yet to see the man fail. Perhaps the most powerful/most underappreciated master filmmaker in all American cinema. Next on deck is El Cid restored which I've never seen.

If CC really wanta knock the socks off the world of cineastes, it should get hold of (the apparently pd) The Black Book.. this rarely seen masterpiece would blow the eyeballs out of their viewership, 99% of whom I'm sure have never seen it... and for icing if they could acquire the rights of T-Men & Raw Deal (two masterworks screaming for clean HD transfers), this Mann/Alton trilogy of noirs, the very finest ever made (surpassing Premingers, Dassins, J. Tourners, surpassing everybody and anybody who toyed with the style), would constitute one of the most satisfying box sets of American film yet produced.

I'm eager to revisit The Furies now after the first wave of enthusiastic viewings; wasn't wild about this when I saw it a few years ago, but maybe I was missing something. And I think El Cid will probably knock your socks off, HerrScherck. Talk about storytelling with images--it might be the most visually brilliant film Mann ever shot, and if it were silent (minus the often clunky Serious Epic Dialogue) it would be perfect IMHO. And one more vote for a Mann/Alton box; maybe Preminger was on the same level at the same time, but those noirs and their fabulous western collaboration Devil's Doorway --now that's a forgotten masterpiece--are indispensable.

[akaten]

My copy of The Furies has yet to arrive, but looking at the various musings on Anthony Mann I'm not seeing any mention of The Tall Target, which I caught by happenstance on TCM2 (shown only once, at 6am of all times!) an excellent pre-civil war with Dick Powell, playing a detective(named John Kennedy no less!) trying to prevent an assasination on Lincoin that was never recorded in official history. Set largely on a train (indeed some of the framings of the station scenes recall FW Murnau) instantly bringing to mind Richard Fleischer's The Narrow Margin, noir aspects abound too, the fight in the steam wherby the routine "which one is he," is giving a Mann macabre twist, as it doesn't matter which one he shoots, its a win win situation.

Add in the way the film mingles north and southerers on the train, soldiers and civilians alike, also a slave sister:

"I shouldn't have to ask for my freedom,"

You've got yourself a great b-movie that warrants greater recognition among Mann impressive filmography.

While I'm at it, not seeing any mention of Border Incident, a film no one in America has to balls to make today, but should be, about the exploitation of Mexican migrant labour especially with Americans exploting NRA protected gunlaws to sell automatic firearms across the border fuelling gang warfare and lawless anarchy throughout Northern Mexico.

Yes the imposed 'authority is humanitarian, really it is' voiceover is grating but the images on screen are spellbinding, and the reworking of his earlier partner must look on in silence at partners death to retain his cover is ratched up tenfold.

Masked in darkness with light only serving to draw ominous shadows, mercilessly shot in the back and lying helplessly in the mud is cut up by the blades of a tractor - the Mann lingers on his immobile figure as the shadows creep ever closer till they reach the whites of his eyes is so powerful in the weight it gives to violence, to our participation in dwelling upon it manages to both repells and suck you in ever closer to this dangerous world the agents must inhabit. Terrifying!

[Haggai]

Agreed on all counts, akaten. I also love The Tall Target and Border Incident, although I'm not sure TTT was really a B-movie. It definitely seems to have had higher production values than the classic The Narrow Margin. Then again, what was considered a B-movie at the time at MGM, where TTT was filmed, might have qualified as an A at RKO, which produced TNM.

I suspect that those two train thrillers were related in a way, although it's doubtful that Mann had seen TNM--which was mostly filmed in 1950 but held back by Howard Hughes for a couple of years--when he made TTT in '51. The working title of TNM was The Target, but when the similarly structured TTT was released before TNM, RKO's publicity department might have worried about people getting confused between "The Target" and "The Tall Target." Moviegoers hearing about another thriller set on a train with "target" in the title could easily have gotten confused and said, "wait a minute, we just saw that one a few months ago, with Dick Powell." So switching to a different title altogether made sense.

[Stefan Andersson]

Does anybody have info re: A/V quality differences between the VCI RAW DEAL/T-MEN and The Roan Group LDs? I spoke to Cary Roan many years ago and he said he had the camera negatives to both films.

[mfunk9786]

Does anybody have info re: A/V quality differences between the VCI RAW DEAL/T-MEN and The Roan Group LDs? I spoke to Cary Roan many years ago and he said he had the camera negatives to both films.

...it's a ring toss game!

[HerrSchreck]

Does anybody have info re: A/V quality differences between the VCI RAW DEAL/T-MEN and The Roan Group LDs? I spoke to Cary Roan many years ago and he said he had the camera negatives to both films.

The disc is almost 10 yrs old, and there are three films (aside fro the above 2, there is the masterful He Walked By Night) crammed onto one disc-- one hopes at least that its DL.

Customer comments on amazon are not encouraging:

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
MASTERPIECES IN BLACK AND WHITE, April 17, 2000
By wdanthemanw "wdanthemanw"

It was a great idea from the Roan Group to present three movies directed by Anthony Mann in the late forties. Unfortunately, their copies have seen better days ! Too bad.
So, the sound and the images of HE WALKED BY NIGHT are simply awful. There's a slight improvement for RAW DEAL and only T-MEN could be qualified as visible for the average DVD addict.
But, as always, if the movie is interesting, I try to forget the imperfections and concentrate myself on the movie. And, believe me, these three are good movies. I personally have a little preference for RAW DEAL with its typical Film Noir mood : a hero, played by Dennis O'Keefe, two girls - the blonde and the brunette - and a sadistic villain impersonated by Raymond Burr.

HE WALKED BY NIGHT and T-MEN are typical examples of the semi-documentary style used in a lot film noir of the 1945-1950 period. They present a case which, if you want to believe the narrator, was a real story. Well, well, well. Naturally, it's one of the numerous clichés used by Hollywood in order to nail the viewer.

Director Anthony Mann is known for his westerns of the 50's starring James Stewart ; he deserves also to be recognized as a Master of the Film Noir genre.

No menu... and hardly a scene access.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Poor sound quality, January 31, 2000
By H. Rogers (United States) - See all my reviews

Three entertaining movies but the sound quality is so poor that it greatly detracts from the experience.

I can tell you that the audio on the VCI's is nowhere near as bad sounding as what is indicated in these reviews.. and the image certainly doesn't sound like anything much better (if better at aall) vs the VCI or subsequent Sony (which is identical to the VCI).

[HerrSchreck]

They're passable for tube viewing, is about the best I can tell you. Trying to think of an interlaced transfer to cpmare it to.. was thinking the Kino Boettecher Behind Locked Doors but that has sharper & cleaner contrast.

I'd say a reasonable equivalent would be something like the Kino House By The River. Since there's no announced HD-source on the horizon, the VCI's are the way to go by far. The Sony's are exactly the same as the VCI (and these are the same as the old Kino VHSs which I once rented, I suspect the telecine to be the same pass as the VCI), but the VCI has the nice 2 part vid essay Dark Reflections (or Shadows.. I think Reflections) about the Mann/Alton cycle.

Of course the fabbo He Walked By Night exists in a quite nice edition (considering the typical soft-imaged interlaced crap) from MGM.

[Scharphedin2]

The Sony's are exactly the same as the VCI (and these are the same as the old Kino VHSs which I once rented, I suspect the telecine to be the same pass as the VCI), but the VCI has the nice 2 part vid essay Dark Reflections (or Shadows.. I think Reflections) about the Mann/Alton cycle.

As far as I was able to find out about a year ago, when last I set out to get the VCI release, it was out of print. I would love to find this set, for the documentaries that Schreck has been raving about for years.

Then I tried to order the Wild Side discs from France, and they were out of print (although I did manage to track down Raw Deal in the end, and it looks fine as I remember).

In other words, these two films have been some of the most frustratingly elusive in my experience.

[HerrSchreck]

The Sony's are exactly the same as the VCI (and these are the same as the old Kino VHSs which I once rented, I suspect the telecine to be the same pass as the VCI), but the VCI has the nice 2 part vid essay Dark Reflections (or Shadows.. I think Reflections) about the Mann/Alton cycle.

As far as I was able to find out about a year ago, when last I set out to get the VCI release, it was out of print. I would love to find this set, for the documentaries that Schreck has been raving about for years.

Then I tried to order the Wild Side discs from France, and they were out of print (although I did manage to track down Raw Deal in the end, and it looks fine as I remember).

In other words, these two films have been some of the most frustratingly elusive in my experience.

The 2 discs are available as a single selling-unit at amazon.com and amazon.ca.

Dark Reflections is good... not neccessarily Great, but a nice study of the genre, and Mann/Alton's accomplishment within it. Especially for the price.

[zedz]

Watched this last night and really enjoyed it, though most of the other Mann westerns I've seen were more successful overall (I'm a fan of The Tin Star, which tends to get passed by).

Some really great performances by a great cast. Mann seems to be able to extract unexpected depth from any performer (even Wendell Corey, the eternal Det. Lt. Doyle, is effective in his surprisingly reptilian turn). Stanwyck shines, as expected, but I was delighted to see Walter Huston and Judith Anderson deliver far more characterful and nuanced interpretations than their characters strictly required.

Even though the final quarter or so (after Juan leaves the picture) does lack a certain unity (it seems as if a lot of the novel was condensed at this point, and I guess I'll now be able to check that for myself), that section of the film nevertheless contains some superb scenes, however adrift they might be from one another. I'm thinking of the scene between Stanwyck and Beulah Bondi (and its next-day sequel); the Huston / Anderson meal; the bull-wrestling scene; Huston's reaction to the revelation of Stanwyck's plan. There are enough great moments even in the film's 'problematic' section to sustain an entire film - which may be the source of the problem. But for me, this long-anticipated film was an embarrassment of riches, so I'm definitely not complaining.

[domino harvey]

I gotta say, any Hollywood film that somehow managed to feature

Spoiler

scissors thrown into a woman's face

really pulled some kind of hat trick on the censors.

[HerrSchreck]

Notwithstanding

Spoiler

they are scissors thrown by a woman so Daddy-Lovin' that she loves stroking papas "lumbar vertebrae", and is raging over papas new gal

[cysiam]

I watched this last night and absolutely loved it. It's unlike any other Western I've viewed. The actors seem to love their roles and just go for it. I agree with the posts that the third act has flaws but I don't think they are enough to hamper the whole experience. It's the first Mann film I've seen and I'm definitely going to check out some others, his noirs sound right up my alley.

[gubbelsj]

Tangentially related to The Furies, I guess, but not sure where else to post this. I'm not sure how many others on this board subscribe to Harper's magazine, but I've noticed that Criterion has (wisely) begun advertising in the back page classified section (Kino has long had a presence on this page, too, although it has primarily been to advertise Kino itself and not individual films - I notice this month they're actually advertising a specific release).

Anyway, the ads are often quite clever and stylish, always showcasing a new release by utilizing iconic or interesting stills from the film in question and a witty title, along with standard information on the release in question. August has The Furies, and along with a nice photo of the leading lady (with a ghostly Wacky C superimposed over her), reads "Stanwyck, Mann-Handled".

As far as puns go, it's a bit groan-inducing, but I still kind of like it. And it's in better taste then the tagline for Mishima a few months ago: "Gutsy". But I have to admit, I kind of liked that one, too.

[Cash Flagg]

Anyway, the ads are often quite clever and stylish, always showcasing a new release by utilizing iconic or interesting stills from the film in question and a witty title, along with standard information on the release in question. August has The Furies, and along with a nice photo of the leading lady (with a ghostly Wacky C superimposed over her), reads "Stanwyck, Mann-Handled".

These are in The New Yorker as well - the tag line for High and Low is "High Anxiety".

[Nothing]

Well, I'd like to see this but $39-99SRP is way too expensive. $12-99SRP is about right for an Anthony Mann catalogue title... +$27 for the benefit of a Criterion logo on the cover, clearly.

[domino harvey]

$12.99 is about right for a DVD loaded with a commentary track, copious extras, and a copy of the novel where, Canal Street?

[aox]

$12.99 is about right for a DVD loaded with a commentary track, copious extras, and a copy of the novel where, Canal Street?

yeah. But be careful; you'll likely discover when you open the digipak that it only contains a rock inside.

[fiddlesticks]

Well, I'd like to see this but $39-99SRP is way too expensive. $12-99SRP is about right for an Anthony Mann catalogue title... +$27 for the benefit of a Criterion logo on the cover, clearly.

I got mine for $16.18 during the ongoing 2-for-1 sale at Deep Discount. Is $3.19 too much to pay for a wacky C?

[sidehacker]

Well, I'd like to see this but $39-99SRP is way too expensive. $12-99SRP is about right for an Anthony Mann catalogue title... +$27 for the benefit of a Criterion logo on the cover, clearly.

Uhm, is this sort of backhanded insult directed towards Anthony Mann?

[HerrSchreck]

$12-99SRP is about right for an Anthony Mann catalogue title...

What does this mean?

[goodfelladh]

I picked this up yesterday when I ran into a 50% off sale on almost all DVDs at Borders (actually this should probably be a heads up to folks who live near a Borders, as I heard this is being done in other Borders around the country as well). I knew very little about this film and had I not been getting it for half price I don't know if I actually would have bought it... but I went ahead and made the purchase, due mainly to the fact that I've enjoyed most everything that I've seen from Anthony Mann. And this one did not disappoint... it's my favorite Mann western that I have seen (although I actually haven't seen Man of the West or Winchester '73, which I plan to remedy quickly). This is one of the best impulse buys I've ever made!

This has me planning to go back through the rest of the Mann films in my collection... I'm watching Raw Deal right now and am probably going to watch T-Men later.

[rohmerin]

The worst Spanish I've heard in my life.
I'm not talking about Huston or Stanwyck, they're ok, I'm talking about the Herreras family. Gilbert Roland was Mexican, so, He knows how to speak, but the mother and brothers… dreadful. The same happens in a lot of Hollywood films but their Spanish in this film was even hard to understand for me.

[DarkImbecile]

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