Robert Mitchum: The Signature Collection

[filmlover]

News just in (and very exciting it is too!) - Warners are to release a R1 6-disc Robert Mitchum Signature Collection on 6th January 2007. There's no press release as of yet, but the set will contain 'Angel Face', 'Macao', 'Home From The Hill', 'The Sundowners', 'The Good Guys and The Bad Guys' and 'The Yakuza'.

I loved the Mitchum and Russell pairing in the 3rd Film Noir Collection's 'His Kind of Woman', so I can't wait to see them together again in 'Macao'.

For artwork head to DVD Times

[souvenir]

Great news! Interesting that all titles will apparently be available separately (and thus in regular amaray cases) when the Cooper, Brando and Newman titles were mostly exclusive to their respective sets. What a missed opportunity to include The Lusty Men though.

[tryavna]

An interesting collection....

In my opinion, The Sundowners is a must-own. Macao is fascinating to watch from the Nick Ray/von Sternberg-angle. (I'm sure DavidHare will want to comment on that.) In the long run, I'm glad they're available separately, since a few of them aren't films I'll want to revisit repeatedly.

[Lino]

Finally, a release date for Yakuza!

[jguitar]

I've been waiting a long time for Home from the Hill. More Minnelli!

[david hare]

Just hope their print of Macao is better than the very ordinary Editions Montparnasse. God knows the movie is proabbly more Ray than Sternberg, and the Gloria Graham character is reduced to an almost meaningless abstraction, in metallic gowns. But Jane and Mitchum are a great pair. Only Sternberg could have executed the opening shipboard shot of Russel's discarded stocking floating down onto Mitchum's face.

I'll probably buy the box although Im lukewarm about the Zinemann (to put it mildly.) Confess I've never seen the Burt Kennedy western. But certainly Angel Face is sublime, and it will be nice to retire the Ed. Mont. of this as well. And the Yakuza of course has s/p by Schrader - I like it a lot.
If they had only added the Lusty Men this would have been "Star" box of the year!

[mikeohhh]

Oh hell yes, been wishing on Angel Face and The Yakuza for a minute now.

[souvenir]

[quote]Angel Face (1952)
Otto Preminger, who showed how to mix a beautiful woman with murder in the landmark Laura, directs this tale of a passion gone haywire. Frank's (Robert Mitchum) a regular guy with a steady girl and a dream of owning his own garage when he crosses paths with Diane (Jean Simmons). She wants him. Or does she want a fall guy to blame when Diane's stepmother plunges off a high cliff and leaves her fortune to Diane? Alibis, betrayals, courtroom thrills and the fire of a woman too dangerous to trust and too alluring to resist make Angel Face a film-noir classic. His pairing with Simmons was the first of three.

Features include:
Commentary by author and historian Eddie Muller
Subtitles: English (feature film only)
Languages: English, Français

Macao (1952)
Robert Mitchum's the cool male -- broad shoulders, hooded eyes and laconic wit. Jane Russell's the incendiary female -- voluptuous curves, lushly lipsticked mouth and sardonic comebacks. Together they're two dead-on talented and drop-dead gorgeous stars who brought out the best in each other in His Kind of Woman and Macao, the two gutsy film noirs they made together. In Macao, directed by the legendary Josef Von Sternberg, audiences know they're in for a dynamite ride from the moment he saves her from a lecherous goon – and she picks his pocket. The story, set in the exotic East Asian port, involves stolen diamonds, undercover New York cops, mistaken identities, double crosses and murder.

Features include:
Commentary by author and historian Eddie Muller, screenwriter Stanley Rubin and actress Jane Russell
TCM Private Screenings with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, hosted by Robert Osborne
Subtitles: English (feature film only)

Home from the Hill (1960)
Wade Hunnicutt is a big man who casts a big shadow, one that looms over the Texas backwoodsmen who work his land…over the beautiful, embittered he wife cheats on…and over the sons – one from marriage and one illegitimate – who strive for their father's respect. Robert Mitchum “gives one of his greatest performancesâ€

[Multi-Region]

As GLORIA GRAHAME fan, I was looking for MACAO. However, I understand, she again has a bid-part, so, I am not sure buying this DVD.

Maybe off-topic, in Crossfire, Song of the thin Man, and The Bad & the Beautiful, her screen time was less then 10 minutes too, so I'll still have to wait for the DVD-release of HUMAN DESIRE: Gloria's only 2nd significant film (besides IN A LONELY PLACE) in a leading role.

I think Gloria is a better actress than Jane Russell, and that she could "carry" a film too.

(Btw, Gloria was far more sexy in THE BIG HEAT, than Jane in KIND OF A WOMAN (with Mitchum too).)

[david hare]

Gloria is one of the GREAT stars.

I agree with your estmiation of Gloria in all of these movies.

But, in the Sternberg/Ray her role is cut to within an inch of its life, yet still her last "release"/invocation to Mitchum is extremly effective. And moving.

In a Lonely Place is sublime and she exists for infinity because of it.

In all her Langs she's perfect - think of Big Heat in which she seems to enclose the "Proz with heart of gold" role with a greater vision. And becomes the emblem of Lang's displaced terror of women.

She's also fantastic in Carousel of all fucking things (as is Steiger) despite this ghastly movie and its really ghastly direction.

And in Crossfire she's is really a KEY to the other dimensions of the nightmarish narrative.

BTW the Spanish DVD of Human Desire is NOT great.

Not to invoke the ludicrous David Thomson but even a few movies CAN give birth to a real star and an icon.

I love her too.

[Multi-Region]

Hi Davidhare,

thanks for the info

In regards of HUMAN DESIRE, there is a Japanese release too, but to buy a complete boxset ... (I posses many of the other films in this boxset. )

GLORIA GRAHAME ("GG"), a support-actress vs beying able to "carry" a movie (leading roles):

- SUDDEN FEAR we should pick up, regardless of the murky print, it's a femme-fatale role, supporting of course, but she's one of the few actresses in a Joan Crawford picture (maybe THE only) who could steal the show away from her.

- THE COBWEB is an over the top romp, but it most certainly is a leading (or at least central) role, worth checking out if only for the shear insanity.

- Elia Kazan's MAN ON A TIGHTROPE, that certainly is a noteworthy, and sadly forgotten, performance.

NAKED ALIBI: GG dominates the second half, like THE BIG HEAT, but the film pales in comparison.

GG could handle both, short, but scene stealing, supporting roles in CROSSFIRE, THE GOOD DIE YOUNG, NOT AS A STRANGER, CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER, and ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW. She could handle all three- leading, supporting, and bit, on her sleeve.
(She's also well remembered for OKLAHOMA!. A WOMAN'S SECRET and ROUGHSHOD are also leading vehicles.)

[ByMarkClark.com]

Any word on whether any of these titles will be available separately?

[Gigi M.]

Yes, all of the them at $19.95 SRP.

[porquenegar]

THE COBWEB is an over the top romp, but it most certainly is a leading (or at least central) role, worth checking out if only for the shear insanity.

I recently bought this on LD with a few other Minelli's not on DVD. I was captivated by Gloria the first time I saw her in Crossfire and also in Sudden Fear. To the top of the viewing cue!

To keep this slightly on topic, I'll buy the Mitchum set in a heartbeat as I pretty much like him everything I've seen. He's just so laid back and cool with his delivery. I enjoyed him quite a bit recently in His Kind of Woman but it was a very strange movie, overall. So many modes in it, but he just grabs the screen when ever he's on.

[Lino]

Gary reviews and compares both the new editions of Macao and Angel Face.

[John Hodson]

I've watched Macao, The Good Guys & The Bad Guys and the absolutely scintillating The Yakuza from this set so far, excellent transfers every one.

First time I'd seen the latter in OAR and it's a terrific piece of work, better than I remembered it; the Pollack commentary sounds very interesting, though I've only dipped into it so far.

[Gigi M.]

Here's an early review on The Yakuza

[Lino]

DVDSavant

[filmnoir1]

I purchased this last week with high expectations and those expectations were met and then some. The disc of Otto Preminger's Angel Face does not disappoint with the astute commentary by Eddie Mueller and the film itself must be viewed to believe that a studio like RKO could have been capable of producing a film that is so tawdry and nihilistic in the 1950s is amazing. This film is one of the best examples of film noir and Mitchum's performance is mesmerizing, especially when he slaps Jean Simmons.

This is definitely worth buying. I plan to watch Macao today hopefully.

[hangthadj]

This is definitely worth buying. I plan to watch Macao today hopefully.

While Macao as a film is a bit underwhelming, I have never heard people having more fun on the commentary track than Muller and Rubin here. It's almost all gossip from back in the day. Absolutely hilarious. And Rubin apparently dated every one of those femme fatales. Great stuff.

[david hare]

The transfers are all top notch, even given the less than pristine elements for the two RKO titles. Ironically the Editions Montparnasse Angel Face was one of their best transfers but this blows it out of the water.

The movie itself just grows and grows on me. I'll never forget the series of convulsive shocks it created on a first viewing, like the slapping, and the incredible ending. Yet their impact doesn't lessen. It's surely one of Preminger's five or six greatest pictues. I was fearful Eddie Mueller's good natured humor would run out of control towards the end of the movie, but even he is silent for the great tragic climax. Jean Simmons - what staggering beauty - and Preminger's treatment of her (despite all her later revulsion for the shoot) is the greatest, most tender portrayal of a psychopath in all of movies. This is a sublime film.

[HerrSchreck]

Ditto on ANGEL FACE which just shot my scalp up to the ceiling on my first viewing of it this morning. For god's sake what an ending. Such beautiful integration of music into the assembly of the narrative. Such deft & subtle style of melodrama, with a cinematographic style that is more restrained than some of Prem's other "noirs".. allowing the hydrochloric melodrama to blacken the frame all on it's own. Herbert Marshall is wonderfully alive-- the whole cast is sterling actually.. wonderfully fluid, unpredictable, top notch performances completely liifelike in their delivery. Tons of shades of grey despite the size of the nastiness in Simmon's character keep this incredibly exaggerated tale of a bitch on greased wheels entirely sophisticated, complex and believable.. rather than a typical heavy-lidded femme fatale breathing the usual clouds of doom from an elongated cigarette holder & velvet elbow gloves. Of course this is owing to the very real exploration of psychological issues, which interestingly is elucidated not through words but through music/image combinations. A+

This is a good a place as any:

There is an interview in one of the CC discs or booklets with Mifune (maybe the new 7SAM) where he mentions that he is getting ready to shoot a film with Robert Mitchum. At first glance I thought that would wind up being YAKUZA but I suspect (I haven't seen the film) I'm probably wrong.

Does anybody know which film that is-- or if it was even shot?

[kinjitsu]

There is an interview in one of the CC discs or booklets with Mifune (maybe the new 7SAM) where he mentions that he is getting ready to shoot a film with Robert Mitchum. At first glance I thought that would wind up being YAKUZA but I suspect (I haven't seen the film) I'm probably wrong.

Does anybody know which film that is-- or if it was even shot?

That interview was from 1993. Mifune mentions that he was going to shoot a film with Mitchum in Canada, but I have no idea what that might have been.

[HerrSchreck]

Yes, but do you know what film that was and if it was shot?

[kinjitsu]

Could it have been Shadow of the Wolf?