Highbrow distributor Kino Lorber is well-known for its DVD collection of art house films, especially those of historic and international significance--think Fritz Lang's "Metropolis." Now, the distributor is launching a new 'Studio Classics' label, releasing eight high-profile titles on Blu-ray this July--all of which will be making their Blu-ray debut, and one of which, "Paris Blues," will be released for the very first time on Blu-ray or DVD. The new collection includes the Best Picture Oscar-winner "Marty," as well as films by giants such as Billy Wilder, Sydney Pollack and Delbert Mann. Here's a list of all eight releases--no doubt there will be more to come as Kino Lorber's new label grows. "Witness for the Prosecution" "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" "Sabata" "The Scalphunters" "Marty" "Separate Tables" "Duel at Diablo" "Paris Blues"...
- 6/23/2014
- by Jacob Combs
- Thompson on Hollywood
Curiously, with all the bold, ambitious, fresh talent storming into Hollywood in the 1960s/1970s – directors who’d cut their teeth in TV like Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer; imports like Roman Polanski and Peter Yates; the first wave of film school “film brats” like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese — one of the most popular genres during the period was one of Old Hollywood’s most traditional: the Western. But the Western often wrought at the hands of that new generation of moviemakers was rarely traditional.
During the Old Hollywood era, Westerns typically had been B-caliber productions, most of them favoring gunfights and barroom brawls over dramatic substance, and nearly all adhering to Western tropes which ran back to the pre-cinema days of dime novelist Ned Buntline. With the 1960s, however, the genre began to change; or, more accurately, expand, twist, and even invert.
To be sure, there would...
During the Old Hollywood era, Westerns typically had been B-caliber productions, most of them favoring gunfights and barroom brawls over dramatic substance, and nearly all adhering to Western tropes which ran back to the pre-cinema days of dime novelist Ned Buntline. With the 1960s, however, the genre began to change; or, more accurately, expand, twist, and even invert.
To be sure, there would...
- 1/4/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
The Western was a movie staple for decades. It seemed the genre that would never die, feeding the fantasies of one generation after another of young boys who galloped around their backyards, playgrounds, and brick streets on broomsticks, banging away with their Mattel cap pistols. Something about a man on a horse set against the boundless wastes of Monument Valley, the crackle of saddle leather, two men facing off in a dusty street under the noon sun connected with the free spirit in every kid.
The American movie – a celluloid telling that was more than a skit – was born in a Western: Edwin S. Porter’s 11- minute The Great Train Robbery (1903). Thereafter, Westerns grew longer, they grew more complex. The West – hostile, endless, civilization barely maintaining a toehold against the elements, hostile natives, and robber barons – proved an infinitely plastic setting. In a place with no law, and where...
The American movie – a celluloid telling that was more than a skit – was born in a Western: Edwin S. Porter’s 11- minute The Great Train Robbery (1903). Thereafter, Westerns grew longer, they grew more complex. The West – hostile, endless, civilization barely maintaining a toehold against the elements, hostile natives, and robber barons – proved an infinitely plastic setting. In a place with no law, and where...
- 1/3/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Us screenwriter whose life was often wilder than his own scripts
William Norton, who has died aged 85, was a screenwriter whose pre- and post-Hollywood adventures surpassed anything he imagined for the screen. The exploits of the virile stars Burt Lancaster, Burt Reynolds, John Wayne and Gene Hackman, tracking down villains in his screenplays, pale in comparison to Norton's time as a gunrunner in Latin America and Ireland.
Norton was born in Ogden, Utah, where his parents (Irish Catholics) were ranchers who lost their land in the Depression. They moved to California, where Norton excelled at high school, until he was expelled because he had a child by a fellow student, Betty Conklin. The 18-year-olds married, just before he joined the army, serving in France and Germany during the second world war.
On his return from the war, Norton worked as a builder, writing short stories in his spare time. His...
William Norton, who has died aged 85, was a screenwriter whose pre- and post-Hollywood adventures surpassed anything he imagined for the screen. The exploits of the virile stars Burt Lancaster, Burt Reynolds, John Wayne and Gene Hackman, tracking down villains in his screenplays, pale in comparison to Norton's time as a gunrunner in Latin America and Ireland.
Norton was born in Ogden, Utah, where his parents (Irish Catholics) were ranchers who lost their land in the Depression. They moved to California, where Norton excelled at high school, until he was expelled because he had a child by a fellow student, Betty Conklin. The 18-year-olds married, just before he joined the army, serving in France and Germany during the second world war.
On his return from the war, Norton worked as a builder, writing short stories in his spare time. His...
- 11/9/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
The life of screenwriter William W. Norton, who died of a heart aneurysm on Oct. 2 in Santa Barbara at the age of 85, could be the basis for a good screenplay. Norton was born Sept. 24, 1925, in Ogden, Utah, to a family of Mormon pioneers. After getting kicked out of school for fathering a child out of wedlock, dabbling in journalism, and working as a park ranger, he wrote screenplays for a number of action movies, most notably Sydney Pollack's Western The Scalphunters (1968), starring Burt Lancaster. Other major credits (often shared with other writers) include the Burt Reynolds vehicles Sam Whiskey (1969), White Lightning (1973) and Gator (1976); the box-office flop Trader Horn (1973), with Rod Taylor; the John Wayne fish-out-of-water cop drama Brannigan (1975); and the cult flick Big Bad Mama (1974), with Angie Dickinson and William Shatner, and a tag line that read "Men, money and moonshine: [...]...
- 10/9/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Director Sydney Pollack 1934-2008.
Director Sydney Pollack passed two years ago today. I had the good fortune to meet and interview Sydney Pollack twice, both of which are included here: first in 1999 for his well-made but ill-fated romantic drama "Random Hearts," and again in 2006 for what would be his final film, "Sketches of Frank Gehry," a masterful documentary look at the eponymous architect's life, work and process. It was also in many respects a personal investigation for Pollack himself, which he spoke quite candidly about during our conversation.
This has been a tough year for those of us who were weaned on the films of the so-called "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" who made the iconic films of the late 1960s and 1970s, with the loss of such figures as Pollack, Roy Scheider, and others of the era. Pollack was certainly among the lions of that pack, but was perhaps...
Director Sydney Pollack passed two years ago today. I had the good fortune to meet and interview Sydney Pollack twice, both of which are included here: first in 1999 for his well-made but ill-fated romantic drama "Random Hearts," and again in 2006 for what would be his final film, "Sketches of Frank Gehry," a masterful documentary look at the eponymous architect's life, work and process. It was also in many respects a personal investigation for Pollack himself, which he spoke quite candidly about during our conversation.
This has been a tough year for those of us who were weaned on the films of the so-called "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" who made the iconic films of the late 1960s and 1970s, with the loss of such figures as Pollack, Roy Scheider, and others of the era. Pollack was certainly among the lions of that pack, but was perhaps...
- 5/26/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Producer-director behind a raft of 20th-century TV classics
It is no exaggeration to declare that the name of the film and television producer-director Arnold Laven, who has died aged 87, has been seen by millions of people all over the world, even if it might not have registered. Think of all those viewers of the TV series The Rifleman (1959-63) and The Big Valley (1965-69), made by Laven's company, Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, many episodes of which he directed.
Laven was also credited as director on scores of episodes of such archetypal 1970s series as Marcus Welby MD, Gunsmoke, Mannix, Ironside, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Rockford Files and Fantasy Island. In the 1980s he directed, among others, several episodes of Hill Street Blues and The A-Team. In addition, Laven directed 11 feature films from 1952 to 1969, some for companies other than his own.
In the late 1930s, the Chicago-born Laven moved with his family to Los Angeles,...
It is no exaggeration to declare that the name of the film and television producer-director Arnold Laven, who has died aged 87, has been seen by millions of people all over the world, even if it might not have registered. Think of all those viewers of the TV series The Rifleman (1959-63) and The Big Valley (1965-69), made by Laven's company, Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, many episodes of which he directed.
Laven was also credited as director on scores of episodes of such archetypal 1970s series as Marcus Welby MD, Gunsmoke, Mannix, Ironside, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Rockford Files and Fantasy Island. In the 1980s he directed, among others, several episodes of Hill Street Blues and The A-Team. In addition, Laven directed 11 feature films from 1952 to 1969, some for companies other than his own.
In the late 1930s, the Chicago-born Laven moved with his family to Los Angeles,...
- 11/25/2009
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Sydney Pollack, who won an Academy Award as best director for "Out of Africa," died Monday of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 73.
Pollack also was nominated for a best director Oscar for "Tootsie" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Pollack won an Emmy for his direction of "The Game" in 1965, starring Cliff Robertson. In addition to his Oscar for "Out of Africa," which also won best picture, that film also earned Pollack the best director honor from the New York Critics Film Circle.
Among the 100 best American love stories ranked by American Film Institute in June 2002, Pollack is the only director credited with two films near the top of list: "The Way We Were," at No. 6, and "Out of Africa," which is ranked No. 13.
In 2000, Pollack was honored with the John Huston Award from the DGA as a "defender of artists' rights."
His filmography included...
Pollack also was nominated for a best director Oscar for "Tootsie" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Pollack won an Emmy for his direction of "The Game" in 1965, starring Cliff Robertson. In addition to his Oscar for "Out of Africa," which also won best picture, that film also earned Pollack the best director honor from the New York Critics Film Circle.
Among the 100 best American love stories ranked by American Film Institute in June 2002, Pollack is the only director credited with two films near the top of list: "The Way We Were," at No. 6, and "Out of Africa," which is ranked No. 13.
In 2000, Pollack was honored with the John Huston Award from the DGA as a "defender of artists' rights."
His filmography included...
- 5/26/2008
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ossie Davis, the arresting, charismatic actor who was one of the leading figures of the African-American acting community alongside his wife, Ruby Dee, was found dead Friday morning in Miami; he was 87. Davis was discovered in his hotel room in Miami Beach, where he was making a film called Retirement, which he had just started shooting on Monday; a cause of death has not yet been determined, but police have ruled out any foul play. A renaissance man when it came to performing, Davis acted, wrote, directed, and produced for the stage, screen, and television, making his presence known far and wide in a variety of different projects, from Broadway shows to television miniseries. Davis' career began in 1939, where he joined a theater group in Harlem and met a number of influential civil rights activists and writers, including W.E.B. DuBois and Langston Hughes. After serving in World War II, Davis made his Broadway debut in 1946 in the play Jeb opposite Ruby Dee; the two were married two years later, and became one of the classic acting duos of the 20th century. In addition to acting, both were important pioneers for civil rights, balancing both political and artistic agendas throughout their entire careers. Davis appeared in a number of movies and television shows throughout the 50s and 60s (among them The Cardinal, The Hill, and The Scalphunters, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination), and made his directorial debut with 1970's Cotton Comes to Harlem. Working almost non-stop in a variety of mediums, Davis became well-known to a new generation through his films with director Spike Lee (including Do the Right Thing) and his role on the sitcom Evening Shade, as well as innumerable TV miniseries and movies. In 2004, both Davis and Dee were both selected to receive the Kennedy Center Honors. Davis is survived by Dee, 80, and their three children. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 2/4/2005
- IMDb News
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