Jacques Tourneur

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manicsounds
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#51 Post by manicsounds » Sun Aug 11, 2013 9:53 am

Gregory wrote:I hope this isn't a silly question but why is the box set asking if it's a Joseph H. Lewis film?
I was thinking that as well. And I hope the front box cover doesn't signify this to be a washed out DNR disaster... As it is one of my favorites from the Warner Film Noir boxset movies.

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repeat
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:04 am
Location: high in the Custerdome

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#52 Post by repeat » Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:14 am

Does anyone know, is the first post up to date regarding Tourneur's MGM shorts? Have any others than Romance of Radium and Master Will Shakespeare been released as DVD extras or otherwise? Reading Fujiwara's book and a good bunch of them sound like they could make an amazing Eclipse set!

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#53 Post by Ashirg » Sun Feb 15, 2015 8:19 pm

Think It Over was released as part of Crime Does Not Pay set by Warner Archive (first pressing was replicated DVD) and I would expect his other shorts that were part of series be eventually released in a set of those collections - An Historical Mystery, What Do You Think and Passing Parade. Stand alone shorts might be released as part of Warner Archive's Classic Shorts from the Dream Factory sets, but I would not expect them coming from Eclipse.

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rockysds
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
Location: Denmark

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#54 Post by rockysds » Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:31 pm

Canyon Passage blu-ray coming from Koch Media May 14th.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#55 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:35 pm

Lincoln Center's Jacques Tourneur retrospective (which began last weekend) continues through January 3, and it's been pretty awesome. It's supposedly the first major Tourneur retrospective in NYC in "decades" and what's especially nice is how many 35mm prints they've secured. For example, I recall them screening The Flame and the Arrow at a program celebrating Burt Lancaster's 100th birthday in 2013, but it was a 16mm print because a good 35mm print was tough to find.

Last night was Stars in My Crown which is available on a "remastered" burn-on-demand DVD from Warner Archive, but the DVD looks like it was made from an old SD video transfer (albeit one that wasn't bad for its day), with some faint ghosting visible in some movement once in a while, so it was especially nice to catch this in 35mm. (The print had some minor issues, but it looked good.)

It's even better than I remember it being, and much more complex and troubling than it initially seemed, particularly the end.
SpoilerShow
This has the rare Hollywood lynching scene where those trying to kill the victim (a freed slave) have a pretty close relationship with him. It's particularly disturbing, even if that fact is what ultimately saves Uncle Famous Prill, and it does say a lot.

The film ends in the church the following Sunday, where everything seems to be resolved in a happy ending, but even that's deceptive. The man who instigated the lynching, Lon Backett, is singing happily while holding his hymn book, and through the window behind him, we see Famous walking down a path, safe and sound. It puts your mind at ease that nothing will happen to Famous, but there's one catch - why is Famous out there and not in the church? (Famous is actually walking in the opposite direction of the church.) The scene brings together nearly the entire community - one of the running gags is that Josiah the preacher keeps asking his non-churchgoing friends "when am I going to see you at church?" and they finally do attend church in this final scene. But this is still the segregated South, and even though Famous is clearly a strong believer in Christian faith (a point that's made very clear throughout the film without laying it on thick, much to Tourneur's credit), he doesn't have a place here.
It brings to mind John Ford's The Sun Shines Bright - every community can be temporarily united in some tradition, but that harmony is superficial, and there are profound divisions that remain.

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