Jacques Tourneur

Discussion and info on people in film, ranging from directors to actors to cinematographers to writers.
Message
Author
Izo
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:59 pm

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#26 Post by Izo » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:16 pm

Anne of the Indies

Jacques Tourneur's Anne of the Indies is an excellent film, and one of the rare Hollywood films from before the '60s that deals with sexual roles in a frank and surprisingly intelligent way - certainly far more so than you'd expect a mid-budget swashbuckler to handle such themes. At the heart of the film is the Tourneurian contradictory conflict of the masculine and feminine traits of the title character's personality. Jean Peters is excellent in the role of Anne Providence, the notorious pirate captain whose gender is known only by her crew and a few close "friends". The role isn't an easy one, since the viewer's feelings about the character shift drastically from minute to minute in the film. She does many horrible things to many people, especially Pierre and his wife, and yet we want to like her. I even pitied her. Peters balances her appearance in the film pretty brilliantly as well. From scene to scene, depending on what her character's actions and feelings are, she is able to look strikingly beautiful or downright (for lack of a better term) butch. When one considers what Jean Peters actually looks like, this is quite a feat. On top of all of this, Peters is able to convincingly slide between sober and drunk throughout the picture, with several in-betweens.

Tourneur works his usual magic with lighting and composition, and there are several very nice shots in the picture, though in typical Tourneur fashion they never call attention to themselves. My favorite comes in a fade-in in a rowdy bar, where we see a roomful of crying pirates while on the soundtrack we hear a mournful song being sung in a high tenor. The camera pans over the crowd until it ends up on the source of the singing: a bald, dirty pirate flanked by two whores. It's the funniest moment in the film, and a really perfect shot in a lot of ways.

Tourneur is quoted in a French interview a few years before he died as saying "I always did what I wanted. I never turned down a script." He didn't acknowledge the contradictory nature of this statement, which really lies at the heart of his unique cinema. If it's true that Tourneur only filmed the scripts he was given (which seems to be the case with all of his films except Stars in My Crown), then it's astounding that his films are linked with so many oddball touches that you simply don't find in similar B-genre films by other filmmakers. While Anne isn't the typical passive Tourneurian hero, Herbert Marshall's Dr. Jameson is one in a long line of objective onlookers in the films of Tourneur. Usually, the characters are artists - the minstrel in The Flame and the Arrow, Hi Linnet in Canyon Passage, Sir Lancelot in I Walked With a Zombie, and others - and in Anne of the Indies the doctor has a brilliant, unusual soliloquy about the power of the written word. In this short aside alone there are at least three other Tourneur touches:

-The power of the written word crops up again in Appointment in Honduras and Night of the Zombie as well as other Tourneur films; it is a minor theme in Anne of the Indies, making reappearances with the ransom note and the treasure map.

-Lighting: the entire scene convincingly appears to be lit with only the few torches located on-screen. It creates flickering shadows, as well as orange and red lighting that are sort of beautiful.

-Strange, poetic dialogue appears in the most unusual places in Tourneur's pictures, and this is an excellent example. Dr. Jameson (a drunk, so his name is a bit of a joke, I suppose) says: "There's a magic in books...books have sunk the mightiest ships, destroyed armies, even brought down empires!" Dialogue like this crops up again and again in the most unlikely places in Tourneur's films. I'd argue that the script of Canyon Passage is the most full of brilliant non sequiturs, but they can be found throughout Tourneur's work, in virtually every film in fact. For one of the most unusual and out of place look to The Flame and the Arrow, where a criminal who likes to do things with his feet says of his group: "We're civilized and the art of civilization is doing natural things in an unnatural way." How strange it is that these kinds of weird one-liners pop up in scripts where they would not seem to belong, and yet in Tourneur's world they are commonplace.

The film's turning point comes about thirty minutes in, when Anne decides against her better judgment to try on a dress that was taken as booty and serves as the film's symbol for femininity. For this scene and this scene only, Anne fully embraces her womanhood, rather than hiding it. Up to this point and often after it, Anne makes an effort to hide her breasts. This is another very nice touch from Jean Peters, as I noticed her often pulling her vest inward and draping her wardrobe more than usual. The scene is also a turning point in that most everything that came before it was jovial and lighthearted (more along the lines of The Flame and the Arrow) and after it the tone of the film darkens significantly. This darkening of tone actually happens immediately, as Blackbeard cuts the scene short.

The swashbuckler genre didn't create many great films. In fact, I can't name one. Anne of the Indies is probably the best I've seen, and it's a testament to Jacques Tourneur's abilities that he makes the film so excellent while staying within the confines of the genre.

Izo
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:59 pm

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#27 Post by Izo » Sun Apr 10, 2011 3:45 pm

Way of a Gaucho

This is among Jacques Tourneur's most pictorially beautiful films. I would, in fact, make the argument that this is is likely Tourneur's most expansive, open film visually. All of his films, even the westerns, tend to feature tighter, more claustrophobic framing (a notable exception is Wyatt Earp's introduction in Wichita), which this film eschews in favor of gorgeous on-location photography in the Argentinean Pampas and Andes mountains. The movie, technically, isn't a western, but it fits alongside the genre easily enough as to consider it on those terms. It also features Tourneur's best and most exciting action sequences, and they took me pleasantly off-guard, as it's not exactly something Tourneur was known for. When two wagons are pushed off a cliff, it's real wagons and real cliffs we're looking at. The same can be said for the breathtaking sequence where Martin the Gaucho tames a wild horse. For another surprise, it's also - along with Great Day in the Morning - Tourneur's most violent film with its scenes of torture and several instances of near-death from exposure.

In a lot of ways, the picture is kind of a cousin to Anne of the Indies, Tourneur's other film for Fox which was filmed directly before this one. The films are of similar budget and feature titular characters that strain to achieve our sympathy and yet are nevertheless filmed without judgment by the director. They both also feature unexpectedly great performances: Jean Peters as Anne in Anne of the Indies and even more shocking is Richard Boone as Major Salinas in this film. He hits all the right notes as the sometimes sadistic, sometimes merciful military man. Rory Calhoun is merely adequate as Martin, the gaucho of the title. Most of the bit parts and extras were non-actors hired in Argentina, and the film is all the better for it. Like Anne of the Indies the film also features a very proactive, very un-Tourneurian protagonist in Calhoun's Martin. The character is in a constant act of escape.

This really is a gorgeous movie. It features an excellent screenplay as well, and for all my comparisons I do think it has a significant edge over Anne of the Indies. Another viewing is required, but I do believe I would count it among Tourneur's neglected great works.

User avatar
matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#28 Post by matrixschmatrix » Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:30 pm

Has anyone seen the Fox MOD release of Way of a Goucho? The DVDBeaver review makes it look ok, but it also mentions that there are some PAL releases out there...

User avatar
Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#29 Post by Peacock » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:05 pm

I picked up the UK DVD of Experiment Perilous from Odeon recently and gave it a spin.

Going by caps online from the US DVD-R, the Odeon isn't as sharp and the PQ is a bit more murky. The main issue was, and I've found this with other Odeon disks, a slightly compressed look which didn't hold up too well on my projector. There was also no subtitles which would have been handy with the sound not being perfectly clean and the unusual mix of accents throughout the film.

That all said, if you aren't hard of hearing and, like me, you aren't interested in spending money on DVD-R's, then the Odeon disk is more than acceptable.

As for the film, I'm going to have to place it at near the bottom of my Tourneur rankings... it just sort of lacked his trademark mysterious quality found in his other work.


Also while I'm here, I did some research on the various editions of Berlin Express out there.

The French and UK disks I believe contain identical video files and play at NTSC speed while being PAL disks, so they are softer and possibly exhibit some ghosting (?). I imagine the Spanish disk is the same but I haven't read anything on it. So again, the WBArchive release has the superior PQ as it's not a conversion... but going by caps it doesn't look like the European disks are problematic. Will pick the UK one up at some point soon and report back.


(I'd love to know as well if anyone here has watched the Spanish disks of Anne of the Indies and Wichita and can report back on how they look?)

User avatar
Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#30 Post by Peacock » Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:51 am

Way of a Gaucho coming to Blu-ray in France on 27/3/13

This'll be the first of his feature films in HD (his short Night Call is part of The Twilight Zone Volume 5 set).

There's some discussion up on that Amazon page where someone is complaining that the disk label - Sidonis - use forced French subtitles for their disks... I haven't found out if this is true or not for all of them or whether they do it for the BDs as well... Anyone?

But yeah, fantastic news!

User avatar
kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#31 Post by kingofthejungle » Wed Feb 13, 2013 2:01 pm

I picked up the first few Sidonis western BDs last year (Delmer Daves' Broken Arrow, etc). All have forced subs and a heavy handed application of DNR, I would stay away until someone hopefully reviews the disc.

I do wish someone would release a great HD version of Way of A Gaucho, which I consider major Tourneur. Few things could show off the glory of the Blu-Ray format like this film's diffuse-lensed canvases of the Argentinian Pampas.

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#32 Post by rockysds » Wed May 29, 2013 11:23 am

German blu-rays of Anne of the Indies and The Comedy of Terrors. Has anyone tried these?

User avatar
kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#33 Post by kingofthejungle » Wed May 29, 2013 6:04 pm

I didn't even know about those! I'll have to pick them up.

For anyone who may be interested, I went ahead and took the plunge on the Sidonis Blu-Ray of Way of a Gaucho and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. It's quite nice, a 1080p rendering of the master used on the Fox Archives disc. Not a hint of DNR, and most surprisingly no forced subtitles!

User avatar
kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#34 Post by kingofthejungle » Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:22 pm

I just finished watching the German Blu-Ray of Anne of The Indies. The transfer is very dark- some of this is doubtlessly the fault of Fox's switch to Eastman color backups, but I think it's more severe than it has to be. If the captures at Dvdbeaver are to be believed, it looks darker than the Carlotta DVD.

It's kind of a shame, because the film is major Tourneur - it combines the sexual and spiritual in a way that recalls Cat People, and the very precise realization of the film's major characters (played by Peters, Jourdan, Paget, Marshall, and Gomez) is uncommonly good.

User avatar
NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Location: Brandywine River

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#35 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Thu Aug 08, 2013 2:54 am

Night of the Demon on blu
http://www.amazon.fr/Rendez-vous-avec-p ... im_sbs_d_1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#36 Post by tenia » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:22 am

It's not likely to decrease a lot, but it might go down to 21.99€ like Red River.
But unfortunately, with a 130p book, non-French speakers are paying quite a lot indeed.

mpreed
Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 3:31 am

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#37 Post by mpreed » Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:53 am

Hopefully a more UK friendly version will appear soon. And hopefully it's a good transfer.

On a related note, I mailed Tomahawk Press in Sept 2012 asking if they had any copies of Tony Earnshaw's book on 'Night of the Demon' in stock, and was told that they hadn't but that he was working on a new edition, that would hopefully be released "next year", i.e. 2013.

But I've just had a look at the Tomahawk Press website and it's not listed on their 'Coming Soon' publication list.

It would be nice if before the end of the year, a new edition of the book and a decent transfer on blu ray both appeared ...

User avatar
kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#38 Post by kingofthejungle » Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:14 am

That Gun Crazy release looks amazing, as do most Wild Side products. I'd give anything for an American company that lavished that kind of attention on genre classics. I'd gladly shell-out for a huge Gun Crazy boxset, but can't justify the massive costs for something that's most likely going to have forced subtitles.

Also, if anyone is interested - DVD Classik now has some screen caps of the German Anne of The Indies that I referenced earlier. Much too much blue.

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#39 Post by repeat » Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:47 am

Only Wild Side could come up with something as crazy as a huge box set dedicated to a film like this! I almost feel like spending the 80-90 euros just to see people's faces when they see that in the bookshelf. Their Classics Confidential / Art of Noir book+DVD sets - at least the ones I've sampled - had "removable" forced subs, meaning they can be easily turned off on the computer or the rare players that allow such trickery. (I don't know if that's the definition of "forced", or if there are different varieties of them)

User avatar
Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#40 Post by Gregory » Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:53 pm

I hope this isn't a silly question but why is the box set asking if it's a Joseph H. Lewis film?

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#41 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.

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#42 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!

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#43 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.

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

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

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

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

Re: Jacques Tourneur

#45 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.

Post Reply