Rogue Male

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MichaelB
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Rogue Male

#1 Post by MichaelB » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:42 pm

ROGUE MALE is the 1976 BBC adaptation of Geoffrey Household’s much-loved novel. A thrilling tale of a man on the run, set on the brink of the outbreak of World War II, it stars the legendary Peter O’Toole and is directed by Clive Donner (Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush). Coincidentally it also features Harold Pinter in a small role. Rogue Male will be released in a Dual Format Edition.
Currently slated for 21 January 2019

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dda1996a
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Re: Rogue Male

#2 Post by dda1996a » Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:04 pm

For some reason read this as Rogue Malle and thought we were getting a Malle boxset. Anyone can vouch for this movie?

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reaky
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Re: Rogue Male

#3 Post by reaky » Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:23 pm

It’s been years, but I remember being gripped by it, and O’Toole being on top form. I’ll be getting it.

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MichaelB
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Re: Rogue Male

#4 Post by MichaelB » Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:03 am

Full specs announced:
Rogue Male
Directed by Clive Donner
Adapted by Frederic Raphael
Starring Peter O’Toole

Dual Format Edition (Blu-ray/DVD) release on 21 January 2019 and iTunes release on 28 January 2019


Based on Geoffrey Household's cult 1930s thriller, Rogue Male is a suspenseful action adventure directed by Clive Donner (The Caretaker, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush). It features an exceptional lead performance from Peter O’Toole and a superb supporting cast, including Alastair Sim, Harold Pinter and John Standing.

First shown on BBC TV in 1976, it now comes to Blu-ray for the first time, released in a Dual Format Edition by the BFI on 21 January 2019, followed by release on iTunes on 28 January 2019.

In early 1939 with war looming, English aristocrat Sir Robert Hunter (Peter O’Toole) embarks on a ‘sporting stalk’ of the deadliest of prey: Adolf Hitler. Captured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert soon becomes the hunted on a chase from the Bavarian mountains to the wilds of the English countryside, where he will need all his sportsman’s wit and guile to survive.

Special features
• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
The Guardian Lecture: Frederic Raphael (1982, 72 mins, audio only): recorded at the NFT following a screening of Rogue Male
Frederic Raphael remembers Rogue Male (2014, 4 mins): the screenwriter on how he came to the project and working with Harold Pinter
Clive Donner on Rogue Male (2018, 14 mins): extracts from the director’s recording for the British Entertainment History Project, played over a stills gallery
Eva Braun Home Movies (c1939, 7 mins): footage of Hitler and Braun entertaining guests on the terrace of the Berghof
British Union of Fascists march, October 3rd 1937 (1937, 10 mins)
200 Packs of Fox Hounds Begin Season's Sport (1921, 1 min): newsreel item on the opening of a Dorset hunt
• Illustrated booklet with writing by Paul Fairclough, Sarah Wood, Gustav Temple, Taylor Downing and First Blood author David Morrell

Product details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1313 / Cert 15
UK / 1976 / colour / 103 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, 2.0 PCM mono audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (320kbps)

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Slaphappy
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Re: Rogue Male

#5 Post by Slaphappy » Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:26 am

Rogue Male was clunky but enjoyable. O’Toole had almost John Steed ’ish casual charm under extreme pressure. Fritz Lang’s Man Hunt is based on the same book. I haven’t seen it but I doubt it achieves the same admirable level of Britishness as this 70’s version. Looks like another remake is in development with Cumberbatch on lead.

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reaky
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Re: Rogue Male

#6 Post by reaky » Sat Feb 16, 2019 6:10 am

I watched it again last night, and it held up after all these years. It has the same feel for the British (and Bavarian) countryside as the BFI’s recently-released Eye of the Needle, with which it would make a great double bill. O’Toole is at his most O’Toole, and the manner in which he declaims his lines must have given Richard E Grant his template for Withnail, and indeed his entire career.

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Slaphappy
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Re: Rogue Male

#7 Post by Slaphappy » Sat Feb 16, 2019 6:35 am

reaky wrote:
Sat Feb 16, 2019 6:10 am
O’Toole is at his most O’Toole, and the manner in which he declaims his lines must have given Richard E Grant his template for Withnail, and indeed his entire career.
Funny, I was thinking about Withnail & I too while watching Rogue Male because of main character’s condescending aristocratic uncle.
Last edited by Slaphappy on Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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reaky
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Re: Rogue Male

#8 Post by reaky » Sat Feb 16, 2019 6:52 am

The Alastair Sim bathhouse scenes are a clear callback to The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, too. There’s even a Blimp lookalike in the second one.

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