A film that will never be equalled for its spectacle and dramatic power" says the stirring trailer on this otherwise sparsely featured DVD. Taking the story of the Napoleonic Wars to Bonapartes final defeat, Waterloo is an unofficial continuation to director Sergei Bondarchuks own 70mm super-epic War and Peace (1968). The climactic battle of Waterloo is shown in the second half of the film and re-enacted with such stunning realism by a cast of around 20,000 extras that it looks like documentary footage from history itself (some 20 years later, Gettysburg, 1993, did the same for the American Civil War). Those who hailed the groundbreaking impact of Saving Private Ryan should see Bondarchuks films, as for sheer scale and intensity--if not bloodiness--they make Spielbergs hit look like an amateur video. Without ever attempting a French accent, Rod Steiger makes a commanding Napoleon, Christopher Plummer a worthy adversary as Wellington, while the supporting cast led by Orson Welles, Jack Hawkins and Virginia McKenna is excellent. The DVD transfer is richly detailed and clear, though the print itself could have done with just a little restoration. Though dated, Abel Glances Napoleon (1928) remains definitive for many, perhaps explaining why Stanley Kubrick eventually abandoned his planned Napoleon film, instead making the 18th Century period epic Barry Lyndon (1974). --Gary S.Dalkin
A Man For All Seasons: a motion picture for all time! Winner of six Academy Awards - including 1966 Best Picture - 'A Man For All Seasons' stars Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More a respected English statesman whose steadfast refusal to recognise King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn cost him his head. Featuring an all-star supporting cast - Wendy Hiller Leo McKern Robert Shaw Orson Welles Susannah York and Vanessa Redgrave - and directed by two-time Oscar-winner Fred Zinnemann Robert Bolt's A Man For All Seasons is ""a picture that inspires admiration courage and thought."" - The New York Times.
Waterloo is the 1970 epic period war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by legendary producer Dino De Laurentis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo and is famous for its lavish battle scenes. Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France, and Jack Hawkins all contribute fine portraits of great men against a magnificent backdrop of battle and bloodshed.
John Huston was only one of five directors on Casino Royale, the expensive, all-star 1967 spoof of Ian Fleming's 007 lore. David Niven is the aging Sir James Bond, called out of retirement to take on the organised threat of SMERSH and pass on the secret-agent mantle to his idiot son (Woody Allen). The amazing cast (Orson Welles, Peter Sellers, Deborah Kerr and others) is wonderful to look at, but the film is not as funny as it should be, and the romping even starts to look mannered after a while. The musical score by Burt Bacharach, however, is a keeper. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Jim Henson's Muppets make their film debut in this charming story that chronicles their rise to fame. It all begins with Kermit the Frog sitting in a swamp singing and strumming a guitar. Realizing he can use his talent to ""make people happy "" Kermit decides to head for Hollywood. During his trip Kermit meets fellow Muppets Fozzie the Bear the Great Gonzo Miss Piggy and an odd assortment of others who join Kermit on his song-filled journey. But before Kermit and friends achieve
First time on Blu-Ray in the UK. Waterloo is the 1970 epic period war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by legendary producer Dino De Laurentis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo and is famous for its lavish battle scenes. Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France, and Jack Hawkins all contribute fine portraits of great men against a magnificent backdrop of battle and bloodshed.
This wacky send-up of James Bond films stars David Niven as the iconic debonair spy, now retired and living a peaceful existence. Bond is called back into duty when the mysterious organization SMERSH begins assassinating British secret agents. Circumstances lead to the involvement of a colourful cast of characters, including the villainous Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), seasoned gambler Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) and Bond's bumbling nephew, Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen).
With gadgets, gaming and girls galore, this camp classic celebrates 40 fabulous years as not only the coolest of the spy films, but also as a brilliant parody of - itself! Will the real James Bond please stand up?When secret agency chief M (John Huston) is killed, Sir James Bond (David Niven) is thrust out of spy retirement to help smash SMERSH, the band of hitmen who are likely responsible. And to protect his real identity, Bond's name is given to numerous other agents, including Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) and Bond's neurotic nephew, Jimmy (Woody Allen). With five directors, a cast of Hollywood icons that also includes Ursula Andress, Charles Boyer, Peter O'Toole, Jacqueline Bisset and Orson Welles, a soundtrack by Burt Bacharach, and a frisky, farcical script, Casino Royale is Bond. Psychedelic Bond.
Orson Welles' delirious and inventive film noir classic is a dazzling cinematic jigsaw puzzle. Welles plays a sailor who rescues a young woman (played by his real-life ex-wife Rita Hayworth) from a violent assault only to fall under her spell Extras 4K restoration from the original nitrate negative Original mono audio Audio commentary with filmmaker and Welles expert Peter Bogdanovich Simon Callow on 'The Lady from Shanghai' (2017, 22 mins): a new filmed appreciation by the acclaimed actor and Welles scholar An Interview with Rita Hayworth (1970, 4 mins): an archival interview filmed for the French TV programme Pour le cinéma A Discussion with Peter Bogdanovich (2000, 21 mins): the renowned filmmaker and author talks about Welles and The Lady from Shanghai Joe Dante trailer commentary (2013, 3 mins): a short critical appreciation Original theatrical trailer Image gallery New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Carol Reed's celebrated British noir THE THIRD MAN is widely regarded as 'The greatest British film of all time'. Brilliantly scripted by Graham Greene and set to Anton Karas' evocative zither score, this justly celebrated classic is further enhanced by Robert Krasker's Academy Award® winning cinematography and Orson Welles in one of his most iconic screen roles.Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten, Citizen Kane), a naive writer of pulp westerns, arrives in Vienna to meet his old friend Harry Lime (the incomparable Orson Welles) but finds that Lime has apparently been killed in a suspicious accident. Martins, too curious for his own good, hears contradictory stories about the circumstances of Lime's death and as witnesses disappear he finds himself chased by unknown assailants. Complicating matters are the sardonic Major Calloway (Trevor Howard, Brief Encounter), head of the British forces, and Lime's stage actress mistress, Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli). Will Martins' curiosity lead him to discover things about his old friend that he'd rather not know?NEW Noreen Ackland on Saving The Third Man (Excerpt from BEHP audio interview)The Third Man - A Filmmaker's InfluenceRestoring The Third ManAudio Commentary With Guy Hamilton, Simon Callow & Angela AllenJoseph Cotten's Alternate Opening Voiceover NarrationThe Third Man Interactive Vienna TourThe Third Man On The RadioInterview & Zither Performance By Cornelia MayerShadowing The Third ManGuardian NFT Interview - Joseph Cotten (Audio Only)Guardian NFT Interview - Graham Greene (Audio Only)Behind The Scenes Stills GalleryTrailer
Touch of Evil begins with one of the most brilliant sequences in the history of cinema; and ends with one of the most brilliant final scenes ever committed to celluloid. In between unfurls a picture whose moral, sexual, racial, and aesthetic attitudes remain so radical as to cross borders established not only in 1958, but in the present age also. Charlton Heston portrays Mike Vargas, the Mexican chief of narcotics who sets out to uncover the facts surrounding a car bomb that has killed a wealthy American businessman on the US side of the border. As Vargas investigates, his newly-wed wife Susie (Janet Leigh, two years before Hitchcock's Psycho) is kidnapped by a gang out to exact vengeance for the prosecution of the brother of their leader (Akim Tamiroff). Meanwhile, Vargas' enquiries become progressively more obfuscated by the American cop Hank Quinlan (played by Welles himself, in one of the most imposing and unforgettable screen performances of his career), a besotted incarnation of corruption who alternately conspires with Susie's captors and seeks solace in the brothel of the Gypsy madame (Marlene Dietrich) who comforted him in bygone times. Welles' final studio-system picture has at last become secure in its status as one of the greatest films ever made. It remains a testament to the genius of Welles -- a film of Shakespearean richness, inexhaustible. The Masters of Cinema Series is extremely proud to present Touch of Evil in on Ultra HD Blu-ray. 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations of all three versions, presented in Dolby Vision HDR: the Theatrical version (95 mins), the Preview version (109 mins), and the 1998 Reconstruction (110 mins) | Four audio commentaries, featuring: restoration producer Rick Schmidlin (reconstructed version); actors Charlton Heston & Janet Leigh, with Schmidlin (reconstructed version); critic F. X. Feeney (theatrical version); and Welles scholars James Naremore & Jonathan Rosenbaum (preview version) | Video interview with critic, broadcaster and cultural historian Matthew Sweet | Video interview with critic Tim Robey | Video interview with author and critic Kim Newman | Bringing Evil to Life + Evil Lost and Found - two video pieces, featuring interviews with cast and crew, as well as critics and admirers | Original theatrical trailer | PLUS: A collector's booklet featuring writings by Orson Welles, François Truffaut, André Bazin, and Terry Comito
The heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons must deal with a world-devouring being called Unicron. This new two-disc edition of the fondly remembered animated tale boasts over five hours of extra features.
2015 marks the centenary year of the remarkable Orson Welles, and this insightful documentary explores the enigma and polymath that was Welles. Jean-Luc Godard once said of this exceptional actor, writer and director: All of us will always owe him everything. Directed by critically-acclaimed documentary maker, Chuck Workman, Magician divides Welles' life into four chapters, with Workman portraying him as an artist who never stopped working throughout his career, but whose unconventional approach ensured he was much misunderstood by Hollywood. Magician is a montage, featuring scenes from almost every existing Welles film - from Hearts of Age to rarely-seen clips from his final unfinished films such as Don Quixote - as well as his television and commercial work. This is an essential film not just for fans of the great Orson Welles, but anyone interested in the magic of cinema.
Arguably the greatest of American films, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece, made when he was only 25, still unfurls like a dream and carries the viewer along the mysterious currents of time and memory to reach a mature (if ambiguous) conclusion: people are the sum of their contradictions and can't be known easily. Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. The result is that every well-meaning or tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and photographed by Gregg Toland, the film is the sum of Welles's awesome ambitions as an artist in Hollywood. He pushes the limits of then-available technology to create a true magic show, a visual and aural feast that almost seems to be rising up from a viewer's subconscious. As Kane, Welles even ushers in the influence of Bertolt Brechton film acting. This is truly a one-of-a-kind work, and in many ways is still the most modern of modern films this century. --Tom Keogh
In a way, Scarlet Street is a remake. It's taken from a French novel, La Chienne (literally, "The Bitch") that was first filmed by Jean Renoir in 1931. Renoir brought to the sordid tale all the colour and vitality of Montmartre; Fritz Lang's version shows us a far harsher and bleaker world. The film replays the triangle set-up from Lang's previous picture, The Woman in the Window, with the same three actors. Once again, Edward G Robinson plays a respectable middle-aged citizen snared by the charms of Joan Bennett's streetwalker, with Dan Duryea as her low-life pimp. The plot closes around the three of them like a steel trap. This is Lang at his most dispassionate. Scarlet Street is a tour de force of noir filmmaking, brilliant but ice-cold. The Stranger, according to Orson Welles, "is the worst of my films. There is nothing of me in that picture". But even on autopilot Welles still leaves most filmmakers standing. A war crimes investigator, played by Edward G Robinson, tracks down a senior Nazi to a sleepy New England town where he's living in concealment as a respected college professor. Welles wanted Agnes Moorehead as the investigator and Robinson as the Nazi Franz Kindler, but his producer, Sam Spiegel, wouldn't wear it. So Welles himself plays the supposedly cautious and self-effacing fugitive--and if there was one thing Welles could never play, it was unobtrusive. Still, the film's far from a write-off. Welles' eye for stunning visuals rarely deserted him and, aided by Russell Metty's skewed, shadowy photography, The Stranger builds to a doomy grand guignol climax in a clocktower that Hitchcock must surely have recalled when he made Vertigo. And Robinson, dogged in pursuit, is as quietly excellent as ever. On the DVD: sparse pickings. Both films have a full-length commentary by Russell Cawthorne which adds the occasional insight, but is repetitive and not always reliable. The box claims both print have been "fully restored and digitally remastered", but you'd never guess. --Philip Kemp
Advertising golden boy Andrew Quint (Oliver Reed) is fed up with his fabulously successful life and decides to quits his high-fl ying job in order to return to writing for a small, literary magazine. To completely leave his former life behind, he even goes as far as saying good-bye to both his wife and mistresses! But Andrew fi nds, however, that it's not so easy to escape his past... Co-stars Orson Welles, Wendy Craig, Marianne Faithfull, Frank Finlay and Harry Andrews.
An all-star cast - including Orson Welles Joan Fontaine Agnes Moorehead and Elizabeth Taylor - breathes magnificent life into this captivating 1943 black and white film version of Charlotte Bront's gothic romance novel. Adapted for the screen by Aldous Huxley Robert Stevenson and John Houseman and directed by Stevenson this stirring film is the definitive version of the engrossing classic! After spending her childhood in an orphanage young Jane Eyre (Fontaine) becomes governess to the ward of an imposing older man named Edward Rochester (Welles). Ultimately Jane's gentle influence forces Rochester to drop his forbidding veneer and he proposes to her. But the discovery that Rochester is already married and further that his volatile wife is locked in the attic prompts Jane to leave as a series of tragic events unfold in this riveting classic that also features Margaret O'Brien.
Philip Trent sets out to investigate the mysterious death of an American tycoon whose death has been recorded by the coroner as a suicide...
On the brink of Civil War King Henry IV (John Gielgud) attempts to consolidate his reign while fretting with unease over his sons seeming neglect of his royal duties. Hal (Keith Baxter) the young Prince openly consorts with Sir John Falstaff (Orson Welles) and his company of “Diana’s foresters Gentlemen of the shade Minions of the moon”. Hal’s friendship with the fat knight substitutes for his estrangement from his father. Both Falstaff and the King are old and tired; both rely on Hal for comfort in their final years while the young Prince the future Henry V nurtures his own ambitions. Orson Welles considered Chimes at Midnight his personal favorite of all his films. Perhaps the most radical and groundbreaking of all Shakespeare adaptations the film condenses the Bard’s Henriad cycle into a single focused narrative. Its international cast comprises of Jeanne Moreau Fernando Rey Margaret Rutherford and Ralph Richardson as the narrator in addition to Welles and Gielgud. The film’s harrowing war scenes have proven especially influential cited in Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V as well as Mel Gibson’s Braveheart.
One of Orson Welles' most well-crafted masterpieces, The Trial has been beautifully restored for its 60th anniversary. Based on Franz Kafka's novel, it is a masterclass in tension building and avant-garde filmmaking featuring outstanding performances by Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider. One morning, Josef K. is arrested without knowing the charges against him. Completely stunned, K. slowly finds himself trapped in a dehumanised nightmare and realizes he is the victim of a grotesque plot. He is accused by everyone, friends and enemies, until, worn down, he ends up doubting his own innocence.. Product Features This is Orson Welles New Trailer Welles - Architect of Light Interview with Steven Berkoff Deleted Scene Trailer
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