"Director: Max Ophuls"

• Lola Montes (1955) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (11/05/2020) from £23.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Lola Montès is a visually ravishing, narratively daring dramatization of the life of the notorious courtesan and showgirl, played by Martine Carol. With his customary cinematographic flourish and, for the first time, vibrant colour, Max Ophuls charts Montès's scandalous past through the bombastic ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) of the American circus where she ends up performing. Ophuls's final film, Lola Montès is at once a magnificent romantic melodrama, a meditation on the lurid fascination with celebrity, and a meticulous, one-of-a-kind movie spectacle. Special Features: New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition Audio commentary featuring Max Ophuls scholar Susan White Max Ophuls ou le plaisir de tourner, a 1965 episode of the French television program Cinéastes de notre temps, featuring interviews with many of Ophuls's collaborators Max by Marcel, a new documentary by Marcel Ophuls about his father and the making of Lola Montès Silent footage of actress Martine Carol demonstrating the various glamorous hairstyles in Lola Montès Theatrical rerelease trailer from Rialto Pictures New and improved English subtitle translation PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Gary Giddins

• Caught | DVD | (08/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Max Ophuls is widely regarded to be one of the greatest and most revered directors in the history of cinema. His trademark array of lavish fluid camera movements would influence generations of filmmakers to come. Among the many who have had praised his genius are Francois Truffaut Jean-Luc Goddard Martin Scorsese Stanley Kubrick who believed 'his camera could pass through walls' and more recently directors such as Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine Far From Heaven) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights Magnolia) who called him his 'idol'. Idealistic Leonora is looking for the dream life and believes she's found it when introduced to millionaire Smith Uhlrig. Quickly married she soon discovers him to be a domineering tyrant. In trying to escape this loveless existence she finds hope in the arms of a caring doctor but her psychotic husband doesn't give up his possessions so easily. Ophul's film noir classic is an intense melodrama played to perfection by the fine casting of James Mason Robert Ryan and Barbara Bel Geddes.

• Lola Montes | DVD | (06/07/2009) from £17.40   |  Saving you £2.59 (14.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Lola Montes tells the highly controversial yet disturbing true story of the infamous dancer-courtesan. Set at a 19th century circus in Vienna Lola is forced by the merciless ring master to tell the story of her life. Through the flashbacks the crowd learns everything of her exotic past including her stints as mistress to both the Bavarian King and Franz Liszt.

• The Reckless Moment (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (22/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The legendary Max Ophuls (Letter from an Unknown Woman; La Ronde) directs this tense and stylish 1949 film noir melodrama. Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street; Suspiria) stars as a suburban housewife who covers up a murder to protect her teenage daughter, only to find herself blackmailed by an immoral small-time crook, played by James Mason (North by Northwest; The Deadly Affair). Extras: High Definition remaster Original mono audio Making an American Movie (2010, 42 mins): Lutz Bacher, artist and author of Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios, on The Reckless Moment Maternal Overdrive Todd Haynes on 'The Reckless Moment' (2006, 22 mins): the award-winning writer-director discusses one of his favourite films Focus on James Mason (2018): Sarah Thomas and Adrian Garvey explore the distinguished actor's long career Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Samm Deighan, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray All extras subject to change

• Le Plaisir | Blu Ray | (23/10/2017) from £19.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The French writer Guy de Maupassant has inspired many great filmmakers. Among those to adapt his short stories and novels were Jean-Luc Godard, Kenji Mizoguchi, Walerian Borowczyk, Harry Kümel, Luis Buñuel and Christian-Jacque. But it was arguably Max Ophuls, with his 1952 feature, Le Plaisir, who proved to be the most adept. Le Plaisir takes three of de Maupassant s stories as its source: in Le Masque, a masked dandy conceals a secret; in La Maison Tellier, the girls of a small-town brothel are taken on an outing to attend the communion of the madam s niece; and in La Modèle, a painter falls in love with his model, but the course of love isn t as smooth as either expected. To tell these tales, Ophuls assembled a remarkable cast of French talent, including Jean Gabin (Pépé le Moko, La Grande illusion), Pierre Brasseur (Eyes Without a Face, Spotlight on a Murderer), Danielle Darrieux (Madame de..., Les Demoiselles de Rochefort), Claude Dauphin (Casque d Or, Barbarella), Simone Simon (Cat People, La Ronde) and many more besides. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation, from materials supplied by Gaumont Original French mono audio (uncompressed LPCM on the Blu-ray) Optional English subtitles A Journey Through Le Plaisir, a 54-minute documentary by Philippe Roger featuring interviews with cast and crew, and a visit of the film s locations fifty years on Diary of a Film Shoot, an interview with Ophuls assistant director, Jean Valerie An interview with Marcel Ophuls, the filmmaker son of Max Le Plaisir Restored, Ronald Boullet and Andre Labbouz discuss the restoration process Theatrical trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer Dionisio FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Alexander Jacoby and Philippe Roger

• La Ronde | DVD | (15/08/2016) from £8.94   |  Saving you £4.05 (45.30%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Max Ophuls' wonderful adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play won a BAFTA for Best Film as well as two Oscar nominations. Starring Simone Signoret, Simone Simon and Anton Walbrook as the enigmatic master of ceremonies who guides us through a series of amorous encounters in 1900's Vienna. A soldier (Serge Reggiani) meets an eager young lady of the night and later has an affair with a young lady, who becomes a maid who then has an affair with the young master of the house. The young man then seduces a married woman and on and on spins on the gay carousel of romantic life...

• La Ronde | DVD | (08/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Max Ophuls is widely regarded to be one of the greatest and most revered directors in the history of cinema. His trademark array of lavish fluid camera movements would influence generations of filmmakers to come. Among the many who have had praised his genius are Francois Truffaut Jean-Luc Goddard Martin Scorsese Stanley Kubrick who believed his camera could pass through walls and more recently directors such as Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine Far From Heaven) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights Magnolia) who called him his idol. Now for the first time on DVD Orphuls masterpiece La Ronde. Anton Walbrook is the enigmatic omnipotent master of ceremonies guiding us through a series of amorous encounters in Vienna of 1900. Featuring some of the greatest names in French cinema Max Ophuls' wonderful adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play was honoured with a BAFTA for 'Best Film' as well as Oscar nominations.

• La Ronde | Blu Ray | (15/08/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Max Ophuls' wonderful adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play won a BAFTA for Best Film as well as two Oscar nominations. Starring Simone Signoret, Simone Simon and Anton Walbrook as the enigmatic master of ceremonies who guides us through a series of amorous encounters in 1900's Vienna. A soldier (Serge Reggiani) meets an eager young lady of the night and later has an affair with a young lady, who becomes a maid who then has an affair with the young master of the house. The young man then seduces a married woman and on and on spins on the gay carousel of romantic life...

• La Signora Di Tutti | DVD | (29/11/2010) from £17.53   |  Saving you £2.46 (12.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With the Nazi terror on the ascent master filmmaker Max Ophuls fled to Italy in 1934 and made La signora di tutti [Everybody's Lady] - an exuberant desperate melodrama that although arriving early in Ophuls' body of work ranks comfortably alongside Letter from an Unknown Woman The Earrings of Madame de... or Lola Mont''s in the hierarchy of the director's achievements. Isa Miranda one of Italy's greatest stars plays the role of a star (in the part that made her a star) pressed to revisit the entire history of her lovers to the present moment through an inexorable web of flashbacks... brought on by the anaesthetic following a failed suicide attempt. From the record revolving on a turntable in the picture's opening moments Ophuls sets into motion one of those roundelays with fate that he alone could pull off with such eminent elegance. A precursor to the romantic themes that would culminate in Lola Mont''s Ophuls' vertiginous La signora di tutti serves brilliantly as both a critique of one grande dame's own powerful narcissism and an elevation of her glacial femininity to the level of sublime fetish. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present La signora di tutti [Everybody's Lady] the stunningly beautiful '30s masterpiece by famed auteur Max Ophuls (Letter from an Unknown Woman The Reckless Moment La ronde The Earrings of Madame de... Lola Mont''s) starring the legendary Italian actress Isa Miranda.