Showing posts with label Basil Dearden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basil Dearden. Show all posts

29 July 2014

Blu-Ray Review - Victim (1961)

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Genre: Drama
Distributor: Network
BD Release Date: 28th July 2014 (UK)
Rating: 12
Running Time: 105
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Slyvia Syms, Dennis Price, Nigel Stock
BuyVictim Blu-Ray

The year is 1961 and homosexuality in the UK is still a crime, this was also the year that filmVictim was released.  It became famous for being the first film in the English language to use the word “homosexual” and one of the first films with a sympathetic portrayal of a gay man. It is also widely believed to have played a role in the eventual overturning of the law banning homosexuality.

The police are after a young man named Jack Barrett who has stolen money from his employer and is on the run. He tries to get in contact with the barrister Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde) who is married but in reality is gay and had an affair with the young man. Barrett commits suicide after he is caught but Melville is blackmailed.

Dirk Bogarde was widely known to be gay but rarely spoke about his own sexuality even in his own autobiography. It took him astonishing courage to take up the part in Victim in 1961 and gives a wonderfully paranoid performance throughout the film. It was a game changer and an important film for Bogarde’s career and for cinematic history.

The cinematography has a slight noir tinge which suits the material very well; Otto Heller who photographed many of the finest British films ever made such as Peeping Tom, The Ladykillers and The Ipcress File shot it. Basil Dearden-who did some of the most unique films to come out of the 50s and 60s British industry, directed it.

Network has done a very impressive disc for such an important film. The transfer is clean and has the right amount of contrast and grain. The features include a half an hour interview with Bogarde shot during the release of Victim and it also includes publicity materials like the original trailer and stills.


★★★★
Ian Schultz

12 March 2013

Enjoy Ealing Studios Rarities In New DVD Collection

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Network Distributing is delighted to announce the first volume of THE EALING STUDIOS RARITIES COLLECTION (U). Featuring 4 films from the vaults of Ealing Studios and Associated Talking Pictures, this double-disc set is available to own on 8 April 2013. This volume consists of films by Basil Dearden, Harry Watt, Carol Reed and Leo Mittler. Unseen since their original cinema releases and presented as new transfers in their original aspect ratios, THE EALING STUDIOS RARITIES COLLECTION VOLUME 1 is an essential addition to anyone interested in classic British films as well as long-forgotten gems from one of the UK’s most iconic production houses.

Disc One

ESCAPE (1930). Director: Basil Dearden
Based on John Galsworthy’s 1921 play, ESCAPE charts the experiences of Captain Matt Denant, sentenced to a term in Dartmoor after accidentally killing a plain-clothes policeman during a quarrel. Unable to bear the harsh conditions of prison life, Matt escapes across the moor – finding his freedom at the mercy of the various characters he encounters.
Starring Gerald du Maurier, Madeleine Carroll, Ian Hunter, Gordon Harker, Edna Best, Austin Trevor and Horace Hodges| Written John Galsworthy| Original Music by Ernest Irving

WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1954) Director: Harry Watt
Bob Payton learns that the Galanas, an African tribe he has befriended, are being forced by soil erosion to move from their homelands. He urges their Chief, Ushingo, to lead them into the hills where they will find fresh, fertile soil and peaceful living; but the young men of the tribe favour the attractions of Mombasa, which represent a new, exciting way of life. Payton knows that such a move would be fatal, placing the Galanas in the way of many temptations – not least the activities of ivory smugglers.
Starring Anthony Steel, Sheila Sim, Edric Connor, Martin Benson, Orlando Martins and William Simons| Written by Harry Watt, Max Catto and Jack Whittingham| Original Music by Alan Rawsthorne performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra| Produced by Leslie Norman

Disc Two


PENNY PARADISE (1938). Director: Carol Reed
Joe Higgins is the captain of a Liverpool tug, with a pretty daughter, Betty, a forgetful Irish first mate, Pat, and a predilection for spending a weekly sixpence on the football pools. When Pat forgets to post Joe’s coupon on the week a winning line is drawn, chaos and frantic comedy are the result…
Starring Edmund Gwenn, Betty Driver, Jimmy O’ Dea, Ethel Coleridge, Maire O’Neill, Jack Livesey, Syd Crossley and James Harcourt| Written by Thomas Browne, Basil Dean, W.L. Meade and Thomas Thompson| Original Music by Ernest Irving| Produced by Basil Dean

CHEER UP! (1936). Director: Leo Mittler
A struggling playwright hopes to market a musical comedy that he has written in collaboration with another equally penurious composer. Anxious to secure the backing of a millionaire, the two composers only succeed in making him angry – until, following a chain of misunderstandings, they finally emerge triumphant. Comic situations and melody play important roles in the film, which includes several spectacular dance routines.
Starring Stanley Lupino, Sally Gray, Roddy Hughes, Gerald Barry, Kenneth Kove and Wynne Weaver| Written by Michael Barringer and Stanley Lupino| Music Arranged and Performed by Percy Mackey and his Orchestra| Produced by Stanley Lupino

Buy The Ealing Rarities Collection - Volume 1 On DVD