Otto Preminger

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#126 Post by knives » Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:50 am

It probably says more about me than the film in question, but I find the movie genuinely funny. It certainly doesn't work as a whole, but I think enough of the gags work and as you say how did this exactly get made let alone who made it to make it an interesting experience if not a good film.

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knives
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Re: Otto Preminger

#127 Post by knives » Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:04 am

Also watching this movie (finally) in widescreen I have to say this is a perfectly composed film and the movie makes a lot more sense with the extra image.

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domino harvey
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Re: Otto Preminger

#128 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jul 30, 2011 6:24 pm

Such Good Friends finds Preminger regaining his objectivity, but to dire effect. In a sense, this is a worse film than Skidoo, because it fails wholly on Preminger's terms. This is a nasty black comedy filmed as though it weren't a comedy at all, so Elaine May's vicious, often offensive lines are played straight. This doesn't work as well as it sounds, because Preminger's handling renders the whole affair an exercise in grotesqueness. Perhaps that was his idea all along: Let's all gape and point at the vapid, horrible people who populate this subsection of New York City. But not content to let the characters' words hang themselves, Preminger allows random instances of pathetic provocation, daring the audience's will to keep watching. If you've ever wanted to see Dyan Cannon slowly disrobe James Coco and give him a blowjob or watch Burgess Meredith dance nude with only a book covering his crotch, then great news! So much energy is exhausted on being wicked when it might have been better served making the film good instead.

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domino harvey
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Re: Otto Preminger

#129 Post by domino harvey » Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:20 pm

Exodus coming to Blu in France January 18 :shock: \:D/

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domino harvey
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Re: Otto Preminger

#130 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jan 21, 2012 3:16 pm

domino harvey wrote:Exodus coming to Blu in France January 18 :shock: \:D/
...and it has forced French subs

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Drucker
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Re: Otto Preminger

#131 Post by Drucker » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:00 am

Bonjour Tristesse will be appearing in a new 35 MM print at NYC Film Forum April 27-May 3

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Lars Von Truffaut
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:50 pm

Re: Otto Preminger

#132 Post by Lars Von Truffaut » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:36 am

That's great news. I've been hoping that Criterion puts out a Seberg Eclipse with "Bonjour Tristese", "Saint Joan", and the Chabrols. Probably a pipe dream, but one I'll hold on to.

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

Re: Otto Preminger

#133 Post by Gregory » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:52 pm

Yes, in addition to Saint Joan being a Warner Archive title, Criterion seem unwilling to do star-centered Eclipse sets (if the first five years' worth of the series is any indication).

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med
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Re: Otto Preminger

#134 Post by med » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:56 pm

What about the Sabu set?

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Gregory
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Re: Otto Preminger

#135 Post by Gregory » Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:23 pm

Oops, even the exclamation point in the title didn't impress that set into my memory. It'd be more accurate to say they generally have shown very little interest in star-themed sets, except perhaps when they form an extremely cohesive group, as with the three Sabu/Kordas.

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Quot
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Re: Otto Preminger

#136 Post by Quot » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:49 pm

reno dakota wrote:
domino harvey wrote:I was (and am) one of the few defenders of the other Preminger-rescued Lubitsch project, A Royal Scandal
I loved every moment of this one, and can't remember when I've laughed as much at such clever word-play, so it surprises me to hear that it has few defenders. Is it possible that it just has few viewers?
I know these comments are rather old, but I just saw this film and completely agree. It's a fantastic film, much more Lubitsch than Preminger, imo, and yes, one of the funniest films I've seen in a long, long time. Tallulah Bankhead and Charles Coburn were both marvelous in their roles, and the wordplay is indeed very cleverly crafted. I really don't understand why it gets bad rep (born out of the whole Lubitsch vs Preminger debate, I guess), but it is undeserved. Preminger did a fine job and yes, it "feels" like a Lubitsch film through and through. The more exposure this film gets, the more its critical standing will rise, I believe.

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knives
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Re: Otto Preminger

#137 Post by knives » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:24 am

Prepping for the '50s list and was wondering if there is an OAR release of The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell?

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domino harvey
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Re: Otto Preminger

#138 Post by domino harvey » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:27 am

knives wrote:Prepping for the '50s list and was wondering if there is an OAR release of The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell?
The (OOP) Republic DVD is close enough, full screen but letterboxed at something close to 'Scope

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knives
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Re: Otto Preminger

#139 Post by knives » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:33 am

Do you just mean non-anamorphic letterboxing or something else?

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domino harvey
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Re: Otto Preminger

#140 Post by domino harvey » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:39 am

Yes, the ratio is letterboxed within the academy ratio screen but like for European VHS, with a black border on all sides and not quite the full 'Scope frame. It's a poor DVD, no doubt, but I've sat through way worse bootlegs (including another Preminger from this decade, Porgy and Bess, which makes Billy Mitchell's transfer look 2k!)

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knives
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Re: Otto Preminger

#141 Post by knives » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:45 am

I can certainly live with VHS styling so I'm glad on that. I'm surprised at all of the OOPs he has for the decade. By itself In Harm's Way is through the roof. I probably won't bother with Porgy and Bess yet since I believe the bootlegs are a slightly edited down version.

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knives
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Re: Otto Preminger

#142 Post by knives » Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:50 am

I'm surprised at no Dom post on Hurry Sundown. The DVD is characteristically unhelpful in developing a critical outlook on the film, but I must say I found it to be a good movie at least in the context of Preminger's late period insanity. It's really weird to watch this in dual with Carmen Jones which in many respects is the more modern film. The film has some slight similarities to Ray's Wind Across the Everglades (which I'll cop to liking more than most), but it doesn't have a Plummer equivalent character and seems to daringly be letting the habitat speak for itself. As a social picture I don't think it works since it stylizes itself in the weirdest way to almost approach a magical realism through it's sheer artificiality. Despite the location shooting the film paints itself like the opening scene of Blue Velvet.

Going back to what I started with though, the treatment of the black characters in the film is basically a less sexualized version of Carmen Jones, but it gets weird with the white characters who have this Huston grotesque look to them with exaggerated accents approaching a sort of expressionism at times (in a early scene there's this ugly woman who looks like a set of triangles. It's almost like a reversal of usual stereotypes where the affluent white characters are primates while the black characters are average folk. The film certainly has racial problems to it, but not that usually attributed (insofar as I've read) and certainly not in a clear cut way. It's split somewhere between modern and old presentations that I'm not sure if I should be offended by. The movie's just weird.

It's also excessively beautiful. The use of colour here is as good as it gets with striking whites, beiges, and reds. There's this cleanliness to that scheme that gets ruined on occasion in such a manner as to completely shock. I hate to go back to it, but in a lot of ways this film is like a lost Nicholas Ray film. It's just the sort of majesty you expect.

britcom68

Re: Otto Preminger

#143 Post by britcom68 » Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:55 am

The Human Factor. Although the exemplar Fujiwara book details some of the making and response to Preminger's final film, The Human Factor, I just finished reading an odd little memoir that greatly helped my understanding of Preminger's casting of Nicol Williamon and the film's relationship to the source novel. John Baxter's "A Pound of Paper" comes close to being mere breezey fan-driven observations (and obsessions) of films and their source materials, however, Baxter does give some good insights into Greene's novel and its adaptation by Preminger, including interviewing booksellers about their responses to the novel and film. Baxter's memoir has a rambling structure to it, many repetitions, however it was also a useful casual reference guide to Australian cinema and especially Baxter's involvement promoting Sci-Fi to audiences in Australia.

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rockysds
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Re: Otto Preminger

#144 Post by rockysds » Wed May 29, 2013 11:27 am

German blu-rays of The Cardinal and The Human Factor getting released in September.

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Ovader
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Re: Otto Preminger

#145 Post by Ovader » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:42 am

Adrian Martin on Twitter provided a link of this blog of Preminger's Noirs.
This blog specifically focuses on the films noirs of Otto Preminger.

LAURA, FALLEN ANGEL, WHIRLPOOL, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and ANGEL FACE will be presented in chronological order during the next weeks… and months. Entries will include script or sequence analysis, individual essays, lively “dialogues” between the two writers heading the project (Olivier Eyquem and Despina Veneti), and an assortment of documents (photos, screenshots, ads, links, etc. )

Friends of Film Noir, Enjoy!

Props55
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:55 am

Re: Otto Preminger

#146 Post by Props55 » Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:06 pm

Interesting that THE THIRTEENTH LETTER is still the odd man out in the "Preminger noir" canon. There must be a rights issue at play here (it's a French Canadian set remake of LE CORBEAU) and I've never been able to catch it in any venue. Can't recall it ever showing up in rep cinemas and it was never to my knowledge programmed on WTBS-Superstation 17 back in the Turner days or on the old American Movie Classics in the '90s. Has it ever been aired on Fox Movie Channel? I'm really curious to see Michael Rennie in the Pierre Fresney role and would love to compare the Montreal lensing with Hitch's I CONFESS as well as the overlay of Catholic guilt.

Anybody have any ideas or info? Paging Mr. Hare or Domino.

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domino harvey
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Re: Otto Preminger

#147 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:59 pm

I bought my copy years ago via DVD-R from iOffer (in the days before belonging to a back channel site) and I don't remember the source of the rip but I'm pretty sure it looked better than what's up on That Site Which Shall Not Be Named. I think it's one of Preminger's weakest films, certainly of the noir cycle, but there's a nice virtuoso elaborate visual sequence set in a church that shows the master at play quite nicely

Props55
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Re: Otto Preminger

#148 Post by Props55 » Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:17 pm

Thanks for the input (and eyestrain!) gents. The general consensus on this title seems to conform with Domino's take. And like you David I wonder how Preminger was able to work through the off limits thematic and narrative threads. This was likely the beginning of his active pursuit of controversial material (and Fox/Zanuck would still have been the go-to studio for such a project) and I'm betting the result prompted him to break out on his own that much sooner.

It's a pity there doesn't seem to be a decent source (even a used 16 non-theatrical would do) as I think this must have been his first realy foray into location shooting. Again, I'd love to see it in conjunction to I CONFESS. The points of comparison are so intrigueing.

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manicsounds
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Re: The Cardinal Blu Ray (Germany)

#149 Post by manicsounds » Tue Apr 22, 2014 7:26 pm

david hare wrote:Svet has included this German Concorde BD of The Cardinal in his top non US/UK for 2013. He also mentions it's from a restoration and gives it a big tick.

That was enough for me to order pronto. It is - I say this without the slightest hint of embarrassment - a favorite Preminger. I also noticed while ordering there is a German BD of Prem's last film, The Human Factor. This must be the same source as a 720p HDTV DL I have and I can safely say it too is excellent. For the curious it's also in correct AR of 1.66. This is a both maligned and unseen work which really needs revaluation. I think it's a major Preminger and perhaps surprisingly to some a very moving work.
dvdbeaver review, says it's very weak.
Colors do look pretty washed out.

Stefan Andersson
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Re: Otto Preminger

#150 Post by Stefan Andersson » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:54 am

Torsten Kaiser, TLEFilms, Germany, supervised the Cardinal resto. He posted on the blu-ray.com forum:
THE CARDINAL has many, if not to say huge troubles stemming both from production/photochemical post production and condition of the existing materials. We did the very best we could with these elements in Picture and Sound.
For extensive info in English about the German resto of Cardinal, go here. Alternatively, go here.

At bottom of page, click on "To the restoration projects". New page opens. At bottom of this page, click on The Cardinal for technical info. Click on another title for info about that title (info about several other Preminger titles available, including enlightening info about screen ratio and framing of the Man With The Golden Arm. The first page about The Man With The Golden Arm includes a link to a separate page showing how the film has been framed and mis-framed for various TV and DVD purposes. You can find this link highlighted in the next to last line of the text on the first page).

More technical info, in German. Also includes technical info about The Man With The Golden Arm.

For more info about restoration, framing and mis-framing of The Man With The Golden Arm, scroll down for several posts by Torsten Kaiser.

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