at least the first that's hit my desk this year, is Warners' Robert Mitchum Signature Collection, a six-disc set with a lot going for it, not the least of which being Robert Mitchum, who I'd watch a five-hour Warhol-style "screen test" of. It's also kind of half an auteurist goldmine, boasting the started-by-von-Sternberg-finished-by-Nicholas-Ray Macao (1952), Minnelli's odd Texas melodrama Home From The Hill (1959), and Preminger's most whacked-out evocation of amour fou (at least for my money), Angel Face (1952). Here we see Mitchum in that picture, embarking on a rather ill-advised joyride with Jean Simmons. To see just how ill-advised, you need to check out the film.
Rounding out the set are Zinneman's 1960 The Sundowners, Burt Kennedy's 1968 The Good Guys and The Bad Guys, and Pollack's 1975 The Yakuza, scripted by then-wunderkind Paul Schrader and Robert Towne from a story by Paul's late brother Leonard. Or at least so the credits say.
Those looking at that list and bemoaning the fact that it doesn't contain '73's The Friends of Eddie Coyle, one of Mitchum's best latter-day turns, well, don't look at Warner. That picture is a Paramount one. I'll be making some noise with the people I know over there to see if we can get that out. In the meantime, this box looks like it'll afford some solid pleasure. It streets on Jan. 23.
Hey Glenn,
Is this the first time on DVD for any of the films included? Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: Screenwatcher | January 08, 2007 at 05:20 PM
Far as I know, yes—at least domestically. I have French editions of Angel Face and Macao that I'm just about to compare to the new versions. Given Warner's track record on such things, I have every confidence the new versions will mop up the floor with the older ones.
Posted by: GK | January 08, 2007 at 09:57 PM
Politeness costs nothing and gains everything.
Posted by: Beats by Dre | January 12, 2012 at 02:06 AM
Cheerfulness and goodwill make labour light.
Posted by: Cheap Canada Goose | January 17, 2012 at 02:08 AM