Orson Welles in fine form! This lavishly produced costume drama, beautifully cast and directed, was filmed on location in gorgeous Italian palazzos, churches and villas. Welles is cast to type as the literally mesmerizing mountebank Cagliostro, who aids Madame du Barry in a scheme to seize the throne of France. Welles almost certainly ‘helped’ the credited director; the highly theatrical goings-on look exactly like Orson’s style. Super performances from Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff, Valentina Cortese, Margot Grahame and Charles Goldner turn Alexandre Dumas’ tale into swashbuckling mind-control excitement; the disc tops it off with a sensationally good restoration.
Black Magic
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 105 min. / Street Date January 25, 2022 / Available from ClassicFlix / 19.99
Starring: Orson Welles, Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff, Charles Goldner, Stephen Bekassy, Valentina Cortese, Margot Grahame, Frank Latimore, Gregory Gaye, Berry Kroeger, Robert Atkins, Raymond Burr, Harriet White Medin, Silvana Mangano, Milly Vitale.
Cinematography: Ubaldo Arata, Anchise Brizzi
Art Directors: Jean d’Eaubonne,...
Black Magic
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 105 min. / Street Date January 25, 2022 / Available from ClassicFlix / 19.99
Starring: Orson Welles, Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff, Charles Goldner, Stephen Bekassy, Valentina Cortese, Margot Grahame, Frank Latimore, Gregory Gaye, Berry Kroeger, Robert Atkins, Raymond Burr, Harriet White Medin, Silvana Mangano, Milly Vitale.
Cinematography: Ubaldo Arata, Anchise Brizzi
Art Directors: Jean d’Eaubonne,...
- 2/1/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero: Filmed mostly on the streets in newly-liberated territory, Roberto Rossellini’s gripping war-related shows are blessed with new restorations but still reflect their rough origins. The second picture, the greater masterpiece, looks as if it were improvised out of sheer artistic will.
Roberto Rosselini’s War Trilogy
Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 500 (497, 498, 499)
1945-1948 / B&W / 1:37 & 1:33 flat full frame / 302 minutes / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available from the Criterion Collection 79.96
Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani; Dots Johnson, Harriet White Medin; Edmund Moeschke, Franz-Otto Krüger.
Cinematography: Ubaldo Arata; Otello Martelli; Robert Julliard.
Film Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Original Music: Renzo Rossellini
Written by Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio, Federico Fellini; Klaus Mann, Marcello Pagliero, Alfred Hayes, Vasco Pratolini; Max Kolpé, Carlo Lizzani.
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Criterion released an identical-for-content DVD set of this trilogy in 2010; the new Blu-ray...
Roberto Rosselini’s War Trilogy
Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 500 (497, 498, 499)
1945-1948 / B&W / 1:37 & 1:33 flat full frame / 302 minutes / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available from the Criterion Collection 79.96
Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani; Dots Johnson, Harriet White Medin; Edmund Moeschke, Franz-Otto Krüger.
Cinematography: Ubaldo Arata; Otello Martelli; Robert Julliard.
Film Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Original Music: Renzo Rossellini
Written by Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio, Federico Fellini; Klaus Mann, Marcello Pagliero, Alfred Hayes, Vasco Pratolini; Max Kolpé, Carlo Lizzani.
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Criterion released an identical-for-content DVD set of this trilogy in 2010; the new Blu-ray...
- 6/19/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Mark Kermode: Rossellini's study of resistance, shot in war-ravaged Rome in 1945, is a masterpiece
Shot in 1945 in the immediate aftermath of the liberation of Rome, Roberto Rossellini's masterpiece (described by Martin Scorsese as "the most precious moment of film history") returns to the screen in a spanking 4K digital restoration. Set during the occupation, the narrative follows disparate strands of resistance struggling under the crushing jackboot of the Nazis. Ubaldo Arata's visceral cinematography blends the grit of a documentary with the heart and soul of a drama (Fellini collaborated on the screenplay) as the people of Rome wrestle with the constraints, compromises and collusions of life during wartime.
Rating: 5/5
World cinemaDramaSecond world warMark Kermode
theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
Shot in 1945 in the immediate aftermath of the liberation of Rome, Roberto Rossellini's masterpiece (described by Martin Scorsese as "the most precious moment of film history") returns to the screen in a spanking 4K digital restoration. Set during the occupation, the narrative follows disparate strands of resistance struggling under the crushing jackboot of the Nazis. Ubaldo Arata's visceral cinematography blends the grit of a documentary with the heart and soul of a drama (Fellini collaborated on the screenplay) as the people of Rome wrestle with the constraints, compromises and collusions of life during wartime.
Rating: 5/5
World cinemaDramaSecond world warMark Kermode
theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
- 3/9/2014
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
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