7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.
Starring: Emil Jannings, William Powell (I), Jack Raymond, Michael Visaroff, Fritz FeldDrama | 100% |
Romance | 44% |
History | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: LPCM 2.0
Music: LPCM 2.0
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available as part of 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg.
Whether fairly or unfairly, Josef von Sternberg is probably best remembered for his collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, and in fact Criterion itself
has
celebrated that partnership with their excellent release
Dietrich & von Sternberg in
Hollywood. That very partnership may have led some film fans to assume that von Sternberg, like Dietrich, was a German emigré, but as
one of the supplements on the set currently under discussion gets into, von Sternberg was actually born Jonas Sternberg in Vienna, moving to the
United States with his family when he was still a tot. The “Josef”, and, later, the “von”, were added at later dates, perhaps in an attempt by either
(von) Sternberg himself or those wanting to help his career to make him seem more “exotic” somehow (there’s some indication that the “von”
addition
may have been inspired by Erich von Stroheim). This same supplement details von Sternberg’s early career in the film industry, which included
everything from being a “go fer” to editing before von Sternberg finally kind of almost stumbled into a directing career with his self funded The
Salvation Hunters, which this supplement goes on to describe as one of the first supposedly mainstream “Art Films”. Von Sternberg had a
kind of
rocky first few years as a supposed wunderkind, with a proposed film starring Mary Pickford and then another evidently completed film
done
for Charlie Chaplin never really seeing the light of day (the supplement makes a passing case that the Chaplin film may be lying around in
someone’s
vault somewhere and that a hunt for it should be undertaken). Those stumbling blocks may have played into the decision by Paramount's
legendary B.P. Schulberg to offer von Sternberg a job not as a director (at least initially), but as more of a jack of all trades assigned to
clean up various productions which the studio deemed were in trouble for one reason or another. Von Stroheim's success with regard to Children of Divorce in particular finally gave him the opportunity to start
directing for Paramount, and the films in this set are among his early silents for the studio.
All of the presentations included in 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1. The expansive insert booklet included in this set lumps all three together in their informational page devoted to the transfers, with the following verbiage:
All three films are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. These high definition digital transfers were created on a Spirit HD DataCine, with density correction done on a da Vinci 2K. Underworld's transfer was created from a 35 mm fine grain positive, The Last Command's from a 35 mm duplicate negative, and The Docks of New York's from a 35 mm fine grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for flicker and small dirt.Though The Last Command shows the same levels of pretty ubiquitous damage and age related wear and tear as the other two films in this set, perhaps because it was sourced from a dupe negative rather than a fine grain positive this is probably the grainiest and fuzziest looking presentation in the set. Scratches, nicks and other prevalent signs of damage are virtually nonstop, but the film also features a very heavy grain field which can contribute to the masking of fine detail at times. Contrast isn't quite as convincing as in the other two presentations, and some of the intertitles, which I assume were originally against black backgrounds, can look a bit on the milky side. There are a few abrupt changes in clarity and brightness. My score is 3.25.
All three films included in this set feature two different musical soundtracks delivered via LPCM 2.0 tracks. All three films feature scores by the reliable Robert Israel, with two of the three, Underworld and The Last Command , also featuring a score by the Alloy Orchestra, and the third, The Docks of New York, also featuring a score by Donald Sosin. As mentioned in the Supplements section of the overarching 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg Blu-ray review, there are some interesting comments by the composers included in the insert booklet which may be of some interest to fans. The Israel scores are inventive orchestral pieces, often quite boisterous. The Alloy Orchestra scores are a bit more experimental in nature, but are often surprisingly similar to Israel's in terms of orchestration and even general musical ideas presented. The Sosin score is more of a piano based work and also features a vocal by Joanna Seaton. Fidelity is fine and problem free throughout all scores, with a nicely burnished tone in the orchestral offerings and a slightly bright but never really brittle ambience to the piano based score. I noticed no issues whatsoever with regard to distortion, dropouts or other damage.
The Last Command may be the most instantly "accessible" film in this set due its kind of modern "meta" aspect (despite the quaintness of the Hollywood it depicts), and it certainly offers Jannings a real showcase for his talents. Video is again problematic at times, but audio is great and the supplement very interesting. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2013
Signature Edition
1948
Pionér
2013
1943
V tumane
2012
Les Salauds / Slipcover in Original Pressing
2013
Pájaros de verano
2018
El Club
2015
1927
65th Anniversary Limited Edition
1957
Летят журавли / Letyat zhuravli
1957
La caduta degli dei
1969
I girasoli
1970
1960
天注定 / Tian zhu ding
2013
1978
Luci del varietà
1950
2016
Die Ehe der Maria Braun
1978
Нелюбовь / Nelyubov
2017