British label Network Releasing will add six new titles to its Blu-ray catalog: David Wickes' Silver Dream Racer (1980), James Hill's The Belstone Fox (1973), Pablo Larraín's Neruda (2016), John Jencks' The Hippopotamus (2016), Ewald Andre Dupont's Moulin Rouge (1928)., and Jack Gold's The Naked Civil Servant (1975).
Synopsis: Pop legend David Essex stars opposite Beau Bridges in a bittersweet story set in the cut-throat world of motorcycle racing. Featuring thrilling scenes filmed at the 1979 British Grand Prix and a powerful score by John Cameron (and a memorable top-ten hit for Essex himself) Silver Dream Racer is presented here in a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film materials in its original, as-exhibited aspect ratio.
Aspiring racer Nick Freeman returns to his job as a garage mechanic after losing out to his underhanded American rival Bruce McBride. A twist of fate, however, gives Nick one more chance: when his brother is killed in a motorcycle accident, Nick inherits the untested, super-fast 500cc prototype on which he was working. Despite a series of crushing setbacks, he finally has the chance to prove both himself and the "Silver Dream Machine"...
Synopsis: Combining exquisite imagery of both landscape and wildlife and with fine performances from a top-line cast including Eric Porter, Jeremy Kemp, Oscar nominee Rachel Roberts and Bill Travers The Belstone Fox is a captivating film for the whole family. Written and directed by Born Free's James Hill and with original music from the legendary Laurie Johnson it is featured in a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Based on David Rook's acclaimed novel The Ballad of the Belstone Fox (which went on to inspire Disney's The Fox and the Hound) it tells the story of Tag, an orphaned fox cub reared with a litter of foxhound puppies and who forms a close friendship with a pup named Merlin. Years pass and Tag's wily ways keep him safe but when he is eventually cornered he embarks on a course of action which could end in tragedy...
Synopsis: Chile, 1948: Senator Pablo Neruda, diplomat and future Nobel Prize-winning poet, accuses the government of betraying the Communist Party and is swiftly impeached. Pursued by the police, Neruda and his artist wife are forced into hiding and an intimate game of cat and mouse begins.
In Europe, the legend of the poet hounded by the policeman grows and artists led by Picasso call for his freedom. Neruda, meanwhile, inspired by his transformative new life as a fugitive, writes his epic collection of poems, Canto General, capturing the turmoil of a Latin America in crisis.
Paying homage to a mercurial creator who is impossible to pin down in conventional biography, this playful, inventive feature by Oscar-nominated Pablo Larrain is the story of the escape, the investigation and the literary legend of a man once hailed as "the greatest poet of the 20th century". Starring Luis Gnecco and Gael Garcia Bernal, the film plays out like a road movie, inviting us to soar alongside Neruda in his poetry, his memory, and his deeply held sometimes paradoxical political ideals.
Synopsis: Triple Olivier Award winner Roger Allam heads a stellar cast as the cantankerous, whiskey-swilling protagonist in this brand-new adaptation of Stephen Fry's bestselling novel. With a supporting cast that includes Tim McInnerny, Emily Berrington, Russell Tovey, Fiona Shaw and Matthew Modine, director John Jencks realises a decade-long ambition to become the first person to bring one of Fry's novels to the screen.
Ted Wallace, lapsed poet and disgraced theatre critic, is summoned to his friends Lord and Lady Logan's Norfolk manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracle healings. Ted tracks down the perpetrator of the phenomena, his fifteen-year-old godson David Logan, whose parents believe he has healing hands. Unaware of David's disturbingly unorthodox methods, the Logans are now set on sharing their son's "gift" with the world. With a poet's passion for the truth, Ted hurries to debunk the miracles and save a young man from a lifetime of embarrassment.
Synopsis: One of the most lavish British films of the silent era in both budget and scope, Moulin Rouge stars Jean Bradin, Eve Gray and Russian-German screen sensation Olga Tschechowa in the story of a young aristocrat driven to a suicide attempt after falling in love with a young dancer and her elegant, ravishingly beautiful mother.
Set in and around the famous dance-halls of Paris, Moulin Rouge showcased British International Pictures' engagement of leading Continental film-makers during the late 1920s. The first British film directed by expressionist pioneer Ewald Andre Dupont, it also features Werner Brandes' stylish, distinctively European cinematography and art direction by Oscar winner Alfred Junge.
Filmed at Elstree through the winter of 1927, the film was originally trade shown in March 1928 as a silent film with live musical accompaniment. It was re-released in 1929 with a recorded, synchronised score by John Reynders.
Synopsis: The BAFTA-winning adaptation of Quentin Crisp's best-selling autobiography, The Naked Civil Servant features an arguably career-best performance by John Hurt as Crisp – a flamboyant homosexual trying to live an openly gay lifestyle in the intolerant pre-war years.
Funny, tragic and, at times, heart-warming, this unflinching story of an unconventional man is strongly directed by the multi-award winning Jack Gold. It is featured here in a brand-new High Definition restoration from original film elements, in its original fullscreen aspect ratio.
Special Features:
Feature version [HD - Blu-ray exclusive]: in full widescreen with the ad-breaks removed
Audio Commentary with John Hurt, director Jack Gold and executive producer Verity Lambert
Seven Men: Quentin Crisp – a Granada profile from 1971
Mavis Catches Up with Quentin Crisp: an interview from 1989