British label Indicator/Powerhouse Films will add four new titles to its Blu-ray catalog in August: Sidney Lumet's
The Deadly Affair (1966), Jack Gold's
The Reckoning (1969) and
The National Health (1973), and Peter Medak's
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972). All four releases will be available for purchase on August 21.
Supplemental features to be included on these upcoming releases have not yet been finalized.
The Reckoning
Synopsis: A brutal lower-class Irishman, Michael Marler (played by Nicol Williamson, Hamlet, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution) has clawed his way to success. An ambitious man with an important job - but a boss he hates - and a wealthy wife (Ann Bell, To Sir, With Love), Marler is absolutely ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants. He returns to Liverpool, and upon hearing his father's recent death was the result of being attacked by a Teddy Boy, Marler, more vicious than ever, is intent on revenge. Directed by Jack Gold (The National Health), the film takes on class and social ills in 1960s London and Liverpool, in a deeply penetrating drama with excellent performances.
STREET DATE: AUGUST 21.
The Deadly Affair
Synopsis: Director Sidney Lumet tackles this cold war spy thriller based on a novel by master of the genre, John Le Carre. James Mason plays British secret agent Charles Dobbs, who's puzzled by the sudden suicide of a man he's recently investigated. The suicide seems contrary to his own findings, and Dobbs questions the recent widow (Simone Signoret) in an effort to understand the man's state of mind. When the Foreign Office tells Dobbs to drop the inquiry, he persists, even enlisting a retired investigator when he turns up further disturbing evidence. All of this takes place while Dobbs is dealing with the news that his frequently unfaithful wife (Harriet Andersson) has been carrying on an affair with his friend and protege (Maximilian Schell).
STREET DATE: AUGUST 21.
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Synopsis: Based on the successful play by writer Peter Nichols (
The National Health), the focus of this dark comedy-drama is the struggle of a British couple to cope with the day-to-day strain of caring for their ten-year-old disabled daughter, Jo. Critically acclaimed actor Alan Bates is tremendous as the father, who recounts the outlines of the couple's life before and since Jo's birth and diagnosis with cerebral palsy in comic asides, which lighten, but never diminish, the delicate handling of this difficult subject matter. As they confront the collapse of their marriage, the couple debates the alternatives for their daughter. Directed by Peter Medak, and starring a small but exceptional cast including Janet Suzman, Joan Hickson and Peter Bowles.
STREET DATE: AUGUST 21.
The National Health
Synopsis: Peter Nichols (Georgy Girl) adapted his own hit play to the screen, based on his experiences in hospitals. A riotous black comedy that's as timely today as ever, it contrasts the appalling conditions in an overcrowded London hospital with a soap opera playing on the televisions there. In an ingenious touch, the same actors appear in the "real" story as well as the "TV" one, thus blurring the distinctions even further. Jack Gold (The Medusa Touch) directs such outstanding British actors as Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely, Eleanor Bron, Jim Dale, Donald Sinden, Mervyn Johns and, in only his second film, Bob Hoskins. The renowned Carl Davis (Napoleon) composed the score.
STREET DATE: AUGUST 21.