British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films have announced that they will add four new titles to their Blu-ray catalog in March: Michelangelo Antonioni's
The Passenger, John Guillermin's
Town on Trial, Dick Clement's
Otley, and Stephen Frears'
Gumshoe.
Gumshoe
Synopsis: This brilliant feature debut from director Stephen Frears (My Beautiful Laundrette, Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters) is an affectionate – and uniquely British – tribute to the Hollywood detective movies of the 1940s. Starring the great Albert Finney (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Murder on the Orient Express, Skyfall) as a Liverpool bingo caller who dreams of being a private eye and then finds himself suddenly contacted for what appears to be an actual piece of detective work.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- New interview with director Stephen Frears (2018)
- New interview with screenwriter and actor Neville Smith (2018)
- New interview with Director of Photography Chris Menges (2018)
- The Burning (1967, 31 mins): Frears' haunting debut short film
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
STREET DATE: MARCH 11.
The Passenger
Synopsis: In one of the most acclaimed films of all time, Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-up, Zabriskie Point) directed international star Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail, The Border, Wolf) and Maria Schneider (Last Tango in Paris) in an elliptical and fascinating thriller about alienation and lost identities. Now finally making its Blu-ray debut in the UK, this essential work from one of cinema's most renowned and celebrated film artists is accompanied by an array of fascinating and insightful extra features.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
audio
- Audio commentary with actor Jack Nicholson
- Audio commentary with screenwriter Mark Peploe and journalist Aurora Irvine
- New interview with actor Steven Berkoff (2018)
- New interview with actor Jenny Runacre (2018)
- Antonioni: 'Profession Reporter' (1975, 4 mins): the director discusses the film in an interview conducted at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival
- Michelangelo Antonioni – ŕ propos du cinéma (1975, 5 mins): Antonioni discusses his philosophy of cinema
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Amy Simmons, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
STREET DATE: MARCH 19.
Town on Trial
Synopsis: Investigating a murder in a small English town, a brusque Police Inspector (John Mills – Hobson's Choice, Ice Cold in Alex, Young Winston) discovers that virtually everyone he encounters has something to hide. Setting the template for British crime thrillers for decades to come (including recent TV hit Broadchurch), director John Guillermin's audacious, often salacious, drama is untypical of mainstream British cinema of its time. An intelligent and gripping police-procedural thriller and macabre melodrama, Town on Trial is a rare treat which is ripe for rediscovery.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- The John Player Lecture with John Mills (1970): archival audio recording of an interview conducted by Margaret Hinxman at London's National Film Theatre
- New interview with actor Elizabeth Seal (2018)
- An appreciation by film historian and journalist Barry Forshaw (2018)
- Adventure in the Hopfields (1954, 60 mins): starring Mandy Miller (The Snorkel), this Children's Film Foundation drama from director John Guillermin was once thought to be lost
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
STREET DATE: MARCH 19.
Otley
Synopsis: Gerry Otley (Tom Courtenay – The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Billy Liar, 45 Years) is a charming scrounger who stumbles unwittingly into espionage, murder and double crossing as he is mistaken for a spy, kidnapped, and then becomes romantically embroiled with a sexy foreign agent, played by Romy Schneider (Purple Noon, Ludwig, Death Watch).
Adeptly balancing thrills and laughs, this Sixties comic spy thriller from writer-director Dick Clement (TV's The Likely Lads, Porridge, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet) is a stellar addition to the British canon of post-Bond spy flicks.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with director Dick Clement
- The Guardian Lecture with Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (2008): archival audio recording of an interview conducted by Dick Fiddy at London's National Film Theatre
- New interview with actor Tom Courtenay (2018)
- New interview with actor Phyllida Law (2018)
- New interview with actor Freddie Jones (2018)
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Laura Mayne, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and historic articles on the film
- Limited Edition of 3,000 copies
STREET DATE: MARCH 19.