Indicator/Powerhouse Films Announce July Releases
HomeIndicator/Powerhouse Films Announce July Releases
Posted April 27, 2023 08:44 PM by Webmaster
British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films have announced their July batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: Jet Pilot (1957), Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948), The Song of Songs (1933), and Thunderbolt (1929).
Thunderbolt
Description: George Bancroft (Angels with Dirty Faces) and Fay Wray (King Kong) star in the first sound film from legendary director Josef von Sternberg (Shanghai Express), made just prior to his celebrated series of collaborations with Marlene Dietrich.
Murderer 'Thunderbolt' Jim Lang (Bancroft) is arrested and imprisoned with the help of his former moll, Ritzie (Wray). Whilst on death row in Sing Sing, Jim enacts his revenge by framing Ritzie's lover, Bob (Richard Arlen), for a crime he didn't commit.
With a screenplay from Herman J Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) and Joseph L Mankiewicz (Suddenly, Last Summer), and adapted from a story by Jules Furthman (Blonde Venus), Thunderbolt is a classic pre-Code crime thriller.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Song of Songs
Description: Marlene Dietrich (Blonde Venus) took a break from her classic run of films with Josef von Sternberg to make The Song of Songs, an atmospheric romantic drama co-starring Brian Aherne (A Bullet Is Waiting) and Lionel Atwill (The Devil Is a Woman).
Peasant girl Lily (Dietrich) moves to Berlin, where she falls in love with sculptor Richard (Aherne), for whom she poses. When Richard gets cold feet, Lily enters into an unhappy marriage with a wealthy Baron (Atwill), but longs to return to her true love.
Ravishingly shot by director Rouben Mamoulian (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), and co-written by Samuel Hoffenstein (An American Tragedy), The Song of Songs is an exquisite and daring pre-Code melodrama.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Description: Edward G Robinson (The Whole Town's Talking, Tight Spot) and John Lund (A Foreign Affair) lead the cast of this tense and disturbing thriller from director John Farrow (A Bullet Is Waiting).
When clairvoyant John (Robinson) tells wealthy heiress Jean (Gail Russell, The Uninvited) that she will die within a week, her lover, Elliot (John Lund), is sceptical, believing John to be a con artist who is only after money. But, as the foretold night arrives, Jean waits in fear for her life...
Based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window), Night Has a Thousand Eyes is a pioneering fusion of film noir and psychological horror.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Jet Pilot
Description: The only colour film directed by the great Josef von Sternberg (Morocco), Jet Pilot brings together John Wayne (Hellfighters) and Janet Leigh (Psycho) in a Cold War blend of romance and thrills.
When Soviet defector Anna (Leigh) lands her plane on Colonel Shannon's (Wayne) base, the two soon fall in love and marry. However, after it comes to light that Anna is still spying for her homeland, the couple flee to Russia, putting Shannon in danger from the Soviet authorities. Soon, Anna must choose between her love for her husband and her love for her country.
Written and produced by Jules Furthman (Blonde Venus), and famous for its extended period of post-production at the hands of studio boss Howard Hughes, Jet Pilot highlights the absurdity of the Cold War, and was hailed by critic Andrew Sarris as a precursor to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Thunderbolt
Description: George Bancroft (Angels with Dirty Faces) and Fay Wray (King Kong) star in the first sound film from legendary director Josef von Sternberg (Shanghai Express), made just prior to his celebrated series of collaborations with Marlene Dietrich.
Murderer 'Thunderbolt' Jim Lang (Bancroft) is arrested and imprisoned with the help of his former moll, Ritzie (Wray). Whilst on death row in Sing Sing, Jim enacts his revenge by framing Ritzie's lover, Bob (Richard Arlen), for a crime he didn't commit.
With a screenplay from Herman J Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) and Joseph L Mankiewicz (Suddenly, Last Summer), and adapted from a story by Jules Furthman (Blonde Venus), Thunderbolt is a classic pre-Code crime thriller.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- The Guardian Interview with Fay Wray (1990): archival audio recording of the famed actor in conversation at the National Film Theatre, London
- Tony Rayns on 'Thunderbolt' (2023): extensive discussion of von Sternberg's classic by the writer and film programmer
- Video essay on the film by film historian Tag Gallagher (2023)
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson, archival articles, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
The Song of Songs
Description: Marlene Dietrich (Blonde Venus) took a break from her classic run of films with Josef von Sternberg to make The Song of Songs, an atmospheric romantic drama co-starring Brian Aherne (A Bullet Is Waiting) and Lionel Atwill (The Devil Is a Woman).
Peasant girl Lily (Dietrich) moves to Berlin, where she falls in love with sculptor Richard (Aherne), for whom she poses. When Richard gets cold feet, Lily enters into an unhappy marriage with a wealthy Baron (Atwill), but longs to return to her true love.
Ravishingly shot by director Rouben Mamoulian (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), and co-written by Samuel Hoffenstein (An American Tragedy), The Song of Songs is an exquisite and daring pre-Code melodrama.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Geoff Andrew on 'The Song of Songs' (2023): the writer and critic assesses the film and its place within the career of director Rouben Mamoulian
- Lux Radio Theatre: 'The Song of Songs' (1937): radio play adaptation of the film's screenplay, featuring returning cast members Marlene Dietrich and Lionel Atwill, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Rick Burin, archival articles, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Description: Edward G Robinson (The Whole Town's Talking, Tight Spot) and John Lund (A Foreign Affair) lead the cast of this tense and disturbing thriller from director John Farrow (A Bullet Is Waiting).
When clairvoyant John (Robinson) tells wealthy heiress Jean (Gail Russell, The Uninvited) that she will die within a week, her lover, Elliot (John Lund), is sceptical, believing John to be a con artist who is only after money. But, as the foretold night arrives, Jean waits in fear for her life...
Based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window), Night Has a Thousand Eyes is a pioneering fusion of film noir and psychological horror.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with authors and critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme (2023)
- Tony Rayns on 'Night Has a Thousand Eyes' (2023): the writer and film programmer discusses the career of director John Farrow and his distinctive noirs
- Screen Directors Playhouse: 'Night Has a Thousand Eyes' (1948): radio play adaptation introduced and directed by Farrow, and starring Edward G Robinson and William Demarest, reprising their film roles
- Suspense: 'The Man Who Thought He Was Edward G. Robinson' (1946): playful original radio play tapping into Robinson's distinctive persona, starring the man himself
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Jill Blake, archival interviews with actors John Lund and Gail Russell, an archival profile of screenwriter Jonathan Latimer, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
Jet Pilot
Description: The only colour film directed by the great Josef von Sternberg (Morocco), Jet Pilot brings together John Wayne (Hellfighters) and Janet Leigh (Psycho) in a Cold War blend of romance and thrills.
When Soviet defector Anna (Leigh) lands her plane on Colonel Shannon's (Wayne) base, the two soon fall in love and marry. However, after it comes to light that Anna is still spying for her homeland, the couple flee to Russia, putting Shannon in danger from the Soviet authorities. Soon, Anna must choose between her love for her husband and her love for her country.
Written and produced by Jules Furthman (Blonde Venus), and famous for its extended period of post-production at the hands of studio boss Howard Hughes, Jet Pilot highlights the absurdity of the Cold War, and was hailed by critic Andrew Sarris as a precursor to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition remaster
- Two presentations of the film: in the original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio; and in the 1.37:1 open matte shooting ratio
- Original mono audio
- Tony Rayns on 'Jet Pilot' (2023): in-depth discussion of the film's protracted production and release
- The Town (1943): Josef von Sternberg's contribution to the war effort, a short film about a typical small town in the US, made as part of The American Scene film series
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Glenn Kenny, an extract from Joseph von Sternberg's autobiography, archival interviews with von Sternberg, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
