BD 44-45 Double Indemnity & The Lost Weekend

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swo17
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BD 44-45 Double Indemnity & The Lost Weekend

#1 Post by swo17 » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:13 am

Double Indemnity

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"That's a honey of an anklet you're wearing, Mrs. Dietrichson."

Double Indemnity is the dazzling, quintessential film noir whose enormous popular success and seven Oscar nominations catapulted Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment) into the very top tier of Hollywood's writer-directors. Adapted from a novella by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice), co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye), Double Indemnity remains the hardest-boiled of delectations.

Insurance hawker Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) gets seduced by some other man's wife: a bored, sex-starved Barbara Stanwyck done up in lorry-grille wig and a pair of lips like wine grapes smashed in candle-wax. She wants to off her better half and collect on his policy, but spitfire claims-adjuster Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) smells a rat or at least the cheap perfume all over that Dietrichson file.

Neff himself ties up the twisting plot in a neat bow: "We were talking about automobile insurance, only you were thinking about murder. And I was thinking about that anklet."

"Nominated for seven Oscars at the 1945 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Billy Wilder), Best Actress (Barbara Stanwyck), Best Screenplay (Wilder and Raymond Chandler), Best Cinematography (John F. Seitz), Best Score (Miklós Rózsa), Best Sound Recording (Loren Ryder). The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity for the first time anywhere in the world on Blu-ray, in a standard edition and a limited edition steelbook.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY ONLY

• Exclusive new high-definition restoration, officially licensed from Universal Pictures
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired
• Audio commentary by film historian Nick Redman and screenwriter Lem Dobbs
Shadows of Suspense — a 2006 documentary featuring film historians, directors, and authors discussing the making of Double Indemnity
• 1945 Screen Guild Theater radio adaptation of Double Indemnity, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray
• The original theatrical trailer
• 36-PAGE BOOKLET featuring a 1976 interview by John Allyn with Billy Wilder; an extract from a 1976 interview with James M. Cain comparing his original serial with Wilder’s film adaptation; documentation of novelist and Double Indemnity co-screenwriter Raymond Chandler’s attitude toward working within the Hollywood studio system; an extract from the original screenplay depicting the excised “death chamber” ending; a note on the restoration; and rare archival imagery


The Lost Weekend

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Directed by Billy Wilder (Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot), this gut-wrenching adaptation of Charles Jackson's The Lost Weekend horrified its studio, was rejected by test audiences, and was lobbied by temperance groups, yet went on to huge success and became the awards sensation of its year.

Ray Milland stars as Don Birnam, a New York author struggling with years of alcoholism and writer's block. Trying to keep him on the path to rehabilitation are his straight-laced brother Wick (Philip Terry) and devoted long-time girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman). When Don absconds from a country excursion, he embarks on a four-day binge, spiralling towards rock bottom.

Winner of the Grand Prix at the first ever Cannes Film Festival, as well as Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay, this brutal noir provided one of cinema's first in-depth studies of addiction. Crackling with rapier dialogue, vivid performances, and Wilder's superlative direction, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Lost Weekend for the first time anywhere in the world on Blu-ray. Released in the UK in a standard edition & limited edition steelbook.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY ONLY

• New high-definition master, officially licensed from Universal Pictures
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
• Exclusive new video introduction by director Alex Cox
• The three-part 1992 BBC Arena programme Billy, How Did You Do It? directed by Gisela Grischow and Volker Schlöndorff, featuring Schlöndorff in conversation with Billy Wilder
• The 1946 Screen Guild Theater radio adaptation of The Lost Weekend – starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, and Frankie Faylen
• The original theatrical trailer
• 36-PAGE BOOKLET featuring a new essay on the film by critic and filmmaker David Cairns; a reproduction of the famous hallucination sequence in three forms: an excerpt from Charles R. Jackson’s novel, an excerpt from Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder’s screenplay, and a presentation of actual frames from the corresponding scene in the film; a vintage public service advertisement by Seagram’s about The Lost Weekend and the broader social dilemma of alcoholism; and rare archival imagery
Last edited by swo17 on Wed May 09, 2012 6:54 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#2 Post by matrixschmatrix » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:51 am

I love Double Indemnity. I like The Lost Weekend but I keep thinking Ray Milland is Jimmy Stewart.

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Dick Laurent
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:39 am

Re: Forthcoming: Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#3 Post by Dick Laurent » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:57 am

very nice, does anyone have an idea why with these titles there's an elongated L in the word film? I was breaking my head over it when they released the teasers, I don't see a real connection here, probably just a quirk from the designer?

peerpee
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Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:41 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#4 Post by peerpee » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:59 am

A quirk on the design of the original DOUBLE INDEMNITY poster which we carried over onto both.

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Dick Laurent
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Re: Forthcoming: Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#5 Post by Dick Laurent » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:01 pm

I see, thanks for the answer :)

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Rsdio
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#6 Post by Rsdio » Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:24 pm

I just threw a "Fuck yeah!" at the screen, punctuated by a fist-pump - and I'm really not that excitable. It was all I could do not to stand up and applaud.

Suddenly I don't need to care about where my imported Legacy Series DVD has disappeared to.

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bigP
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:59 am
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#7 Post by bigP » Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:37 pm

Totally thrilled about this announcement. Two terrific Wilder's in definate need of some attention, and two films at the top of my Universal / MOC wishlist. Really, I couldn't be happier. Those covers should look great in steelbook format too. Roll on June.

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swo17
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#8 Post by swo17 » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:27 pm

Note that the spine numbers here have been chosen to coincide with each film's year of release, just like the Laughtons before them.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#9 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:39 pm

swo17 wrote:Note that the spine numbers here have been chosen to coincide with each film's year of release, just like the Laughtons before them.
It's stuff like this that I guess got you the forum member emeritus award for 2011.
Re the Wilders. Great news which sent me scuttling to unearth a copy of the mammoth Schlondorff interview 'How did you do it Billy.' Shown as an Arena BBC 2 part special over 20 years back. Every moment is a gem as anecdote laden as the Welles interview. What ever happened for us to lose this type of programming?
To paraphrase one of Wilder's most famous lines
We had TV back then.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#10 Post by What A Disgrace » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:41 pm

Excellent news. So stoked that Lost Weekend is going to get the treatment it deserves.

I hope spine number 48 belongs to a Wilder film, too.

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bigP
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#11 Post by bigP » Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:00 pm

What A Disgrace wrote:I hope spine number 48 belongs to a Wilder film, too.
And/or Spine 43, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for.

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Rsdio
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#12 Post by Rsdio » Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:38 pm

50 would be my hope but I think that's still a Paramount title, is it not?

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eerik
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#13 Post by eerik » Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:10 pm

Rsdio wrote:50 would be my hope but I think that's still a Paramount title, is it not?
Sunset Blvd. Blu-ray is coming from Paramount later this year as far as I know.

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Rsdio
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#14 Post by Rsdio » Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:15 pm

Oh, I hadn't heard anything about that - great to know! Hope it'll make it over here but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't since a lot of studio back catalogue stuff seems to be Region A only at the moment.

Miguel M Santos
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:34 pm
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#15 Post by Miguel M Santos » Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:23 pm

bigP wrote:
What A Disgrace wrote:I hope spine number 48 belongs to a Wilder film, too.
And/or Spine 43, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for.
I am probably in a minority, but I'd love to add 42 as well (maybe 42 and 43 together as in the French Carlotta DVD set?)

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bigP
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#16 Post by bigP » Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:57 pm

I definitely wouldn't be put off if The Major and the Minor was partnered with Five Graves to Cairo, even as an extra. I'm quite a fan of The Major and the Minor too - although it's certainly lesser Wilder, it's enormously enjoyable and has some sweet and very fun performances from the leads.

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Jeff
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#17 Post by Jeff » Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:54 pm

*swoon* *faint*

Curious to see how Double Indemnity blu stacks up with the one that Uni has scheduled for R1 in September. Also interested in the fact that the Double Indemnity transfer is an "exclusive new high-definition restoration," whereas Lost Weekend is merely a "new high-definition master." Does the lack of the term "exclusive" imply that Criterion or someone else may have access to that master as well? Either way, with The Apartment going Blu today and now this news, it's a good time to be a Wilder fanboy.

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colinr0380
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#18 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:36 am

Wonderful! Double Indemnity is one of the last classic films I have not got on any format - I've been going back and forth on picking the DVD up for years now, and finally I have the perfect reason to pick it up! Great to see MoC going the Criterion route and including Lux Radio Theater versions as well!

Are the steelbook versions going to be available through all retailers (i.e. Amazon/Movie Mail)?

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manicsounds
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#19 Post by manicsounds » Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:01 am

I'd assume that Universal UK will port over the "Shadows Of Suspense" documentary and the 2 audio commentaries from the US set (as they did with "Touch of Evil"), but I would'nt be too sad if they don't add the 1973 TV movie version. (Which I have but never seen)

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Tribe
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#20 Post by Tribe » Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:17 am

manicsounds wrote: I would'nt be too sad if they don't add the 1973 TV movie version. (Which I have but never seen)
And you haven't missed anything, aside from a prime example of made-for-tv drek. That version should be abandoned to the heap of TV filler that should never be aired again.

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MichaelB
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#21 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:48 pm

Inexplicably, Criterion omitted the Richard Chamberlain version of Night of the Hunter (1991) from their otherwise admirably comprehensive edition of Charles Laughton's film.

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SternDiet
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#22 Post by SternDiet » Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:22 am

Wouldn't it be great if they could sneak the famous gas chamber ending of 'Double Indemnity' in as an extra? Does that scene even still exist?

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triodelover
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#23 Post by triodelover » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:22 pm

SternDiet wrote:Wouldn't it be great if they could sneak the famous gas chamber ending of 'Double Indemnity' in as an extra? Does that scene even still exist?
If my memory isn't failing me, it's shown in the 38-minute Shadows of Suspense documentary that's part of the 2006 Universal SE package. I know I've seen it recently (as in this century) and I can't imagine where else I would have seen it.

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Jeff
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#24 Post by Jeff » Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:44 pm

The gas chamber ending is lost. All that remains are a couple of stills (which are probably what triodelover saw on that doc).

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SternDiet
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Re: BD 44-45 Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend

#25 Post by SternDiet » Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:51 am

Jeff wrote:The gas chamber ending is lost. All that remains are a couple of stills (which are probably what triodelover saw on that doc).
Do you know this for a fact? James Naremore seems to suggest in 'More Than Night' that it is in fact somewhere locked away in Paramount's vaults.

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