DVD Reviews

<jats:p> <jats:bold>The complete Fritz Lang Mabuse box set <jats:italic>Dr Mabuse, The Gambler/Dr Mabuse, der Spieler</jats:italic> (1922) <jats:italic>Part 1: The Great Gambler A Picture of the Time/Der Grosse Spieler ein Bild der Zeit Part 2: Inferno: A Play About People of Our Times/Inferno: Ein Spiel von Menschen unserer Zeit</jats:italic> Germany Director</jats:bold> Fritz Lang <jats:bold>Screenplay</jats:bold> Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang <jats:bold>Based on the novel by</jats:bold> Norbert Jacques <jats:bold>Producer</jats:bold> Erich Pommer <jats:bold>Director of Photography</jats:bold> Carl Hoffmann <jats:bold>Art Directors</jats:bold> Carl Stahl-Urach, Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht <jats:bold>Costumes</jats:bold> Vally Rienecke <jats:bold>With</jats:bold> Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Dr Mabuse), Aud Egede Nissen (Cara Carozza), Bernhard Goetzke (State Prosecutor von Wenk), Alfred Abel (Count Told), Gertrude Welcker (Countess Told), Paul Richter (Edgar Hull), Robert Forster-Larrinaga (Dr Mabuse's manservant) <jats:bold>Runtime</jats:bold> 155 minutes (Part 1, 22 fps), 115 minutes (Part II, 22 fps)</jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>The Testament of Dr Mabuse/Das Testament des Dr Mabuse</jats:italic> </jats:bold> (1933) Germany <jats:bold>Director</jats:bold> Fritz Lang <jats:bold>Screenplay</jats:bold> Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang <jats:bold>Based on characters created by</jats:bold> Norbert Jacques <jats:bold>Producers</jats:bold> Seymour Nebenzal, Fritz Lang <jats:bold>Directors of Photography</jats:bold> Karl Vash, Fritz Arno Wagner <jats:bold>Art Directors</jats:bold> Emil Hasler, Karl Vollbrecht <jats:bold>Costumes</jats:bold> Hans Kothke <jats:bold>With</jats:bold> Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Dr Mabuse), Otto Wehrnicke (Detective Inspector Lohmann), Oskar Beregi (Dr Baum), Gustav Diessl (Thomas Kent), Wera Liessem (Lilli), Theodor Loos (Baum's assistant), Klaus Pohl (Mller) <jats:bold>Runtime</jats:bold> 116 minutes (orig. 122 minutes)</jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse/Die 1000 Augen des Dr Mabuse</jats:italic> </jats:bold> (1960) West Germany <jats:bold>Director</jats:bold> Fritz Lang <jats:bold>Screenplay</jats:bold> Fritz Lang, Heinz Oskar Wuttig, Jan Fethke <jats:bold>Based on characters created by</jats:bold> Norbert Jacques <jats:bold>Producers</jats:bold> Fritz Lang, Alfred Bittins, Artur Brauner <jats:bold>Director of Photography</jats:bold> Karl Lb <jats:bold>Art Directors</jats:bold> Erich Kettelhut, Johannes Ott <jats:bold>Costumes</jats:bold> Ina Stein <jats:bold>With</jats:bold> Dawn Addams (Marion Menil), Peter Van Eyck (Travers), Wolfgang Preiss (Jordan), Gert Frbe (Detective Inspector Kras), Wolfgang Preiss aka Lupo Prezzo (Cornelius), Werner Peters (Hieronymus P Mistelzweig), Andrew Checchi (Hotel Detective Berg) <jats:bold>Runtime</jats:bold> 109 minutes <jats:bold>DVD</jats:bold> (four discs) UK, 2010 <jats:bold>Produced and Distributed by</jats:bold> Eureka Entertainment (region 2) <jats:bold>Aspect Ratio</jats:bold> 1.33:1 (b/w) <jats:bold>Sound Mix</jats:bold> Mono 1.0 <jats:bold>Extras</jats:bold> Original German titles for <jats:italic>Dr Mabuse, de Spieler</jats:italic>. New English subtitles for all three films. Commentaries to all three films by David Kalat. Featurettes: (1) <jats:italic>Mabuse's Music</jats:italic>, (2) <jats:italic>Norbert Jacques: The Literary Inventor of Dr Mabuse</jats:italic>, (3) <jats:italic>Mabuse's Motives</jats:italic>. A 2002 interview with Wolfgang Preiss. Alternative ending to <jats:italic>The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse</jats:italic> (French print). English dubbing track for <jats:italic>The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse</jats:italic>. Three booklets (with production stills and interview excerpts): Sensation of Culture (a 1924 lecture by Fritz Lang), essay by Michel Chion on the use of sound in <jats:italic>The Testament of Dr Mabuse</jats:italic>, essay by David Cairns on <jats:italic>The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse</jats:italic>.</jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold>Lubitsch in Berlin: fairy-tales, melodramas and sex comedies <jats:italic>Six films by Ernst Lubitsch, 19181921 I Wouldn't Like To Be A Man/Ich mchte kein Mann sein</jats:italic> (1918)<jats:italic>, The Doll/Die Puppe</jats:italic> (1919)<jats:italic>, The Oyster Princess/Die Austernprinzessin</jats:italic> (1919)<jats:italic>, Sumurun</jats:italic> (1920)<jats:italic>, Anna Boleyn</jats:italic> (1920)<jats:italic>, The Mountain Cat/Die Vergkatze</jats:italic> (1921) Germany Director</jats:bold> Ernst Lubitsch <jats:bold>Screenplay</jats:bold> Hanns Kraly, Ernst Lubitsch, Norbert Falk <jats:bold>Original Story</jats:bold> E.T.A. Hoffman, Richard Rie <jats:bold>Producers</jats:bold> Paul Davidson, Ernst Lubitsch <jats:bold>Directors of Photography</jats:bold> Theodor Sparkul, Kurt Waschneck <jats:bold>Art Directors</jats:bold> Kurt Richter, Erno Metzner, Hans Poelzig, Max Gronert, Ernst Stein <jats:bold>Costumes</jats:bold> Kurt Richter, Ali Hubert, Ernst Stein <jats:bold>With</jats:bold> Ossie Oswalda, Max Kronert, Herman Thimig, Marga Khler, Gerhardt Ritterband, Jacob Tiedtke, Josefine Dora, Kurt Gtz, Ferry Sikla, Margarete Kupfer, Victor Janson, Pola Negri, Paul Wegener, Jenny Hasselqvist, Aud Edege Nissen, Harry Liedtke, Carl Clewing, Paul Biensfeldt, Paul Graetz, Henny Porten, Emil Jannings, Paul Hartmann, Ludwig Hartau, Hedwig Pauly-Winterstein, Hilde Mller, Maria Reisendorfer, Ferdinand von Alten, Adolf Klein, Paul Heidemann, Wilhelm Diegalmann, Edith Meller, Max Gronert, Erwin Kopp <jats:bold>Runtime</jats:bold> 471 minutes <jats:bold>DVD</jats:bold> UK, 2010 <jats:bold>Produced and Distributed by</jats:bold> Eureka Entertainment (region 0 PAL) <jats:bold>Aspect Ratio</jats:bold> 1.33:1 <jats:bold>Sound Mix</jats:bold> Mono 1.0 <jats:bold>Extras</jats:bold> New officiallylicensed transfer from restored materials. New and improved optional English subtitles with German-language intertitles. Newly commissioned scores. New short essays by Anna Thorngate, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and David Cairns. <jats:italic>Ernst Lubitsch In Berlin: From Schnhauser Allee to Berlin</jats:italic> (2006), a 110-minute documentary by Richard Fischer. Six ThinPaks enclosed in a hard box.</jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>For All Mankind</jats:italic> </jats:bold> (1989) USA <jats:bold>Director</jats:bold> Al Reinert <jats:bold>Producers</jats:bold> Betsy Broyles Breier, David Leitner, Al Reinert <jats:bold>With</jats:bold> Jim Lovell, Russell Schweikart, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean, Jack Swigert, Stuart Roosa, James Irwin, Kenneth Mattingly, Charles Duke, Harrison Scmitt <jats:bold>Runtime</jats:bold> 80 minutes <jats:bold>DVD</jats:bold> UK, 2009 <jats:bold>Produced and Distributed by</jats:bold> Eureka Entertainment (region 2) <jats:bold>Aspect Ratio</jats:bold> 1.37:1 <jats:bold>Sound Mix</jats:bold> Stereo and 5.1 <jats:bold>Extras</jats:bold> A new, restored high-definition transfer, supervised and approved by director Al Reinert. Audio commentary featuring Reinert and Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan. <jats:italic>An Accidental Gift: The Making of For All Mankind</jats:italic> a new documentary featuring interviews with Reinert, Apollo 12 and Skylab astronaut Alan Bean, and NASA archive specialists. A gallery of Bean's artwork, inspired by his life as an astronaut, with commentary and a filmed introduction. NASA audio highlights and lift-off footage. Optional on-screen identification of astronauts and mission control specialists. New optional English subtitles (SDH) for the hearing impaired. Booklet, featuring essays, credits, stills, a new interview with Brian Eno and more.</jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>A Time to Love and a Time to Die</jats:italic> </jats:bold> (1958) USA <jats:bold>Director</jats:bold> Douglas Sirk <jats:bold>Screenplay</jats:bold> Orin Jannings <jats:bold>Original Story by</jats:bold> Erich Maria Remarque (novel) <jats:bold>Producer</jats:bold> Robert Arthur <jats:bold>Cinematography</jats:bold> Russell Metty <jats:bold>Art Direction</jats:bold> Alexander Golitzen and Alfred Sweeney <jats:bold>Costume Design</jats:bold> Bill Thomas <jats:bold>With</jats:bold> John Gavin (Ernst Grber), Liselotte Lilo Pulver (Elizabeth Kruse), Jock Mahoney (Immerman), Keenan Wynn (Reuter), Don DeFore (Hermann Bttcher), Thayer David (Oscar Binding), Charles Rgnier (Josef), Erich Maria Remarque (Professor Pohlmann) and Klaus Kinski (the Gestapo Lieutenant). <jats:bold>Runtime</jats:bold> 127 minutes <jats:bold>DVD</jats:bold> UK, 2009 <jats:bold>Produced and Distributed by</jats:bold> Eureka Entertainment (region 2) <jats:bold>Aspect Ratio</jats:bold> 2.35: 1 <jats:bold>Original Aspect Ratio</jats:bold> 35 mm Cinemascope Colour <jats:bold>Extras</jats:bold> New anamorphic transfer of the film in its original 2:35:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio. English SDH subtitles for the hearing impaired. <jats:italic>Of Tears and Speed: According to Jean-Luc Godard</jats:italic> a 12-minute, visually annotated recitation of Jean-Luc Godard's seminal essay on Sirk's film. A 19-minute video interview with Wesley Strick, screenwriter of Scorsese's <jats:italic>Cape Fear</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>Imitation of Life [Mirage of Life]: A Portrait Of Douglas Sirk</jats:italic> documentary. The original trailer for the film, from the time it retained the provisional title of simply A Time To Love. A 36-page booklet.</jats:p>