March 27, 2017

Blu-Ray News: Upcoming April titles from KINO LORBER STUDIO CLASSICS

Based on the classic novel by Ernest Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls). This gripping version of the legendary writer's World War I masterpiece stars Rock Hudson (Giant, Seconds) as an ambulance driver and Jennifer Jones (Portrait of Jennie, Duel in the Sun) as the nurse he falls in love with. Initially strangers, the two find they must suddenly grapple with difficult decisions about their life together until fate steps in and their future becomes uncertain. Featuring a stellar cast that includes Vittorio De Sica (The Earrings of Madame de...), Mercedes McCambridge (All the King's Men) and Oskar Homolka (Sabotage). A Farewell to Arms is one of the cinema's more poignant portraits of war and survival, beautifully directed by the great Charles Vidor (Gilda). Vittorio DeSica was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor.

When was the last time you were afraid? Really afraid? Brace yourself for the ultimate transplant... the human soul! The devil is in the music in this sleek and scary piece of movie necromancy - when a failed musician-turned-journalist (Alan Alda, M*A*S*H) interviews a reclusive aging pianist (Curt Jurgens, The Enemy Below), he doesn't realize he's being interviewed himself... to be the vessel for the Satanist's dying soul! Back in a youthful body, the pianist plans for a long life in the spotlight, but when the journalist's wife (Jacqueline Bisset, Bullitt) realizes her husband's twice the man he used to be, she prepares to make his new life a living Hell! Television veteran Paul Wendkos (Cannon for Cordoba) directs this cult horror classic, based on a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart (The Norliss Tapes) with a screenplay by Ben Maddow (The Asphalt Jungle). The stellar cast includes Barbara Parkins (Valley of the Dolls), Bradford Dillman (Chosen Survivors), Pamelyn Ferdin (The Beguiled), and William Windom (TV's The Farmer's Daughter). 

17th-century Salem, Massachusetts - a group of teenage girls meets in the woods at midnight for a secret love-conjuring ceremony. But instead of love, Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder, Heathers) wishes for the death of her former lover's (Daniel Day-Lewis, The Last of the Mohicans) wife (Joan Allen, The Ice Storm). When the ceremony is witnessed by one of the town's ministers, the girls are accused of witchcraft. Soon the entire village is consumed by hysteria, and innocent victims are put on trial, leading to a devastating climax! Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George) directed this modern classic based on a play by the great Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) and featuring an amazing cast that includes Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons), Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion), and Peter Vaughan (Straw Dogs). Received two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Allen) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Miller).

Before Romeo & Juliet, there was Tristan & Isolde! From executive producer Ridley Scott (Gladiator) and director Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) comes a sweeping, action-packed saga of epic battles, political intrigue and forbidden passion, set in a time when the lines between heroism and savagery were etched in fire and carved out with broadswords. After the fall of Rome, visionary warlord Marke (Rufus Sewell, A Knight's Tale) seeks to unite the squabbling English tribes to form one strong nation and defeat the brutal Irish king Donnchadh (David O'Hara, Braveheart). But when Lord Marke's greatest and most loyal knight, Tristan (James Franco, 127 Hours), falls in love with Isolde (Sophia Myles, Art School Confidential), a beautiful Irish woman, it threatens to destroy the fragile truce and ignite a war. Tristan + Isolde is a rousing tale of trust and treachery that will leave you breathless! The all-star cast also includes Mark Strong (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Henry Cavill (Man of Steel).

The year is 1870, and former Union soldier Tom Jeffords (James Stewart, No Highway in the Sky) is recruited to remove a tribe of Apache warriors from a U.S. Mail delivery route by any means necessary. Jeffords chooses peace instead of more killings and decides to learn the Apache way of life. He agrees to a peace treaty with Apache chief Cochise (Jeff Chandler, Ten Seconds to Hell) and marries a beautiful Native American woman (Debra Paget, Cry of the City). Tragedy strikes after the settlers break the peace treaty, but now it's Cochise trying to stop Jeffords from acting out in vengeance. Delmer Daves (3:10 to Yuma) directed this classic action-packed western that was nominated for three Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor (Chandler), Best Color Cinematography by Ernest Palmer (Blood and Sand) and Best Screenplay by the blacklisted Albert Maltz (Two Mules for Sister Sara).

No comments: