John Hodson
09-11-2001, 12:38
Criterion's new DVD of The Ruling Class dropped through the letterbox this morning, nice presentation with commentaries by director Peter Medak, writer Peter Barnes and star Peter O'Toole.
The actual transfer itself is a slight disappointment, with a fair degree of dirt and scratches still evident, and at least one enormous reel change 'blob'; not up to the standard of, for instance, Billy Liar , I thought. Don't get me wrong, it's not a disaster by any means, it's just not...perfect.
Still, a superb film that I haven't seen in perhaps 20 years, and with a cast that includes Harry Andrews, Arthur Lowe, Michael Bryant et al, you can't go too far wrong; O'Toole's manic rendition of 'Dem Bones' is fabulous.
The aforementioned commentaries seem interesting and informative on first listening. The case says that this version at 154 minutes 'has never been seen by American audiences before', presumably the version I saw many moons ago was uncut, but I'll know more tonight, when I curl up on the sofa with a nice malt and a very, very good movie.
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So many films, so little time...
The actual transfer itself is a slight disappointment, with a fair degree of dirt and scratches still evident, and at least one enormous reel change 'blob'; not up to the standard of, for instance, Billy Liar , I thought. Don't get me wrong, it's not a disaster by any means, it's just not...perfect.
Still, a superb film that I haven't seen in perhaps 20 years, and with a cast that includes Harry Andrews, Arthur Lowe, Michael Bryant et al, you can't go too far wrong; O'Toole's manic rendition of 'Dem Bones' is fabulous.
The aforementioned commentaries seem interesting and informative on first listening. The case says that this version at 154 minutes 'has never been seen by American audiences before', presumably the version I saw many moons ago was uncut, but I'll know more tonight, when I curl up on the sofa with a nice malt and a very, very good movie.
---
So many films, so little time...