Arrow Academy February 2019 Titles
Arrow Academy, the “art house” label of Arrow films, posted their February Blu-ray announcements today, which consist of two mysteries by Joseph H Lewis, the director of noir classics Gun Crazy and The Big Combo. These discs sound right up my alley. While Arrow Academy is a British label, both of these titles will be released simultaneously in the UK, US, and Canada.
Listed below are the disc descriptions directly from the Arrow Academy Facebook page:
NEW UK/US/CA TITLE: My Name Is Julia Ross (Blu-ray)
A briskly paced and brilliantly stylised mystery that grabs its audience from the start
Pre-order in the UK via Arrow: http://bit.ly/2OAqQw3
Release dates: 18/19 February 2019
After a promising start on Poverty Row quickies, Joseph H. Lewis (The Big Combo) made his first film at Columbia and established himself as a director to watch with this Gothic-tinged Hitchcockian breakout hit, which later proved so popular that Columbia promoted it to A-feature status.
The morning after Julia Ross (Nina Foch, Executive Suite) takes a job in London as secretary to wealthy widow Mrs Williamson Hughes (Dame May Whitty, The Lady Vanishes), she wakes up in a windswept Cornish mansion, having been drugged. Mrs Hughes and her volatile son, Ralph (George Macready, Gilda), attempt to gaslight Julia into believing she is Ralph’s wife, Marion. Her belongings have been destroyed, the windows barred and the locals believe that she is mad. Will Julia be able to escape before she falls prey to the Hughes’ sinister charade? And what happened to the real Marion Hughes?
A briskly paced and brilliantly stylised mystery that grabs its audience from the start, My Name Is Julia Ross immediately cemented Lewis’ place in the noir pantheon, and anticipated the elaborate identity-based deceptions found in future classic thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Brian De Palma’s Obsession.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Commentary by noir expert Alan K. Rode
- Identity Crisis: Joseph H. Lewis at Columbia – The Nitrate Diva (Nora Fiore) provides the background and an analysis of the film
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Scott Saslow
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Adrian Martin
NEW UK/US/CA TITLE: So Dark the Night (Blu-ray)
A Hitchcockian tale of mystery and intrigue
Pre-order in the UK via Arrow: http://bit.ly/2Fdu4Gp
Release dates: 18/19 February 2019
Like his contemporaries Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder, Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy) dabbled in many genres, but excelled in the film noir tradition. A Hitchcockian tale of mystery and intrigue, So Dark the Night was one of his finest pictures.
Inspector Cassin, a renowned Paris detective, departs to the country for a much-needed break. There he falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter, Nanette, who is already betrothed to a local farmer. On the evening of their engagement party, Nanette and the farmer both disappear. Cassin takes up the case immediately to discover what happened to them and who is responsible.
As with his celebrated noir masterpieces My Name Is Julia Ross and The Big Combo, Lewis elevates the twisty, pulpy material with some of the finest noir touches the genre has to offer, beautifully shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer (Bonnie and Clyde).
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Audio Commentary by critics Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme
- So Dark… Joseph H. Lewis at Columbia – Critic Imogen Sara Smith provides the background and an analysis of the film
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tonci Zonjic
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Cairns
