IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Kino Lorber has not made a formal announcement on their Facebook page, but both Amazon and Blu-ray.com have revealed that the label will release a Blu-ray of The Iceman Cometh (1973) on March 26th.  The two-disc release is reported to include both the 178-minute theatrical version and the 239-minute director’s cut.

The film was directed by John Frankenheimer as part of the American Film Theatre project, in which classic and modern plays were adapted into feature films for cinemas (rather than just filming a stage performance).  This adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s classic play stars Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Moses Gunn, and Bradford Dillman; and it is generally considered the best of the American Film Theatre productions.

The Iceman Cometh (1973) is also notable as the last film for both Robert Ryan and Fredric March.  Both are excellent in the film, and I think it is the best performance of March’s career.  He absolutely disappears into the role.  In fact, the first time I saw the movie, I did not recognize Fredric March until halfway through the film.

Here are the details, as reported by Blu-ray.com:

Synopsis: In the faded light of Harry Hope’s 1912 skid row bar, a group of fallen men, like ghosts haunting the wreckage of their own lives, await the annual arrival of Hickey (Lee Marvin). This year, however, the charismatic salesman brings not the usual rounds of drinks and slaps on the back, but an unwelcome message of sobriety. Hollywood legends Fredric March and Robert Ryan performed alongside relative newcomer Jeff Bridges in a brilliant cinematic experiment that captured the existential dread of O’Neill’s play, the capstone of which is Marvin’s haunting suggestion of the madman that hides beneath Hickey’s ribald, garrulous exterior.

Special Features:

DISC ONE

• NEW 2K RESTORATION of the complete 239-minute director’s cut
• Optional English subtitles

DISC TWO

• NEW 2K RESTORATION of the 178-minute theatrical version
• Interview with Edie Landau
• “Ely Landau: In Front of the Camera,” a promotional film for the American Film Theatre
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Trailer Gallery