Blu-Ray News #342: In Harm’s Way (1965).

Directed by Otto Preminger
Starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Paula Prentiss, Brandon De Wilde, Dana Andrews, Henry Fonda, Slim Pickens, George Kennedy, Bruce Cabot, Barbara Bouchet

Nothing makes me love the Blu-Ray format more than black and white ‘Scope movies. They look just wonderful. So I’m really stoked that Paramount is bringing Otto Preminger’s In Harm’s Way (1965) to Blu-Ray in June.

It’s a bit of a soap opera, but John Wayne’s in it, the model work is really cool, Loyal Griggs’s cinematography is beautiful and Jerry Goldsmith’s score is terrific. Highly recommended.

One gripe: back in ’65, this picture boasted a brilliant poster design from the great Saul Bass (above). Why would Paramount ditch that in favor something totally cheeseball?

Bob Dylan In In Harm’s Way?

From an interview posted on BobDylan.com —

Bill Flanagan: You met John Wayne in 1966. How did you two hit it off?

Bob Dylan: Pretty good, actually. The Duke, I met him on a battleship in Hawaii where he was filming a movie, he and Burgess Meredith. One of my former girlfriends was in the movie, too, and she told me to come over there. She introduced me to him and he asked me to play some folk songs. I played him “Buffalo Skinners,” “Raggle Taggle Gypsy,” and I think “I’m a Rambler, I’m a Gambler.” He told me if I wanted to, I could stick around and be in the movie. He was friendly to me.

Love that poster art by Saul Bass!

Blu-Ray News #209: The Heroes Of Telemark (1965).

Directed by Anthony Mann
Starring Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Michael Redgrave, Anton Diffring

Anthony Mann’s next-to-last movie, The Heroes Of Telemark (1965) is a based-on-fact secret-mission-in-the-snow picture in the Where Eagles Dare (1969) vein. It’s quite good — and it’ll certainly benefit from the leap to Blu-Ray. The skiing sequences, with Olympic ski coach Helge Stoylen and his students serving as camera operators, are terrific.

Sony has recently announced that it’s coming. Perfect for some snowy night around the fire.

Blu-ray News #45: The Vikings (1957).

Directed by Richard Fleischer
Starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh, James Donald

Richard Fleischer’s The Vikings (1957) will land on Blu-ray in March of 2016. It’s probably not much for history, but for late-50s epic cool, this is about as good as it gets. Originally released in Technirama and Technicolor, I can’t wait to see what this’ll look like in hi-def.