Glorious 39 (2009/E1 Blu-ray) + Made In
Dagenham (2010/Sony Blu-ray) + VCI DVDs: Candlelight In Algeria
(1944) + Child In The House (1956) +
Thunder In The City (1937) + Renown Mystery Double Feature: The 20
Questions Murder Mystery (aka Murder
On The Air/1950)/Tread Softly
(1952)
Picture:
B-/B DVDs: C Blu-ray Sound: B DVD Sound: C Extras: C/B DVDs: D Films: B-/B DVDs: C+
British
films have managed to keep a separate identity from their Hollywood
counterparts for years and the following releases then and now show how.
We start
with two newer entries. Stephen
Poliakoff‘s Glorious 39 (2009)
starts out as any other melodrama as Britain has to decide as to whether it can
stave off entering what will become WWII or appease Hitler, et al. Then the story becomes a thriller as a young
lady named Glorious (Romola Garai) starts to discover that something is wrong
around her and as she investigates, she discovers some people she thought she
could trust are up to something bizarre… something that might get people
killed. Then someone dies. Then another person dies. Then…
I did not
buy the ending, but the actual film is pretty good, is a mystery of sorts and
has a solid supporting cast that includes Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, David
Tennant, Jenny Agutter, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Bonneville and Jeremy Northam
among others. Though not totally
successful, it is smart, interesting and worth seeing at least once. Glad I saw it.
The best
film of all the Brit imports here is Nigel Cole’s Made In Dagenham (2010), a very underrated film about how neglect
and sexual politics in 1969 pre-counterculture Britain
changed the country and Europe forever. Sally Hawkins is Rita, one of many women
working for Ford, sewing by hand all the cloth interiors for their many cars
produced in factories over in the U.K. and doing a fine job. They are getting paid much less than the men
and when Ford decides their labor is even wroth less than the less they have
already pegged it as being, they become very unhappy.
Advised by
a union fellow on their side (Bob Hoskins in one of his best roles and
performances in years), they decide to do something they never planned on: they
go on strike. At first, the men all
around take this as a joke, but the more they are taken for granted across
socio-economic strata and in their personal lives by men, the worse they see it
as and Rita gets them to whip up their strike to the next level.
They are
being paid 50% of the men’s wages and Ford wants to pay them less! They decide to stand up and the result is
that they bring production of all Ford cars, trucks and the like to a
screeching halt. And it gets better.
Like the
underrated Flash Of Genius a few
years ago where an inventor of a better windshield wiper is ripped-off by Ford
(et al) with Greg Kinnear in an underrated performance, here is another fine
film about Ford that somehow did not find an audience. Hmmm.
What happened? Is the company
somehow censoring these films? Why? Either way, Made In Dagenham is a great film about a key part of history and
the cast is terrific, also including Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike,
Geraldine James and other great actors we need to see more of. This is one of 2010’s best films and deserves
to be finally found and discovered in a big way on Blu-ray and everywhere else.
Now for
some older films that hold up nicely for their age on VCI DVD.
George
King’s Candlelight In Algeria (1944)
is a WWII thriller with a young James Mason is an Allied spy on the run from
them and the Nazis trying to head off the Nazis over an African invasion point
the Allies secretly plan to use to break the Axis hold on that continent. A decent thriller, some of it is good, some
of it drags, but Mason is so good that he is the primary reason to watch,
though the supporting cast is good too.
Otto Heller lensed the film and there is a larger audience for this one.
Cy
Endfield’s Child In The House (1956)
is also a good looking melodrama thanks to the early Production Design of the
great Ken Adam as a young lady (Mandy Miller) is stuck with her dysfunctional
Aunt as her mother is hospitalized and father (Stanley Baker) is a fugitive on
the run for a murder he did not commit.
His daughter actually knows where her dad is, but has to keep it a
secret at all costs, but others will try to find out to get him. Not bad, but not great either, though there
is again more than enough talent to give it a good look. Eric Portman and Alfie Bass also star.
Marion
Gering’s Thunder In The City (1937)
is an interesting Edward G. Robinson vehicle where he plays a New York
businessman who goes to England and tries to make a fortune on a new element
that could revolutionize industry after he is forced out of a company in NYC he
helped make bigger. He poses as a
property buyer, but has other plans in mind, bringing his all-American
enthusiasm and known-how with him. Nigel
Bruce is part of the family he is negotiating with and it is a fun film, though
it too can show its age, but it holds up very well for being 74 years old, as
the technological angle prevents it from seeming so old. Miklos Rozsa composed the music score and the
solid supporting cast includes Ralph Richardson and Arthur Wontner.
Finally
we get the Renown Mystery Double
Feature: The 20 Questions Murder Mystery (aka Murder On The Air/1950) plus Tread
Softly (1952). Questions is an amusing piece about a murderer who is going around
and killing people based on clues from a radio game show, while Tread is an odd
mix of Backstage Musical (we get entire song and/or dance performances) and
murder as an old theater known for a tragic end is now the site of fresh
murders as it tires to reopen. Is it
cursed?
Well,
these films are not, offering smart murder mysteries with fun British actors
you might not know, though Tread has
Robert Urquhart and Ronald Leigh-Hunt.
These are the most distinct of the mysteries here and have that kind of
B-movie pace old film fans love about such mystery films. All serious mystery fans will want this disc.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on both Blu-rays have nice scope framing
and great shots throughout, but Glorious
has softness issues beyond its styling that holds back its picture quality,
while Dagenham has its own period
style, but it does not effect the playback as much making it the image quality
champ among all these releases. The 1.33
X 1 black and white images on the DVDs have been cleaned up, but all show their
age and are on the soft side.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mixes on the Blu-rays are well recorded, but Glorious tends to be more
dialogue-based with less of a soundfield and less usage of the channels. Dagenham
has a better soundfield, better integration of the dialogue with music and
sound effects and is the sonic champion among all the releases here. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on the DVDs have
all been cleaned up, but they all show their age with various kinds of
compression, distortion and some brittleness that is unavoidable.
Extras
are absent on the DVDs, but Glorious
has Behind The Scenes Featurette Interviews
that should be seen after watching the film and Dagenham adds Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, a Making Of featurette, feature length audio commentary track with
director Cole and BD Live interactive features exclusive to the Blu-ray.
- Nicholas Sheffo
