Monday, April 25, 2016

Enter Olive Films With Upcoming Blu-ray and DVD releases detailed below.

Director Albert Lewin is often cited as one of the earliest intellectual directors in Hollywood, spending most of his young adulthood as an English academic. As one might expect, his films were often grossly misunderstood and underappreciated in their time.  Perhaps the best example of this is his 1946 drama The Private Affairs of Bel Ami, adapted from Guy de Maupassant’s novel and starring George Sanders and Angela Lansbury. It received near-unanimous negative reviews at its release, most notably from Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, but it is now widely praised by cinephiles. The film echoes many of the recurring themes in the director's work: artists at war with themselves, harmful obsessions, and a fusion of baroque and surreal styles.

Lewin’s fascination with aesthetics famously manifests itself in The Private Affairs of Bel Amiwith a single Technicolor shot juxtaposed against the rest of the film’s black and white. The Technicolor shot in question is of Max Ernst’s grotesque and disturbing The Temptation of St. Anthony. To find this painting, producers held a contest called the Bel Ami International Art Competition in which 11 artists including Salvador DalĂ­, Leonara Carrington, Eugene Berman, and Dorothea Tanning participated. They each submitted their version of the often-painted story of St. Anthony, which itself reflects the film’s themes. A jury selected Max Ernst’s, and its presence in the film has gone down in film history as incredibly jarring and powerful.
Fans of the film French Postcards have long been waiting for a DVD or Blu-ray of the film that includes the theatrical version’s beloved soundtrack. Rather than the replacement songs dubbed in for previous releases, Olive Films’ edition features the French language versions of pop songs such as “Do You Believe in Magic” that are integral to the film’s nostalgic atmosphere. French Postcards was directed by Willard Huyck (Howard the Duck) from a screenplay by Huyck and Gloria Katz (American Graffiti) and stars an ensemble of Miles Chapin, Debra Winger, Valerie Quennessen, Blanche Baker, David Marshall Grant, Marie-France Pisier, and Jean Rochefort.
Blu-ray and DVD debut of Rich Kids (1979), directed by Robert M. Young, starring Trini Alvarado, Jeremy Levy, John Lithgow, Olympia Dukakis, Paul Dooley, David Selby, and Terry Kiser.
Blu-ray debut of Zapped! (1982), directed by Robert J. Rosenthal and starring Scott Baio, Willie Aames, Scatman Crothers, Robert Mandan, Heather Thomas, and Felice Schachter.
Legend of the Lost (1957), directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi. 
Blu-ray debut of The King and Four Queens (1956), directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Clark Gable, Jo Van Fleet, Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes, Barbara Nichols, and Sara Shane.
Blu-ray debut of Iphigenia (1977), directed by Michael Cacoyannis and starring Irene Pappas, Costa Kazakos, and Tatiana Papamoskou.
Blu-ray debut of The Sum of Us (1994), directed by Geoff Burton and Kevin Dowling and starring Russell Crowe, Jack Thompson, Deborah Kennedy, and John Polson.
Blu-ray debut of The Whoopee Boys(1986), directed by John Byrum and starring Michael O'Keefe, Paul Rodriguez, Denholm Elliott, Carole Shelley, Dan O'Herlihy, Eddie Deezen, and Marsha Warfield
Blu-ray debut of Agent Cody Banks(2003), directed by Harald Zwart and starring Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff, Angie Harmon, and Ian McShane.
Blu-ray debut of Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004), directed by Kevin Allen and starring Frankie Muniz, Anthony Anderson, Hannah Spearritt, Keith David, and Cynthia Stevenson.