435 The Furies

[DarkImbecile]

The Furies



Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston are at their fierce finest in master Hollywood craftsman Anthony Mann’s crackling western melodrama The Furies. In 1870s New Mexico Territory, megalomaniacal widowed ranch owner T. C. Jeffords (Huston, in his final role) butts heads with his daughter, Vance (Stanwyck), a firebrand with serious daddy issues, over her dowry, choice of husband, and, finally, ownership of the land itself. Both sophisticated in its view of frontier settlement and ablaze with searing domestic drama, The Furies is a hidden treasure of American filmmaking, boasting Oscar™–nominated cinematography and vivid supporting turns from Judith Anderson, Wendell Corey, and Gilbert Roland.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary from 2008 featuring film historian Jim Kitses
• New program featuring critic Imogen Sara Smith (Blu-ray only)
• The Movies: “Action Speaks Louder Than Words,” a 1967 television interview with director Anthony Mann
• Rare on-camera interview with actor Walter Huston, made for the movie-theater series Intimate Interviews in 1931
• Interview from 2008 with Nina Mann, the director’s daughter
• Stills gallery of rare behind-the-scenes photos (DVD only)
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  PLUS: An essay by critic Robin Wood and a 1957 Cahiers du cinéma interview with Mann, as well as a new printing of the 1948 novel by Niven Busch on which the film is based

[domino harvey]

The addition of the novel is a nice touch, but they missed the boat with no Stanwyck extras

[jaredsap]

but they missed the boat with no Stanwyck extras

It says more extras are coming so don't give up hope yet.

[King Prendergast]

Mann finally joins the collection. Long overdue.

[Jeff]

Mann finally joins the collection. Long overdue.

All of the directors are brand new to the Collection this month. A nice change of pace.

Somebody at Criterion must be a big fan of The Furies. It seems like they are making deliberate effort to add it to the canon. At least that's what the line "The Furies is a hidden treasure" in their synopsis would indicate. Including the novel (which appears to have been out of print 60 years), will surely make the package a hefty slipcased release. Putting a "Wacky C" on something like that is sure to draw attention from the cineaste community. I can sense Dave Kehr's rehabilitating review coming already.

I'm pretty excited that they got Jim Kitses to do the audio commentary too.

[King Prendergast]

I was hoping that Man of the West would get the treatment, but its finally coming out in R1 from MGM, I'm guessing in a bare-bones edition.

[miless]

many of the directors of the past few months have been new to the collection: Ang Lee, Juan Antonio Bardem, Allen Baron, Cornel Wilde, Alf Sjöberg...

I bet that it has to do with Eclipse (and possibly an uncertainty surrounding future plans for HD)... allowing them to explore some of the lesser known filmmakers (and if the rumors of a Pedro Costa set are true, some stuff that's rarely been seen in the US).

[Jeff]

many of the directors of the past few months have been new to the collection: Ang Lee, Juan Antonio Bardem, Allen Baron, Cornel Wilde, Alf Sjöberg

True. This, however, is the first month since April 2005 in which all of the directors with films being released are making their Criterion DVD debut. I think your Eclipse theory is absolutely right. I don't expect the breath of fresh air will last though. Hell, next month may consist entirely of Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Godard. Not that that would be a bad thing.

[King Prendergast]

Hell, next month may consist entirely of Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Godard.

Which Godard are we thinking of?

[Jeff]

Hell, next month may consist entirely of Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Godard.

Which Godard are we thinking of?

I wasn't being serious or thinking about any particular films by any of those directors (though Two or Three Things... probably isn't far off). I was just making an obnoxious comment about the usual Criterion stable. Didn't mean to take us off topic. Back to the potentially awesome Criterion release of The Furies...

As excited as I am about this release, I hope that the "More!" notation amounts to a hefty documentary on Mann, since there isn't one around that I'm aware of. Mann was interviewed on a 1962 episode of Cinépanorama, a show that Criterion has borrowed from several times before.

[Belmondo]

And, don't forget the music score by Franz Waxman which is excellent. I'm unaware of any soundtrack LP or CD release, but it is done as a suite, and beautifully recorded, on a CD titled "Round-Up" by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops.

but they missed the boat with no Stanwyck extras

It says more extras are coming so don't give up hope yet.

Good. But, the extra I'm most anticipating is the one explaining why it took them 435 tries to come up with a western. There was a time when certain critics and film snobs pretty much dismissed the western as kids stuff. This remains somewhat true in the rare book world where source novels for famous mysteries are hugely expensive and source novels for famous westerns are surprisingly cheap.

I would hope all of us could easily come up with many westerns which deserve serious consideration. What's the story here?

[Person]

WOW! Brilliant surprise. I have not seen this film, but have wanted to for some time. I love Mann's work and this one sounds great.

[Jeff]

Good. But, the extra I'm most anticipating is the one explaining why it took them 435 tries to come up with a western.

I think the short answer is that they didn't have access to them. Many of Criterion's most renowned titles are acquisitions from foreign distributors who, for decades, have been willing to offer up U.S. distribution rights to Janus, and now Criterion. The great westerns, however, being a fundamentally American enterprise, are largely owned by the major studios. Even though many of these studios have entered in to limited licensing agreements with Criterion in the past, I expect that they are reluctant to offer up the gems of their western catalogs, as these tend to be among the best sellers in their "classics" divisions. None of the majors are going to be willing to part with their Ford, Hawks, Peckinpah, or Leone westerns, and I imagine that they're hesitant about the better-known Boetticher and Mann. Paramount can even slide half a dozen program oaters into a box and unload them by the thousand to Costco for Father's Day. Criterion's only hope is to sneak a lesser known Mann gem like The Furies past the Paramount gates. Hopefully, they will be able to exploit similar opportunities in the future.

To be fair, Criterion broke the western embargo last year when they released I Shot Jesse James as part of their "First Films of Samuel Fuller" Eclipse set.

I believe that The Furies may be the latest Criterion title to be making its home video debut in any format. Am I correct?

[HelenLawson]

but they missed the boat with no Stanwyck extras

If they couldn't muster up many Stanwyck-related extras for The Lady Eve -- one of her most famous roles -- I wouldn't expect any in this package. I would imagine it's difficult for Criterion to get access to the film clips of these old stars to produce any worthwhile new supplements. Seems most of their star-related extras are new interviews with those who, of course, are still living.

While we're on the subject of Barbara, I would love for Criterion to release a Sirk/Stanwyck package of All I Desire and There's Always Tomorrow.

[domino harvey]

I totally forgot she was already in the collection, whoops!

[HerrSchreck]

Shoulda been thrown in w a series also upgrading TMEN & RAW DEAL (not to mention the magestierial Black Book), but it's simply nice to see the Lord of Eagle Lion getting his props any way he can.

[Jeff]

The "More!" turns out to be:

The Movies: "Action Speaks Louder than Words," a 1967 television interview with director Anthony Mann

[souvenir]

That's not too bad. I wonder how long it will be. Five minutes might be disappointing, but twenty could be more promising. Also, with it being from 1967, it'll probably have less to do with The Furies than Mann's entire body of work.

[HerrSchreck]

SO how many around here have actually seen this? I for one haven't, and any hidden Mann's (with fucking Huston and Stanwick.. shot by Vic Milner and scored by Franz Waxmann no less) is a no brainer, as far as I'm concerned. So far I love everything I have that the man's put his fingers to, from Railroaded, Strange Impersonation... obviously the noir killers Tmen/RawD/He WalkdBN/Black Book.. the later westerns and the final epics. It all is so fabulous. I am totally pumped for this release and especially for the interviews with him.

[HerrSchreck]

Indeed-- those Sony Music "upgrades" of T-Men & Raw Deal from the earlier VCI's (which I have, and happily kept due to extras) were no imporvement whatsoever. The MGM He Walked By Night disc at least shows what a serviceable telecine from a decent positive could and should look like.

For their day, the VCI's were good. For 2005, those Sony's are a crime.

[bjeggert82]

I saw this film a few years ago in a course on Westerns, which, now that I know more about Mann, is sort of curious: I think The Furies isn't really representative of Mann's Westerns, but rather a trasitional film between his film noir period and his Western period. It contains characteristics of both.

Mann uses the landscape in this film as he does with his other Westerns--as a reflective emotional device. But his narrative follows a more melodramatic, noirish path, which is not at all like his other nine Westerns.

It's not his best film (an honor I give to Man of the West), but its damn close--an excellent, unique entry into his filmography, bridging the gap between Mann's two most popular genres.

[Gigi M.]

It's not his best film (an honor I give to Man of the West), but its damn close--an excellent, unique entry into his filmography, bridging the gap between Mann's two most popular genres.

As much as I admire Man of the West, my vote goes for Winchester and Naked Spur as his best westerns.

[bjeggert82]

As much as I admire Man of the West, my vote goes for Winchester and Naked Spur as his best westerns.

You know, when debating the greatness of Mann Westerns, it's kind of a pointless battle. Almost all are excellent movies. But I completely agree that The Naked Spur and Winchester '73 are two of his very best.

The Naked Spur in particular, as it's just a savage movie, and such a raw performance by Stewart. It's a perfect example of Mann's landscape (river rapids) representing the inner turmoil of his hero. It's deceptively simple, the whole setup, placing those four characters in the wild and giving them each a motive to kill one another. Brilliant idea and flawless execution. I know this sounds cheesy, but every time I watch that film I'm on the edge of my seat.

I just see Man of the West as more all-encompassing of Mann's frequented Western ideas. He deals with the savagery of the West, the reflectivity of landscape, the eventual downfall of the frontier, connections between hero and villain, and a vengeful hero--seemingly every narrative point made throughout his Western career is placed into one great story. And it's all represented in a pretty grim way that's so shocking to endure, particularly the forced stripping, which makes the later comeuppance so satisfying.

And I suppose that's why I enjoy The Furies so much too. Looking at Mann's career as that of an auteur, it's an important hub where his work suddenly changed. But the movie includes so many of his past and future ideals that it can't help radiate its importance.

For the people who haven't seen The Furies yet, you may want to (re)visit Mann's film noir and Western films, just so you can see how well he blends those two genres and his respective techniques from each.

[Gigi M.]

I just see Man of the West as more all-encompassing of Mann's frequented Western ideas. He deals with the savagery of the West, the reflectivity of landscape, the eventual downfall of the frontier, connections between hero and villain, and a vengeful hero--seemingly every narrative point made throughout his Western career is place into one great story. And it's all represented in a pretty grim way that's so shocking to endure, particularly the forced stripping, which makes the later comeuppance so satisfying.

Great argument. You could also add that the first 2 acts are some kind of indoor western, very much like The Gunfighter.

[vivahawks]

There's a lot of great stuff said here already about Mann's westerns, so hopefully I can add something worthwhile to the discussion. Like the others here, I think The Furies is an important link between the noirs and the westerns and a definite must-see for any Mann fan, even if the Alton-lensed Devils' Doorway is a somewhat more successful movie. The main weakness here is the overtones of Greek and Shakespearean tragedy that often make their way into Mann's 50s westerns; he hasn't yet quite figured out how to integrate them seamlessly into the visual scheme of the western, so that the compositions seem neurotic rather than epic and so that many of these themes end up being expressed primarily through dialogue, which rarely works in imitations of classical forms. The images in The Furies actually seem overcomposed (if memory serves, I'm thinking especially of a key hanging scene here); one of the great strengths of his westerns is how the environments not only express psychological tension but also serve as impassive, recontextualizing witnesses to conflict (think of the Colosseum-like cliffs in the final confrontation in Man of the West). The tension between the "found", intrinsic power of the landscapes and the "made" action of the stories enriches both, while here it seems like Mann tries to force too much meaning into his images, an approach which worked better in his noirs. At the end of the western cycle I think Mann mastered this dichotomy, so that by El Cid he can try again and succeed in creating truly monumental, sweeping imagery loaded with all the story and themes without seeming overbearing.