Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1940-1942

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1940-1942
Seven Sinners
The Flame of New Orleans
The Spoilers
Pittsburgh

Limited Edition Blu-ray release on 18 January 2021

This new Blu-ray box set collection combines four classics from the Golden Age of Hollywood, starring the timeless Marlene Dietrich. All produced by Universal in the early 1940s, these films showcase Dietrich’s alluring and enduring persona; the epitome of big-screen glamour and sensuousness.

Among the special features in this beautifully presented set are commentaries for each film and a 60-page book of new essays. This release follows the BFI Southbank season Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again which is running throughout December 2020*.

The four films featured include in the set are: Seven Sinners (Tay Garnett, 1940), The Flame of New Orleans (René Clair, 1941), The Spoilers (Ray Enright, 1942) and Pittsburgh (Lewis Seiler, 1942). With co-stars including Randolph Scott, John Wayne and Mischa Auer, the films stunningly exhibit Dietrich’s uniquely captivating style and the charisma that continues to endear her to fans worldwide.

*subject to government guidelines for covid-19 health and safety.

Special features
• High Definition transfers of all four films
• Seven Sinners feature commentary by film historian David Del Valle and screenwriter C Courtney Joyner
• The Flame of New Orleans feature commentary by film historian Lee Gambin and actor and film historian Rutanya Alda
• The Spoilers feature commentary by film historian Toby Roan
• Pittsburgh feature commentary by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson
• Music and effects tracks for The Flame of New Orleans, The Spoilers and Pittsburgh
• Galleries
• 60-page book featuring newly commissioned essays by Sarah Wood, Pamela Hutchinson, So Mayer, Ellen Cheshire, Katy McGahan and Phillip Kemp
• Limited to 4,000 copies

Product details
RRP: £39.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1402/ PG
USA / 1940 – 1942 / black and white / 344 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratios 1.37:1 // BD25 x 4: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

[DavyGallagher]

No chatter on this set at all. Are these a real step down from the Von Sternberg films, curated by Indicator and Eureka?

[Blutarsky]

They are very hit and miss and definitely don’t showcase the true power of Dietrich at her height. Pittsburgh might be the best one of the bunch from my recollection, but I know both Rene Clair and Marlene didn’t hold The Flame of New Orleans in high regard. To be honest I am shocked they chose this era of Dietrich at Universal. When she went to Borzage and made Desire is my favorite era of Marlene. I am hoping for a future release of that and the unfinished I Loved a Solider.

[tenia]

It's probably simply down to decent HD material (and right holdings) being available for those movies and not others.

[domino harvey]

No chatter on this set at all. Are these a real step down from the Von Sternberg films, curated by Indicator and Eureka?

The sheer volume of extras collected about these films is going to be a real silk purse/sow's ear reckoning

[knives]

In all seriousness this is some Arrow level dedication to terrible cinema.

[nitin]

They are very hit and miss and definitely don’t showcase the true power of Dietrich at her height. Pittsburgh might be the best one of the bunch from my recollection, but I know both Rene Clair and Marlene didn’t hold The Flame of New Orleans in high regard. To be honest I am shocked they chose this era of Dietrich at Universal. When she went to Borzage and made Desire is my favorite era of Marlene. I am hoping for a future release of that and the unfinished I Loved a Solider.

The Kino Lorber Insider confirmed on the br.com forums that Desire needs a HD master and that will not happen until well into the year as currently the mastering houses are shut down (and have been shut down for a while).

[L.A.]

Beaver and DVD Compare reviews.