Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore & Who's Knocking at My Door

[John Doe]

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news ... re-anymore" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[spencer75]

Wow 'restorations of Chaplin shorts'??! I can't wait for that! Considering that they were voiceless (black pictures with white text) that would be interesting to see.

[rapta]

Does anyone know why both this and Who's That Knocking At My Door are now DVD-only?

Did Warner Bros just say no to a Blu-ray (as they did with The Devils, though that was obviously under different circumstances), or was the master not good enough for HD?

I emailed BFI about it the other day but no response yet. Just thought I'd ask on here if anyone knew the reasons for scrapping the Blu-ray. Obviously it'll be a huge shame if we're not getting worldwide firsts of both films on the format anymore.

[sir_luke]

No kidding. I was really looking forward to a Blu of Alice.

[Cronenfly]

I wonder why they are even bothering, then, since these look to be very similar to the old WB editions beyond the addition of booklets. Here's hoping there's still a chance Blus will materialize.

[Drucker]

The Glass Shield finally emerged as a blu-ray, thankfully, and hopefully things turnaround here.

[MichaelB]

It's definitely DVD-only, I'm afraid, and there's no chance of a change of plan.

It's the exact opposite of the situation with The Glass Shield in that there are no HD masters in existence and no possibility of having them created.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid this is straight from the BFI.

[tenia]

Wow, that's unfortunate. I was quite certain they were released because new restorations had been performed.

[Calvin]

Very unfortunate. I don't mean to doubt the BFI's word, but has anyone tried out the HD version of Alice available on Amazon and iTunes? Is it just an upscale? Who's That Knocking At My Door is only available in SD

[criterion10]

It's definitely DVD-only, I'm afraid, and there's no chance of a change of plan.

If I may ask, is it a matter of Warner unwilling to supply the materials necessary to create an HD master? Only curious, because this initial development, along with Criterion's Warner deal, seemed like a change in policy, that would open the door to other companies licensing out from them -- although this seeming double-back would negate that. (And it would certainly be the harbinger of bad news for any chance of a Blu-Ray of The Devils in the near future -- wouldn't the presumably 6-year license on that one be expiring later this year anyway?)

[rapta]

It's definitely DVD-only, I'm afraid, and there's no chance of a change of plan.

It's the exact opposite of the situation with The Glass Shield in that there are no HD masters in existence and no possibility of having them created.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid this is straight from the BFI.

Well that's obviously a massive shame. I wonder why it was advertised as Blu-ray at first then - possibly a miscommunication from Warner Bros' end?

Also, I'd be interested to know what the DCP of Who's That Knocking at my Door is like if it's not good enough for a Blu-ray release. They're showing it tomorrow night at BFI Southbank but it's a sold out. Anyone going to that?

[Cronenfly]

Hmm, if only there were some kind of famous American filmmaker with some kind of a, I don't know, world cinema foundation who could intervene into such an unfortunate situation...

In all seriousness, I find it pretty shocking that Alice at least is not a possibility in HD.

[kekid]

Is there any advantage of this DVD over what came in the Scorsese box in Region A?

[What A Disgrace]

I thought these films were restored in 4K?

[Cronenfly]

Is there any advantage of this DVD over what came in the Scorsese box in Region A?

Based on the Amazon listings, only booklets will be added.

At least they will be in print again in the UK, otherwise these look to be pretty superfluous (depending on how good the booklet content is, I guess). Even if the transfers are improved, they are going to be PAL, so it seems worth holding on to the R1 releases no matter what.

[rwaits]

And just a week after I sell both out of print discs for a couple bucks each. Love it when that happens.

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
A film by Martin Scorsese
Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson
With Harvey Keitel and Diane Ladd

Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed fourth feature is one of the key films of the golden age of 1970s New Hollywood – a touching, funny and poignant tribute to the independent spirit and dreams of ordinary Americans.

Ellen Burstyn puts in an Oscar®-winning performance as Alice Hyatt, a recently widowed 35-year-old woman who leaves her small town in New Mexico with her precocious young son Tommy (Alfred Lutter), determined to make a new life as a singer. When money problems force her to settle in Tucson, she takes a job in a diner and begins to fall for rancher David (Kris Kristofferson). Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore co-stars Harvey Keitel and Diane Ladd and features a delightful cameo from Jodie Foster.

Special features
• Partial audio commentary with director Martin Scorsese and actors Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson and Diane Ladd
• Second Chances... The Making of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (20 mins)
• Original theatrical trailer (2 mins)
• Illustrated booklet featuring full credits and essays by Nicolas Pillai and Christina Newland

Product details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIV2106 / Cert 15
USA / 1974 / colour / 107 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.85:1 / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit)

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

Martin Scorsese’s
Who’s That Knocking at My Door
Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune

Hailed by Roger Ebert on its original release as ‘a great moment in American movies’, Martin Scorsese’s debut feature film introduces many of the themes and techniques that he would later revisit in his classics Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and GoodFellas.

This powerful drama, shot in gritty black and white on the streets of the Italian-American communities where Scorsese grew up, stars Harvey Keitel as JR, a young New Yorker who falls in love with an independent and free-spirited college graduate (Zina Bethune). However, he finds his values shaken when she reveals a secret about her past.

Special features
• Partial audio commentary with director Martin Scorsese and Mardik Martin
• From the Classroom to the Streets: The Making of Who’s That Knocking at My Door (13 mins)
• Illustrated booklet featuring full credits and a new essay by Christina Newland

Product details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIV2107 / Cert 15
USA / 1967 / black and white / 86 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.85:1 / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit)

[hearthesilence]

i just noticed in iTunes that this is available on 1080p HD - so perhaps an HD master is now available (assuming it's not an upscaled master)? If that's the case, I wonder if the BFI would consider a BD re-issue, 'cause it hasn't gotten much attention from anyone else.

[hearthesilence]

Got an early start on the holiday by catching Metrograph's 35mm screening of this. A few notes:

A minor technical point, I totally forgot about the opening, which is in academy ratio, but for some reason, the bottom left corner was really skewed, as if someone was tugging hard on that corner. (This was clearly seen in the opening WB logo, which was also in academy ratio.) I just checked YouTube and the uploads for the opening don't have this problem - not sure if it was corrected for the DVD release or if it was something wrong with this specific print.

Anyway, seeing it projected seems to bring out Scorsese's camera movements, and they work especially well with the editing choices. (One wonders how much of it can be credited to the great Marcia Lucas - both of them were already formidable editors before this film.) It's interesting to just study those elements and consider what effect they have on the film. After that dynamic opening, one of his best, you'll notice the camera usually drifts left or right, and Scorsese really is masterful at it. I can imagine most directors at the time would just let the camera sit, and most directors now would let it drift aimlessly, but there's more thought into Scorsese's movements, especially when those movements develop into a subtle re-framing device within the same shot. He also knows when to lock down the camera and when to go handheld - it's possible using the latter seems logical in a prosaic way, because often times the scene will eventually require the camera to dart off with the action, but he'll use it for every setup in an entire scene. It adds tension, like you're ready for someone to erupt. When he shoots a similar scene with the camera locked down, everything deflates, and it's a different dynamic that fits the unfolding action, which doesn't have the threat of violence or eruption but does have a sense of deflation.

The cutting is really extraordinary, and I imagine he must have storyboarded a lot of scenes given how many setups they shoot - study the fateful phone call to see what I mean. And as always, great at cutting on action - one moment that always stuck out was the audition in the piano bar, and this time I paid careful attention to see how it was cut. Scorsese basically understood it doesn't matter where you put the camera - if the motion of the camera movement matches between shots, it doesn't matter how different the view is, it will flow organically even with that visual jump in perspective on the same exact subject.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

A minor technical point, I totally forgot about the opening, which is in academy ratio, but for some reason, the bottom left corner was really skewed, as if someone was tugging hard on that corner. (This was clearly seen in the opening WB logo, which was also in academy ratio.) I just checked YouTube and the uploads for the opening don't have this problem - not sure if it was corrected for the DVD release or if it was something wrong with this specific print.

It was probably skewed from the throw of the film projector to the screen. Typically something like this is avoided with precisely installed film projectors and masking, but often times can be compromised due to architectural limitations (size of the booth, throw distance and angle, size of the venue) and limitations of certain projectors. If the film was presented in 1.37 the entire time, the masking would’ve cut the sides of the image off and wouldn’t have been a problem, but because it’s pillarboxed for a moment, it’s noticable.

[MichaelB]

This is one of the issues that I encountered on Indicator’s Michael J. Murphy project, whereby some footage only survived in the form of a VHS camcorder filming a projected image at a slight angle.

I was able to correct this to a certain extent in terms of geometry, but the trade-off was that I couldn’t do anything about baked-in combing. (Baked in, because the original VHS tape has vanished, and the footage only survives thanks to an MP4 conversion.)

[The Curious Sofa]

I rewatched Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore a couple of weeks ago after not having seen it for at least two decades and fell in love with it all over, it's my favourite Scorsese. There are few movies I can think of which have a more truthful and loving mother-child relationship at its center, the nonchalant back and forth between Alice and her young son is wonderful. Her developing friendship with Diane Ladd's fellow waitress also is well drawn, how moves from dislike to mutual appreciation. I think the prologue is the movie's only misstep, it's Scorsese the movie lover putting his stamp on the material a little too forcefully and it quite doesn't fit with the rest but it's a minor quibble.