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Glowingwabbit wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:27 pm Surprised they wouldn't do these in multi-volume boxsets. I've only seen She Done Him Wrong which was awful enough that I never bothered to track down any more Mae West films. Are any of the others recommended? I do have the last film in a WC Fields boxset that I just haven't gotten to yet.

I've only seen She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel, and the latter was definitely better than the former. That said, I can't say I feel compelled to swing a blind buy of the rest, and if I were, it'd be Indicator's presumably forthcoming box...

senseabove wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:45 pm

Glowingwabbit wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:27 pm Surprised they wouldn't do these in multi-volume boxsets. I've only seen She Done Him Wrong which was awful enough that I never bothered to track down any more Mae West films. Are any of the others recommended? I do have the last film in a WC Fields boxset that I just haven't gotten to yet.

I've only seen She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel, and the latter was definitely better than the former. That said, I can't say I feel compelled to swing a blind buy of the rest, and if I were, it'd be Indicator's presumably forthcoming box...

Oh yes an Indicator set would probably be worth it just for the special features. Here you get the Kino in-house commentaries (I've liked all of these commentators in the past but almost all their stuff for Kino just sounds uninspired)

I think this is one of those things were the commentary might be more interesting than the films themselves. The scandals surrounding West were always more interesting to me than the films themselves.

I've been going through them on the Criterion Channel (all but the first movie are on there until the end of the month) and they are not good,. These are an easy pass.
Edited to add: According to the Kino Insider, these are individual releases and are not being released as a box set.

Big Ben wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:56 pm I think this is one of those things were the commentary might be more interesting than the films themselves. The scandals surrounding West were always more interesting to me than the films themselves.

The commentaries also block out her voice- don't tempt me

therewillbeblus wrote: Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:22 am

Big Ben wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:56 pm I think this is one of those things were the commentary might be more interesting than the films themselves. The scandals surrounding West were always more interesting to me than the films themselves.

The commentaries also block out her voice- don't tempt me

Truly, as I mentioned before I would argue that West is more important for what she represented than the quality of her films. She's pretty tame by today's standards but a woman who had an abortion and supported gay rights must have been a terrifying thing to the establishment at large at the time. A pity about the you know, movies.

Yeah your explanation in the Britta thread and now here honestly makes me consider picking up the Indicator set too solely for the extras, depending on how they contexualize this information, because they'll probably be historically fascinating. I probably won't though, simply because buying a set of films I know I'll never watch feels wrong to me.

I just hope somebody can get to the bottom of her beauty routine.

Are her books any good? A bit like inventor Preston Sturges films seem like a side gig for West.

My only exposure to Mae West is the truly abysmal Sextette (doubtlessly the saddest excuse for a final film), and I can’t imagine that any of her other films are THAT bad. Or at least I hope not. Not that I’m blind buying any of these.

All these Mae West movies and no one bothered to license Myra Breckinridge from Fox before Disney shut the vault doors

I'm a bigger fan of Mae West than most (or pretty much anyone) around here, though I will admit her films are not good and that her one-note persona is not enough to carry a picture. For that reason, if you have to see one West film, I recommend her very first, Night After Night. I wrote it up here for the Pre-Code list, as well as She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel. Night After Night benefits from casting West in a supporting role so that you get everything you get in one of her vehicles but in a more succinct and, for some, tolerable dose. It's no masterpiece, but I found it a fun pre-coder with colorful characters and atmosphere.

My favourite Mae West line is "No such thing as a good girl gone bad.....only bad girls found out."

Glowingwabbit wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:27 pm Surprised they wouldn't do these in multi-volume boxsets. I've only seen She Done Him Wrong which was awful enough that I never bothered to track down any more Mae West films. Are any of the others recommended? I do have the last film in a WC Fields boxset that I just haven't gotten to yet.

I seem to recall My Little Chickadee being somewhat amusing as a parody of Stagecoach (it even has Donald Meek). It's helped immensely by the creative input of Fields. If I recall correctly it's predicated on the joke that West is all too willing to be ravished by the masked man who everyone else in the film sees as a rapist and the robber of her "virtue."

Her appearance in Myra Breckinridge--in which she performs a rap number called "You Gotta Taste All the Fruits" right before Raquel Welch pegs Roger Herren with a strap-on--is so bad it's not even so-bad-it's good.

Kino announced that they are releasing The Widow Couderc from a new 4K restoration.

Going back to our Mae West discussion, I snapped on Klondike Annie this morning and not only is it the best West film I’ve seen, not much of a distinction, but a genuinely good film with a violent edge and harshness befitting director Walsh’s reputation. West’s hands are all over this, but it’s not really a comedy so much a von Sternberg like drama of femme fatale ripping apart the illusion of machismo with some snappy lines thrown in. It’s a mature and intelligent script by West that breaks down ideas of liberalism with a moralizing force on it. She starts off as a Rousseau and through a Calvin is able to become a sort of Malcolm X.

Ongoing and very enlightening audio commentary discussion moved here

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) (DVD) (BD is also OOP)

EDIT: They must have tracked down some copies because as of 3/2/21 the DVD version is back on the website.

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Flesh + Blood (1985) (DVD) (BD is also OOP)
Solarbabies (1986) (DVD) (BD is also OOP)

Big announcement of an underseen Lubitsch!!! Also known as The Man I Killed.

Coming Soon!
Brand New 2K Master!

Broken Lullaby (1932) Starring Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll & Zazu Pitts – Shot by Victor Milner (Cleopatra) – Screenplay by Samson Raphaelson (Suspicion) and Ernest Vajda (The Merry Widow) – Directed by Ernst Lubitsch (To Be or Not to Be).

I thought this one was just ok when I marathoned Lubitsch's sound films last year, but maybe I'll get something more out of it on a second go. It's quite tonally different from anything else he ever did, I think.

soundchaser wrote: Sat Feb 27, 2021 4:14 pm I thought this one was just ok when I marathoned Lubitsch's sound films last year, but maybe I'll get something more out of it on a second go. It's quite tonally different from anything else he ever did, I think.

Definitely strikes a different tone. Probably best watched on It's own. It's also just a title I never thought would get a restoration and blu ray release.

I should add that my second viewing of the film gave me greater appreciation of it.

Kino Lorber wrote:Starring Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll & Zazu Pitts

ZaSu Pitts, from Eliza Susan, and it's misleading to claim she had a starring role in this.

Glad they're rescuing this from MOD purgatory

soundchaser wrote: Sat Feb 27, 2021 4:14 pm I thought this one was just ok when I marathoned Lubitsch's sound films last year, but maybe I'll get something more out of it on a second go. It's quite tonally different from anything else he ever did, I think.

Alternatively, I think it is one of his best and easily his best drama.