criterionforum.org

Directed by Ian Merrick, this intelligent crime drama charts the infamous killing spree which Donald Neilson, aka The Black Panther, perpetrated across England during the mid-70s, culminating in the kidnapping and murder of a 17-year old girl. Told with uncommon accuracy and refraining from any measure of sensationalism, this fascinating and disturbing film fell foul of a media-driven campaign upon its original cinema release which resulted in an effective ban.
Now newly mastered from original film elements preserved at the BFI National Archive, this impressive and powerful film is at long last made available for new audiences. The Dual Format Edition also includes Bob Bentley's intelligent 1981 short film, Recluse, which is based on reports of another real life crime, as an extra, as well as an extensive booklet with contextualising essays, full credits and original promotional materials.

Specs;

- Region 0
- Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- Director approved transfer
- Alternative French language soundtrack, with optional English subtitles
- Recluse (1981, 30 mins): Bob Bentley's arresting short film based on real events, starring Maurice Denham and edited by David Gladwell (editor of If.... and O Lucky Man!)
- Comprehensive booklet with newly commissioned essays and contributions from James Oliver, Ian Merrick and Michael Armstrong
- original promotional artwork
- full credits

Recluse: recce footage (1978, 10 minutes): newly-discovered 16mm location scouting footage

BFI Flipside presents
The Black Panther
A film by Ian Merrick
Starring Donald Sumpter, Marjorie Yates and Debbie Farrington

The Black Panther (1977) is an intelligent true-crime drama that charts the infamous killing spree which Donald Neilson, aka the Black Panther, carried out across England in the mid-70s, culminating in the kidnapping and murder of a 17-year old girl. Newly mastered from original film elements preserved in the BFI National Archive, this impressive and powerful film is at long last being made available for new audiences in a Dual Format Edition, released on 28 May by BFI Flipside.

Told with uncommon accuracy and refraining from any measure of sensationalism, director Ian Merrick and screenwriter Michael Armstrong’s fascinating and disturbing film fell foul of a media-driven campaign upon its original cinema release in 1977, which resulted in an effective ban.

Established lead actor Donald Sumpter, who fearlessly played Donald Neilson, was recently seen in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). Marjorie Yates who played Neilson’s wife is perhaps best-known for her role as Carol Fisher in the Channel 4 TV drama Shameless. Debbie Farrington (who plays the kidnap victim) went on to appear in a variety of TV dramas.

Caught by chance after a random encounter with the police, Neilson was convicted in 1976. With five life sentences he was destined to spend the rest of his life in prison and died there in December 2011.

This Dual Format Edition (DVD and Blu-ray discs together) also includes Bob Bentley's BAFTA Award-winning 1981 short film, Recluse, which is based on reports of another real life crime, the death by shotgun of three siblings at a remote farm in Dorset.

Both Ian Merrick and Michael Armstrong have written new contributions for the comprehensive booklet that accompanies the discs. Director Bob Bentley has also contributed a new essay about the making of Recluse.

Special features

• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition;
• Director approved transfer;
• Alternative French language soundtrack, with English subtitles;
• Recluse (Bob Bentley, 1981, 30 mins): arresting short film based on real events, starring Maurice Denham and edited by David Gladwell (editor of If…. and O Lucky Man!);
• Recluse: recce footage (1978, 10 mins): recently discovered 16mm location scouting footage shot by director Bob Bentley
• Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays and contributions from Ian Merrick, Michael Armstrong, Bob Bentley and James Oliver; original promotional artwork and full credits

RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1135 / BFI Flipside no. 024 / Cert 18
UK / 1977 / colour / 98 mins / original aspect ratio 1.85:1
Disc 1: BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)
Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps)

Further to the information you have already received, BFI Flipside's forthcoming Dual Format Edition release of The Black Panther (Ian Merrick, 1977) will also contain the original 1980s video trailer as a special feature.

In the 1980s, The Black Panther was released for rental on VHS. This video trailer reflects how the film was targeted at a rental audience at that time, although it is not the original theatrical trailer.

Score another direct hit for the Flipside line, who have pulled off another unexpected and very welcome revival of a film (and an excellent short) almost gone from movie history forever.

Time has been kind to this film. Distanced from the facts, it feels less an exploitation movie and more a serious historical document, one that has been badly misunderstood and needlessly condemned over the years. In a way, it feels similar to The Brute, another grim little slice of British life from the same period, and another film widely and wrongly dismissed as tasteless exploitation.

Set loose from this unfavourable context and viewed now in sober hindsight, The Black Panther emerges as a meticulous, tactful, well-made and highly responsible true-crime movie, featuring a knockout lead performance by a young Donald Sumpter [...] British cinema of the 1970s – that near dead-zone – is suddenly richer by one very fine, too-long forgotten movie.

The Love Camel wrote:What is happening with The Flipside? No new releases or announcements for a few months now. I have heard that some people within the BFI didn't like thas series? Is it dead and gone then?

Flipside has not been cancelled. There has been a break in the DVD releases, with the next batch now scheduled for Spring 2013. Meanwhile the monthly screenings still take place at the BFI Southbank in London. And everyone please keep sending suggestions for future releases in, all are greatly appreciated.

zedz wrote:I don't know anything about internal politics or policies, but we know of a couple of things this year that have disrupted 'business as usual' at the BFI: the many special releases tied in with the Jubilee / London Olympics; and the shifting rights situation with the Tatis, which necessitated fast-tracking for the remaining titles.

Flipside titles generally don't have that kind of time pressure attached, so I imagine they're the nearest thing the BFI has to a movable feast.