Flipside 002-003: London in the Raw / Primitive London

[MichaelB]

London in the Raw



'The World's greatest city laid bare! Thrill to its gay excitement, its bright lights, but be shocked by the sin in its shadows!' Following on from his Take Off Your Clothes and Live, and influenced by the world-wide success of Italian 'Mondo' movies, which combined documentary footage with staged sequences of salacious effect, legendary British low budget movie mogul Arnold Miller concocted this fascinating exploitation-style documentary. Peering voyeuristically behind the grimy net-curtains of London life into seedy bars and clubs for beatnik 'art lovers', and burrowing beneath the glittering facade of the capital's glamorous cocktail lounges and casinos, London in the Raw provides a cynical, sometimes startling vision of life on and off the rain-spattered streets of 1960s London.

Extras
- Remastered to HD from the original negative
- Alternative, more explicit, version of the feature
- Three 60s London Sketches; Pub (Peter Davis, 1962, 15 mins); Chelsea Bridge Boys (Peter Davis, Staffan Lamm, 1966, 28 mins); Strip (Peter Davis, Staffan Lamm, Don Defina, 1966, 26 mins);
- Original trailer
- Illustrated booklet with essay by novelist and critic Stewart Home (author of Down and Out in Shoreditch and Hoxton); original review and promotional material; recollections by Davis, Defina and Lamm

Primitive London



The sensational follow-up to London in the Raw sets out to reflect society's decay through a sideshow spectacle of 1960s London depravity - and manages to outdo its predecessor. Here, we confront mods, rockers and beatniks at the Ace Cafe, cut some rug with obscure beat band The Zephyrs, witness a seedy Jack the Ripper re-enactment, smirk at flabby men in the sauna and goggle at sordid wife-swapping parties as we discover a pre-permissive Britain still trying to move on from the post-war depression of the 1950s.

Extras
- Remastered to HD from the original negative
- English and French language versions of feature and trailer
- Carousella (John Irvin, 1965, 23 mins): a dramatised documentary on the lives of a group of striptease artistes
- Stuart McCabe (strip club manager) interview (1968,15 mins)
- Shirley (stripper) interview (1968, 6 mins)
- Al Burnett (nightclub owner) interview (1967,17 mins)
- Original trailer (English and French language options)
- Illustrated booklet with essays by Iain Sinclair, Vic Pratt (BFI Curator) and William Fowler (BFI Curator); original review and promotional material

[HerrSchreck]

Full specs announced:

London in the Raw
(Arnold Louis Miller, 1964)

‘The world's greatest city laid bare! Thrill to its gay excitement, its bright lights, but be shocked by the sin in its shadows!’

Following on from his Take Off Your Clothes and Live, and influenced by the world-wide success of Italian ‘Mondo’ movies, which combined documentary footage with staged sequences to salacious effect, legendary British low budget movie mogul Arnold Miller concocted this fascinating exploitation-style documentary. Peering voyeuristically behind the grimy net-curtains of London life into seedy bars and clubs for beatnik ‘art lovers’, and burrowing beneath the glittering façade of the capital’s glamorous cocktail lounges and casinos, London in the Raw provides a cynical, sometimes startling vision of life on and off the rain-spattered streets of 1960s London.

Special features

• Remastered to HD from the original negative
  Three 60s 'London Sketches': Pub (Peter Davis, 1962, 26 mins); Strip (Peter Davis, Staffan Lamm, Don DeFina, 1965, 26 mins); Chelsea Bridge Boys (Peter Davis, Staffan Lamm, 1966, 28 mins)
  Original trailer
  Original UK and continental versions of the feature
  Illustrated booklet with essay by novelist and critic Stewart Home (author of Down and Out in Shoreditch and Hoxton); original review and promotional material

UK / colour / Cert tbc / 76 min and 47 min versions + 80 mins extra material / ratio 1.33:1 / optional subtitles for hearing-impaired / DVD cat no: BFIVD840 / BD cat no: BFIB1021

Primitive London
(Arnold Louis Miller, 1965)

The sensational follow-up to London in the Raw, Primitive London sets out to reflect society’s decay through a sideshow spectacle of 1960s London depravity – and manages to out do its predecessor. Here, we confront mods, rockers and beatniks at the Ace Café, cut some rug with obscure beat band The Zephyrs, witness a seedy Jack the Ripper re-enactment, smirk at flabby men in the sauna and goggle at sordid wife-swapping parties as we discover a pre-permissive Britain still trying to move on from the post-war depression of the 1950s.

Special features

• Remastered to HD from the original negative
  Carousella (John Irvin, 1966, 23 mins): a dramatised documentary on the lives of a group of striptease artistes
  Stuart McCabe (strip club owner) interview (1968, 15 mins)
  Shirley (stripper) interview (1968, 6 mins)
  Al Burnett (nightclub owner) interview (1967, 17 mins)
  Original trailer (English and French language options)
  English and French language versions
  Illustrated booklet with essays by Iain Sinclair, Vic Pratt (BFI Curator) and William Fowler (BFI Curator); original review and promotional material

UK / colour / Cert tbc / 87 mins + 65 mins extra material / ratio 1.33:1 / optional subtitles for hearing-impaired / DVD cat no: BFIVD839 / BD cat no: BFIB1020

Sounds good. Make it a night w Beat Girl, and maybe Espresso Bongo or something.

[tojoed]

[Dr Amicus]

Blimey!

I've got these on pre-order - let's just hope Mrs Amicus doesn't disapprove too much

[MichaelB]

Well, you can't really say they misrepresent the films...

[Dr Amicus]

I'll take your word for it, having never seen them myself.

However, I see BBC4 are showing Miller's earlier West End Jungle on Saturday night (and a few showings during the week). I assume this is in the same vein?

[colinr0380]

However, I see BBC4 are showing Miller's earlier West End Jungle on Saturday night (and a few showings during the week). I assume this is in the same vein?

This is the Radio Times write up. It sounds from the description as if West End Jungle, in charting the enforced move towards massage parlours and strip clubs, might be a good preparatory film from which to jump into the BFI discs:

The seedy underbelly of London's Soho in the early 60s is exposed in this fly-on-the-wall film, which was banned on its original release. Cameras enter the "actual places of vice" in the wake of the Street Offences Act of 1959, which took prostitutes (10,000 the film claims) off the streets and effectively drove them into massage parlours and strip shows. Director Arnold Louis Miller was involved with many productions of a similar timbre but ended up as a producer on the cult horror film Witchfinder General

[MichaelB]

However, I see BBC4 are showing Miller's earlier West End Jungle on Saturday night (and a few showings during the week). I assume this is in the same vein?

This is the Radio Times write up. It sounds from the description as if West End Jungle, in charting the enforced move towards massage parlours and strip clubs, might be a good preparatory film from which to jump into the BFI discs.

This is true, but there are also some very significant differences. West End Jungle is exclusively about prostitution and is shot in black and white, so it's a much more straightforward film.

By contrast, the two London films are explicitly attempting to cash in on the then wildly popular 'Mondo' genre, so they're attempting a much more all-embracing, quasi-anthropological overview of the entire underbelly of mid-1960s London life. Apparently the French commentary over Primitive London, which I haven't yet heard, is fascinatingly different from the English one - English subtitles are provided, of course.

Even more crucially, they're shot in eye-scorching colour, which should look spectacular on the Blu-rays - I've only skipped through a timecoded DVD-R screener thus far.

[colinr0380]

The only pastie I approve of is the Cornish kind! [-(

By contrast, the two London films are explicitly attempting to cash in on the then wildly popular 'Mondo' genre, so they're attempting a much more all-embracing, quasi-anthropological overview of the entire underbelly of mid-1960s London life. Apparently the French commentary over Primitive London, which I haven't yet heard, is fascinatingly different from the English one - English subtitles are provided, of course.

I've only seen the Jacopetti and Prosperi Mondo films in the Blue Underground boxset so far but that conflicting narration for different territories does seem to be a common trait. I was reminded particularly of the narrations for Africa Addio which differ wildly over the same footage for their Italian and English dubs, with contrasting attitudes to the events and the people being filmed! (and when you factor in the different versions of that film where the re-ordering of scenes affect interpretation it becomes even more difficult to get a handle on the filmmaker's point of view) It certainly left me wondering how much of the 'reality' of anything being shown I could trust even beyond whether the event was staged for the cameras or not, and maybe explains the move towards more bluntly shocking material of real life bodies and violence towards animals in their most notorious films (When the meaning of everything can be so flagrantly manipulated what is left to jolt the viewer with a feeling of 'realism'?)

[colinr0380]

A user called Marc Morris on the AVManiacs.com forum's thread on the BFI Flipside label has posted an image of the pre-certified VHS of Primitive London (though I'm not sure what the PG certificate is doing on the cover if that is the case! Perhaps added to avoid problems later on with the authorities) I hope this gentleman (who seems to run a forum dedicated to video covers of films released in the UK before they needed to be certified by the BBFC) doesn't mind my reproducing it below for those interested parties at this forum to see and compare to the new cover!

[MichaelB]

The Guardian reviews the first three Flipside releases, including London in the Raw and Primitive London.

[MichaelB]

OK, I have final production copies of the Blu-rays. I can't play the discs yet (and won't until my wife has finished hogging the telly, which I calculate will be at roughly the point The Apprentice: Your Fired ends at about 10.30), but here's what you get in the very impressive 40-page booklets:

London in the Raw

1-10: The girls are naked and they dance! From London in the Raw to Strip by Stewart Home
(introductory context-setting essay)
12-13: The Long and the short of it by Vic Pratt
(attempting to solve the mystery of the two different versions, both included on the disc)
16-17: London in the Raw - archive Monthly Film Bulletin review from 1964
18-20: Biography of Arnold Louis Miller by William Fowler
22-23: Biography of Stanley A. Long by Vic Pratt
25: Full credits for London in the Raw
28-29: Pub - reminiscence by director Peter Davis
30-31: Chelsea Bridge Boys - reminiscence by co-director Staffan Lamm
32: Strip - reminiscence by co-director Don DeFina
34-35: Full credits for the three shorts
36-37: Notes on the transfer and acknowledgements

Primitive London

1-7: Primal Screen by Iain Sinclair
(introductory context-setting essay)
8-11: Welcome to Primitive London! by Vic Pratt
(introduction to the film)
12-13: Primitive London: another London, another country by William Fowler
(the film in the context of ethnographic doocumentaries such as Nionga and Mondo Cane)
14: Brief and gloriously sniffy 1965 Monthly Film Bulletin review
16-18: Biography of Arnold Louis Miller by William Fowler
20-21: Biography of Stanley A. Long by Vic Pratt
22-23: 13 Notes on Primitive London by Stanley A. Long
(exactly what it says: 13 bits of trivia in connection with the film)
25: Full credits for Primitive London
26-27: Carousella - reminiscence by director John Irvin and Tim Miller
29: Carousella review in the Monthly Film Bulletin (1965) - much more positive!
30: Full credits for Carousella
31-3: Bernard Braden's 'Now and Then' Interviews: Soho Stories by James Piers Taylor
(context-setting and biographical information about the interview subjects)
34: Notes on the Translation by Elise Pineda
(a fascinating account of the differences between the English and French versions, highlighting the fact that the French version is often flat-out wrong - Whitechapel is apparently part of London's West End)
36-37: Notes on the transfer and acknowledgements.

Both booklets feature copious illustrations, some in colour, including some gloriously lurid press ads.

UPDATE: I've now watched a hefty chunk of London in the Raw, and it's a decidedly bizarre experience seeing a state-of-the-art Blu-ray transfer of a film like this. In fact, it's just as bizarre seeing a virtually pristine print, as that certainly wouldn't have been true of most fleapit screenings. In fact, because the lighting is often, to put it charitably, somewhat basic, the HD resolution means that any given shot's main object of interest really leaps out of the screen against a darker background. Skin is particularly well defined, which is just as well given how much of it is featured (and I'm not just talking about the kind of skin exposure the cover hints at: there's also the notorious hair transplant sequence). I'm also very happy to confirm that the entire disc is in HD, including the extras.

[MichaelB]

DVD Outsider on London in the Raw.

I've not seen the simultaneous Blu-ray release of the film as yet, but I genuinely wonder how much better it's going to look than this DVD. The picture quality here is genuinely stunning, a superb transfer of a lovely restoration whose sharpness, colour and contrast are reference quality. Upscaling it on a PS3 to a 42 inch plasma I was so struck by the image quality that I ejected the disc to make sure I'd been sent the DVD rather than the Blu-ray. Really, it's that good.

[MichaelB]

DVD Times on London in the Raw and Primitive London (Blu-rays in both cases).

[ellipsis7]

'The World's Most Exciting Blu-Ray Collection!' says the tagline of the promo leaflet tucked into these 2 releases... Have to agree...

ADDING: Just watched LONDON IN THE RAW - fascinating, pruriently probing, sitting on the cusp of sexual liberation and cultural upheaval, but residual attitudes still anchored in prudity, repression and English reserve...

[MichaelB]

DVD Outsider on Primitive London (DVD):

Like its predecessor, Primitive London has been gloriously restored for this re-release and even the upscaled DVD looks utterly gorgeous – I've yet to clock the Blu-ray equivalent but can't see it beating this by a huge margin. Colour, contrast and detail are superb throughout and serve to remind you just how much nicer properly transferred 35mm still looks the best digital video equivalent. There is some minor flickering in places and the odd spot of dust, but in all other respects this is a cracking job.

[ellipsis7]

Just an interesting thing I noticed - LONDON IN THE RAW in the opening sequence shows a middle aged man at a fitting for his hunting coat - bright red - pillar of the establishment approved of and asserted loudly, while PRIMITIVE LONDON then finds in its opening sequence the new alternative alpha male choosing what we are led to believe is an outrageously bright red jacket (actually similar in hue), and he is labelled a 'peacock' by the narrator... Hmmm...

[MichaelB]

These days I imagine the narrator would drop the 'pea' part.

[ellipsis7]

'Mind your language, ducky!', as might have been said then... I just wached LONDON IN THE RAW the night before last with my Mum (nearly 80) and we both found it a hoot... But then what we asked ourselves was this before or after the fact in 1965?... Like I was in my ultra-liberal co-ed public school in Wiltshire in 1970-75, not so far detached from the zeitgeist... Fascinating pair of releases...

[MichaelB]

Beaver:

I found the image on Blu-ray totally compelling. This is another eclectic selection from BFI that runs deep with kitsch appeal. The 1080P visuals really help establish the timeframe of the film. You really feel like you are stepping back to a unique place and time. Being region-free is another solid reason to indulge. The content may not be to all tastes but we highly recommend this Blu-ray. You may be very surprised how you are endeared and educated.

[Dr Amicus]

Watched London in the Raw over the weekend - my God, what a film!

How to rate or talk about the film? On one level clearly bollocks - there's barely any organizing principle which means some sections seem like bizarre intrusions. By the time we got to the Jewish cultural group, I was wondering if I'd stumbled across a Hidden City (the Poliakoff film!) scenario and this was part of a secret history of Jewish London, inserted reel by reel into random films. And I really could have done without the hair transplant in HD!

On the other hand, it does act as a fascinating historical document (the beatnik studio - possibly my favourite section, glimpses of a saner drug policy) - many sections reminding me of Brit horror films from the following years trying to be hip (Scream and Scream Again, Dracula AD1972, The Sorcerors).

In addition, it may have been my tired state (it was quite late - and the second half of a double bill that started with Shoeshine), but this had the feel of a particularly English fever dream - an odd combination of pseudo morality and would-be risqueness. Frankly, I'm looking forward to watching it again (I think Mrs Amicus would love it) - and even moreso to tackling Primitive London.

Oh - and it looks fantastic on Blu-Ray as well. Not an obvious choice maybe, but well worth it.

[Dr Amicus]

Right, well I watched Primitive London over the weekend - and pretty much what I expected. Once again a lot of the material seems fairly random (the corn excision, the chicken processing plant), but this just adds to the vaguely surreal feel of the whole affair.

Fascinating as a period piece though - referring to frizzy hair as a code for increased Afro-Caribbean immigration was a particular favourite, along with the refusal of any homoerotic undertones to the Turkish bath sequence. Equally, the key party sequence - the narrator getting morally indignant about the wife swapping, but ignoring all the drink driving going on!

One caveat - the back-cover states the film is in 1.85:1, however the stats above are correct in that it's 1.33:1. I suspect from the framing it could be cropped for 1.66:1 (or so), but I don't recall seeing a lot of empty space. Nothing major, but a couple of purchasers might feel a little short-changed.

I've dipped into the extras a bit - namely the interviews. Absolutely fascinating and a real find, especially that of Al Burnett who sounds like he led a really interesting life!

Frankly, if either (or preferably both) of these films sound tempting, they're a great buy - they may not be great films, but they remain fascinating to watch.

[ellipsis7]

An interesting cultural juxtaposition can also be made between these 2 films and the contemporaneous 2 fine films on the BFI DVD, PETER WHITEHEAD AND THE SIXTIES...

[colinr0380]

Mondo Digital reviews

[MichaelB]

DVD Active on London in the Raw and Primitive London.

Here's a sample:

The image is—in a word—amazing. There are too many reviews which praise to reconstructive work when it only comes out as merely ‘OK’. The BFI have given teeth back to the word ‘restoration’ with London in the Raw. There is more natural grain than you could ever hope for, and a film-like image, which is saturated with detail, and will stand up to any superlative you can throw at it. Print damage is minimal. Derived from the 35mm negatives, the 1.33:1 1080p image is more vivid than you could possibly imagine. The colours are so sharp that they are in danger of drawing blood, and they really pop at times. There is undeniably an amount of grain to this release, but we have no problems with that whatsoever, as it was inherent in the original elements—it's supposed to have grain and all we can say is that the restoration people at the BFI have decided not to employ the dreaded DVNR. The freshness of the image truly makes it look as though it was shot yesterday and surely that is the most you can ask when watching documentary footage of a bygone era?