Classic and Pop films on British Blu-rays

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Movies Editor

Devotees of eclectic cinema may sometimes feel that living in North Dakota is like being on the edge of the world. Although Fargo-Moorhead offers a bit more viewing variety than the rest of the region, fans of the interesting, obscure, and classic who want to buy their own copies usually must turn to online ordering, and very often must look to Europe. Due to some unfortunate distributor policies on region-encoding, rabid foreign film buffs may need to invest in a multi-region Blu-ray player, but there is still a substantial selection of intriguing European releases playable on North American (region A) players. Here are a couple of very different films worth tracking down in high definition.

A fascinating obscurity that is an early work by an important director is “The Edge of the World” (1937), which came out on Blu-ray last summer from the British Film Institute. The film has actually received some limited American screenings thanks to the sponsorship of Martin Scorsese. Interestingly, American silent comedy star Joe Rock was the producer of this first major film by Michael Powell, who would soon team up with Emric Pressburger to produce some of the most memorable British films ever made. “The Edge of the World” is a moving drama of life, love, and death on a remote Scottish island doomed to evacuation due to the increasing inability of its inhabitants to survive on their own.

The film begins with Andrew Gray (Niall MacGinnis) landing a tourist yacht on a deserted island and then telling his clients (played by Powell and his wife) his experiences of a decade earlier, with the film’s main story in flashback. The strong cast includes John Laurie, Finlay Currie, and Belle Chrystall. The stark, stunning cinematography gives every shot the look of a 1930s art-photo magazine spread, richly evoking the sense of place like a masterful documentary.

Although its premise is rooted heavily in fact, this is a fictionalized plot of stubborn islanders, rival families, and young love that gradually unfolds against the beautiful but desolate landscape. The story’s underlying theme is the growing realization that the outside world is changing too fast for the isolated islanders to keep up, as neither their traditions nor technology have changed in centuries and most young people are moving to the mainland, leaving an aging population that cannot support itself.

The British Film Institute’s Blu-ray has a lovely film-like high-definition transfer from the original 35mm nitrate negative with largely unobtrusive digital restoration, and a fine-sounding mono soundtrack. All of the bonus features are in high-definition. They include a short 1928 documentary about the now-abandoned island of St Kilda whose evacuation inspired Powell to make his film, the 1978 “Return to the Edge of the World,” a touching TV documentary by Powell revisiting the location with some of the cast and crew some 40 years later, several minutes of Powell’s color 16mm home movies of Scotland from the mid-1950s, alternate scenes (minus audio) from the 1944 reissue, and the original trailer. There’s also a nice audio commentary (by Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell with Ian Christie, including extracts from Powell’s own words read by Daniel-Day Lewis) plus a 28-page illustrated booklet.

Fortuitously, “The Edge of the World” is one of the few Blu-rays from the BFI that is region-free, so it can be appreciated all over the world. It’s roughly $20 including shipping from England.

“THE EDGE OF THE WORLD” on Blu-ray —  Movie: A   /  Video: A   /  Audio: A   /  Extras: A

“The Eagle Has Landed” (1976) was a popular international production that has been on Blu-ray since late 2008, but strangely not in the United States. This John Sturges WWII thriller features a great all-star cast with Michael Caine as a German officer leading a mission to kidnap Winston Churchill and Donald Sutherland as a renegade IRA sympathizer in on the deal. Rounding out the strong lineup of actors are Robert Duvall as a one-eyed German career soldier, Anthony Quayle as a more traditional German admiral, Donald Pleasence as Henrich Himmler, Jenny Agutter as the love interest, Jean Marsh as a Brit working for the Germans, Treat Williams as young American captain, and Larry Hagman as a frustrated American colonel who never gets assigned to any battle action.

Acting is strong all around, production values are top-notch, and the story is a slick action-espionage adventure with plenty of suspense despite knowing that Churchill was never kidnapped in real life. There’s just enough romance (between Sutherland and Agutter) to keep it from becoming an all-out testosterone-fest, but their relationship also figures prominently into various important plot points and helps tie the whole film together by the reasonably satisfying end. There are actually quite a few 1960s and 70s World War II action films now on Blu-ray, and this ranks among the better ones.

The region-free Blu-ray presentation from ITV-DVD is in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, runs 135 minutes and has a Dolby Digital stereo 2.0 track encoded for surround (unlike the 16x9 ratio, 118 minutes, and mono audio printed on the box!). The hi-def transfer is very nice with lots of fine details visible. The sound is quite good, with periodic and effective directional sound effects. Unfortunately there is not a single bonus feature except for a menu, chapter stops, and hearing-impaired English subtitles. The disc is only about $18 including shipping from England.

“THE EAGLE HAS LANDED” on Blu-ray — Movie: A-  /  Video: A   /  Audio: A   /  Extras: F

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