ChiaroScuro DVD-Collection
Alphabetically sorted by Director's last name
Total number of titles: 1397
Last updated: 09 Feb 2007
(Rattennest [de])
USA 1955
d: Robert Aldrich
MGM Home Entertainment (Region 1 us)
USA 1955
d: Robert Aldrich
MGM Home Entertainment (Region 1 us)
sc: A.I. Bezzerides (based on the novel by Mickey Spillane)
c: Ernest Laszlo (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (Parklane Pictures / United Artists)
w: Ralph Meeker (Mike Hammer), Albert Dekker (Dr. Soberin), Paul Stewart (Carl Evello), Maxine Cooper (Velda), Gaby Rodgers (Gabrielle/Lily Carver), Wesley Addy (Pat Murphy), Nick Dennis (Nick), Cloris Leachman (Christina), Marian Carr (Friday), Jack Lambert (Sugar), Jack Elam (Charlie Max)
pr: 18 Mai 1955
aw: Filmed on location in Los Angeles and at the Sutherland Studios in 21 days beginning November 27, 1954. Completed: December 23, 1954
c: Ernest Laszlo (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (Parklane Pictures / United Artists)
w: Ralph Meeker (Mike Hammer), Albert Dekker (Dr. Soberin), Paul Stewart (Carl Evello), Maxine Cooper (Velda), Gaby Rodgers (Gabrielle/Lily Carver), Wesley Addy (Pat Murphy), Nick Dennis (Nick), Cloris Leachman (Christina), Marian Carr (Friday), Jack Lambert (Sugar), Jack Elam (Charlie Max)
pr: 18 Mai 1955
aw: Filmed on location in Los Angeles and at the Sutherland Studios in 21 days beginning November 27, 1954. Completed: December 23, 1954
rt: 106:02 min
dvd-rl: 19 Jun 2001
ar: 1.66:1 (4:3 Letterboxed Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
st: Spanish, French; CC
supp: • Alternate Ending, as it originally appeared from 1955 to 1997 (2:12 min)
• Original Trailer (1:03 min)
dvd-rl: 19 Jun 2001
ar: 1.66:1 (4:3 Letterboxed Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
st: Spanish, French; CC
supp: • Alternate Ending, as it originally appeared from 1955 to 1997 (2:12 min)
• Original Trailer (1:03 min)
A key film from the '50s, a savage critique of Cold War paranoia bounded by two haunting sound effects: at the beginning, the desperate, panting sobs of the girl hitching a lift from Mike Hammer on the dark highway, and her despairing plea to 'Remember me' as she disappears to her death; and at the end, the strange, groaning sigh that escapes as the Pandora's box containing the Great Whatsit is finally opened to unleash an incandescent nuclear blast. Aldrich's distaste for the unprincipled brutality of Mickey Spillane's hero is evident throughout the film; but nevertheless given a sort of dumb-ox honesty by Ralph Meeker, the character acquires new resonance as an example of mankind's mulish habit of meddling with the unknown regardless of consequences. Brilliantly characterised down to the smallest roles, directed with baroque ferocity, superbly shot by Ernest Laszlo in film noir terms, it's a masterpiece of sorts.
— TM, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
Robert Aldrich melts down the 'B' detective thriller into a vision of Armageddon: in 1955, Kiss Me Deadly was years ahead of its time in being so very audaciously about its time. From the opening sequence—a desperate ride through nowhere shot in glistening blacks and not much white—Aldrich and cinematographer Ernest Laszlo create a world that is not quite recognizable, yet frighteningly familiar. It is Los Angeles. The tackiness here is almost palpable, abetted by the sincerely deadpan acting of Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, a nihilistic anti-hero whose mediocrity is well met by the company he keeps, shapely stick-figures with bad thoughts. (One person actually feels something but she, thank god, has been institutionalized.) The plot is played out in paranoid glances and unanswered questions; at once naive and amazingly cynical, it involves a search, not for jewels or statuettes or even drugs, but for a lead-lined box containing a small atomic bomb. Mere greed is a thing of the past. Welcome to Alphaville.
— PFA
•••••
A quest for the Grail, in the sense that social historian Mike Davis describes as "that great anti-myth usually known as noir," 'Kiss Me Deadly' is equally what Borde and Chaumeton call a "dark and fascinating close" to the noir era, whose main character is an "anti-Galahad" in search of his "great whatsit." This tension between myth and anti-myth, between hero and anti-hero, is the key to Aldrich's work. Hammer is a radically different character than many who preceded and followed him in Aldrich's work ... From Aldrich's earliest work, cynicism and idealism combined to create violent, angst-ridden outbursts of existential despair. Little wonder that such a thematic outlook should give Aldrich a cutting edge status with European observers. As a filmmaker, Aldrich always came straight on, usually with more visual style than Ray, more raw energy than Fuller, and more social consciousness than Losey.
— Alain Silver
•••••
In early November 1954, Robert Aldrich submitted a draft script of "Kiss me deadly" to the Production Code Administration (PCA). In an accompanying letter to PCA official Albert Van Schmus, Aldrich described the changes he and scriptwriter A. I. Bezzerides had made in the script's source material, the Mickey Spillane novel "Kiss me, deadly", published the previous year. In particular, Aldrich drew attention to the script's having removed "the narcotics complication" that the PCA had found most troublesome in their initial comments on the "problems inherent in the project in relation to securing Code approval." "Being reasonably well aware of the Code and its interpretation," Aldrich later wrote, "we have also avoided any direct conflict with the Code Administration." Then he hesitated. "Of course," he noted, "there is always the problem of interpretation." Taken out of context, this comment seems prophetic: Kiss me deadly has been subject to multiple acts of interpretation since its critical discovery by writers for Cahiers du cinéma and Positif, who hailed Aldrich as the "first director of the atomic age," and "Kiss me deadly" as "the crime film of tomorrow, free from all restraints and its own roots," on its French release in late 1955. Regardless of the fluctuations in Aldrich's status as an auteur, "Kiss me deadly" has become a canonic text of film noir, demonstrably responsive to critical attention.
— Richard Maltby, Screening the past 2000, Issue#10
— TM, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
Robert Aldrich melts down the 'B' detective thriller into a vision of Armageddon: in 1955, Kiss Me Deadly was years ahead of its time in being so very audaciously about its time. From the opening sequence—a desperate ride through nowhere shot in glistening blacks and not much white—Aldrich and cinematographer Ernest Laszlo create a world that is not quite recognizable, yet frighteningly familiar. It is Los Angeles. The tackiness here is almost palpable, abetted by the sincerely deadpan acting of Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, a nihilistic anti-hero whose mediocrity is well met by the company he keeps, shapely stick-figures with bad thoughts. (One person actually feels something but she, thank god, has been institutionalized.) The plot is played out in paranoid glances and unanswered questions; at once naive and amazingly cynical, it involves a search, not for jewels or statuettes or even drugs, but for a lead-lined box containing a small atomic bomb. Mere greed is a thing of the past. Welcome to Alphaville.
— PFA
•••••
A quest for the Grail, in the sense that social historian Mike Davis describes as "that great anti-myth usually known as noir," 'Kiss Me Deadly' is equally what Borde and Chaumeton call a "dark and fascinating close" to the noir era, whose main character is an "anti-Galahad" in search of his "great whatsit." This tension between myth and anti-myth, between hero and anti-hero, is the key to Aldrich's work. Hammer is a radically different character than many who preceded and followed him in Aldrich's work ... From Aldrich's earliest work, cynicism and idealism combined to create violent, angst-ridden outbursts of existential despair. Little wonder that such a thematic outlook should give Aldrich a cutting edge status with European observers. As a filmmaker, Aldrich always came straight on, usually with more visual style than Ray, more raw energy than Fuller, and more social consciousness than Losey.
— Alain Silver
•••••
In early November 1954, Robert Aldrich submitted a draft script of "Kiss me deadly" to the Production Code Administration (PCA). In an accompanying letter to PCA official Albert Van Schmus, Aldrich described the changes he and scriptwriter A. I. Bezzerides had made in the script's source material, the Mickey Spillane novel "Kiss me, deadly", published the previous year. In particular, Aldrich drew attention to the script's having removed "the narcotics complication" that the PCA had found most troublesome in their initial comments on the "problems inherent in the project in relation to securing Code approval." "Being reasonably well aware of the Code and its interpretation," Aldrich later wrote, "we have also avoided any direct conflict with the Code Administration." Then he hesitated. "Of course," he noted, "there is always the problem of interpretation." Taken out of context, this comment seems prophetic: Kiss me deadly has been subject to multiple acts of interpretation since its critical discovery by writers for Cahiers du cinéma and Positif, who hailed Aldrich as the "first director of the atomic age," and "Kiss me deadly" as "the crime film of tomorrow, free from all restraints and its own roots," on its French release in late 1955. Regardless of the fluctuations in Aldrich's status as an auteur, "Kiss me deadly" has become a canonic text of film noir, demonstrably responsive to critical attention.
— Richard Maltby, Screening the past 2000, Issue#10
(Ardennen 1944 [de])
USA 1956
d: Robert Aldrich
MGM Home Entertainment (Region 2 de)
USA 1956
d: Robert Aldrich
MGM Home Entertainment (Region 2 de)
sc: James Poe (based on the play "The Fragile Fox" by Norman Brooks)
c: Joseph Biroc (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (The Associates & Aldrich Company)
w: Jack Palance (Lt. Costa), Eddie Albert (Capt. Cooney), Lee Marvin (Col. Bartlett), William Smithers (Lt. Woodruff), Robert Strauss (Pfc. Bernstein), Richard Jaeckel (Pfc. Snowden), Buddy Ebsen (Sgt. Tolliver)
pr: 19 Sep 1956
aw: Filmed on location at the Albertson Ranch, Triunfo, California, and at RKO-Pathe and Universal Studios in 25 days beginning January 16, 1956. Completed: February 15, 1956
c: Joseph Biroc (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (The Associates & Aldrich Company)
w: Jack Palance (Lt. Costa), Eddie Albert (Capt. Cooney), Lee Marvin (Col. Bartlett), William Smithers (Lt. Woodruff), Robert Strauss (Pfc. Bernstein), Richard Jaeckel (Pfc. Snowden), Buddy Ebsen (Sgt. Tolliver)
pr: 19 Sep 1956
aw: Filmed on location at the Albertson Ranch, Triunfo, California, and at RKO-Pathe and Universal Studios in 25 days beginning January 16, 1956. Completed: February 15, 1956
rt: 103:24 (+4%PAL= 107) min
dvd-rl: 15 Sep 2003
ar: 1.33:1 (4:3 Academy Ratio)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
st: English (captions), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German (captions), Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
supp: • Theatrical Trailer (2:25 min)
dvd-rl: 15 Sep 2003
ar: 1.33:1 (4:3 Academy Ratio)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
st: English (captions), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German (captions), Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
supp: • Theatrical Trailer (2:25 min)
Often described as hysterical, this is in fact a brilliant predecessor to Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" using a fictional slant on World War II's Battle of the Bulge - the cowardice of a CO (Albert), resulting in heavy casualties, is studiously ignored by superiors with an eye to his father's political pull - to express a virulent disgust not so much with war itself as with the systems of privilege and self-interest which perpetuate its disasters. Where Kubrick analyses, Aldrich attacks; and his images have precisely the same hallucinatingly twisted quality as the war-torn landscapes in which they take shape.
— TM, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
The dialogue between action and inaction in "Attack" is a lament for a rugged individualism that is central to the United States' view of itself in the last century. The implication that business is not 'proper man's work' is borne out in Cooney, a businessman back home who daily fusses over Army protocol whilst Costa's men fall before the German machine guns outside. Appearing on that mileage sign is Malmedy, a town made infamous by the SS executions of American POWs in 1944, a fact not lost on American audiences in the immediate postwar period. In a Hollywood war movie in which the Americans are plainly losing, Colonel Bartlett tells the exhausted Woodruff that "A couple of weeks in Paris you'll come back a new man", as if manhood can only legitimately be found on R&R. True to the rampant phallicism of 1950s melodrama, tank barrels nose through the streets and cannon fire spurts out of machine guns. Aldrich put his title in quotes not simply for irony. It was a gesture.
— Richard Armstrong, sensesofcinema August 2001
•••••
"Attack!" was budgeted at $750,000, a far cry from the blockbuster budgets of contemporary war spectacles like "Strategic Air Command" and "Away All Boats". Securing even that much financing for such an overtly anti-military, anti-authoritarian film, however, would have been unthinkable even two or three years earlier. The Associates and Aldrich borrowed a large portion of the money from banks, and were advanced the rest by United Artists. ... Aldrich deferred the majority of his salary in lieu of a larger percentage of the film's gross, placing the financial burden squarely on his own shoulders. It was a risky bet. Not only was he working with a small budget and an unknown and potentially inflammatory commodity in Fragile Fox, but, not surprisingly, he was also refused the cooperation of the Defense Department. While the armed services may have been willing to cooperate with Milestone and Vidor in the 1930s, Aldrich was afforded no such luxuries. As he later told Arthur Knight, "The Army saw the script and promptly laid down a policy of no co-operation, which not only meant that I couldn't borrow troops and tanks for my picture — I couldn't even get a look at Signal Corps combat footage." Instead, "Attack!" was shot in thirty-two days on the back lot of RKO Studios with a small cast and a few pieces of military equipment (including only two tanks) that Aldrich had bought or rented and that he used throughout the film with great economy.
— longpauses.com
— TM, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
The dialogue between action and inaction in "Attack" is a lament for a rugged individualism that is central to the United States' view of itself in the last century. The implication that business is not 'proper man's work' is borne out in Cooney, a businessman back home who daily fusses over Army protocol whilst Costa's men fall before the German machine guns outside. Appearing on that mileage sign is Malmedy, a town made infamous by the SS executions of American POWs in 1944, a fact not lost on American audiences in the immediate postwar period. In a Hollywood war movie in which the Americans are plainly losing, Colonel Bartlett tells the exhausted Woodruff that "A couple of weeks in Paris you'll come back a new man", as if manhood can only legitimately be found on R&R. True to the rampant phallicism of 1950s melodrama, tank barrels nose through the streets and cannon fire spurts out of machine guns. Aldrich put his title in quotes not simply for irony. It was a gesture.
— Richard Armstrong, sensesofcinema August 2001
•••••
"Attack!" was budgeted at $750,000, a far cry from the blockbuster budgets of contemporary war spectacles like "Strategic Air Command" and "Away All Boats". Securing even that much financing for such an overtly anti-military, anti-authoritarian film, however, would have been unthinkable even two or three years earlier. The Associates and Aldrich borrowed a large portion of the money from banks, and were advanced the rest by United Artists. ... Aldrich deferred the majority of his salary in lieu of a larger percentage of the film's gross, placing the financial burden squarely on his own shoulders. It was a risky bet. Not only was he working with a small budget and an unknown and potentially inflammatory commodity in Fragile Fox, but, not surprisingly, he was also refused the cooperation of the Defense Department. While the armed services may have been willing to cooperate with Milestone and Vidor in the 1930s, Aldrich was afforded no such luxuries. As he later told Arthur Knight, "The Army saw the script and promptly laid down a policy of no co-operation, which not only meant that I couldn't borrow troops and tanks for my picture — I couldn't even get a look at Signal Corps combat footage." Instead, "Attack!" was shot in thirty-two days on the back lot of RKO Studios with a small cast and a few pieces of military equipment (including only two tanks) that Aldrich had bought or rented and that he used throughout the film with great economy.
— longpauses.com
(Was geschah wirklich mit Baby Jane? [de])
USA 1962
d: Robert Aldrich
Warner Home Video (Region 1 us)
USA 1962
d: Robert Aldrich
Warner Home Video (Region 1 us)
sc: Lukas Heller (based on the novel "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell)
c: Ernest Haller (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (Seven Arts Pictures / Warner Bros.)
w: Bette Davis (Baby Jane Hudson), Joan Crawford (Blanche Hudson), Victor Buono (Edwin Flagg), Marjorie Bennett (Dehlia Flagg), Maidie Norman (Elvira Stitt), Julie Allred (Jane Hudson 1917), Anne Barton (Cora Hudson), Dave Willock (Ray Hudson), Anna Lee (Mrs. Bates), Barbara Merrill (Liza Bates), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Shelby), Gina Gillespie (Blanche Hudson 1917)
pr: 31 Okt 1962
aw: Filmed on location in Los Angeles and at Warner Bros. and the Producer's Studios beginning July 9, 1962. Completed: September 12, 1962 // One Academy Award for Norma Koch for Best Black-and-White Costume Design; four nominations for Best Actress, Bette Davis; Best Supporting Actor, Victor Buono; Best Black-and White Cinematography; and Best Achievement in Sound
c: Ernest Haller (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (Seven Arts Pictures / Warner Bros.)
w: Bette Davis (Baby Jane Hudson), Joan Crawford (Blanche Hudson), Victor Buono (Edwin Flagg), Marjorie Bennett (Dehlia Flagg), Maidie Norman (Elvira Stitt), Julie Allred (Jane Hudson 1917), Anne Barton (Cora Hudson), Dave Willock (Ray Hudson), Anna Lee (Mrs. Bates), Barbara Merrill (Liza Bates), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Shelby), Gina Gillespie (Blanche Hudson 1917)
pr: 31 Okt 1962
aw: Filmed on location in Los Angeles and at Warner Bros. and the Producer's Studios beginning July 9, 1962. Completed: September 12, 1962 // One Academy Award for Norma Koch for Best Black-and-White Costume Design; four nominations for Best Actress, Bette Davis; Best Supporting Actor, Victor Buono; Best Black-and White Cinematography; and Best Achievement in Sound
rt: 133:38 min
dvd-rl: 30 Sep 1997
ar: 1.85:1 (4:3 Letterboxed Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround • French
st: English, French, Spanish; CC
supp: SIDE A
• The Film
• Cast & Crew
• About The Production
• Awards
SIDE B
• Pan&Scan version of the film
dvd-rl: 30 Sep 1997
ar: 1.85:1 (4:3 Letterboxed Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround • French
st: English, French, Spanish; CC
supp: SIDE A
• The Film
• Cast & Crew
• About The Production
• Awards
SIDE B
• Pan&Scan version of the film
Faded child star of the '20s (Davis) terrorises faded matinee star of the '30s (Crawford) in a decaying Hollywood mansion, after a mysterious accident has confined the latter to a wheelchair. Aldrich didn't have the courage to break with mystery-thriller conventions, and so the whole thing turns out to hinge on the true responsibility for the accident, but the film's real centre of interest is its Sunset Boulevard-type acerbity about Hollywood. Clips from authentic old Crawford movies are used to represent her past, to teasingly 'biographical' effect, and much hinges on Bette Davis' real-life reputation for bitchery. The Grand Guignol elements themselves are relatively forced and unconvincing.
— TR, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
Aldrich had his hands full balancing the overblown but sensitive egos of the rival actresses. If full-scale battle never erupted, it is still correct to say that battle lines were constantly being drawn. The original choice to star with Davis was Tallulah Bankhead (a far more lethal combination than the eventual one) when the property began floating around Hollywood, but Crawford acquired rights to the property, and offered it to Davis while the latter was unhappily appearing on Broadway in "Night of the Iquana". Davis commanded a larger salary, Crawford a larger percentage of the gross (Joan's years at Pepsi-Cola paid off). Davis's foot allegedly made contact with Crawford's head during a scene where Baby Jane punts her sister around the living room. Crawford supposedly retaliated by use of the old Veronica Lake trick (see I MARRIED A WITCH) by rigging weights under her robe for a scene where Davis had to drag her, and Davis hurt her back. Crawford shared a private joke on Davis by sending hairdresser Peggy Shannon to MGM to secure her old blonde wig from ICE FOLLIES OF 1939 for Davis to wear. Davis bitched to Aldrich about Crawford's drinking (both were alcoholics) and padded brassieres; Crawford insulted Davis's daughter (who appeared in the film—to put it kindly, she was not burdened by her mother's talent), and the incidents go on and on.
— TV MovieGuide
•••••
Was Aldrich inszenierte, ist nicht einfach ein exzellenter psychologischer Horrorfilm, der einem guten Hitchcock in nichts nachsteht. „What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” ist eine delikate und präzise psychologische Studie über zwei Schwestern, die sich gegenseitig das Leben zur Hölle gemacht haben, ein Film über unerfüllte Wünsche und Sehnsüchte, die sich zwanghaft in die Seelen der beiden Frauen eingeschrieben haben. Für den Zuschauer der Tragödie wechseln Sympathie und Mitgefühl, Abscheu und Verachtung zwischen den beiden Protagonisten des Dramas hin und her.
— Ulrich Behrens
— TR, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
Aldrich had his hands full balancing the overblown but sensitive egos of the rival actresses. If full-scale battle never erupted, it is still correct to say that battle lines were constantly being drawn. The original choice to star with Davis was Tallulah Bankhead (a far more lethal combination than the eventual one) when the property began floating around Hollywood, but Crawford acquired rights to the property, and offered it to Davis while the latter was unhappily appearing on Broadway in "Night of the Iquana". Davis commanded a larger salary, Crawford a larger percentage of the gross (Joan's years at Pepsi-Cola paid off). Davis's foot allegedly made contact with Crawford's head during a scene where Baby Jane punts her sister around the living room. Crawford supposedly retaliated by use of the old Veronica Lake trick (see I MARRIED A WITCH) by rigging weights under her robe for a scene where Davis had to drag her, and Davis hurt her back. Crawford shared a private joke on Davis by sending hairdresser Peggy Shannon to MGM to secure her old blonde wig from ICE FOLLIES OF 1939 for Davis to wear. Davis bitched to Aldrich about Crawford's drinking (both were alcoholics) and padded brassieres; Crawford insulted Davis's daughter (who appeared in the film—to put it kindly, she was not burdened by her mother's talent), and the incidents go on and on.
— TV MovieGuide
•••••
Was Aldrich inszenierte, ist nicht einfach ein exzellenter psychologischer Horrorfilm, der einem guten Hitchcock in nichts nachsteht. „What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” ist eine delikate und präzise psychologische Studie über zwei Schwestern, die sich gegenseitig das Leben zur Hölle gemacht haben, ein Film über unerfüllte Wünsche und Sehnsüchte, die sich zwanghaft in die Seelen der beiden Frauen eingeschrieben haben. Für den Zuschauer der Tragödie wechseln Sympathie und Mitgefühl, Abscheu und Verachtung zwischen den beiden Protagonisten des Dramas hin und her.
— Ulrich Behrens
(Wiegenlied für eine Leiche [de])
USA 1964
d: Robert Aldrich
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Region 0 de)
USA 1964
d: Robert Aldrich
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Region 0 de)
sc: Henry Farrell, Lukas Heller
c: Joseph Biroc (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (The Associates & Aldrich Company)
w: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor, Wesley Addy, William Campbell, Bruce Dern, Frank Ferguson, George Kennedy, Dave Willock, Michel Petit, John Megna
pr: 15 Dez 1964
aw: Academy Awards 1965 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Supporting Role Agnes Moorehead; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Song • Edgar Allan Poe Awards 1965 Edgar Best Motion Picture • Golden Globes 1965 Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture Agnes Moorehead • Laurel Awards 1965 Golden Laurel Dramatic Performance, Female Bette Davis
c: Joseph Biroc (b/w)
e: Michael Luciano
pd: William Glasgow
m: Frank DeVol
p: Robert Aldrich (The Associates & Aldrich Company)
w: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor, Wesley Addy, William Campbell, Bruce Dern, Frank Ferguson, George Kennedy, Dave Willock, Michel Petit, John Megna
pr: 15 Dez 1964
aw: Academy Awards 1965 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Supporting Role Agnes Moorehead; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Song • Edgar Allan Poe Awards 1965 Edgar Best Motion Picture • Golden Globes 1965 Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture Agnes Moorehead • Laurel Awards 1965 Golden Laurel Dramatic Performance, Female Bette Davis
rt: 127:19 (+4%PAL= 133) min
dvd-rl: 31 Okt 2005
ar: 1.66:1 (16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
st: English, German
supp: --
dvd-rl: 31 Okt 2005
ar: 1.66:1 (16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen)
sd: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono • German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
st: English, German
supp: --
Loony Grand Guignol, with Aldrich and Davis retreading the territory charted in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" a couple of years earlier. This time round, Davis is the victim, a woman suspected of murdering her fiancé and driven to the point of insanity by the dead man's repeated hauntings of her in her lonely Gothic mansion. Over the top, of course, and not a lot to it, but it's efficiently directed, beautifully shot (Joseph Biroc), and contains enough scary sequences amid the brooding, tense atmosphere. Splendid performances from Davis and Moorehead, too.
— GA, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
A Grand Guignol Southern Gothic cauldron... the next dish proferred by Aldrich and Davis after the success of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? CHARLOTTE was originally planned as Crawford's revenge--Davis is the victim here, a loopy loon living in a moldy mansion in Louisiana, with hair like Spanish moss, skin like a lichen and a hobby of shooting at land developers. ... Davis has some authentic, poignant moments, before all hell breaks loose. She seems to be making up for her lost chances on Tennessee Williams territory (she had wanted MENAGERIE and STREETCAR), and there's one kabuki lioness flip-out on a stairway that's a must-see. She's matched by Moorehead's perfect, obscure portrayal. The best line goes to de Havilland: "You just can't keep the hogs away from the trough."
— TV MovieGuide
— GA, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
A Grand Guignol Southern Gothic cauldron... the next dish proferred by Aldrich and Davis after the success of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? CHARLOTTE was originally planned as Crawford's revenge--Davis is the victim here, a loopy loon living in a moldy mansion in Louisiana, with hair like Spanish moss, skin like a lichen and a hobby of shooting at land developers. ... Davis has some authentic, poignant moments, before all hell breaks loose. She seems to be making up for her lost chances on Tennessee Williams territory (she had wanted MENAGERIE and STREETCAR), and there's one kabuki lioness flip-out on a stairway that's a must-see. She's matched by Moorehead's perfect, obscure portrayal. The best line goes to de Havilland: "You just can't keep the hogs away from the trough."
— TV MovieGuide
d = director; sc = screenplay; c = cinematographer; e = editor; pd = production design / art director;
m = music score ; p = producer; w = cast; pr = premiere; aw = awards;
rt = runtime; dvd-rl = dvd release; ar = aspect ratio; sd = soundtracks; st = subtitles; supp = supplements
m = music score ; p = producer; w = cast; pr = premiere; aw = awards;
rt = runtime; dvd-rl = dvd release; ar = aspect ratio; sd = soundtracks; st = subtitles; supp = supplements