This past week the Criterion Collection announced
its wrap for 2019 with the list of film restorations that will be ready for DVD
and Blu-ray release during the month of December.
Kicking off the proceedings is the Dec. 3 arrival of
a new restoration of director Stephen Roberts’ 1933 film adaptation of William
Faulkner’s 1931 novel, “Sanctuary,” which was adapted for the screen by Oliver
H.P. Garrett and released theatrically in May of 1933 as The Story
of Temple Drake.
The officials over at the infamous Motion Picture
Production Code (or “Hays Office;” “Hays Code”) initially sought to ban the
book from being adapted to the screen, but settled on a ban of any reference to
the book in the film’s advertising (hence the title change).
This Pre-Code film (Joseph Breen’s administration of
The Production Code didn’t kick in until mid-1934) went through a tortuous
pre-production battle with the Hays Office over the script from Garrett (who
delivered other Pre-Code films such as Night
Nurse and The Vice
Squad … plus films that included A
Farewell to Arms, The Hurricane and Duel in
the Sun).
Paramount, which was studio responsible for
the production, was finally issued a list (demands) of changes that included rewriting
the provocative rape sequence from a “corn crib” to a barn and the admonishment
that no references to “corncobs,” either visually or in the dialog, could be
used.
The film itself is making its “official” debut on either
DVD or Blu-ray, although DVD versions (bootlegged) have been floating around
for some time.
Miriam Hopkins (Oscar-nominee for her performance in
Becky Sharp in
1935, plus such films as the original Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde opposite Fredric March, Design
for Living, Barbary Coast, Virginia City,
etc.) stars as the titled character, Temple Drake, a “free spirited” young
woman from a “fine family,” who gets caught up in a nightmare on the evening of
the annual town dance. She goes out drinking (remember, it is the era
of Prohibition) with her friend Toddy (William Collier Jr.) and ends up at
speakeasy run by the notorious Lee Goodwin (Irving Pichel). It is here that she runs afoul of “Trigger”
(played by Jack La Rue) … rape, murder and innocent man on trial, with the man
who loves her, Stephen Benbow (William Gargan), a competent defense attorney
placed in an impossible position.
Bonus features include a newly prepared video
session with cinematographer John Bailey (In the
Line of Fire, Silverado, Groundhog Day,
etc.) and the director of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences, Matt Severson.
There is also a discussion of the film and the performance of Miriam
Hopkins by film critic Imogen Sara Smith (author of “In Lonely Places: Film
Noir Beyond the City” and “Buster Keaton: the Persistence of Comedy”) and a
video session featuring film critic Mick LaSalle about censorship and the
Production Code.
Other films heading to both DVD and Blu-ray during
the month of December from the Criterion Collection include a new 4K update for
director Ronald Neames’ 1960 film release of Tunes of
Glory (Dec. 3), the 4K film restoration of the epic
“director’s cut” of filmmaker Wim Wenders’ Until the
End of the World (the 287 minute version … Dec.
10) and writer/director Kelly Reichardt’s 2006 film festival favorite, Old Joy
(also out on Dec. 10).
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