Jeff Heinrich

Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel star alongside Ann-Margaret, Candice Bergen, Rita Moreno and Carol Kane in director Mike Nichols' battle-of-the-sexes drama about two 1940s-era college roommates whose adventures and misfires with women carry on into marriage and the 1970s. Frank, profane, and yes, at times erotic, the movie famously led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it was not, in fact, obscene. The new Blu-ray – an Indicator release from British distributor Powerhouse – is also available in a UHD edition sporting the same 4K restoration. Both come with a new audio commentary by Atlanta film scholar Justin Bozung and a new appreciation by English comedian and actor Richard Ayoade. Also, from 2011, is a postscreening discussion in New York City between Nichols and Canadian-American filmmaker Jason Reitman (Juno). A trailer, radio spot and image gallery round out the extras. The accompanying full-colour book runs to 80 pages.

A crime drama from a 1950s British film company (Ealing Studios) and its marquee director (Basil Dearden) who were much better known for their comedies, The Ship That Died of Shame stars Richard Attenborough, George Baker and Bill Owen as crew members of His Majesty’s WWII gunboat 1087. After the war, they repurpose their ship to smuggle illicit goods – first wine, then guns and counterfeit money – back and forth over the English Channel, until things go wrong and the end comes in a hail of bullets. Based on a short story by Nicholas Monsarrat (The Cruel Sea), the film also stars Virginia McKenna and Bernard Lee. The Indicator Blu-ray offers two presentations of the film: in its original 1.37:1 shooting ratio or matted to 1.66:1. Extras include a new introduction by Dearden's son, James, himself a filmmaker and screenwriter; a 2002 interview with Attenborough by former British Film Commissioner Sydney Samuelson; a 2023 look at Ealing Studios by film historian Neil Sinyard; and Now You’re Talking, a 1940 Ealing short that Dearden co-wrote for the wartime ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ campaign. An image gallery and full-colour booklet (including, unusually, a comic-strip adaptation of The Ship That Died of Shame) round out the package.

Roman Polanski wrote the screenplay, his Polish countryman (and fellow Shoah survivor) Gene Gutowski produced, and their buddy Simon Hesara made his debut as director of this father-daughter (or niece? no-one says) drama about alcoholism (the dad's, played by Mark Burns), all set in a rainy Danish seaside town. Look for a cameo appearence by Peter Sellers. In its first time on Blu-ray, on Powerhouse's Indicator label, the film's original, 82-minute cut has been restored from a 4K scan of the original negative; the disc also has a slightly longer version presented from a standard-definition master. Both extras are feature-length documentaries: a 2015 portrait of Gutkowski by his son, Adam Bardach, and a 1993 look at cinematographer Gil Taylor featuring interviews with Taylor, Polanski and British filmmaker Anthony Minghella. The accompanying booklet has a new essay, trade journal reports, interviews and more.

It's Basil Dearden again, this time from three years earlier and in the wartime thriller genre: John Mills and Dirk Bogarde star as two Irish brothers who go undercover for the IRA to carry out bombings in London during the Blitz. One gets cold feet, the other urges him to go into hiding, two of their comrades are captured by the British police and are put on trial in Belfast, and now it's up to the brothers to try to free them. Will they succeed? Roger MacDougall (The Man in the White Suit) wrote the script and Michael Relph (Out of the Clouds) produced. Restored in 4K, the film comes to Blu-ray with a new introduction by Dearden's son, James; a 1983 audio interview with Bogarde at London's National Film Theatre; a 2022 look at the film's production and themes by broadcaster Matthew Sweet and film critic Phuong Le; and a 1940 Ealing short called All Hands that stars Mills and was, again, made for the ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ campaign. There's also a gallery of images. The accompanying booklet has a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival production reports on the making of the film, extracts from the film’s pressbook, an overview of contemporary critical responses, new writing on All Hands, and a fulllist of credits for the film.

Summer 2025 on Blu-ray

06.2025