3D! Live on the Battlefield, and Dotting the Eye!
Creepy POV moment in Man in the Dark (1953) that also features one of the earliest examples of deliberate jump cuts. Eat that, Godard.
When I moved last year, I’d carefully packed Twilight Time’s Man in the Dark (1953) disc purposely to reassess its 3D version once I figured out how to set up the system for red-blue playback, but it got lost in the shuffle, and finally emerged in the fall of 2017 in a lone box of discs packed in a closet. That’s organization!
Well, more like the inevitable chaos that comes with moving.
I’ve updated the review to reflect the 3D version (which is quite fun, especially the rollercoaster chase with star Edmond O’Brien), and paired it with another fine restoration by the 3-D Film Archive: a rare docu-drama called Cease Fire! featuring real soldiers playing themselves, re-enacting a hill capture near battlefields during the end of the Korean War, shot in 3D, with live ammo.
Bullshit Alert: These women are NOT in the film whatsoever, especially the Jane Wyman clone.
It’s a daring / crazy concept, but you can understand why director Owen Crump though it might work – he’d directed the Oscar-nominated documentary short One Who Came Back (1951) which had a vet playing himself as he’s whisked off the battlefield and sent to a M*A*S*H unit for surgery and packed up for a trip home.
The Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics / Unobstructed View features flat and 3D versions and some rudimentary extras, plus one special feature that’s listed but isn’t on the disc. I’ve reviewed the film, plus Crump’s 1951 short which at present floats around on TCM and YouTube.
Coming next: GLOW, Season 1, and some some comments on a serious continuity gaffe that’s only visible to the naked eyes of veteran news shooters, and collectors of vintage ENG camera gear (like me).
And coming soon: Doc Martin: Season 8, offering more misadventures with Captain Crankypants and his flustered family.
Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com
Category: EDITOR'S BLOG
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