Tag: THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE

Dario Argento’s THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE Available on 4K Ultra HD July 27th From Arrow Video

“I can hear it now: “Go to Italy. It’s a peaceful country, nothing much ever happens there.”

Dario Argento’s THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (19709) will available on 4K Ultra HD July 27th from Arrow Video. Ordering info can be found HERE

In 1970, young first-time director Dario Argento (Deep Red, Suspiria) made his indelible mark on Italian cinema with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage – a film which redefined the ‘giallo’ genre of murder-mystery thrillers and catapulted him to international stardom. Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante, We Own the Night), an American writer living in Rome, inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi, Funeral in Berlin) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows increasingly obsessed with the incident. Convinced that something he saw that night holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorizing Rome, he launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, heedless of the danger to both himself and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall, Spasmo).

A staggeringly assured debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage establishes the key traits that would define Argento’s filmography, including lavish visuals and a flare for wildly inventive, brutal scenes of violence. With sumptuous cinematography by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and a seductive score by legendary composer Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West), this landmark film has never looked or sounded better in this brand new 4K Ultra HD presentation from Arrow Video!

Bonus Materials

  • New 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films
  • 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
  • Restored original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks
  • English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
  • Audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
  • Black Gloves and Screaming Mimis, an interview with author and critic Kat Ellinger exploring the film’s themes and its relationship to both the giallo and Fredric Brown’s novel The Screaming Mimi
  • The Power of Perception, a visual essay on the cinema of Dario Argento by Alexanda Heller-Nicholas, author of Devil’s Advocates: Suspiria, reflecting on the recurring theme of perception and the role of art in Argento’s filmography
  • Crystal Nightmare, an interview with writer/director Dario Argento
  • An Argento Icon, an interview with actor Gildo Di Marco
  • Eva’s Talking, an archival interview with actor Eva Renzi
  • Original Italian and international theatrical trailers
  • 2017 Texas Frightmare trailer
  • Image galleries
  • Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Howard Hughes and Jack Seabrook, and a new essay by Rachael Nisbet
  • Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative
  • Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards
  • Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring originally and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative

Dario Argento’s THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE This Weekend Midnights at The Moolah


“Right! Bring in the perverts!”


THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE screens Midnights this weekend (July 13th and 14th) at The Moolah Theater and Lounge (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108) as part of  Destroy the Brain’s monthly Late Nite Grindhouse film series.


Having served his time in the cinematic trenches both as a film critic and a screenwriter (notably collaborating with Bernardo Bertolucci on Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West), Dario Argento, the man who would become known as “The Italian Hitchcock” made his directorial debut with THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, a snappy little giallo, the success of which cemented his path within the genre. Admittedly, there are only a few moments of outright horror and/or gore, but the newcomer’s sharp grasp of tension, atmosphere, camerawork, and pacing are beyond reproach in this telling of Sam, a vacationing American (Tony Musante) who on his last day abroad witnesses an attempted murder in an art gallery and is detained to help solve the mystery.


Suzy Kendall co-stars as Julia, his British girlfriend, although she’s not given much to do except look pretty and fall into peril as needed in the final reel. Argento’s obsession with obsessives is immediately apparent, with Musante’s unwitting sleuth finding himself unable to focus on lovemaking, mealmaking, or anythingelsemaking until he can recall the subliminal secret that lies in his memory, all underscored by maestro Ennio Morricone’s delicious lullaby score. Son’t miss your hance to see THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE on the big sceen this weekend at The Moolah!


The Facebook invite for Friday night can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/179864819367550/

The Facebook invite for Saturday night can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/2114292195484119/


THE PSYCHOTRONIC PRE-SHOW STARTS AROUND 11:30P WITH THE FILM STARTING AT MIDNIGHT.

The Moolah Theatre & Lounge serves alcohol until 2:30AM! Feel free to show up early and stay late to have some drinks and get friendly with the amazing Moolah staff.

Actor Tony Musante Dead at 77

musante-headre

He starred in Dario Argento’s first Giallo (THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE), played a homicidal homosexual opposite Sinatra in THE DETECTIVE, was ‘Uncle Pete’ in THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE, and even starred in a couple of fine Spaghetti Westerns. I  liked actor Tony Musante who always turned in interesting performances, especially during the roguish bad-boy early phase of his career. He was especially memorable in THE INCIDENT (1967) as a young tough who terrorizes late-night passengers on a New York City train. Musante died last Tuesday in Manhattan of a hemorrhage while recovering from surgery. He was 77.

From The New York Times:

Tony Musante, a rugged-looking American actor who was seen on television, in films and on stage in the United States and Europe for over 50 years but who was probably best known for a TV series he left after one season, died on Tuesday in Manhattan…….

Read the rest HERE

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/arts/tony-musante-actor-known-for-role-in-toma-dies-at-77.html?_r=0