Josef von Sternberg's - The Devil Is a Woman - le femme et le pantin - Marlene Dietrich Josef von Sternberg The Devil Is a Woman le femme et le pantin Marlene Dietrich Josef von Sternberg The Devil Is a Woman le femme et le pantin Marlene Dietrich Josef von Sternberg The Devil Is a Woman le femme et le pantin Marlene Dietrich Josef von Sternberg The Devil Is a Woman le femme et le pantin Marlene Dietrich Josef von Sternberg The Devil Is a Woman le femme et le pantin Marlene Dietrich

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Le Femme et le pantin')

Directed by Josef von Sternberg
USA 1935

Josef von Sternberg's final collaboration with Marlene Dietrich (1935) was out of circulation for many years, withheld by Paramount at the request of the Spanish government, which objected to the portrayal of the nation's officials as doom-ridden romantics. But the material world, of Spain or anywhere else, has little to do with Sternberg's creation, which remains one of the most coldly beautiful films ever made. Sternberg's universe is a realm of textures, shadows, and surfaces, which merge and separate in an erotic dance. The director's distant, serene gaze on the melodramatic action represents the closest cinematic approach to James Joyce's ideal of "aesthetic stasis." The source material, Pierre Louys' The Woman and the Puppet, was used again as the basis for Luis Buñuel's That Obscure Object of Desire.

Excerpt from Dave Kehr's review at the Chicago Reader located HERE.

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 15th, 1935

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Comparison:

Universal (Europe) - Region 2,4,5 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Universal - Region 2,4,5 - PAL - LEFT

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
		*Part of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood* [Blu-ray] with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman:**
Distribution	Universal (Europe) Home Video - Region 2,4,5- PAL	Criterion - Spine #935 Region 'A' - Blu-ray
	In Region 1 Marlene Dietrich: The Glamour Collection (Morocco/ Blonde Venus/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings) is REVIEWED HERE
Runtime	1:16:18 (4% PAL Speedup)	1:19:51.787
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.64 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,164,160,534 bytes Feature: 23,750,129,664 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.52 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, German, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Danish, None	English SDH, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal (Europe) Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: December 6th, 2005 Keep Case Chapters: 18	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.37:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,164,160,534 bytes Feature: 23,750,129,664 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.52 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • If It Isn't Pain (Deleted song - audio only) 2:23 Blu-ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018 Custom Blu-ray Case Chapters 18

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: (May 2018) Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray: This is the final disc of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood Blu-ray that has Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman.

Criterion have given us a significant upgrade over the previously available French Universal DVD. Criterion's The Devil is a Woman is brought to us on a single-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The Criterion transfer is in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio. Grain is prominent. There is more information in the frame - notably the side edges. There is no digitization or noise and it looks about as good as it can in this format.

Criterion have given us a 24-bit linear PCM 1.0 mono audio track. Because of the age of this film - being the youngest of the six - the sound quality may be the most technically up-to-date in regards to the production. The score is by John Leipold (The Flying Deuces, Duck Soup) and Heinz Roemheld (Ruby Gentry, Dangerous, The Monster that Challenged The World, The Land Unknown, The Mole People, 1933's The Invisible Man) and it sounds crisp but flat in the uncompressed. There are optional English subtitles on this Criterion's Region 'A' Blu-ray.

There is only one extra on this disc. When Marlene Dietrich and director Josef von Sternberg made The Devil is a Woman together in 1935, Joseph Breen had recently been installed as head of the Production Code Administration, which enforced decency standards in motion pictures. Many changes were required of The Devil is Woman, including the removal of the song "If It Isn't Pain". However, a recording of the sing did survive, in a promotional 78 rpm disc issued around the time of release of the film. It is presented here is audio from that record running 2:23.

The Devil is a Woman has Dietrich as one of her greatest temptresses. Her bedroom-eyes and beauty are near its apex and it overflows in the film. The Criterion, part of their Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood Blu-ray set is one of the best sets of the year (maybe THE best.)

- Colin Zavitz and Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD: Another simple single layered DVD this looks very good. Possibly there has been a bit of boosting of the black levels giving this s light 'thick' appearance - its hard to sure because if it has been done it is quite minimal. Again a shade a grain gives a nice touch. As I stated with 'Dishonored', If any of us had been able to obtain these in time I am sure a few of these Universal DVDs would have been positively mentioned in our 2005 DVD of the Year poll. These discs have been region -coded to sell in Europe, Middle East, Russia and Australia with enough removable subtitle options to add to their versatility. No extras and a very no frills package but its the films that many Dietrich/Sternberg fans have craved for far too long. We again recommend this DVD with Dietrich in her highly anticipated bewitching and mesmerizing form. Too good!

Gary W. Tooze

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Universal - Region 2,4,5 - PAL

Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

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