(aka "Comme un Torrent" )
directed by Vincente Minelli
USA 1958
Melodrama seems the logical next step
for Minelli after he had effectively exhausted the great MGM Musical
genre with Gigi in 1958. With Some Came Running a darker tone
which had become evident in earlier musicals like
The Band Wagon and American in Paris comes to the fore
in his great cycle of melodramas including the magnificent Two Weeks
in Another Town (unreleased on DVD.)
Some Came Running is perhaps the first of the Sinatra "Rat Pack"
movies with Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine joining forces with Sinatra
in what here proves a pivotal psychological ménage. Anyone who thought
Dino couldn't act will have to re-view this and
Rio Bravo for a real study in grace, delivery and physicality.
Frank's first scene with Dino in the bar looks deliciously like a first
take - and runs for maximum length (over a minute) - you can't help
noticing Sinatra has trouble looking Dean in the eye for the first half
dozen exchanges, and the two actors barely manage to stop little bits of
physical business - it's clearly a nascent moment for these guys in a
movie together.
Fans of Godard's
Contempt/Le Mepris will of course recognize Godard's hommage to
Dino in the scene of Michel Piccoli in the bathtub reading the original
James Jones novel. In a vaguely similar scene in Minelli's picture Dino
appears in boxer shorts and singlet at breakfast shaving and pouring
himself a breakfast Whisky.
Some Came Running takes the literal parameters of "Melodrama" -
music and drama - and like Sirk or Visconti he laces the seemingly
naturalistic drama of the screenplay with operatic strength emotion and
intensity. Through the performances and most magnificently through his
superbly rendered 'Scope mise en scène.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: 18 December 1958 (USA)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Warner France (Legendes du Cinema) - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to David Hare for the Review!
DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: |
Distribution |
Warner France Region 2 - PAL |
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Runtime | 1:30:20 (4% PAL speedup) | |
Video |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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Audio | DD 2 channel English | |
Subtitles | French Optional | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Warner France Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 12 |
Comments |
A very solid disc from Warner
France. Dual layered with the movie only disc generously taking
7.136 Gig. Sound is indicated on the cover as 1 channel Mono but
is in fact 2 channel Stereo. The original release information
indicates a 4 channel soundtrack but that is not not present
here. There is no French dub, and only optional French subs. Image is very strong, progressively encoded and stable. Color is a pretty exact reproduction of the slightly drabber than Technicolor tones of the old Metrocolor process (a variation of Eastmancolor.) The print is in excellent condition with no visible surface damage and there is only minor evidence of the "popping" in opticals such as dissolves which can plague older Eastmancolor prints. The color and image generally are rendered at the same very high standard as Warner France's other MGM 50s releases, including Moonfleet, Party Girl and the later Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Recommended. |
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DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: |
Distribution |
Warner France Region 2 - PAL |