The Criterion Collection released Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story today, the first legit U.S. home video issue of either Orson Welles title.
Chimes was the culmination of Welles’ lifelong interest in The Bard’s Sir John Falstaff, while The Immortal Story is based on tale by one of Welles’ other favorite authors, Isak Dinesen.
The reviews of the Blu-ray and DVD sets have been positive for both titles.
Here is a sampling of critics’ remarks with links to the full reviews:
Chimes at Midnight
Criterion now has justifiable reason to regard this copy as being the best version available for those unfortunate enough not to have viewed the recent restored 35mm version. As well as those breathtaking battle scenes one now has a distinctive visual reproduction of Henry IV’s castle with fine-toned Nuremberg lighting in addition to accomplished deep focus shots of the Boar’s Tavern interior. – Film International
As any desperate Orson Welles admirer who might have once watched Chimes at Midnight on an awful YouTube link can tell you: This preservation looks and sounds miraculous. It’s worth remembering that the film, even recently, was once nearly considered lost, making this disc an early candidate for one of the most satisfying as well as historic releases of the year. The image is breathtakingly clear, with a newly vibrant depth of field that captures the full breadth of Welles’s brilliance as an image-maker…The problematic post-synchronization of the dialogue, which influenced many pans of the film at the time of its initial release, has largely been corrected. An occasional background voice will sound a little tinny, but that’s nitpicking. The bigger sound effects have never sounded more dynamic, particularly the clashing and clanging of the Battle of Shrewsbury, which is finally accorded the aural/visual magnificence that it has long deserved. – Slant magazine
There’s something still a bit grungy about the look of the newly restored Chimes at Midnight, no doubt the result of its tumultuous low-budget shoot, but the cleaned-up AVC-encoded 1080p 1.66:1 transfer is stable with no signs of dirt or damage. Edmond Richard’s high-contrast cinematography translates well here, and it enhances the dramatic ambience without looking as blatantly stylized as some of Welles’s other films. Detail fluctuates a bit, as does the film grain resolution, but, for the most part, this restoration is tremendously satisfying. The sound has always been notoriously bad on this film, apparently even in its initial theatrical run. The new remastered mix, in LPCM mono audio, makes the dialogue far more intelligible than earlier Chimes viewers would expect. The remaster also nicely preserves the often clever sound design that gives many sequences some added dimension and scope that isn’t always captured on screen. However, the new restoration cannot remove all the limitations of the source material. Some lines are still a bit garbled (thank goodness for the English SDH track) and certain speeches are beset by sharp, sibilant “S”s… Another neglected masterpiece gets its belated due, thanks to this thoughtful presentation from Criterion. Even folks who consider themselves Orson Welles fans have probably never taken a look at this inventive and heartfelt re-tooling of Shakespeare’s histories, but there’s no better time to rewrite history than the present. – DVD Talk
The crowning achievement of Orson Welles’s extraordinary cinematic career, Chimes at Midnight was the culmination of the filmmaker’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare’s ultimate rapscallion, Sir John Falstaff… One of the more desirable Blu-ray releases of the year for Welles fans, Shakespeare fans and all cinephiles. Our highest recommendation! – DVD Beaver
The image transfer is a revelation. Blacks and whites are crisp and contrast is wonderful. The film has an evenly balanced grain structure throughout. Around the 46-minute mark, I noticed a little print damage and there is one shot with a white tramline but this is by far the very best that Chimes at Midnight has ever looked. The Blu-ray contains the original monaural track presented in PCM. Welles re-recorded all dialog and looped it back in during post-production. Chimes was very low-budget and Welles did not have the money to pay for expensive sound equipment. Lipsynch inconsistencies are pleasantly absent. Angelo Francesco Lavagnino’s music sounds solid, though relegated to the center and front channels. You will find yourself turning up the spoken words to hear every consonant but Criterion has provided optional English SDH which I quickly resorted to. – High Def Digest
Criterion has, quite rightfully, spared no effort in making this long, long-in-coming release of Chimes something extra special. All your favorite living Welles authorities are probably here, including his devoted biographer Simon Callow and film historian Joseph McBride. Film scholar James Naremore delivers a newly recorded audio commentary, a particularly insightful extra. Yet another film scholar, Michael Anderegg, provides the essay insert. Additionally, there are substantial video interviews with surviving cast members Keith Baxter and Beatrice Welles, the filmmaker’s daughter who appeared in the film (and was made to play a boy) at a young age. – Screen Anarchy
The Immortal Story
The Immortal Story looks absolutely stunning on this new Blu-ray. Clearly the French production company responsible took great care in archiving the original materials over the years and Criterion have ensured that it pops off the screen with the depth and vibrancy of films with ten times the budget. It’s a sumptuous piece of work all too easy to get lost in. The disc contains both the English and French language edits of the movie, which contain a variety of different edits and takes in addition to the differing dubbing. Both versions aren’t so different as to play as separate films, but they are fascinating to view together as an exploration of the major differences that subtle shifts in editing can make. – Dork Shelf
At times, The Immortal Story is so surpassingly, heartbreakingly beautiful that it’s difficult to parse even the top layer of the narrative. In this 58-minute film, Welles achieves a resonant, diaphanous delicacy that’s rare even for him… Criterion has performed an invaluable service to cinephilia by refurbishing another of Orson Welles’s obscure late-career masterworks, outfitting a sumptuous transfer with a handful of illuminating supplements. – Slant magazine
The Immortal Story (Blu-ray) Criterion offers a handsome 1080p/1.66:1 transfer. There are a few moments where the movie looks a little soft, but that largely seems to be by design. Detail is excellent (perhaps a little too excellent when it comes to close-ups of Welles’ make-up), colors are rich and full and depth is strong. The LPCM 1.0 Mono track is very spare, but effective, capturing the quiet dialogue and the Erik Satie piano cues with clarity. Supplements include an alternate French-language version of the film, an audio commentary from film scholar Adrian Martin, a documentary on Welles from 1968 (Portrait: Orson Welles), plus interviews with actor Norman Eshley, cinematographer Willy Kurant and Welles scholar Francois Thomas. The package is rounded out by a booklet featuring an essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum. This is a curious movie: brief (it was initially supposed to be the first half of a two-part anthology film), elusive, elegant and absorbing. It’s not for everyone, but I keep drifting back to it. It’s a cold, emotionally distant film, but there’s something so strangely affecting about it. Give it a shot and see what it does to you.– DVD Verdict
Like Chimes at Midnight, this Criterion reproduction is superb in many ways and well worth the price of purchase. It contains both the English and French versions, the latter shorter by eight minutes but containing a few extra scenes and reframing not in the English version. – Film International
While it seems unlikely that The Immortal Story will ever garner the critical accolades afforded some of Welles’ other, better known films it is certainly a picture with a lot of merit. The direction is tight and the performances are excellent across the board. The Criterion Collection has rolled out the red carpet for this one, making up for the feature’s short running time by including an interesting alternate version and a very nice collection of additional extra features. Highly recommended. – DVD Talk
Clocking in a only 58 minutes, the film can be an acquired taste for many people, and only fans of this certain type of cinema and that of Welles himself may really understand what exactly is going on. But, by an artistic standpoint, this is a marvel of deep emotion and haunting spareness that showcased the fact that Welles lost none of his trademark ability to arouse such techniques of the lines between what is real, and what is make-believe. – Cinema Sentries
“The Immortal Story is essential fodder for Welles fans. The film’s enigmatic reputation is deserved but you can sense multiple layers within the narrative even upon first viewing. I’ll avoid saying ‘brilliant’ but the film construction is, as always with Welles, absolutely fascinating. This Criterion Blu-ray package is an easy endorsement. The commentary and supplements add further value and we give it a very strong recommendation!” – DVD Beaver
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