Journey Into Fear (1943)

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:35 am

What ever became of the Drossler restoration?

Glenn Anders · Post by **Glenn Anders** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:48 pm

AH! Droessler is due in Berkeley within the next week or so. No doubt, Todd Baesen will ply him with Ha-Ra Gimlets in an attempt to get the real story of that proposed restoration.

BTW, I have now had a chance to take in the ComCast presentation of JOURNEY INTO FEAR, and I was pleasantly surprised by how complete and flowing it seemed. But despite some references to philosophy and politics, the version was obviously cut for speed.

Glenn

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:50 pm

Staten Island Cable (Time Warner) also has Journey Into Fear available on TCM on Demand thorugh 1/17/09.

Glenn Anders · Post by **Glenn Anders** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:26 pm

Glenn Anders wrote:Yes, purplepines, as it stands, JOURNEY INTO FEAR is "lightweight." Welles said as much later about the film. You might remember though that it was suggested by Eric Ambler's novel, one of the best pioneer international spy thrillers, an inspiration to Graham Greene and probably to Welles himself. Welles and Joseph Cotton considered the picture to be what Greene came to call "an entertainment," like Brighton Rock, a piece of candy or scoop of sorbet to clear the palate for more heavy stuff (like THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS or The Power and the Glory). And what Welles liked most about the film, the philosophical arguments and asides concerning democracy and fascism, were mostly cut out by RKO, a process continued in THE STRANGER, and to some extent in his subsequent pictures.

What remains of Welles' JOURNEY INTO FEAR is a story of intrigue about an innocent American engineer traveling with his wife (originally an English crime novelist, a bachelor) abroad. But Ambler's basic premise, established in The Mask of Dimitrios (possibly, the basis of MR. ARKADIN) -- that what counted in the realm of international politics and finance was not the assassin but who paid for his bullets -- that was lost.

Glenn

the scotsman · Post by **the scotsman** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:49 pm

Cornerstone Media is releasing Journey into Fear in the UK on the 28th of February. It is already listed on Amazon UK with the running time of 68m (PAL).
This is the same release date as Chimes at Midnight (from the same company). I´m not sure of the quality but will post a report when they arrive.

Also Just released in the UK - the 1955 compendium movie "Three Cases of Murder" with Welles in the third story playing Lord Mountdrago (the British home Secretary). Included as an extra is Return to Glennascaul. Quality is excellent and is a budget issue from Odeon Entertainment.

DexyMan · Post by **DexyMan** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:07 pm

What's the aspect ratio of Three Cases of Murder? I have a DVDr of the laserdisc and it was in slight widescreen (1.66:1 I believe). It used to be that DVDs were sometimes pan and scanned but these days I'm just as nervous of overmatting to please widescreen TV owners. Also I believe Return to Glennascaul should be fullscreen.

This sounds like a great way to pick those up on the cheap!

the scotsman · Post by **the scotsman** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:04 am

The Three Cases of Murder release is 1.33 - 1 . The DVD case states 1955 but the the release date on the movie´s credits is 1953 .It looks like the print source is from the US,because after the title card "London Films",there is a second title card "Janus Film".When one considers the low budget of the movie,and that Cinemascope was virtually brand new in 53 and VistaVision came along 54-55,it seems unlikely that it was made in any kind of wide screen.
As I say the quality is good and the ratio looks correct. There is no evidence of stretching or other problems - it looks natural. There is so little technical information available.Return to Glennascaul is also 1.33.-1 and a good print. As we are on the subject of aspect ratios - do you know which ratio is presented on the French issue of Chimes at Midnight ?
I live most of the time in Germany and I am sure that I once saw (in the mid 70´s) a German dubbed "Chimes" but in Letterbox format. Or am I dreaming?

Roger Ryan · Post by **Roger Ryan** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:22 am

While I can't comment specifically on the French issue of CHIMES, I was under the impression that the film, like THE TRIAL, was hard-matted at 1:66.1. Video or TV showings in 4:3 simply zoomed into the print trimming the image on the left and right sides of the frame.

DexyMan · Post by **DexyMan** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:17 pm

The French Chimes is definitely 1.66:1, I can burn copies of it to those of you who don't already have it. The print is just gorgeous and it's small enough to burn without any compression if you subtract all of the extras that are in French-only anyway. Plus, that's the only way to remove the French subtitles that are forced on to it.

tonyw · Post by **tonyw** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:11 pm

DexyMan, I'd love to take up your offer. Please contact me concerning costs and postage etc,

Glenn Anders · Post by **Glenn Anders** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:23 pm

Add me to that list, DexyMan, if you would be so kind.

Glenn Anders

Sabres · Post by **Sabres** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:52 am

Dexyman, I'd also be interested in your kind offer.

Nick

the scotsman · Post by **the scotsman** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:42 am

Cornerstone Media has just announced that the Journey into Fear release has been cancelled.No further reasons were given and no future release date was stated. As yet, the release of "Chimes" by the same company is still going ahead.

JohnIAT · Post by **JohnIAT** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:06 pm

I help run a tiny film & video franchise here in Boston Massachusetts. We would love to screen "Journey into Fear" at some point this winter, the main sticking point is we cannot identify who can grant us screening rights. We do no paid advertising and generally "four wall" a thirty one seat screening room at a local theater for our programs.
Can anyone out there direct me to some entity (preferably some person within said entity) who can grant screening rights to said movie? We wanna do this on the up and up if the fees involved aren't ruinous.

Any info will be appreciated.

John G.

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:39 am

The film was originally distributed by RKO (which has long been defunct), and I believe based on my communication with someone at Warner Bros. that they bought the North American distribution rights to it when they purchased all of the films in the RKO catalog that hadn't been sold in one-off deals to make money for the studio when it still existed. So contacting someone at WB (who, I'm not sure) is probably your best bet.

Out of curiosity--do you have an actual print of the film? Or are you planning to screen a DVD copy?

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