In April Criterion plans to release #s 427 & 428, the excellent Franco era Noir-Melodrama Death of a Cyclist (1955) by Spanish director Juan Antonio Bardem for $29.95 and the wonderful post-Noir Crime film Blast of Silence (1961), also $29.95. (see links for details)

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=427

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=428

Eclipse will release Silent Ozu (featuring Tokyo Chorus [1931], I Was Born, But… [1932], and Passing Fancy [1933]).

http://www.criterion.com/asp/boxed_set.asp?id=2001000

I'll be picking up that Ozu set. Is Juan Antonio Bardem any relation to Javier?

I WAS BORN, BUT... is one of my very favorite Ozu films. I'm so happy it's finally coming out. I can't wait to see the other films in the set: Ozu's silent films are really quite different from his later, more widely viewed work. He even throws in some tracking shots!

Juan Antonio was Javier's uncle.

Is Allen Baron still alive? I used to see his name on dozens of not-very-good TV programs and had him pegged as a hack. I'm curious to see what makes BLAST OF SILENCE so special that Criterion picked it up.

Baron appears to be alive since the disc is being touted as Director-Approved.

What I remember enjoying about the film is black-listed actor Lionel Stander's uncredited gravelly-voiced over-the-top voice-over narration, the down beat location shooting that makes THE HONEYMOON KILLERS look as if was shot for a million bucks, and Larry Tucker (SHOCK CORRIDOR's off-key opera diva Pagliacci) as Big Ralph and his wonderful pet rats.


here's some imdb testimonials for BLAST OF SILENCE inclding one entitled: Blast of Silence ought to be on a Criterion DVD hehe :wacko:

http://us.vdc.imdb.com/title/tt0054687/usercomments?start=0

Baron was interviewed for last year's MK2 doc Requiem for a Killer: The Making of 'Blast of Silence' - which will be included on Criterion's disc - and provided a commentary for a German R2 edition before that (which apparently won't be included). I love BLAST OF SILENCE - anyone sitting in my living room surrounded by the one-sheet and lobby cards can attest to that - it's my personal favorite Christmas movie and a wonderfully bleak viewing experience. I'll be picking up the Criterion disc just to finally be able to hear Lionel Stander's narration again at the right pitch, if not for an abundance of new extras. Here's an appreciation of the movie that does a better job than I could (and contains spoilers).