Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

For those in the U.S. who have TCM, what a treat!

http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.co...rors-news.html

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

I have always loved Val Lewton's work. My favorites being Cat People and the Body Snatcher. I Walked With a Zombie is filmed beautifully. I am so happy that I have the Lewton Boxset on DVD, he and Jaques Tournier made some great films together. I still have to see Out of the Past though.

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

There's no excuse for not seeing "Out of the Past". It's arguably the best Film Noir ever made. It really is that damn good. Go now, do not wait.

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

I have just watched "Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows" on Turner Classic Movies. (I also taped its premiere showing last night.) The documentary is excellent. It was produced and narrated by Martin Scorsese. I learned many things about Mr. Lewton and his approach to filmmaking which I didn't know. I urge anyone with even a passing interest in 1940s cinema to see this if they can. Pass the popcorn, please...

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

As a film-maker Val Lewton is widely recognised as one of the greatest talents Hollywood has yet seen. Remembered chiefly for his magnificent 1940s horror films, most famously Cat People, his cult of fans has included everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to Martin Scorsese.

Before making movies however, Lewton was a prolific novelist. This racy, fantastically readable pulp-noir was his favourite of his own books. No Bed of Her Own is the story of Rose Mahoney, a peppy, hard-boiled New York blonde who loses her job in the Depression. Cast alone into the underbelly of the cold, dark city with her meagre savings dwindling, Rose tries to survive a world of hypocrisy and selfishness – and the attentions of those only too happy to give her money, in return for services rendered – with only her wits to guide and protect her.

Published in 1932 – the first of the Depression novels – No Bed of Her Own was a bestseller in its day, and a minor sensation thanks to its astonishingly liberal sexual attitudes. When the Paramount film studios snapped up the rights to film the book, they discovered that they couldn’t get its taboo themes past the censors. When published in Germany, it was burned under Hitler’s orders. The book’s sexual frankness remains surprising today. But so, too, does its pace, humour and grit, and the cinematic eye and unexpected mind of its author. A vivid and strange snapshot of its era, it is one of the great rediscoveries of the year.

Featuring a new introduction by Val E Lewton, the son of the author, specially commissioned art from a comic book artist and an essay on Lewton’s writing career, No Bed of Her Own will be published in the US and the UK in 2006, as the first title from Kingly-Reprieve, a new imprint of Kingly Books.

For further information, please contact damien.loveATdsl.pipex.com (replacing AT with @ of course). This copied verbatim from the web page.

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

"RKO Announces Roseblood, Lewton Remakes"

http://www.dreadcentral.com/node/26006

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

It took me awhile to see Out of the Past, but I finally did. I loved it. In my opinion it is right up there with Asphalt Jungle, Third Man, Rififi, and Touch of Evil. It is an essential noir for me and Jane Greer was hot as hell. There was something about her eyes.

Re: The Val Lewton Horror Collection
 

I would guess that Out of the Past ranks high on the list of top film noirs for most people who have an appreciation for the genre. Jane Greer is wonderful in the film. Her line "You dirty double-crossing rat!" is classic and great fun to hear. I saw an interview with Greer and she stated that the reason her film career is so modest is because when she broke up with Howard Hughes, he told her that she would never work again. Hughes, apparently, used his influence to ruin her career. If true, he was a real jerk.