A Time for Killing (1967, Phil Karlson)

For a limited time, Phil Karlson's 1967 film A Time for Killing will remain available for viewing via Netflix's Instant Watch feature. While it may have been available on VHS or TV airings, to me this is a rarity that has not appeared on DVD, to my knowledge. Phil Karlson has always proved an interesting director, especially in his film noirs: Kansas City Confidential (1952), 99 River Street (1953), Tight Spot (1955), The Phenix City Story (1955), 5 Against the House (1955) and The Brothers Rico (1957). (Some of those are less noirish than others.)

His IMDB entry seems to indicate some tumult at this point in his career (bouncing around to TV, getting involved in the Dean Martin "Matt Helm" light entertainments), so I am not sure this 1967 film will have something special in it, but when a director proves so thoroughly interesting over so many movies, I hope he will deliver, even in what looks like a very mainstream studio release.

Karlson's films often featured real locations to great effect (Reno in 5 Against the House and I believe Alabama locations in The Phenix City Story) and frequently presented very gritty plots, especially 99 River Street, which made a strong impression on me.

Join me in checking out a rarity from this director, and let's write some reviews of what we find in this film and make some general comments on his overall value as a director. Is he merely a stooge doing the studio's bidding in this major release? Or is there a special artistic value, some insight into human nature or politics or history...? We'll see!

I've invited Dennis Cozzalio of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule to join me in this endeavor, and feel free to jump in. But the clock is ticking. This not-on-DVD film is only available for Instant Watch on Netflix until April 1, 2009. Don't miss this chance!! (No excuses if it's panned-and-scanned. Suck it up!)

A Time for Killing (1967, Phil Karlson)

For a limited time, Phil Karlson's 1967 film A Time for Killing will remain available for viewing via Netflix's Instant Watch feature. While it may have been available on VHS or TV airings, to me this is a rarity that has not appeared on DVD, to my knowledge. Phil Karlson has always proved an interesting director, especially in his film noirs: Kansas City Confidential (1952), 99 River Street (1953), Tight Spot (1955), The Phenix City Story (1955), 5 Against the House (1955) and The Brothers Rico (1957). (Some of those are less noirish than others.)

His IMDB entry seems to indicate some tumult at this point in his career (bouncing around to TV, getting involved in the Dean Martin "Matt Helm" light entertainments), so I am not sure this 1967 film will have something special in it, but when a director proves so thoroughly interesting over so many movies, I hope he will deliver, even in what looks like a very mainstream studio release.

Karlson's films often featured real locations to great effect (Reno in 5 Against the House and I believe Alabama locations in The Phenix City Story) and frequently presented very gritty plots, especially 99 River Street, which made a strong impression on me.

Join me in checking out a rarity from this director, and let's write some reviews of what we find in this film and make some general comments on his overall value as a director. Is he merely a stooge doing the studio's bidding in this major release? Or is there a special artistic value, some insight into human nature or politics or history...? We'll see!

I've invited Dennis Cozzalio of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule to join me in this endeavor, and feel free to jump in. But the clock is ticking. This not-on-DVD film is only available for Instant Watch on Netflix until April 1, 2009. Don't miss this chance!! (No excuses if it's panned-and-scanned. Suck it up!)

Coup de foudre: François Truffaut links

Antoine et Colette (François Truffaut, 1962) also see here and here

Film Studies For Free's human avatar watched François Truffaut's Antoine et Colette (1962) at the weekend and it was love at first sight, that is to say, cinephilic déjà vu, like the first experience of watching Les Mistons (1957), or even Les Quatre cent coups (1959), all over again...

Enough impenetrable solipsism, already: let's get back to FSFF's regular stock in trade.

Below are links to some great, scholarly Truffaut resources - mostly essays, freely available to all online. Merci de clicquer!

Please do be sure, also, to check out the magnificent events and screenings which form part of 'The Nouvelle Vague - 50 Years on', organised by University of London Screen Studies Group and the AHRC-supported French Cinema in Britain Research Project at the University of Southampton, to be held at the Institut français/Ciné Lumière in London later this week (conference programme HERE).

• Acquarello, 'Death in France: Liebestod and The Green Room', Senses of Cinema, June 2000
• Dudley Andrew, 'Jules and Jim', International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Vol. 1: Films, 3rd ed. (Detroit: St. James Press, 1997)
• Howard S. Berger and Kevin Marr, 'The Bride Wore Black (François Truffaut, 1967)', Destructible Man, November 20, 2007
• John Conomos, 'Truffaut's The Four Hundred Blows, or the Sea, Antoine, the Sea', Senses of Cinema, June 2000
• Jonathan Dawson, 'Mississippi Mermaid', Senses of Cinema, 2008
• Georges Delerue on his musical scores for Truffaut's films
• Georges Delerue on his friendship with Truffaut
• Bruce Eder, 'Two English Girls', Criterion Collections Film Essays
• Danny Fairfax, 'Illusion 24 frames per second: François Truffaut's La Nuit Américaine', Senses of Cinema, 2005
• Daria Galateria, 'Jules and Jim: An Amorous Cyclone', Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 23, December 1998 (trans. AK Bierman; originally published in La Repubblica, 9 July 1997)
• Juan Carlos González A., 'François Truffaut- Profile', Senses of Cinema, January 2003 (trans. Tristan Vasquez; originally published in Spanish in the Revista Universidad de Antioquia No. 269 (Medellín, Colombia, July–September 2002)
• Rhys Graham, 'Because of Tenderness: Thoughts on the Performance of Jean-Pierre Léaud', Senses of Cinema, 2000
• Dan Harper, 'La Peau douce, Senses of Cinema, March 2004
• Richard Harrison, 'The Adventures of Antoine Doinel, Dir: Francois Truffaut, France, 1959, 1962, 1968, 1970 and 1979', Scope, November 2004
• John Hess, 'La Politique des Auteurs', Jump Cut, no. 1, May-June 1974
• John Hess, 'La Politique des Auteurs Part 2', Jump Cut, no. 2, July-August 1974
• The Alfred Hitchcock/François Truffaut Interview tapes, numbered 1-25, at If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger,There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats (gathered and posted by Tom Sutpen)
• Diane Holmes and Robert Ingram, François Truffaut, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998) limited preview via Google Books
• Annette Insdorf, 'The 400 Blows', Criterion Collection Film Essays
• Kent Jones, 'Antoine and Colette', Criterion Collections Film Essays
• Maximilian Le Cain, 'Love in Flight: Francois Truffaut's La Peau Douce', Senses of Cinema, June 2004
• Kevin B Lee, 'Les deux anglaises et le continent / Two English Girls (1971, Francois Truffaut)', Shooting Down Pictures, 24 Jun 2008
• David Melville, 'Duet for Three: Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent', Senses of Cinema, 2008
• Richard Raskin, 'A Note on Closure in Truffaut's Les 400 Coups', P.O.V, Number 2, November 1996
• Mike Robins, 'Baisers volés/Stolen Kisses, Senses of Cinema, March 2004
• Marjorie Rosen, 'Truffaut’s trifle in Day for Night', Jump Cut, no. 1, 1974, p. 13
• Charles Thomas Samuels, 'François Truffaut (Interview)', originally published as "Encountering Directors", Paris, September 1 and 3, 1970, Euroscreenwriters added March 10
• Charles Taylor, 'Tout Truffaut', Salon.com, April 2004
• François Truffaut, 'A Certain Tendency of French Cinema', originally published in
  Cahiers du Cinéma, no. 1, January 1954
• Bob Wake, 'Review of Truffaut by Antoine de Baecque and Serge Toubiana [1999]', Cambridge Book Review, Issue #4, Winter 1999-2000
• David Walsh, 'The films of François Truffaut', World Socialist Web Site, 25 October 1999
• Fredrik von Zweigbergk, 'Fifteen Years Gone By: A Review of François Truffaut by Diane Holmes and Robert Ingram', Film-Philosophy, vol. 4 no. 2, January 2000

Also see:

• 'François Truffaut: A Bibliography of Materials in the UC Berkeley Library'
• The Official François Truffaut website
• François Truffaut videos at YouTube
• Catherine Grant, 'Film directing in La Nuit américaine/Day for Night: agency within constraints', Directing Cinema, 10 September 2008