journey to the center of the earth

The golden age of Hollywood produced relatively few big-budget fantasy and science fiction pictures. With prohibitive costs for special effects and an audience of mostly children (or so the suits said), genre pictures were left in the low-budget gutter. But from time to time a studio like Fox was adventurous enough to put their full financial and creative weight behind a project like Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. It certainly helped that Disney had scored a huge hit with another Verne adaptation (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) a few years earlier. Fox even went so far as to carry-over the same leading man – the inimitable James Mason – in this story of a scientific expedition racing to become the first team to reach the Earth’s core.

While Verne’s novel is a tough read today, obsessively bogged down as it is with scientific minutia, the film’s screenplay is an expert balance of adventure and wit. Among the subterranean dangers our heroes face are constant tremors, raging underground rivers, oversized iguanas and an Indiana Jones-style boulder chase (one of two very obvious Lost Ark inspirations in the film). Pat Boone gets top billing (and even squeezes in a song), but it’s Mason’s performance as Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook – a bull-headed, misogynistic, university professor – that sets the tone. While there are some obviously juvenile elements (Gertrude the Goose among them), the writing is consistently sharp, fast-paced and, at times, downright edgy; like Howard Hawks meets Shakespeare-in-the-Park.

Although the 2008 remake received a glossy 3D CGI makeover, other than the aforementioned lizards (accessorized with glue-on dorsal fins) the 1959 effects stand-up very well in high-definition. Not to mention the booming Bernard Herrmann score that would make any movie seem like it had twice the budget. Journey is a perfect example of what Hollywood could produce when it chose to dive in to the fantasy / science fiction genre – rather than just dip a toe. This Twilight Time Blu-ray comes with an isolated score track and original theatrical trailer. Bear in mind, it’s limited to 3000 copies and is only available at or .

Film noir had a relatively short lifespan by Hollywood standards. For a little more than a decade during the ‘40s and ‘50s the gangster picture transformed into something dirtier, darker and much more interesting. While there was no fixed set of rules or official film noir field guide, the industry uniformly latched on to this post-war cynicism that featured shadowy cinematography and even shadier characters, quite often on both sides of the law.

The Big Heat enjoys an elevated status in the genre by virtue of its director, Fritz Lang, whose films from his native Germany (Metropolis, Nosferatu) were essential to the development of the language of film we know today. Not to mention that Lang’s visual style fit quite well into the noir landscape. Oddly enough, though, The Big Heat is a fairly flat film, lacking the typical back alleys and smoky bars that pop up most frequently in films of the type. Lang’s film is set in penthouses and well-lit precincts, cozy kitchens and classy nightclubs. Under a glossy surface, The Big Heat is rotten at its core.

Homicide cop Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), investigating what seems to be a relatively routine suicide by a fellow cop, stirs up an undercurrent of corruption, blackmail and murder. When he doesn’t he doesn’t stop asking questions, Bannion’s family pays the ultimate price. Stripped of his badge – but not his gun – Bannion’s quest for justice turns into lust for revenge.

What Lang’s film lacks in visual panache it makes up for with a visceral punch. Ford’s performance as Bannion in unusually nihilistic, even by noir standards. His inner turmoil, delivered through a jaw clenched so tight it could twist the lugnuts off a Buick, is what pulls you through the film. But the film’s signature scene falls upon supporting player Lee Marvin who tosses a pot of hot coffee in Gloria Grahame face, disfiguring her off-camera in one of the most brutal scenes of violence in noir history.

The Big Heat was previous released as part of Columbia’s Film Noir Collection. But Twilight Time’s Blu-ray is a marked improvement. The lone extras, however are an isolated score track and theatrical trailer. Again, if you’re thinking of picking up a copy, better make it quick. The title is limited to 3000 copies and is only available at or .