DVD & Blu-ray: Claude Chabrol's BLUE PANTHER aka MARIE CHANTAL VS DR. KHA (1965)

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Product Description: French New Wave legend Claude Chabrol, the director of Le Boucher, The Third Lover, Line of Demarcation and L’Enfer, took a turn into the Eurospy genre with this ’60s-chic romp. On a train bound for Switzerland, a secret agent (Roger Hanin, Breathless, Code Name: Tiger) entrusts Marie-Chantal (Marie Laforêt, Purple Noon, The Girl with the Golden Eyes) with a jewel in the shape of a panther with ruby eyes. Unbeknownst to her, this jewel contains a virus powerful enough to destroy all humankind. The fiendish Doctor Kha (Akim Tamiroff, Touch of Evil, Alphaville) is just one among many spies from different nations trying to get their hands on the panther. But the cool-as-ice Marie-Chantal will evade all attacks by sheer female cunning, and shows panther-like qualities in dealing with her male—and female—foes. Francisco Rabal (L’Eclisse), Serge Reggiani (Le Doulos), Charles Denner (Bluebeard) and Stéphane Audran (Les Biches) lead the star-studded supporting cast in this colorful spoof of international espionage capers.

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New on Blu-ray: MANON (1949) - Special Edition

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Product Description: This masterful adaptation of Prévost s 1731 novel Manon Lescaut marks quite a departure for Henri-Georges Clouzot, the French director lauded for his acclaimed thrillers The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques.

A classical tragic romance transposed to a World War II setting, Clouzot s film follows the travails of Manon (Cécile Aubry), a village girl accused of collaborating with the Nazis who is rescued from imminent execution by a former French Resistance fighter (Michel Auclair). The couple move to Paris, but their relationship turns stormy as they struggle to survive, resorting to profiteering, prostitution and even murder. Eventually escaping to Palestine, the pair attempt a treacherous desert crossing in search of the happiness which seems to forever elude them...

Clouzot s astute portrayal of doomed young lovers caught in the disarray of post-war France wowed the jury of the 1949 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion award. Unjustly overshadowed ever since by the director s suspense films, Manon now returns to screens in glorious High Definition with a selection of elucidating extras.

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New on Blu-ray: LE DOULOS (1962) Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo

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Product Description: From Jean-Pierre Melville, the legendary director of Bob Le Flambeur, Léon Morin, Priest, Le Cercle Rouge and Un Flic. The backstabbing criminals in the shadowy underworld of Le Doulos have only one guiding principle: “Lie or die.” A stone-faced Jean-Paul Belmondo (Le Professionnel) stars as enigmatic gangster Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani, Les Aventuriers), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisty, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust? Shot and edited with Melville’s trademark cool and featuring masterfully stylized dialogue and performances, Le Doulos (slang for an informant) is one of the filmmaker’s most gripping crime dramas. Screenplay by Melville, adapted from the best-selling novel by Pierre Lesou (Un Condé), with top-notch cinematography by Nicolas Hayer (Le Corbeau).

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