Tag Archives: Harold Pinter

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The Bootleg Files: No Man’s Land

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BOOTLEG FILES 877: “No Man’s Land” (1978 production of the Harold Pinter play starring John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: There might be a right issue that is unresolved.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: A re-release on DVD and Blu-ray is not likely at this time.

The greatest actors are those who do double-duty as alchemists – they have the unique gift of turning leaden works into marvels of shining gold. John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson are widely considered to be among the finest British actors of the 20th century, and together they elevated Harold Pinter’s less-than-remarkable drama “No Man’s Land” into an invigorating experience.
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The Bootleg Files: The Dumb Waiter

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BOOTLEG FILES 826: “The Dumb Waiter” (1987 film directed by Robert Altman and starring John Travolta and Tom Conti).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS home video.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: There seems to be a rights issue that has yet to be cleared.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely at the moment.

By the mid-1980s, filmmaker Robert Altman’s career was going through a rough patch. During the 1970s, he was praised by critics as being one of the era’s most original and provocative creative artists, but that adulation did not win him favor with studio executives with whom he had difficult relationships. After a series of box office flops and the indignity of having one film – the 1979 all-star “HealtH” – shelved by 20th Century Fox, Altman found himself focusing on small, lower budget works that were released by smaller art house distributors. He also pursued projects for television, which was highly unusual for a director of Altman’s prestige.
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