Two FNF Argentine Restorations Now Available on Blu-ray/DVD
We are proud to announce the release of two FNF restorations as Blu-ray/DVD combos from Flicker Alle: The Bitter Stems and The Beast Must Die, two classics of Argentine noir.
1956's Los tallos amargos (The Bitter Stems) is one of the best noir-drenched films of the 1950s—maybe ever. A deep-seated inferiority complex leads a Buenos Aires newspaper reporter (Carlos Cores) into a seemingly innocent correspondence-school scheme with a clever Hungarian ex-pat (Vassili Lambrinos). But as the money flows in, so do suspicions—driving one man to commit the perfect crime.
Blu-ray DVD Bonus materials include:
✽ Video introduction by FNF president Eddie Muller
✽ In-depth video conversation with Muller and Argentine archivist-historian Fernando Martín Peña
✽ Profile of legendary composer Astor Piazolla by film historian Steven Smith
✽ Commentary track by author and film historian Imogen Sara Smith
✽ Souvenir booklet featuring original photographs, posters, lobby cards, and advertisements, along with an essay by film historian and lecturer María Elena de las Carreras.
Film restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive, with funding provided by the Film Noir Foundation and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust (The HFPA Trust).
In 1952's The Beast Must Die (La bestia debe morir), mystery writer Felix Lane, (legendary Spanish actor Narciso Ibáñez Menta), suffers a tragic loss; his nine-year-old son is killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Desperate for vengeance, Lane bypasses the authorities, adopts a new identity, and begins looking for clues that will lead him to the culprit. The suspense reaches hair-raising levels as Felix's vendetta leads him to infiltrate an affluent family rife with its own intrigues.
Based on Cecil Day-Lewis' influential 1936 novel The Beast Must Die (written as Nicholas Blake), Román Viñoly Barreto's film is a stunning adaptation of one of the true landmarks of crime fiction and psychological suspense.
BLU-RAY/DVD BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:
✽ Video introduction by FNF president Eddie Muller
✽ In-depth video discussion with Argentine archivist-historian Fernando Martín Peña and Daniel Viñoly, son of visionary director Román Viñoly Barreto
✽ Profile of actor Narciso Ibáñez Menta by Fernando Martín Peña
✽ Commentary track by author and film historian Guido Segal
✽ Souvenir booklet featuring rare original photographs, posters, lobby cards, and advertisements, along with an essay by Guido Segal.
Film restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive, with funding provided by the Film Noir Foundation and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust (The HFPA Trust).