Kino has announced a remastering for Blu-ray which is approximately due on October 15th, 2013. The high-def remastering was done with the George Eastman House.
This will hopefully be the finest version of NIGHT TIDE available. Previously, the best release was the Milestone Film and Video DVD.
There will be a vintage 55 minute interview with Harrington included, which was conducted by David del Valle.
I'm so excited for this! I hope Kino does it right. Their DVD track record has been pretty crummy but they seem to have figured things out when it comes to Blu-ray. The Milestone DVD wasn't bad, although the print was kind of rough, and the DVD wasn't anamorphic. Lots of chroma in the image, too. I hope the commentary track is carried over, and I'm hoping for Harrington's short films as extras.
shareIndependent of Milestone, I believe that Curtis Harrington donated a mint 35MM print (or maybe the camera negative) so that the film could be restored in high def. According to Kino, it was done by the George Eastman House. I had hoped that Milestone might "reissue" NIGHT TIDE in high def, but they didn't wish to revisit the title.
I don't know if the coming Kino release will have any supplements or not, but being remastered for Blu-ray will probably yield the finest print we've seen. I'll post here again if I hear of any supplements. Kino's own website isn't terribly prompt about describing their upcoming releases.
Unfortunately, it now appears that NIGHT TIDE is no longer listed on the upcoming list of Kino-Lorber releases. I emailed the company for clarification, but they didn't get back to me.
I'm very disappointed to learn that the release has apparently been cancelled, or at least delayed. I'll post here if I hear any further information.
It's back on track for October 15!
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=11755
Thanks very much. After two cancellations of this title, I won't be holding my breath. However, I'll hope to see it released, and will purchase it then.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying Curtis Harrington's recently published autobiography, and the separately-released Blu-ray collection of his experimental short films.
Review and 20 screenshot: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Night-Tide-Blu-ray/40016/
Night Tide is Harrington's most celebrated work, and for good reason. It's a poetical B-movie mystery, and the title is a perfect summation of the film's mood—dark and sensual, with a story pulled along by unseen forces. In his first lead role, a young Dennis Hopper stars as Johnny Drake, a Navy seaman on shore leave near the Santa Monica pier. Venturing into a jazz club called The Blue Grotto, where we see him double-fist beers while also somehow managing to carry a lit cigarette, Johnny makes a few passes at the gorgeous brunette Mora (Linda Lawson), who declines his clumsy advances and runs out of the bar when a witchy-looking woman—played by real-life occultist and L. Ron Hubbard muse Marjorie Cameron—shows up to give her the evil eye and a stern warning in Greek. Johnny catches up with the frightened Mora outside and walks her home, and for the favor she invites him over the next morning for breakfast on her terrace overlooking the beach. Here, he learns that Mora not only has an affinity for the ocean— watch her catch a seagull with her bare hands—but that she also spends her days as a "mermaid" in a sideshow act, donning an artificial tail and lying in a false fish tank that makes it appear as though she were underwater.
Indeed.
shareThat's awesome bro, thanks for the heads' up
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