The Defiant Ones (1958)

"More Kramer Excellence From Eureka" 

Eureka brings out another Stanley Kramer classic on UK dual format with this release of his 1958 classic prison break movie.

When a truck transporting convicts crashes in the American South, John Jackson (Tony Curtis) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) find themselves on the run. The only problem is they're chained together  - 'because the warden had a sense of humour' says a character at one point. 

Unable to break the chain and harbouring hatred and prejudices for each other, the only choice the two men have if they are to survive is to work together. Aiming to get to a railway line they have to evade a bloodthirsty posse equipped with guns and tracker dogs, survive both hunger and the elements, and they're only going to be able to do it if they put aside their differences.

Like with INHERIT THE WIND, Stanley Kramer doesn't pull any punches here. This one is a plea for racial tolerance and during the 96 minute running time we get to know both men, understand them, and sympathise with both.

Both leads are excellent. Curtis is all rage while Poitier is more the thinking man. Again as with INHERIT THE WIND we get some interesting casting in the smaller roles, including Theodore Bikel in a thoughtful performance as the sheriff pursuing them, and Claude Akins and Lon Chaney as workers in a turpentine plant.

There are plenty of long takes which make what's happening on screen all. the more engrossing, whether its Curtis and Poitier talking near a fire, or the scene where they are threatened with being lynched. 

Eureka's transfer is 1080p and as an extra you get a new video interview with Kim Newman. Classic stuff. I don't need to sell this one to you, do I?

Stanley Kramer's THE DEFIANT ONES is out on dual format from Eureka on Monday 11th June 2018

Inherit the Wind (1960)

"Still Relevant Today (Sadly)"

Stanley Kramer's no punches pulled, in your face, based on true events courtroom drama gets a dual format release courtesy of Eureka.

In the Tennessee town of Hillsboro, teacher Bertram Cates (Dick York) teaches his kids the theory of evolution. That is, until he is arrested and locked up for going against the law that only creationism is to be taught in state-funded schools.

The story goes nationwide and Hillsboro town officials are concerned their town is becoming a laughing stock. They believe salvation (of all kinds) has arrived when famous fundamentalist attorney Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) comes to town to take the case.

Not to be outdone, Baltimore reporter E K Hornbeck (Gene Kelly) convinces his paper to employ equally famous non-fundamentalist attorney Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) to argue for Bertram's side.

And argue these two titans of cinema do, turning the rest of the running time into the courtroom version of KING KONG VS GODZILLA. In fact you can almost see actors like Brian Blessed and Oliver Reed watching this and nodding sagely at the thought that sometimes you can never go too far over the top. 

Director Stanley Kramer certainly doesn't seem to think so either. He portrays much of the Hillsboro townsfolk as aggressively violent religious obsessives, egged on by their preacher (Claude Akins perhaps going even more over the top than anyone else). This, combined with what is at the bottom line a plea for tolerance, means INHERIT THE WIND is probably the only film that could be comfortably double-billed with both WITCHFINDER GENERAL and FOOTLOOSE. 

Based on a real case from the 1920s, this 1960 film version was also intended as a blistering satire on McCarthyism. Sadly the story is still horribly relevant today. INHERIT THE WIND may be Kramer's best film. It certainly may be the most timeless one. 

Eureka's disc comes with a 25 minute interview with film scholar Neil Sinyard who contextualises both the film and the historical case it was based on. You also get a trailer and, of course, the usual excellent transfer (1080p in this case). 

Stanley Kramer's INHERIT THE WIND is out on dual format from Eureka now