The Screaming Woman on Blu-ray

In 1972, there was a TV movie based on Ray Bradbury's short story "The Screaming Woman". It was directed by Jack Smight, who had earlier directed another Bradbury-based film, The Illustrated Man (1969). The TV movie has been difficult to get hold of for years, although it keeps popping up on YouTube, probably illegally. But later this year, it receives an official home-media release, with a Blu-ray edition.

Bradbury's original story centres on a young girl, and when Bradbury later adapted it himself for The Ray Bradbury Theatre in the 1980s, the starring role went to a young Drew Barrymore. But the 1972 version - which Bradbury was not involved with - recasts the central role to an adult woman, with the legendary Olivia de Havilland taking that role. In fact, the TV movie sounds like something from an earlier age, since its other key cast members are Golden Age Hollywood stars Joseph Cotten and Walter Pidgeon.

It's a decent enough TV movie, and a reasonable expansion of the Bradbury story, given that it needs a lot more added plot to bring the Bradbury short up to feature length. It was shot on 35mm film, so should stand up well to a Blu-ray presentation. I have my fingers crossed that the release will be an untampered-with 4:3 scan, and not some misguided attempt to re-format it for modern 16:9 TVs.

The Blu-ray comes from Kino Lorber, who are renowned for bringing obscure classics back into the light. They promise a commentary from leading fantasy media writer Gary Gerani. It should be out in early October, so this might make a neat addition to your Bradbury Halloween screening roster...

Read more here: https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=28862

Le Monstre...

I was amused to discover that The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was dubbed Le Monstre des Temps Perdus for French-speaking markets - this translates back into English as "the monster of lost times", unless I am very much mistaken. Presumably the fact that the critter was from the deepest depths wasn't enough for the French, so they empasised the depth of time instead. I discovered this thanks to this blog post from Hal Astell, which gives a neat review of the Bradbury-inspired, Harryhausen-animated movie which started the monster flick trend of the 1950s. My own page on the film, giving Bradbury's account of his involvement, is here.

Another Bradbury media review, this time of "The Screaming Woman" - one of the earliest Ray Bradbury Theatre episodes - can be found on Examiner.com. My own review of that episode can be found here.

Finally, for filing under the heading of "the mind boggles" comes this production, shortly to open in New York:

Opera on Tap will present Operamission's production of the one-act opera Margot Alone in the Light, an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day by composer Clint Borzoni and librettist Emily Conbere. Margot Alone in the Light was originally conceived during Borzoni and Conbere's participation as Resident Artists in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program. Ray Bradbury's story is set in a classroom of schoolchildren on the planet Venus, where it rains constantly with the exception of one hour every seven years. None of the schoolchildren remember the sun, except for 'Margot,' who moved to Venus four years ago from Ohio. The role of 'Margot' will be portrayed by soprano Martha Guth and the role of 'Mrs. Clott,' the schoolteacher, will be sung by mezzo-soprano Alteouise de Vaughn. It will be staged by Scott C. Embler (founding member and former producing director of Vital Theatre Company). Jennifer Peterson, founder and director of operamission, will conduct the opera.

More details can be found at Broadway World.