The Warner Archive Collection releases of Angel Face and The Old Man and the Sea on June 27, 2023, bring two beautifully restored classic studio films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin to the home market on Blu-ray.
Angel Face
Originally presented by Howard Hughes and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, Angel Face pairs Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons in a bleak film noir directed by Otto Preminger. Had Tiomkin been in Boston on December 31, 1952, he could have taken in the special New Year’s Eve only showing of a “Preview of 1953’s” Angel Face at the RKO Keith Memorial Theatre, now the Boston Opera House. That same evening around Beantown two other Tiomkin-scored films could be seen. Dial M for Murder, billed as a “Thriller-Diller,” played the Wilbur Theatre, now The Wilbur, and, due to heavy demand for reserved seats, The Four Poster premiere at the Beacon Hill Theatre at 8:30 p.m. was followed by a midnight screening.
Coincidentally, “Angel Face,” panchromatic makeup from Pond’s skin care first marketed in 1946, was all the rage during the 1952 Christmas shopping season that led up to the film’s release. After a last-minute title change from “The Murder,” the film saw wide release in February 1953.
Considering Tiomkin was a Classically trained musician who concertized in Germany, France, and the United States as a solo and duo pianist, it’s remarkable that Angel Face is one of the rare Tiomkin film scores to include a piano solo within the dramatic underscore. “Nostalgia,” with its haunting lyricism makes several appearances on the film’s soundtrack as instrumental background music. The work is available in the Dimitri Tiomkin Anthology.
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Angel-Face-Blu-ray/338028/#Review
The Old Man and the Sea
Old Man and the Sea poster
This year marks the 65th anniversary of The Old Man and the Sea. Some consider the adventure drama directed by John Sturges to be one of the truest book-to-film adaptations ever made, so much so that reviewer Randy Miller III bills it as a “book-on-tape with accompanying visuals.” Further from Miller on this Blu-ray release, “[Spencer] Tracy’s warm monologues and spoken dialogue sound clean and crisp, with added high-seas effects heightening the action often in tandem with Dimitri Tiomkin’s Oscar-winning original score.”
The dreamy main title translates well into a piano solo, and in fact, what was conceived as a song, “The Old Man and the Sea,” pervades the soundtrack as instrumental background music, even more so than the previously mentioned, “Nostalgia.”
In addition to Blu-ray, the film is on prime video and Apple TV.
Sources
“Movie Schedules,” “Double Premiere for ‘Four Poster,’” and display ads, Boston Globe, December 31, 1952.
October 2023: Warner Archive releases Land of the Pharaohs on Blu-ray