by Darrel_Griffin » 07 Jul 2017 08:58
Ok, this is for "Doriana Grey" (I realise this is a different topic to the original thread, but I don't know how to resolve this - sorry).
Anyway, I've re-watched the interview on the "Doriana Grey" Blu-ray, and also checked my DVD copy. Here's a few points:
1. It turns out the interview is the same on both my DVD and Blu-ray. I hadn't checked thoroughly enough before - the interview is with Lina Romay too (speaking in French), so ideally the database should be corrected for the "Doriana Grey" Blu-ray as follows:
Interview with Erwin C. Dietrich, Jess Franco and Lina Romay (11:17, in a mix of German, English and French, with optional English or German subtitles)
(Note the difference in runtime (11:17 vs 11:44) is purely due to the Blu-ray one being PAL and the DVD one being NTSC.)
2. For my DVD (which I assume is the Swiss one), I can confirm that it is NTSC. You could add the following to the database:
It is a progressive transfer.
It is the uncut hardcore version (78:59).
Here is a more comprehensive list of the extras on the DVD, which you could use to replace the existing list:
"DVD Production Report" featurette about restoring various Franco movies (17:24, in German with optional English subtitles)
Interview with Erwin C. Dietrich, Jess Franco and Lina Romay (11:44, in a mix of German, English and French with optional English subtitles)
Trailers (totalling 40:54):
"Sexy Sisters", "Blue Rita", "Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun", "Barbed Wire Dolls", "Doriana Grey", "Jack the Ripper", "Porno Shock" (AKA "Voodoo Passion" AKA "Call of the Blonde Goddess"), "Ilsa, the Wicked Warden", "Rolls Royce Baby", "Mad Foxes", "Fräuleins in Uniform", "Come Play with Me 2" (AKA "Die Nichten der Frau Oberst"), "Island Women" (AKA "Gefangene Frauen"), "Come Play with Me 3" (AKA "Julchen und Jettchen, die verliebten Apothekerstöchter"), "Me - a Groupie"
"Documentary" featurette featuring Erwin C. Dietrich talking about working on various Franco movies (21:42, in German with optional English subtitles)
"The Jess Franco Collection" - 2 pages of text advertising Franco DVD releases
Photo Gallery (20 photos)
Cast & crew filmographies and biographies
(If you would prefer me to submit this information separately in "Comparison Corrections" section, then please let me know.)
3. In the "Interview" featurette, each person is interviewed separately, and the interview segments don't really match up. Dietrich talks about how Franco went off to shoot "Barbed Wire Dolls", and returned with a 'gift' of a second movie he shot at the same time, the implication being that this second movie was "Doriana Grey". This could be true I guess - there is a lot of overlap with cast and crew for these two movies, although I'm not sure whether the shooting locations are the same.
Then it cuts to part of an interview with Franco. He talks about how Dietrich had accused him of shooting a second movie at the same time as "Barbed Wire Dolls". This second movie was another WIP movie for a different producer, which Franco says was called "Prison Cell". Franco says that he did shoot this other movie, but only afterwards, not simultaneously. I reckon this "Prison Cell" movie is probably "Women Behind Bars" AKA "Des diamants pour l'enfer" (1975), for Eurociné. Whatever, this story seems to have nothing to do with whether or not Franco shot "Doriana Grey", and seems to be a story about a bone of contention, and NOT a story about Franco giving Dietrich a 'gift', which would surely have pleased Dietrich, not annoyed him.
So my suspicions are now aroused - perhaps Franco did not direct "Doriana Grey" after all. On the other hand, the DVD was apparently released in 2003, 10 years before Franco's death. If he didn't direct it, wouldn't someone have found out during that time perhaps during an interview with Franco or Romay? Also, IMDb lists him as being director, and does not say "uncredited". I don't know how IMDb staff source their cast and crew information, but I would have thought they wouldn't list him as the credited director unless they had strong evidence. Or am I being overly generous about IMDb?
As I said previously though, "Doriana Grey" does feel to me more like a Franco movie than a Dietrich one. Perhaps the truth is more blurred - perhaps they co-directed it. I would not describe myself as a Franco expert, but it seems to me they were working very closely during this period in the 1970s, and with film making being such a collaborative art, there is often a lot of crossover between various cast and crew roles. And actually, large chunks of a movie could be shot with neither a director nor producer being on set, especially when the cast and crew are small in number. For example, if you are shooting outdoor scenes in bright sunlight, the cast sort out their own makeup and wardrobe and know the script, and there is no direct sound, you could theoretically shoot scenes with just the actors and a camera operator.
In the end though, the movie is what it is. Whatever names are ultimately attributed to each crew role after the event will not change a single frame of the movie itself - the end result remains the same. Surely one's enjoyment of a movie shouldn't be reduced if one later finds out that the director credit is not what they originally thought. Of course, I do appreciate that you want the database to be as accurate as possible.