August 14, 2026

Into the Forest : Folktales At DEFA

Into the Forest : Folktales At DEFA (Limited Edition Box Set) (Blu-ray)

https://downthetubes.net/the-singing-ringing-tree-returns-restored-to-haunt-a-new-generation/

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/into-the-forest-folktales-at-defa-limited-edition-box-set/

https://www.mondo-digital.com/ringing.html

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited Collector’s Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
• Limited edition 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay on DEFA’s approach to folktales by East German film historian Sebastian Heiduschke, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA Märchenfilm experts Sonja Fritzsche, Qinna Shen and Elizabeth Ward, plus the Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs [2000 copies]
• Reversible inner sleeves featuring new artwork for each film by Carly A-F
• 1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
• Original German soundtracks
• Optional English soundtracks for The Singing Ringing Tree and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
• New audio commentary on The Devil from Mill Mountain by film historian Michael Brooke
• New audio commentary on Rumpelstiltskin by Sam Goff, editorial director for Klassiki and host of The Klassiki Kino Club podcast
• Fairytales and Nightmares – new interview with writer, broadcaster and Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer on the history of The Singing Ringing Tree
• DEFA and the Devil – new video essay on the depiction of the Devil in folktales from the Brothers Grimm to DEFA by film and literature scholar Mary Going
• The Magic Scissors (Bruno J. Böttge, 1956) – short silhouette animation inspired by traditional folktales and produced by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• Sleeping Beauty Was a Beautiful Child (Katja Georgi, 1987) – short puppet animation adapted from Sleeping Beauty by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film

• The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats (Otto Sacher, 1990) – short cut-out animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm story by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film

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Beneath The Trees : Folktales At DEFA 2 (Blu-ray)

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/beneath-the-trees-folktales-at-defa-2/

SYNOPSIS

Possessing an eternally uncanny, weird and phantasmagorical quality, Märchenfilme – or adaptations of popular folk and fairytales by the likes of Wilhelm Hauff, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm – remain the productions that most distinctly characterise the cinema of East Germany and its state-operated film studio, DEFA. Collected here are some of the greatest – and strangest – folktale films made in the German Democratic Republic: The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe.

In The Tinderbox, a young soldier agrees to help a conniving witch in her quest to retrieve a magical tinderbox protected by a guard dog of monstrous proportions. Snow White sees an evil queen task a hunter with murdering her stepdaughter when a magic mirror deems her the most beautiful woman in the land. Then, in Snow White and Rose Red, two young sisters encounter a pair of princes who have been transformed into animals by an evil mountain spirit. The Frog King follows a princess who must endure a series of trials to reach the castle of the Frog King, where she hopes to reunite with the handsome prince she once mistreated. Finally, in The Robe, two weavers arrive in a town surrounded by an impenetrable wall and are tasked with making garments befitting of a tyrannical ruler in an adaptation of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Collected here are some of DEFA’s best-known Märchenfilme – including The Tinderbox, which was shown in a dubbed version on the BBC as part of the Tales from Europe series – and some true rarities, including The Frog King and The Robe, which was put into production in 1961 but not completed and released until after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present these five Märchenfilme for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Limited Collector's Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
Limited edition 60-page book featuring a new essay on the production design of DEFA’s folktales by Märchenfilme expert Corinna Alexandra Rader, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA historians Sebastian Heiduschke and Qinna Shen, plus the original Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe [2000 copies]
1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
Original German soundtracks
Optional English soundtrack for The Tinderbox
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary on The Tinderbox by socialist cinema expert Ally Pitts, host of A Russian and Soviet Movie Podcast
New audio commentary on The Robe by film historian Michael Brooke
Two Kingdoms – new interview with German cinema expert Rachel Palfreyman on the history of folktales in German culture and their adaptations in West and East Germany
Mirror, Mirror – new video essay on DEFA’s adaptations of Snow White and Snow White and Rose Red by film and animation scholar Sam Summers
The Emperor’s New Clothes (Herbert K. Schulz, 1956) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
Hans Christian Andersen tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film The Fisherman and his Wife (Werner Krauße, 1975) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
Beauty and the Beast (Katja Georgi, 1976) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
**The Robe started production in 1961 but was not completed and released until 1991**
**Only The Robe is 2.35:1**

July 21, 2026

Edgar Wallace Mysteries

The Edgar Wallace Mysteries is a British second-feature film series mainly produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated.There were 48 films in the series, which were released between 1960 and 1965.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/dvd_reviews_61/edgar_wallace_mysteries_vol_1.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wallace_Mysteries

http://www.british60scinema.net/edgar-wallace-mysteries/

https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/edgar-wallace-mysteries-1960-1965/

1960

The Clue of the Twisted Candle (writer: Philip Mackie, director: Allan Davis)

Marriage of Convenience (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Clive Donner)

The Malpas Mystery (w. Paul Tabori, d. Sidney Hayers)

The Man Who Was Nobody (w. James Eastwood, d. Montgomery Tully)

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1961

Clue of New Pin (w. Philip Mackie, d. Allan Davis)

Partners in Crime (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Peter Duffel)

The Fourth Square (w. James Eastwood, d. Allan Davis)

Man at the Carlton Tower (w. Philip Mackie, d. Robert Tronson)

Clue of Silver Key (w. Philip Mackie, d. Gerard Glaister)

Attempt to Kill (w. Richard Harris, d. Royston Morley)

Man Detained (w. Richard Harris, d. Robert Tronson)

Never Back Losers (w. Lukas Heller, d. Robert Tronson)

The Sinister Man (w. Robert Banks Stewart [& Philip Mackie], d. Clive Donner)

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1962

Candidate for Murder (w. Lukas Heller, d. David Villers)

Backfire (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Paul Almond)

The Share Out (w. Philip Mackie, d. Gerard Glaister)

Flat Two (w. Lindsay Galloway, d. Alan Cooke)

Number Six (w. Philip Mackie, d. Robert Tronson)

Time to Remember (w. Arthur La Bern, d. Charles Jarrott)

Locker 69 (w. Richard Harris, d. Norman Harrison)

Playback (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Quentin Lawrence)

Solo for Sparrow (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gordon Flemyng)

Death Trap (w. John Roddick, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

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1963

The Set Up (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gerard Glaister)

The 20,000 Pound Kiss (w. Philip Mackie, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

Incident at Midnight (w. Arthur La Bern, d. Norman Harrison)

On the Run (w. Richard Harris, d. Robert Tronson)

Return to Sender (w. John Roddick, d. Gordon Hales)

Ricochet (w. Roger Marshall, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

The Double (w. John Roddick & Lindsay Galloway, d. Lionel Harris)

The Rivals (w. John Roddick, d. Max Varnel)

To Have and to Hold (w. Jimmy Sangster [as ‘John Sansom’] d. Herbert Wise)

The Partner (w. John Roddick, d. Gerard Glaister)

Accidental Death (w. Arthur La Bern, d. Geoffrey Nethercott)

Five to One (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gordon Flemyng)

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1964

Downfall (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

The Verdict (w. Arthur La Bern, d. David Eady)

We Shall See (w. Donal Giltinan, d. Quentin Lawrence)

Who was Maddox? (w. Roger Marshall, d. Geoffrey Nethercott)

Act of Murder (w. Lewis Davidson, d. Alan Bridges)

Face of a Stranger (w. Jimmy Sangster [as ‘John Sansom’], d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

Never Mention Murder (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. John Nelson-Burton)

The Main Chance (w. Richard Harris, d. John Knight)

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1965

Game for Three Losers (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gerry O’Hara)

Change Partners (w. Donal Giltinan, d. Robert Lynn)

Strangler’s Web (w. George Baxt, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

Dead Man’s Chest (w. Donal Giltinan, d. Patrick Dromgoole)

July 14, 2026

German Genre Cinema

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/kommissar-x-jerry-cotton-and-german-bondsploitation/

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/from-beirut-with-love-espionage-films-shot/

Lebanon flourished for a very brief moment in time as a movie (and movie-star) mecca. Egypt was the center of gravity for cinema in the region starting in the 30's, but in an unforced error, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to Nationalize the Cinemas in 1963, resulting in a large amount of talented filmmakers decamping to Lebanon. At the same time, Lebanon started offering itself as a Tax Haven for moviemaking. The boom was on, but suffered a huge hit at the end of 1966 with the complete collapse of the Intra Bank, the largest bank in Lebanon. This financial disaster kneecapped the entire enterprise, but it limped along as fallout from the collapse created the conditions that inexorably drove Lebanon into Civil War, by 1975.

What remains is about twenty movies, many of them international co-productions, usually concerning secret agents and beautiful women with Beirut providing both a luxurious background in the Phoenician Hotel, Casino Du Liban, and other jet set destinations, paired with the dangerous and mysterious "orient" just outside the door, of ancient ruins and souks and seedy nightclubs. Perfectly timed to take advantage of the spy boom in the wake of James Bond, but over all too soon.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/no-time-to-mumbai-bond-archetypes-of-indian/

The various Indian film industries only rarely fully adopted the Bond movie template but were strongly influenced, nonetheless. Their agents were usually not "secret agents" but instead, supercops from the Criminal Investigation Division, or C.I.D. As opposed to the lone spy with nothing to lose, they were often enmeshed in a family network, and pursuing serious romance not just casual flings. The villains, though, are easily recognizable, with their quirky character traits, army of henchmen, secret lairs, and elaborate killing devices.

A provisional list that will be added to or subtracted from as I watch or re-watch more of the films that may fit the topic. From 1967 and the first Bollywood spy film "Farz", with a somewhat arbitrary cutoff point of Mr. Bond, from 1992.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/welcome-to-japan-mr-bond-japanese-secret/

Japanese cinema had its own, much more serious strains of spy films running at the time Bond became popular. On the one hand there were the "Nakano Spy School" films depicting the misery of being a secret agent during wartime. And on the other, Corporate, not National, espionage was the order of the day with the "Black" series and it's best known entry, "Black Test Car." And in any case, Japan already had its own traditional flavor of spy shenanigans with special gadgets: ninja movies! With all of these competing threads the Bond archetypes barely got a look in, but they did, starting with 1963's International Secret Police series. Actresses Mie Hama and Akiko Watanabe, who both featured in You Only Live Twice, would become the cornerstones of the Japanese Bond film.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/on-hong-kongs-secret-service-lady-bonds-shaw/

Hong Kong had both primarily Cantonese and Mandarin language film production companies, and both, whether big budget or small, drew inspiration from James Bond films and the various subgenres that grew up around it in the sixties (heist pictures, superheroes, debonair thieves, etc). On the Cantonese language side of things, the low budget black-and-white films featured female protagonists, whether "Lady Bond" or "The Black Rose." Meanwhile, Shaw Brothers tried to imitate the more masculine form with a series of the most masculine actors they could find.

The Bond movie cycle ended with the sixties, but that didn't stop Golden Harvest from contracting an actual Bond - George Lazenby - to star in a series of films. He turned down continuing in the Bond franchise thinking his next movie was going to be with Bruce Lee, who suddenly died, and Lazenby's career along with him. By the eighties, nothing was left but to parody the spy movies, with the Hui Brothers (with Richard Kiel!) and Stephen Chow.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/the-five-top-secret-agents-of-italian-bondsploitation/

If there was a center to the Bondsploitation maelstrom, Italy was it, cranking out more Eurospy movies faster than anyone else. This collection is an attempt to carve out a chunk of the movies to make them more easily approachable and consumable by focusing in on five of the top stars, each of whom appeared in at least six films, all from 1965-1967. They all begin as Bond knock-offs, then the heist genre blends in, and finally they get rougher, less suave spies and more desperate men. In alphabetical order:

1 - 6: Ardisson, George. An Italian actor who started in sword & sandal movies before being cast as "Agent 3S3" on account of his "American" looks. Like most of the actors in this list, afterwards he moved on to whatever genre was popular, westerns first, then the sex comedies and Euro Crime movies of the seventies. I'll always remember him as the bongo crazed sex maniac of Challenge of the Devil, though.

7 - 13: Browne, Roger. An American Physical Therapist who came to Rome for a client and ended up getting into movies, primarily in the peplum genre before moving on to his spy movies. Afterwards, he did a few jungle movies then faded out. Best known as Argoman, here are seven of his more strait laced Eurospy films.

14 - 19: Clark, Ken. An American actor whose career included movies and television got cast to fill in as the titular agent in one of the long-running French Coplan series, which led to an Italian trilogy of his own, which would end up being his career peak.

20 - 25: Danton, Ray. An American star. Danton was more like Lex Barker or Stewart Granger, a successful actor in Hollywood heading to Europe for new opportunities when the well started to run a little dry. Italian movies, hungry for handsome American stars, couldn't get enough. In the seventies he turned to directing his own batshit insane movies.

26 - 31: Harrison, Richard. An American actor with a long, prolific, and successful career that nobody remembers because Godfrey Ho made him a fucking Ninja Legend. But that was the eighties. Before that, he was a super spy, and a master thief in these six Italian co-productions.