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This special limited edition J-card MediaBook slipcase (designed by Court Normandin) is limited to 5,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them. (Note: this Limited Edition includes a 60 page booklet)
Note: this release is available to be purchased on its own, or in the following two bundles:
Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome's Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.
Harold (Leonard Fray, Fiddler on the Roof) is turning 32 and his friend Michael (Kenneth Nelson, Off-Broadway’s The Fantasticks) is hosting a party for him in his Upper East Side apartment in New York City. The party guests—Emory (Cliff Gorman, All That Jazz), Donald (Frederick Combs), Bernard (Reuben Greene, Mikey and Nicky), Hank (Laurence Luckinbill, Such Good Friends), Larry (Keith Prentice, Cruising) and “Cowboy Tex” (Robert La Tourneaux), who is also Harold’s gift from Michael—all arrive to Michael’s apartment. Like Harold and Michael, the party guests are all gay men. That is, until Michael’s straight friend Alan (Peter White, TV’s All My Children) unexpectedly crashes the party. As the night gets longer, and the guests get more inebriated, the festivities turn darker and raw emotions surface.
Adapted for the screen by Mart Crowley, from his groundbreaking play of the same name, The Boys In the Band is a pivotal film in the early career of director William Friedkin, released just a year shy of The French Connection, which would award him an Oscar for Best Director. The ensemble cast of the controversial Off-Broadway play reprised their roles on screen, many acting on camera for the first time. The Boys In the Band is often regarded as one of the first films from a major studio to explicitly feature openly gay characters, with Crowley’s colorful language fueled text offering profanities that many moviegoers hadn’t heard in a film prior. Cinématographe is proud to bring this essential landmark of queer cinema to 4K UHD for the first time in the world, from a brand new 4K restoration of its original camera negatives.
directed by: William Friedkin
starring: Kenneth Nelson, Leonard Frey, Peter White, Cliff Gorman, Frederick Combs, Reuben Greene, Laurence Luckinbill, Keith Prentice, Robert La Tourneaux
1970 / 120 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 1.0
Additional info:
The Boys in the Band - Paperback Book
By Mart Crowley
This seminal work of the Off-Broadway movement premiered in 1968 and was a long-running hit onstage later filmed with the original cast. In 2010 the play made a triumphant return to New York City in an highly praised production produced by Drama Desk and Obie Award winning Transport Group.
222 pages
8" x 5"
Overall rating: 4.9 / 5 from 50 reviews.
The Boys in the Band is a landmark film in queer cinema, now available in a limited edition 4K UHD restoration. Customers praise the film's quality, the restoration, and the additional content. The special edition slipcase and booklet add to its collectibility.
Review topics: [upgrade, packaging, colors, edition, looks, case, quality, features, film, transfer, release, restoration, movie, treatment, extras, friedkin, classic, flick, line, acting].
"William Friedkin made his biggest impression in America yet with this adaptation of the seminal play, representing a milestone in cinema in various respects. The writing is superb, the acting fantastic, and the characterization quite wonderful. The previous HD releases of this film were really quite awful, so this new restoration is enormously welcome; the film finally looks like film on home video. Copious extras round out a must-have package."
"Wow, what a gorgeous 4K upgrade! The transfer is pristine. This package is loaded with informative extras as well. The artwork is a bit weak (my only grippe with this one). Recommend picking it up while it’s still available!"
"Cinematographe’s packaging always looks so good (though I wish the cases weren’t so tall) but it’s fantastic to see so much of Friedkin’s back catalogue being revisited. This one is particular is overdue some recognition."
"Some special editions are nice upgrades. You appreciate them, watch them once, and move on. This one feels like a complete reintroduction to the film. The image quality is excellent, with natural colors, excellent contrast, and an organic film like appearance. The audio presentation complements it perfectly, and the packaging is very nice. It’s a truly outstanding effort."
"A masterpiece from Friedkin. Beautiful cinematography and good acting."
"Cinematographe is a fantastic line, and it should host Charlie Polinger’s The Plague from 2025, a movie just begging for a wider spotlight since IFC totally botched its release last year. Polinger also has several great short films that should be on the disc too."
"At nearly 60 years old, the film surprised me in how it’s not dated. Taking place at a birthday party, all the (gay) men are enjoying themselves until a straight man joins the festivities. Things take a turn towards the dark as the night progresses. This is a must see for any Friedkin fan."
"I don’t know anything about it other than the title and it dealt with gay men. Highly recommend. Funny dark and still relevant the times flies by."
"The new 4K of "Boys In The Band" is a real treat. It's quite an improvement over the previous Blu-ray. More color. More contrast. Exceptional detail, with no crushing. As a milestone in Gay cinema, with all Gay characters and captures Mart Crowley's play, using all the original actors from the Off-Broadway play. The new 4K presents a significant upgrade in quality. It produces visuals, with noticeably better delineation, clarity and depth. On our large screen, the colors are lusher and brighter. It's a film well worth the upgrade. And this one delivers."
"The peerless VS restoration process was on full display with stellar sound and picture! Thank you, VS, for continuing to lovingly restore and release so many wonderful films from every conceivable genre! You are keeping physical media alive in this streaming world we now live in! Highly recommended!"
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