FEMINA RIDENS (aka The Frightened Woman)
 

Greetings,

I just learned you were releasing this film in February. I'm a big fan and have made a detailed shot by shot comparison between two versions of the movie, the Radley Metzger Audubon Films English language print entitled "The Frightened Woman" released on DVD in the U.S. by First Run Features and the Italian language VHS print bearing the title FEMINA RIDENS.

I posted my comparison on the DVD Maniacs forum. It can be found here.

In short, I found that neither release represents a complete version of the film (or as complete as it could be anyway.) There is footage on the Italian FEMINA RIDENS print that is missing from the Frightened Woman DVD and the reverse is also true, footage is missing from the Italian VHS that can be seen on the DVD.

In my comparison I found approx 3 min 30s extra footage included on the Italian FEMINA RIDENS print not included on the DVD.
On the other hand I found approx 2 minutes of footage on the DVD not included on the VHS. There are also music differences, some on account of the edits made, others are complete substitutions.

I'm aware of the VHS released from Salvation Films that was initially cut 16 seconds by the BBFC. I think that even with those 16 seconds restored the film will still be missing footage. Even with those extra seconds added in the Italian VHS only differs by 12 seconds.

I'd love to know more about the print you have for your release. Does the fact you're using "The Frightened Woman" title mean it will be the Metzger print or will the film itself carry the FEMINA RIDENS title in the credits? I assume it won't suffer from the awful washed out lack of color that is on the print used for the First Run Features DVD. Were you able to find a print that is the most complete version released to this date? Do you have its runtime?

It would be amazing to see a FEMINA RIDENS release that includes all the existing footage from both versions and restored to full vibrant color. I realize this may not be possible but I thought I'd share the results of my fascination with this film in case its of any benefit for your future release.

Hey Philo,

For this I'm going to grab the guy overseeing this and get him to reply. We also have our own documents of cuts, differences and more. This is proving to be a painful experience so far but we adore the film and are trying to make the best decisions with regards to it. We're pretty struck by the quality of the master - it's got those vibrant colours we're all dying to see! The problem is it's not anamorphic - a source of complaint on our New York Ripper release. If we 'arc' the release to make it anamorphic we stand to lose up to 30% of the image (12-15% top and bottom) which we think would be awful as it's such a stunningly well composed film in visual terms. The other solution is to go back to the negative and create a new master but the cost of that will kill us as UK sales in this incredibly tough market are awful for cult movies.

Mind you if we could get any idea as to how popular this release would be maybe we could better judge what could be spent on it... We love Femina Ridens or even The Laughing Woman if we're to be correct - right now though she'd having the last laugh as we wade through all the stuff that could be done with this release!

That sounds like a dream. It's great to hear you're fans of the movie too. I can only imagine what materials you've looked through. I really have no idea what's out there to choose from. Funny you mention "The Laughing Woman" as I just got an old copy of the paperback that Aububon published. Judging from the back cover it sure looks like Audubon planned to use that title but changed it for some reason.

I can understand people wanting anamorphic but personally I'd rather have the frame preserved most of all and like you say the composition is so beautifully done. I don't know how much of that is due to the cinematographer, director or both of them working perfectly to take advantage of the creative set design and even how the actors stand in relation to the camera. There's been dozens of times when watching on my PC where I've had to stop and save the image.

Thanks so much for your reply. I look forward to hearing more.

Hi Philo,

You can rest assured that this will be the best and most complete looking version you've ever seen. I completed the restoration the other day and it's looking damned fine. And it's 16:9 anamorphic ;)

Yup anamorphic eh... It's why we got Marc along because after NYR we thought everything needs to be anamorphic and Frightened Woman materials were anything but but looking at the paper trail for all the other titles we confirmed as owning 16.9 materials it seems the one that was missing turns out to have been Flavia. Well moving swiftly on...

Marc how about those running times on Frightened Woman - care to tell the good people?

The run time of the restored FRIGHTENED WOMAN (Femina ridens) is 86m 04s (that works out at 89m 45s for NTSC video).

As a guide:

The previous UK video release (on the Salvation label) was 84m 29s (with 16s of cuts). Shots of women in torture posed photographs were removed.

Salvation later re-issued it using the uncut master by mistake. This video release was 84m 39s (88m 16s NTSC).

The Spanish video runs for 85m 11s (88m 49s NTSC)

The Italian video runs for 84m 32s (88m 09s NTSC)

And finally...

The American First Run DVD runs for 86m 31 at NTSC speed (that's 82m 58 PAL). Anybody who has seen this will confirm that the quality is very poor.

Making the upcoming 16x9 enhanced Shameless DVD the out and out winner by far ;)

So the previous BBFC cuts have been waived then, Marc?

It hasn't been submitted yet. I'm sure it will be OK now though.

Ah now the BBFC have not yet had a chance to deliver their verdict but this'll be the longest version they'll ever have had to play with.

Cheers Marc & Almar. Sounds good :)

Good to see the filmhound morris on the case:)rest assured it'll be the mutts nuts,any of you seen the job they did of DEATH SHIP?:cool:
Shameless keeps on getting better:coolblue:

Death Ship was something else - an old fave of mine too. I think I bored Marc to tears years ago ranting about it at an Anchor Bay party (where I am pleased to say I ran up a £500 champagne bill and remember little about what happened).

The theatrical release that Joe Dante reviewed was titled THE LAUGHING WOMAN. I wonder if it was released to different American markets with two different titles.

Incredible! Thanks a MILLION times over for all the work you've done, Marc Morris and the great folks at Shameless. I'm looking forward to this like no other film in years. I'm glad to hear you were able to go anamorphic with it too. This will be amazing.

Wow that's interesting to learn. I'm curious, how was his response to the movie? Did he like it?

I wish I could find more info from the surviving participants on the making of the film. A dream would be to hear Dagmar Lassander and Philippe LeRoy's recollections. Is it known for a fact that they provided the voices on the English dub? I saw one article online that mentioned they did. I wonder how director Schivazappa is these days. According to the IMDB he'll be 73 on April 14th. Hey this new release will be a perfect birthday present!

One other thing before I forget. I have to ask about the choice of music in a scene. I was wondering which music you decided to use for the scene towards the end of the movie where the two of them are traveling back from the castle in the Amphibicar. The Audubon print uses the upbeat faster paced version of Cipriani's Femina Ridens song whereas the Italian print has the more subdued variation of the theme featured on the soundtrack called 'Weekend with Mary.' I'm guessing this second theme was the original choice and was replaced with Metzger's cut to pick up the pace. Just my hunch.

You mean the scene where they're in the amphibi-car in the water, just before the swimming pool scene?

Yep that's the one.

Strange - I've checked both versions and they use the same music.

The difference is between the Italian VHS rip and the faded Metzger print on the First Run Features DVD.

I uploaded both clips. It's a small file under 6 megs.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SO52QEW2

Not mine but here's a digital photo of the US alternate LAUGHING WOMAN release title poster (probably an eBay sale)

http://webpages.csus.edu/~sac45524/8427_3.jpg

Love that poster - it's possibly my fave although the one of him standing with his foot on her body is very cool too.

I have that poster too ;)

And the paperback movie tie-in.

That's a cool poster. Thanks for posting it. Makes the whole title change thing even more mysterious. I wonder, did it bomb when released under that title, necessitating a hasty change to something more dramatic? Weird.

Marc, did you catch those clips I posted with the music difference? The Metzger print on the dvd has a few other music bits that differ from the Italian rip, like the scene early in the film where Philippe LeRoy pours the drugged drink and the rowing machine sequence that extends the chiming sound from the rowing straight through to the bed/dummy scene.

HMV have the upcoming artwork for this on their site already....another pair of tits:D....so what's the reverse like then almar?
They also got the artwork for MY DEAR KILLER which looks pretty cool.....by the way,was in the falkirk branch on sunday and they had ALL the titles released so far....them yella covers sure do stick out amongst the shit;)

Has this release been delayed? My local HMV has Night Train MUrders and at least one copy of all the other Shameless titles but no Frightened Women. By the way Shameless titles seem to sell well up here in York!

Apologies it has been delayed due to the amount of work that's been done on it. You won't be able to find a more complete version worldwide but sadly that does mean it gets delayed.

I'm dying to put out a release schedule but a few things need to be checked off first.

The likelihood is that Ratman will be the only March release then we move back to two releases a month from April but after some scary moments we realised we had to take stock and check what we were doing so you guys get the releases you want.

Still Night Train Murders is enough of an experience not to need a partner!

Frightened Woman Sleeve - You Choose!
 

Right we're having a bit of a bunfight over a front sleeve for Frightened Woman here at Shameless Towers. The reverse will be something classic so don't worry about that for now but we're as split as split can be as to what should be on the front so why not ask you the dear paying punter?

Which do you prefer - A or B? If anyone fancies putting this on to other forums that would be cool but let me know by Monday the results when I'm back and we can come to a decision. You may hate both but in that case you need to choose the lesser of two evils! You have no idea how many versions we've been through for this film!

Monday 3rd March is cut off for opinions:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...dWomanComp.jpg

Love the tagline!

I prefer version A, however I also like the font used on version B! How about a version A.2 using the version B font? Not to complicate things any more haha.

Little comments like that are fine as easy enough to do as long as people pick one design overall - we can then tinker if there are good suggestions but that said we need to make the damn things now - running out of time!

Oh and can people register their vote in the little tally thing at the top so we get a count please?

I agree with Robbie. Cover A is the best general design but the font on B is ace!

Going all classy again with this release, I see... ;)

We have classy urges underneath all that nastiness!

Make that 3 in a row. Cover A with the font of B.

I pick A as well. I like that idea about switching the fonts, too. B has the better title font. Do let us see the classic reverse side when its ready.

Okay, it's getting boring now, but I'll also join up for Cover A with the font of cover B.:p

At first glance I was about to go for Cover B, but then it struck me that it may be a bit "Bond-esque".:D

Cover A al the way,though it's the film I'm really interested in!
Never heard of it before I caught the trailer on the "Flavia" DVD, so you see: These trailershows work!:)

Ah that's alright then, I thought HMV had kept all the copies for themselves! I'm looking forward to Rat Man, just the cover enough pleases me!

Cover A is gorgous go for that one! :D

"A with the font of B" was my first thought too.

And count me in as another who thinks cover A with font B :)

Welcome to the forums Stevoj! This is what we like to do - hear what the paying public have to say so keep the opinions coming. :)