At first glance, Frank Perry’s 1968 film THE SWIMMER would seem like an odd fit for a new release from Grindhouse Releasing, the company who re-emerged last year to triumphant success thanks to their issues of AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL and CORRUPTION. It’s not really a “grindhouse” film at all, and doesn’t feature a single moment of gore or bizarre hippie freak-out.
What it does have, however, is a great performance by Burt Lancaster shepherded by Frank Perry, the director of the woefully underavailable LAST SUMMER and LADYBUG LADYBUG. Based on a John Cheever story, Lancaster is amazing as Ned Merrill, an apparently wealthy man who decided to make his way home one day by swimming in the pools of every one of his neighbors. To say more would be a disservice to those unfamiliar with the story, but THE SWIMMER is certainly a film that warrants a much larger cult audience than it currently has.
Fortunately, Grindhouse is coming to the rescue with what looks like an amazing release, due out in March.
From their Facebook page:
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD from Grindhouse Releasing: Burt Lancaster in Frank Perry’s THE SWIMMER. Arriving in a deluxe collector’s edition with spectacular new high-definition transfer and bonus features including “The Story of THE SWIMMER“, a new 2 1/2-hour documentary by Oscar winner Chris Innis! Street date: March 11,2014
We’ll be keeping tabs on this release, and look forward to any future titles from Grindhouse Releasing, who are clearly looking to make this year even better with regards to catalog classics as the previous.
@Paul Freitag-Fey
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A recent showing on TCM certainly kicked up some buzz. Since I don’t have cable, I’m grateful Grindhouse is making this available.