A nice haul arrived at the shop today, as a trio of packages from France, Italy, and the Czech Republic produced one new addition and a half-dozen restocks. Today’s debut is Georges Lampin’s adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” which — oddly enough — does not give Jean Gabin a very large role despite the fact that he receives first billing.
Among the restocks are three of the shop’s hottest sellers (Karel Zeman’s “Invention for Destruction,” “Son of Frankenstein,” and the French non-deluxe edition of Brian De Palma’s “Body Double”) plus the perennially popular Steve Martin noir homage “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.” That said, the two remaining restocks are hardly slouches, either — any day when Jean Renoir’s “Boudu Saved From Drowning” and “The Trial” by Orson Welles are the runts of the litter should, indeed, be considered an excellent one.