Welcome to the Criterion Corner, where we break down some of the month’s new releases from the Criterion Collection. Stephen Roberts Criterion Collection has released a Blu-ray special edition of The Story of Temple Drake, a film largely unseen since shortly after its release in 1933. The Story Temple Drake d. Stephen Roberts (1933) The Criterion Collection William Faulkner's novel Sanctuary came out to acclaim and derision in 1931. Now for the first time somebody has the courage to frankly tell you about them! “There’s a wild streak” to the Drakes, lawyer Stephen Benbow’s (William Gargan) aunt warns; The Story of Temple Drake seems as much a cautionary tale against rash judgment of sex-positive women as it is a warning against recklessness and promiscuity. #1006: The Story of Temple Drake (1933), dir. When a boozehound date strands her at a bootleggers hideout, Temple is subjected to an act of nightmarish sexual violence and … Buy The Story of Temple Drake (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] [Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen, Subtitled] at MoviesUnlimited.com. While I admire the ingenuity and class that some of the later 30's and 40's movies had in dealing with the Code restrictions, early dramas like The Story of Temple Drake demonstrate the same artistry in handling a sexually frank storyline. Steeped in southern-gothic shadows by influential cinematographer Karl Struss and shot through with moral ambiguity, The Story of Temple Drake is a harrowing vision of sin and salvation that boasts an astonishing lead performance from the fiery Hopkins, whose passage through the stations of terror, trauma, and redemption is a true tour de force of screen acting. Temple Drake on Blu compares well with Paramount’s nitrate studio print that was screened at UCLA so long ago. Category: Criterion Collection Tag: December 2019. A salacious melodrama, The Story of Temple Drake is everything that made censors panic about Pre-Code Hollywood. #1006: The Story of Temple Drake (1933), dir. Stephen Roberts The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray of The Story of Temple Drake is a beautifully restored HD encoding; we wish that the visually fragile Island of Lost Souls could have survived in this condition. After the implementation of the Production Code in July 1934, the Paramount production vanished from distribution. The Story of Temple Drake (Criterion Collection), Blu-ray, Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen, Subtitled, Drama, 715515238717 SPECIFICATIONS 1.33:1 Standard; English PCM Mono; English subtitles; 1 Disc FEATURES New program featuring a conversation between cinematographer John Bailey and Matt Severson, director of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, about the film’s visual style, along with archival materials relating to its production Sure, there are sensational aspects to this story, but Roberts never sensationalizes them.