Academy Award-winner John Schlesinger (Marathon Man) reunites with Midnight Cowboy screenwriter Waldo Salt (Coming Home), a victim of the 1950s McCarthy-era blacklist, to adapt Nathanael Wests acid satire of Hollywood decadence and broken dreams.
Painter Tod Hackett (William Atherton, Looking For Mr. Goodbar), working in the art department of a movie studio during the 1930s golden age of Hollywood, falls in unrequited love with aspiring starlet Faye Greener (Karen Black, Five Easy Pieces). He competes for her affections against other men: a pair of cowboys (Bo Hopkins, American Graffiti and Pepe Serna, Scarface), and a forlorn accountant (Donald Sutherland, Invasion of the Body Snatchers). As Fayes career fails to take her beyond roles as an extra, her life becomes increasingly desperate and her relationships with men take a darker turn, reaching fever pitch at a red-carpet movie premiere that explodes into barbaric chaos.
A bitter critique of tinsel-towns empty promises and the lost souls cheated by them, featuring lush, dreamlike cinematography by Conrad Hall (In Cold Blood), and stunning performances by its talented cast, The Day of the Locust remains a relevant and shattering experience.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
2K remaster by Arrow Films from the original negative
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Original restored lossless mono audio
Optional restored lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio options
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all films
Oral history audio commentary conducted by writer and film historian Lee Gambin, featuring assistant directors Leslie Asplund and Charles Ziarko, production associate Michael Childers, actors Grainger Hines and Pepe Serna, title designer Dan Perri, costume designer Ann Roth, assistant editor Alan L. Shefland and assistant camera operator Ron Vidor
Welcome to West Hollywood, an appreciation of the film by critic Glenn Kenny
Days of the Golden Age, a visual essay by costume historian and film historian Elissa Rose, discussing the films costumes
Jeepers Creepers, Whered You Get Those Peepers?, a visual essay on the film and its themes by writer and film historian Lee Gambin
Image galleries, including exclusive behind-the-scenes photographs from the archives of production associate Michael Childers and assistant camera operator Ron Vidor
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
Collectors' booklet featuring writing on the film by Pamela Hutchinson