THE UNKNOWN MAN OF SHANDIGOR: Deaf Crocodile Plots Cold War 60s Spy Flick For 4K March Release
Next in line for Deaf Crocodile’s 2022 wave of restored re-releases of classics will be the 4K premiere of Jean-Louis Roy’s Cannes pot-stirrer, The Unknown Man Of Shandigor. The company recently joined Cinémathèque suisse in fully restoring the 1967 cold war super-spy thriller, and is now poised to release the film in Swiss-French with English subtitles on VoD from March 1 in association with Grasshopper Films.
The Unknown Man Of Shandigor is billed as “a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-Dr. Strangelove, part-Alphaville, with sly nods to British TV shows like ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Doctor Who’.” It centers on a mad herd of rival spies desperate to get their hands on what crazed scientist Herbert Von Krantz’s (famed Chilean cult actor Daniel Emilfork – The City Of Lost Children, The Devil’s Nightmare) latest invention: a device to “sterilize” all nuclear weapons.
Also starring are legendary French singer Serge Gainsbourg and Swiss actor and Jess Franco veteran, Howard Vernon (The Awful Dr. Orloff, The Diabolical Dr. Z).
“Our father was always fascinated by the United States and the creativity of its artists. Their influence on him was significant. Besides the genius of directors such as Alfred Hitchcock or Orson Welles, he was also captivated by the American society, so different in some ways from old Europe,” states the director’s son, Michael Roy. “Deaf Crocodile Films can’t do a better tribute to him than to distribute The Unknown Man Of Shandigor in America… and around the world!”
Christian Roy, son of the director, continues “With The Unknown Man Of Shandigor and its strange atmosphere in the dark, my father taught me a lot about cinema, but also about life. I am happy that this film, 55 years after its release, still arouses interest. It is a nice reward for all the passion, as well as all the efforts that were necessary to make this work exist.”
“The Unknown Man Of Shandigor has been high on my wish list of films to re-release for many years,” says Deaf Crocodile Co-Founder and Head of Acquisitions & Distribution Dennis Bartok. “It took nearly five years to locate and negotiate the rights for the film, and I’m thrilled we’re able to present it in such a beautiful edition with new interviews and artwork and rare archival material.”
Craig Rogers, Co-Founder and Head of Restoration for Deaf Crocodile, added on the deal, “The Cinémathèque suisse preservation provided us with a spectacular source element to use for our final digital restoration work. The Unknown Man Of Shandigor’s stunning locations and cinematography have never looked so good. 60s spy style at the highest level!”
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!