THE LASER BIN : Censored Films Return Intact

“The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” (Criterion, Standard Play CAV, 163 minutes plus additional material, two discs, $69.95) and “Black Narcissus” (Criterion, Standard Play CAV, 100 minutes plus additional material, $44.95).

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger formed a production team in England from 1943 to 1956 that produced a series of extraordinary motion pictures. Two of them, both censored when first released, are now available on Criterion in lavish editions that not only preserve the original films’ ravishing color and epic storytelling, but also add a separate audio track on which director and producer Powell and American director Martin Scorsese provide analysis and commentary on each film.

“Black Narcissus” was cut by the censors when the Catholic Church raised objections to scenes that suggested the sexual feelings of Sister Superior Clodagh (key scenes featuring Deborah Kerr recalling her life before becoming a nun were among those censored and now restored on this laser disc edition). “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” was cut for length and because Prime Minister Winston Churchill, then at the height of his powers, objected to what he considered its slur on the British military and its depiction of friendship between the young English officer and a German officer in time of war.