The Criterion Collection Unveils March Releases Including the Overlooked Chaplin Film ‘A Woman of Paris’

One of our favorite times of the month is when the Criterion Collection drops their releases for the months ahead and the batch its announced for March certainly doesn’t disappoint. Ranging from dark rom-coms to monster movies, Criterion is adding some proper deep cuts, as well as 4K restorations of two films that are already part of the collection.

The first film given the Criterion treatment is Alan Rudolph’s “Choose Me,” starring Keith Carradine and Lesley Ann Warren. Set in Los Angeles during the 1980s, the film follows a number of lovers violently weaving in and out of each other’s live, mostly crossing paths at a dive bar. A protégé of Robert Altman, Rudolph’s films, such as “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” and “Breakfast of Champions,” often carry a balance of absurdity and bite. Next up is the 1989 addition to the Godzilla cannon, “Godzilla vs. Biollante” from Kazuki Omori. Not featured in the Criterion’s existing Showa Era Godzilla set, the film exists as part of a resurgence in the series, placing the massive radioactive lizard against a mutant plant made with some of Godzilla’s own DNA. It’s a wild, gonzo take on the monster movie that re-elevated the King of the Monsters to its proper place in history.

One of the more well-known items featured amongst the March releases is Arthur Penn’s 1975 neo-noir “Night Moves” starring Gene Hackman and a young Melanie Griffith in one of her first film roles. Capturing the paranoia and existential dread of the 1970s while at the same time paying homage to the hard-boiled detective stories of the past, “Night Moves” follows a private investigator from the Hollywood Hills to the Florida Keys as he searches for the missing daughter of an actress. Last up on the list of new films joining the collection is a largely forgotten silent masterpiece from none other than Charlie Chaplin (credited as Charles Chaplin) called “A Woman of Paris.” Ceding the spotlight to his frequent co-star Edna Purviance, Chaplin follows his actress from a small village to the glamor of 1920s Paris, where the Jazz Age is in full swing, replete with booze, romance, and a healthy dose of devastation. Though his second feature may be one of his few forays into the dramatic, Chaplin cements his skills as a keen, sensitive observer of human foibles.

In addition to these film entering the collection for the first time, Criterion is also re-releasing Henri Georges-Clouzot’s high-octane thriller “The Wages of Fear” and Michael Mann’s feature debut, “Thief,” starring James Caan, on 4K UHD. Featuring a command performance from French actor and singer Yves Montand, “The Wages of Fear” was adapted from the 1950 novel of the same name and went on to win both the Golden Bear and the Palme d’Or at the 1953 Berlin Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival, respectively. It has also inspired a number of reinventions including William Friedkin’s “Sorcerer” starring Roy Scheider.