https://vaguevisages.com/2022/07/13/hugo-fregonese-essay-film-noir-western/
Fedor Tot focuses here (as the text in the link above suggests) on Fregonese's noirs and westerns in Hollywood, bypassing the non-Hollywood components of his output, which may reveal a different directorial modality from what he (was abele to) put into play when working in the USA.
The big news from Ritrovato in terms of Fregonese is the existence of a much better, at least partially-restored print for BLACK TUESDAY that may need a bit more work before it can serve as a source for a full-on DVD release. As is often the case with Ritrovato, a bit of "oversell" is apparent in Tot's accounts (refreshingly, though, he notes that the heavily ballyhooed HARDLY A CRIMINAL is not quite the dazzling film that FNF purports it to be).
In terms of American noir, BLACK TUESDAY is clearly the last film with enough going for it to be given an all-out sales pitch to encourage noiristas to flock back into theaters. My guess is that they'll try to orchestrate its re-emergence in a way that will permit a lot of tickets to be sold before we see it in a DVD release. If circumstances permit, don't be surprised if this gets featured at NC 20 in January.
The Fregonese section at Ritrovato was masterminded by the creme de la creme of its brain trust, festival director Ehsan Khoshbakht and MoMA repertory curator Dave Kehr, and we hope to hear more about the non-US component of Fregonese's output--as well as these folk deciding to follow up with other suitable "wandering directors" who are at least as ripe for rediscovery. For this, we'll mention just one name (in case anyone is lurking): Luis Saslavsky.
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