The book "Christ in Concrete" is a CLASSIC Italian American book, by a revered Italian American author, Pietro Di Donato. The film, for political reasons, was "buried"

It is best described as an Italian American "Grapes of Wrath".

"Christ in Concrete" won the Grand Masterpiece Award at the Venice Film Festival.
It also won the Paris Press Prize for Direction and an honor for Dmytryk from the Czechoslovakian Film Fest. Widely praised as a masterwork, it remained Dmytryk’s personal favorite of his films.

The short version is: Buy it.
The long version is: Read the extensive reviews, that are wrapped around expressions like:  "a lost masterpiece", " hard-hitting melodrama with an almost operatic intensity", "has an astonishing statement of purpose", " a major proletarian novel", "captures the potency of di Donato’s unforgettable prose", "a rich, compelling piece of filmmaking","  extraordinary black & white cinematography and remarkably realistic sets; the film’s finale is a triumph of the crew’s ingenuity", "you be haunted by the extraordinary visuals", story becomes the story of all the immigrants who literally built the country."

Then buy it for $25 at  All Day Entertainment
http://www.alldayentertainment.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/
cic/concrete.html?L+scstore+yffk4153ff0b3b0b+1081339153
===============================================
Christ in Concrete

Edward Dmytryk's Christ in Concrete (aka Give Us This Day) is a very complex movie to explain, and All Day's special edition does it justice with commentaries and other extras.

The film itself is a real head-scratcher, a lost English effort made by expatriate American blacklistees, that not only fell through the cracks, as Kalat's company motto goes, but had cement poured in on top of it.

The amazing thing is that it's a really good movie, an expressive and lusty portrait of life and love that should be up there with the Wyler, Stevens and Capra classics.
--Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant

"Long believed to be a lost film, Christ In Concrete (1949), a moodily crafted and profoundly moving social drama rendered by film noir exponent Edward Dmytryk, has been deservedly rescued and offered up in a carefully restored and annotated DVD package. --Jeff Stafford, Turner Classic Movies

Dmytryk and a pair of fellow artists, screenwriter Ben Barzman and actor Sam Wanamaker, journeyed to England to adapt Pietro Di Donato's Christ In Concrete, a major proletarian novel about immigrant bricklayers during the Great Depression. Suppressed in the U.S., where it has gone virtually unseen in 50 years, the film looks today like an astonishing statement of purpose.

But as David Kalat, the head of All Day Entertainment, explains in the liner notes, the film's reputation died with Dmytryk.  Politics, not aesthetics, are the primary reason Christ In Concrete (a.k.a. Give Us This Day) hasn't been allowed to take its rightful place His lost masterpiece deserves to be rediscovered, Known primarily as a contract director of stylish crime pictures such as Murder, My Sweet and Crossfire, Dmytryk employs the chiaroscuro lighting effects of film noir to give Di Donato's simple, hard-hitting melodrama an almost operatic intensity.

Wanamaker plays a humble Brooklyn bricklayer who longs for the comforts of a wife and family, but doesn't have the means to afford a good life, no matter how many hours he labors under dangerous conditions. Desperate for marriage, he beckons fellow Italian Lea Padovani to come to America and be his bride, all under the false pretense that he'll provide them with their own home, which is her sole condition for making the trip.

After the lie is revealed, the couple moves into a tenement building with a new determination to save the $500 for a down payment, but the birth of three children and the crippling impact of the Depression eats into their savings. When a low-bid contract job comes along, Wanamaker agrees to become foreman on the site, but the drastic safety cutbacks put his life and the lives of his trusting coworkers at risk for their precious dollars.

Though Christ In Concrete runs through a checklist of ideas about capitalist exploitation and the virtues of camaraderie and teamwork, it's grounded in more practical realities, exploding the myth that an honest, hard-working man has a shot at the American dream.

As the title suggests, the film goes too far in turning Wanamaker into a full-blown Christ figure, rather than merely a flawed Everyman. (When he shows up for work in a rickety building on Good Friday with a puncture wound in his hand, he's only asking for trouble.) But Dmytryk frames his plight with such forceful logic and panache that his story becomes the story of all the immigrants who literally built the country.

Kalat's passion for this wounded classic is reflected in the generous supplements, toplined by an informative commentary track where he chats with Di Donato's son Richard, Barzman's widow Norma, and Italian-American studies professor Fred Gardaphe. On any number of levels (historical, critical, artistic), their excitement over the film's rediscovery is infectious and entirely justifiable. -Scott Tobias, The Onion

All Day’s owner/producer chronicles the discovery, and unique production, of this stellar release. Transferred from original nitrate elements and digitally cleansed using astute restraint, “Christ In Concrete” showcases some extraordinary black & white cinematography and remarkably realistic sets; the film’s finale is a triumph of the crew’s ingenuity, and director Dmytryk’s desire to capture the potency of di Donato’s unforgettable prose. Black levels in the transfer are quite good, and though the film’s length and audio extras are close to the compression and storage limits of the single layer, viewers will continue to be haunted by the extraordinary visuals.

The audio track has been cleaned up, and both the original mono mix and the isolated score are well-balanced, with steady dialogue levels. Composer Benjamin Frankel’s innovative score is isolated on a separate track, and the occasional gaps between cues are used by archival recordings of the late Pietro di Donato, primarily discussing family heritage, and life as an immigrant family in massive New York City.

Di Donato’s life is also glimpsed in a series of brief home movie clips ­ some on video, and the last on Super 8mm film ­ and examined by son Peter, and historian Bill Wasserzieher, in the highly informative Q&A session called “Memories in Concrete.” Both men cover a lot of ground, and film buffs will get a kick from several unique anecdotes, and the amazing journey that the film has taken to what’s probably its widest commercial release since 1949. (That journey can also be examined using surviving memos, letters, and reviews, which are archived in a DVD-ROM section on Side B)

Perhaps the rarest treasure on the disc is a mono-drama/LP recording of Harold Seletsky’s innovative opera, set to potent text extracts read by Eli Wallach. (Wallach’s great at donning several character hats in the recording, but fans of Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad And The Ugly will giggle a bit, as his accent’s a kissing cousin to the vocal characterization of bad-boy Tuco.)

In spite of the above supplements, there’s not as much overlap as one would expect in the commentary track. The recording’s of archival quality, but the four participants provide a really lively mix of film facts, family history, and a major series of reflections ­ often very colourful ­ of the Blacklist period.

There’s some good background material on the British studio and exterior locations that make for a near-flawless NYC. Most amazing is Italian actress Lea Padovani, who spoke no English when originally cast, but delivered an excellent portrayal of the unshakable matriarch who never loses her dignity. William Sylvester (better known as Floyd, from ( 2001: A Space Odyssey ) also made his film debut among the largely British cast.

In many ways this DVD exists because the di Donato family, who actually own the film, due to a rather revolutionary agreement contained in Pietro di Donato’s original contract with the film’s producers. All Day’s assembly and organization of relevant historical materials really beefs up the film’s legendary profile, and this rich, utterly uncompromising depiction of the Italian-American experience from the 1920s will knock your socks off.  ~ Mark Richard Hasan

Dmytryk often cited "Christ in Concrete" as his own favorite. That it has not been available until now is tragic -- but "Christ in Concrete" is fascinating and illuminating. It's uncharacteristic for Dmytryk, who is usually best known for his noir work, but it is by far his most personal film.

With a stunning black-and-white transfer from the original 35mm nitrates, "Christ in Concrete" is instantly one of All Day Entertainment's most impressive DVDs to date. To bolster the case for the picture's historical significance, All Day topper David Kalat has assembled an impressive cast of experts to share their views on the audio commentary.

"Christ in Concrete" emerges as quite possibly the most important film by a Hollywood director not actually shot in Hollywood. Other extras include an isolated music score with commentary by Pietro di Donato, a strange but moving spoken-word opera version by Eli Wallach (circa 1965), a featurette and home movie footage of the author. Other materials in the DVD-ROM portion detail the "development and distribution" of the picture.

It's a bit overwhelming to take in at once, but All Day has had the good sense to appreciate that the real value of "Christ in Concrete" will be absorbed by film students, scholars and social historians -- the kind of people who will want to use the DVD as a long-term point of reference. As such, this must be regarded as one of the best and most important DVDs of 2003." Collector Rating: MUST HAVE
~Wade Major, Box Office

"Surely a professional faux pas on my part, I was unaware of the film. In the past few years, Kalat has disinterred a number of obscure pictures, but the presentation afforded to Give Us This Day surpasses anything he has done before. In fact, this has to be one of the finest DVD releases of the year. Utilizing both sides of the disc, thereís an excellent copy of the film (from original 35mm nitrates); a 1965 spoken word opera curio performed by Eli Wallach; home movies of Pietro di Donato; a DVD-ROM history of the film (learn of its ties to Rossellini and Visconti and Italian neo-realism); and, astonishingly enough, more. The only thing that seems to be missing is a copy of the novel! "~Ray Young

"All Day Entertainment has done it again, releasing an obscenely obscure film with the kind of Special Edition treatment it has long deserved. As its jacket rightly describes it, Christ in Concrete uniquely blends "film noir, neo-realism, and hard-hitting social criticism," and the result is a disturbing but fascinating classic of its time.

The picture is like a long-lost brother to Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954). Biberman's film is more famous (and made the Library of Congress' National Registry), but Give Us This Day is the better film, a genuine heretofore lost classic. Though awfully depressing, this is .

The film was transferred from a 35mm nitrate positive held at the BFI. The transfer is serviceable but not exceptional. Considering the rarity of the film, one can easily forgive the frequent print damage, which mostly comes in the form of pesky, reel-length scratches. The sound is alarmingly scratchy during the J. Arthur Rank logo, but is generally fine for most of the film, despite the occasional crackle and pop.

All Day did a fair amount of clean-up of both the audio and video, and the end result is reasonably good, with some minor video artifacting here and there. If it were not for All Day's passion for these kinds of movies, the picture would likely not see any release at all.

All Day has given Give Us This Day an exhaustive, Criterion-like special edition treatment with what was undoubtedly a miniscule budget. Best among the special features is a shakily produced but historically fascinating 35-minute featurette "Memories in Concrete," with film scholar Bill Wasserzieher and Peter di Donato discussing the origins of both the novel and film. Much of this information is carried over into the audio commentary, where di Donato is joined by Norma Barzman, Fred Gardaphe, and David Kalat, but the featurette is a good primer for the picture's background. There's also a 30-minute "musical monodrama" of Eli Wallach offering a self-consciously arty but well-produced dramatic reading of the material. All Day has also compiled 25 minutes of "home movies" of the late author (who died in 1992). Finally, the DVD offers a DVD-ROM feature with archival correspondence, legal papers, and interesting clippings from the time of the picture's release.

All Day Entertainment has continually done more with less than perhaps any DVD label in the business; few would release a title as commercially marginal as Christ in Concrete. Despite a few technical shortcomings, this is one of the real finds of 2003."     Stuart Galbraith, Home Theater Forum

"A true piece of cinematic archeology, this piece of American social commentary--made in England by director (Edward Dmytryk), screenwriter (Ben Barzman), and star (Sam Wanamaker), and adapted from a controversial 1939 novel by Pietro di Donato--was all but lost for the past 50 years after it was suppressed in the US. Handsomely shot (on London sets standing in for New York slum tenements) and somewhat archly written, it wears its heart and its politics on its sleeve, making a show of its working class solidarity but without the documentary poetry of its neo-realist inspiration. It's hardly subtle but it is striking and the final moments are truly gripping.

The double sided disc features commentary by Norma Barzman, Italian-American studies professor Fred Gardaphe, Richard di Donato (son of author Pietro di Donato), and disc producer David Kalat and an isolated music score with commentary by Pietro di Donato on side A, along with the mostly excellent transfer from original 35mm nitrate prints (with only minor scratching in places, the only rough spot of the film is the soundtrack in the film's opening - the rest is fine). The rest of the supplements are on the flip side, including a 20 minute video interview with film scholar Bill Wasserzieher and Peter di Dinato, home movie footage of Pietro di Donato, a still gallery, bios, DVD-ROM accessible materials tracing the development and distribution of the film, and a fold-out booklet. The disc's treasure, however, apart from the film itself, is the audio only recording of Harold Seletsky's 1965 musical monodrama, a kind of spoken word opera performed by Eli Wallach and a thrilling interpretation of di Donato's book in his own words, edited and compressed and set to music."~Sean Axmaker, Internet Movie Database

"The 1949 film Christ in Concrete has little to do with religion but it has been resurrected. The movie has been rarely screened or aired and was never released in any home video format--until today's special edition DVD."~Randy Salas, Star Tribune

"The resurrection of Christ in Concrete from its long period in oblivion to a new place in commercial channels is clearly a reason for film lovers to give thanks.
~Phil Hall, Film Threat

Edward Dmytryk went to England and made his feature film version of writer Pietro di Donato’s book Christ In Concrete in 1949. Also issued under titles like Salt to the Devil and Give Us This Day, the film went barely released in the United States and is one of the least known major film works of the 1940s.

The film and its remarkable history is covered throughout the double-sided DVD release of the film by indie label All Day Entertainment. The extras are very rich and add greatly to the film. Then there is the film. What would usually be a predictable, melodramatic type of film takes on a political resonance for its time, speaking of what was the sad state of labor in the 1920s for immigrants.

The full-screen, black and white image is not bad, considering this film was practically lost forever. The black is not as dark as it could be totally, but gray scale is still on the accurate side despite this. Some hairline vertical scratches can be seen, but the print is in decent shape overall. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is unusual in that the sound is some of the most uncompressed for a film from this time period, but there is loud background hiss throughout. It is something how good the sound has survived.

For those of you who believe such suppression of a film could not happen again, think again. The battles over Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1984) and especially (and with eerie similarity) Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) prove that radical anti-freedom of expression forces are as devious as ever. Christ In Concrete is one of those great films that challenged the establishment, and status quo, the way more films ought to. Now, it can finally take its place with the rest of those films.
~Nicholas Sheffo, Fulvue

Christ In Concrete: An Italian-American ‘'Grapes of Wrath'‘ about the harsh lives of European immigrants by director Edward Dmytryk (‘'The Caine Mutiny). A seminal film in Europe, it was banned in America by the Legion of Decency, and by 1966 all prints of the movie had been lost or destroyed. Now available through a miracle of modern science for you to enjoy on DVD. John W.McDonald, The Video TapeWorm

Though Dmytryk kept di Donato's social realist setting and florid dialogue -- sample uttered at the birth of a baby: "Wail! Wail your one-note opera!" -- the film's style is more noir than neorealist, perhaps a result of the fact that the New York drama had to be filmed on a London soundstage. There's no lack of authenticity in the story, though, a tale of an immigrant bricklayer (heavily based on di Donato's father) whose desperation to earn a house for his newly immigrated bride drives him to ever-riskier pursuits. If the brotherhood-of-the-worker stuff goes on a bit thick ("Hey, let's all work together and split the bonus!"), it's all worth it for the film's coruscating final images, a shocking conclusion that finally makes sense out of that curious title. All Day Entertainment's DVD positively overflows with background material, from audio commentary with Barzman's widow and di Donato's son to DVD-ROM supplements "tracing the development and distribution of the film," not to mention a complete recording of the 1965 "monodrama" adaptation of the novel, an obscure form involving orchestral music and spoken narration (by Eli Wallach).
~Sam Adams, Philadelphia City Paper

"CHRIST IN CONCRETE is a beautiful work, visually and thematically rich, and buoyed by an able and natural cast. It stands not only on its own merits as a great work, but as a statement of the artist’s continued survival in the face of hostile and unfair opposition. It is a work that every serious film fan should see, firstly because it’s a very well told and heartfelt tale, and secondly as a reminder of the dangers of treating every dissenting opinion as a dangerous one. Something to keep in mind, perhaps, the next time one turns on the television and sees people on the news gleefully instructing their children to stomp on CDs."
~Tim Tompkins, CultCuts Magazine