André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

When André Gregory and Wallace Shawn—theater directors, writers, actors, and longtime friends—sat down for a stimulating meal in 1981’s My Dinner with André, they not only ended up with one of cinema’s unlikeliest iconic scenarios but launched a film collaboration that would continue to pay creative dividends for decades. The subsequent projects they made together for the screen—1994’s Vanya on 42nd Street, a passionate read-through of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, and 2014’s striking Henrik Ibsen interpretation A Master Builder—are penetrating works that exist on the boundary between theater and film, and that both emerged out of many years of rehearsals with loyal troupes of actors. Gregory and Shawn’s unique contributions to the cinematic landscape are shape-shifting, challenging, and entertaining works about the process of creation.

Films In This Set

Special Features

  • High-definition digital restoration of My Dinner with André, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray; restored high-definition digital transfer of Vanya on 42nd Street, supervised by director of photography Declan Quinn, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray; and high-definition digital master of A Master Builder, supervised by Quinn, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Interview from 2009 with actor-writers André Gregory and Wallace Shawn about My Dinner with André, conducted by their friend the filmmaker Noah Baumbach
  • “My Dinner with Louis,” a 1982 episode of the BBC program Arena in which Shawn interviews director Louis Malle
  • Documentary from 2012 about Vanya on 42nd Street, featuring interviews with Gregory; actors Lynn Cohen, George Gaynes, Julianne Moore, Larry Pine, Shawn, and Brooke Smith; and producer Fred Berner
  • New interviews about A Master Builder with Gregory, Shawn, director Jonathan Demme, and actors Julie Hagerty and Lisa Joyce
  • New program featuring Gregory, Shawn, and their friend the author Fran Lebowitz in conversation
  • Trailers for Vanya on 42nd Street and A Master Builder
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: Essays on the films by critics Amy Taubin, Steve Vineberg, and Michael Sragow; the prefaces written by Gregory and Shawn for the 1981 publication of My Dinner with André’s screenplay; and a 1994 report by Taubin from the set of Vanya on 42nd Street

New cover by F. Ron Miller

Purchase Options

Films In This Set

André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

Special Features

  • High-definition digital restoration of My Dinner with André, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray; restored high-definition digital transfer of Vanya on 42nd Street, supervised by director of photography Declan Quinn, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray; and high-definition digital master of A Master Builder, supervised by Quinn, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Interview from 2009 with actor-writers André Gregory and Wallace Shawn about My Dinner with André, conducted by their friend the filmmaker Noah Baumbach
  • “My Dinner with Louis,” a 1982 episode of the BBC program Arena in which Shawn interviews director Louis Malle
  • Documentary from 2012 about Vanya on 42nd Street, featuring interviews with Gregory; actors Lynn Cohen, George Gaynes, Julianne Moore, Larry Pine, Shawn, and Brooke Smith; and producer Fred Berner
  • New interviews about A Master Builder with Gregory, Shawn, director Jonathan Demme, and actors Julie Hagerty and Lisa Joyce
  • New program featuring Gregory, Shawn, and their friend the author Fran Lebowitz in conversation
  • Trailers for Vanya on 42nd Street and A Master Builder
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: Essays on the films by critics Amy Taubin, Steve Vineberg, and Michael Sragow; the prefaces written by Gregory and Shawn for the 1981 publication of My Dinner with André’s screenplay; and a 1994 report by Taubin from the set of Vanya on 42nd Street

New cover by F. Ron Miller