Written by Matt Long
This booklet is included as part of Deaf Crocodile’s 2026 Blu-ray release of Scarlet Sails (1961).
Professionalism and production quality
Adorned with the beautiful Tony Stella-esque artwork also printed on the slipcover, the booklet features forty-eight thin glossy pages. The text size is appropriate for the page sizes and the handful of stills from the film are printed clearly. The gallery of Stella artwork showcases his art beautifully. There are drawbacks to the thin pages, mainly that they don’t hold up super well to any wear and tear or extensive use, but hey, this is a supplemental feature that is very well done. The essays could have used light editing to make them more “professional,” but there weren’t obvious errors or any confusing text.
Grade: A-
The cover of the booklet of Scarlet Sails, with art by Sam Hadley done in the style of Tony Stella.
Text-to-image ratio
There are twenty-two pages with images and twenty-nine pages with text (for the purposes of this review, I’m not counting film titles as text, rather treating them as elements of the promotional art). Considering one of the sections is an art gallery, this is an impressive split. All the content is given plenty of room without crowding each other.
Grade: A
Content
The first essay is “Scarlet Sails” by Peter Rollberg. Rollberg impressively weaves through the history of the film from all angles, covering the Russian author Aleksandr Grin who wrote the source novel, the director Aleksandr Ptushko, how Ptushko dealt with Soviet compromises within the film, and much more. Rollberg’s writing is engaging, expertly showcasing his knowledge. One of the major tidbits that stuck with me is how the choice to focus on “scarlet” instead of “red” for the sails was a conscious choice to make the story un-Soviet. I’m unfamiliar with the author’s work, so it’s helpful to know that Grin’s work is focused on a fantasy world in unnamed foreign lands.
Second is “Scarlet Sails” by Walter Chaw. Wow. Chaw delivers a beautiful tribute to the film. It’s obvious that he was incredibly touched by and connected strongly with the film, finding that it brought him back to his childhood and exactly what he’s looking for in this pursuit of consuming art. Honestly, parts of this essay made me feel more than the film on a whole, which makes me want to put the disc back in and watch it again through Chaw’s point of view.
Finally, the booklet concludes with a tribute to Tony Stella, “In Memoriam - Tony Stella,” which collects the eight pieces of art that Stella contributed to Deaf Crocodile’s catalog, mostly during the OCN era. They’re beautiful pieces, some of which are quite rare now, so collecting them here in the wake of Stella’s death makes a lot of sense.
Grade: A
Creativity
The usual fare of two essays, one being a Walter Chaw contribution, is standard issue for a Deaf Crocodile booklet, but they’re supplemented by the tribute to Tony Stella. The cover art also needs to be called out. A very well-conceived booklet.
Grade: B+
Grade summary
Professional and production quality grade: A-
Text-to-image ratio grade: A
Content grade: A
Creativity grade: B+
Final thoughts
This excellent booklet is one of my favourites from Deaf Crocodile so far. Essential reading.
Overall grade: A
Check out more articles and reviews, or read interviews from the“What’s your idea” interview series.