Beat the Devil on Blu - Could this be a Twilight Time Release? (1 Viewer)

[JoeDoakes]

This is one of my favorite Bogart films but, unfortunately, one that has been plagued by being in the public domain. As a result, it has had various public domain companies release DVDs of it, and it has never gotten the respect it deserves. What makes me think of Twilight Time is that Beat the Devil was originally released in the United States by Columbia, and Columbia released it on VHS. Thus, Sony, which has a relationship with Twilight Time) may well have good quality elements from which to make a high definition transfer. If Sony does have good elements, and Twilight Time could some of the money they usually pay to license a title into getting Sony to do a high quality transfer, it might be rescued from PDH. As far as extras go, a good commentary also would be great considering the stories that have come out about this production (e.g., Bogart losing to Capote in an arm wrestling match). Criterion sometime rescues public domain films, but they have shown little interest in this title. Personally, I would be much more interested in this than the titles Twilight Time has released so far.
P.S. Given that Twilight Time has thusfar shown a penchant for releasing John Huston's less well known works, it should be noted that this is a John Huston film.[

 

[Adam Gregorich]

At some point over the next few months we should hear some info about wave two of their Columbia titles. I'm hoping for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington myself...

Good news is they read the forum so I'm sure your request (and mine) are noted.

 

[Matt Hough]

There is plenty about Beat the Devil (the cast alone and crew alone) that could be used for PR to get the title out there and make folks want to own it.

I hope Twilight Time considers it.

 

[JoHud]

Did Sony remaster this in HD? Otherwise, I can't imagine Twilight Time being able to to much about it other than making request.

 

[Richard--W]

Actually, Columbia released an excellent transfer on VHS. I bought it for one dollar on ebay. Quality is superior to any of the public domain DVD's. So well-preserved elements do exist. Let's hope Twilight Time will do more than consider it. The proliferation of various public domain editions testifies to its popularity and the demand for a quality transfer. Creatively, of course, the film merits all the attention Twilight Time can lavish on it.

The posters have been overstating the case for 60 years.
What do you suppose John Huston meant by that?

 

[JoeDoakes]

Bogart produced and starred in a syndicated radio show in the 1950s called Bold Venture that dealt with him and Lauren Becall on a ship in the Carribean called the Bold Venture. I imagine that the reference to the Boldest Adventure in the poster is a play on the radio title. Perhaps the marketing of this title had something to do with its failure at the box office as audiences failed to get what they expected.

 

[Richard--W]

I'm sure you must be right on the "boldest adventure" association. Except Beat the Devil is a satire and Bold Venture was a straighforward adventure. Columbia probably didn't know how to sell the film so they made up posters for how they wished it would be. I've listened to some mp3's of Bold Venture (hate the sound of mp3's) episodes. The program is imitation Hemingway, as if he had never stopped rewriting To Have And Have Not (actually, he never did). Dated, but I get a kick out of the program. Good storylines and witty dialogue. Somewhere in those episodes are a couple of good movies Bogart and Bacall could have made together.

 

[Spencer Draper]

Is the official VHS still the best version around? I've wanted to see the film for ages but there's nothing I hate more than bad PD transfers. Edit: Found Image did a Laserdisc version licensed by Columbia. Will have to track one down.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Is the official VHS still the best version around? I've wanted to see the film for ages but there's nothing I hate more than bad PD transfers. Edit: Found Image did a Laserdisc version licensed by Columbia. Will have to track one down.

I purchased a DVD copy produced by Tgg Direct before I too became wary of bad PD transfers. I don't know for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me if its a copy of the laserdisc as it's pretty good (http://www.amazon.com/Beat-Devil-Humphrey-Bogart/dp/B00005BI9D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362009435&sr=8-1&keywords=beat+the+devil+tgg).

 

[JoeDoakes]

Thank you @Twilight Time . It’s been seven years but you made my dream come true. THIS is a wonderful film.

 

[JPCinema]

The TT version is the rediscovered and restored full 95mm uncut version with the scenes in their original order. This original version was discovered a few years ago.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I would have like the US theatrical release to have been included via seamless branching, but that's ok.

 

[Paul Rossen]

I would have like the US theatrical release to have been included via seamless branching, but that's ok.

Is that even possible as I’ve read that scenes have been shifted and not merely added to the existing version.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Is that even possible as I’ve read that scenes have been shifted and not merely added to the existing version.

Hmmm. I don’t know

 

[ahollis]

I just really happy to have this title.

 

[lark144]

I saw this as a DCP at Film Forum a few years ago. It looked amazing, and the film makes a lot more sense than the release version, and is also funnier. In particular, Bogart comes across much better--the things he does and says now appear purposeful and very droll, rather than confused, which is how he seems to me in the release version--and Jennifer Jones, in spite of La Lollobrigida's presence, burns up the screen.

 

[farnsbarns]

Bogart produced and starred in a syndicated radio show in the 1950s called Bold Venture that dealt with him and Lauren Bacall on a ship in the Carribean called the Bold Venture. I imagine that the reference to the Boldest Adventure in the poster is a play on the radio title. Perhaps the marketing of this title had something to do with its failure at the box office as audiences failed to get what they expected.

Ziv's Bold Venture radio series starring Bogart & Bacall is in it's last few hours on Kickstarter!

Sorry for the late notice - (circumstance prevented me from posting this in any sort of timely fashion and) the Kickstarter has already been successfully funded, with only a few hours remaining for folks to avail themselves of some rather rare fare (ends Tue, November 21 2023 11:19 AM CST).
An easy choice for any B&B fans - and while I don't claim to be a huge fan, I am really excited about this project and subsequent planned from Ziv Productions, from which estate Carl Amari (Hollywood 360) has licensed the entire Ziv library.
One disc of every radio show they ever produced was saved in optimal conditions. The result is the complete 78 episode series including 18 episodes unheard and unavailable anywhere for roughly seven decades! and raw sound quality that could easily pass for 'recorded yesterday'. A sample of the raw encoded audio is included on the Kickstarter page and also a neat little video showing the process of encoding from disc.

More info @