Captains Courageous, Cimarron, The Champ, Lust for Life, The Good Earth and others in January! (1 Viewer)

[Richard M S]

I am really excited about Johnny Belinda and The Good Earth. I just recently saw the Van Gogh drawings exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and I wondered if Warners would be releasing Lust For Life. This is really great. I hope the DVD of Lust For Life looks amazing. My only question is I wonder why Warners did not include the MGM short film "Darkness Into Light", about the making of Lust For Life, it is on my laser disc of Tea And Sympathy.

 

[PatrickDA]

Rodney:

I don't think he was a difficult director for any of the
crew or actors to get along with, but 'Spartacus' was a
clear case of a producer (Kirk Douglas) wanting to control
every aspect of the movie and Mann simply had enough - he
resigned, he wasn't fired! On 'Cimarron' Mann wanted to
shoot more stuff on location, which is what he's known for,
but the studio brought the production back to L.A. and
removed Mann as director. I mean actors had such respect for
him that even after Mann resigned or was fired from 'Spartacus'
Douglas made 'The Heroes of Telemark' with Mann in '65 just
to make it up to him and Richard Harris was supposed to play
Commodus on 'The Fall of the Roman Empire,' but had a falling
out with Mann and he came back for 'Telemark' too in order
to make it up.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Except for KITTY FOYLE (1940) - which I've never watched - I have all of these titles on VHS, although I've never watched CIMARRON (1931) either and, shamefully, of the rest I've only watched CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937) more than once:frowning:! I particularly regret not having watched LUST FOR LIFE (1956) - one of Vincente Minnelli and Kirk Douglas' finest hours ever - in about 15 years but my VHS copy (taped off local TV) looked decidedly horrendous:frowning:!

At any rate, thanks once again to John Hodson for bringing this great announcement to our attention. Thanks also for Patrick and his recommendation of THE DEVIL'S CABARET (1931); I'll reciprocate by recommending my favorite Tex Avery cartoon, BAD LUCK BLACKIE (1949), which is included on the KITTY FOYLE disc - or is that JOHNNY BELINDA (1948)? Could this be taken as an omen for the long-awaited R1 edition of a complete Tex Avery Collection? It better be...


P.S. I'm glad to see a few Anthony Mann fans over here; I've watched many of his films and he's one of my top favorites among Hollywood directors - although, I have to say, that CIMARRON (1960) is the least of his films from what I've watched so far.

 

[oscar_merkx]

some more great Warner stuff to keep us occupied

 

[Adam_S]

I saw the premiere of the restored print of the champ. It does indeed look gorgeous!

Johnny Belinda also looks excellent and is a completely overlooked but exceptionally good film.

Looking forward to Captain Courageous as well.

 

[PatrickDA]

Mario Gauci

I'm sorry to say that I don't agree with your comments about
'Cimarron' but I can see why someone wouldn't think it was
outstanding. However, having seen a number of so-called
Oscar worthy films from 1960, I think 'Cimarron' is at
least as good as or maybe better than a number of them.
Seeing it in widescreen and having 'Giant' in the back
of your mind helps a great deal. It has several wonderful
set piece scenes and Maria Shell is quite good, which most
people don't agree with because her character is hard to
take at times. Glenn Ford nails every glance, soft
spoken line, and all-knowing smile.

 

[Thomas T]

Since the theme of these releases is their Oscar connection, am I the only one who feels the conspicous absence of Morning Glory for which Katharine Hepburn won the first of her 4 Oscars? Her performance certainly holds up better today than Ginger Rogers Kitty Foyle.

 

[MichaelScott]

Rather bummed it wasn't the (1960) Cimmaron, when I first saw the title I thought for sure that would be out..just saw it again on TCM the other day. That has to be out sometime. Glenn Ford is just so good, I have to admit after watching more of his work he's right up there on my favorite actors list, and in turn some of his movies have become favorites as well..3:10 To Yuma, Gilda, The Big Heat, Lust For Gold, etc..

 

[Charles H]

I wish that WB did more "double-features" with remakes/remades a la HOUSE OF WAX/MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. E.g. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS/the tv remake with Karl Malden; the two CIMARRONs; THE CHAMP/THE CLOWN; MORNING GLORY/STAGE STRUCK; HOLD-UP/QUICK CHANGE.

 

[Roger Rollins]

I don't think its absence is conspicuous. Warner has many more Oscar-winning performances yet to be released, including Gary Cooper in SERGEANT YORK, Victor McLaglen in THE INFORMER, Paul Muni in THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR, Bette Davis in DANGEROUS, George Arliss in DISRAELI, Paul Lukas in WATCH ON THE RHINE, Lionel Barrymore in A FREE SOUL, Mary Pickford in COQUETTE, and many more (and that's just the Best Actor/Actress category winners).

Those other films (including MORNING GLORY) will likely show up soon, in either the next Oscar group of titles, or in a group related to a specific performer, etc.

 

[AlanP]

I too, would rather it was the 1960 "CIMMARON", I just LOVE THAT FILM. The other "CIMMARON" is way too dated. They should have released them as a double feature........
ala "CAT PEOPLE" and "CURSE". I for one only want the '60 version !!!!! And I will wait for that one to ARRIVE.......

 

[PaulP]

Well since this is an Academy Awards promotion, and the original Cimmaron is a Best Picture winner, it makes sense. In fact, it's one of the few remaining Best Picture winners not yet on DVD.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

This means the only unreleased Oscar winning Best Pix still not on DVD are Paramount's WINGS (for which there is a glimmer of hope), and Fox's CAVALCADE (for which there is even less hope).

 

[Richard M S]

I am so looking forward to his set. Will this be sold as a box or will they only be sold individually?