Kino Lorber Studio Classics - First Time on Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[GregoryMesh]

Amazon has the first batch for pre-order:

July 22
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Sabata
The Scalphunters
Witness for the Prosecution

July 29
Duel at Diablo
Separate Tables

 

[ljgranberry]

I do hope for a release of Tom Jones - and hopefully the original uncut version in as good a print as they can find!

 

[Matt Hough]

Great news about Separate Tables. I don't remember reading about it in the original news, so that's a nice surprise.

 

[MLamarre]

Is anyone else hoping that Ken Russell's MGM films are released as part of this deal?

The Music Lovers (1970)Valentino (1977)Women in Love (1969)Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

 

[JPCinema]

I am friends with Ken Russell's widow. Alas it seems no one knows where the original camera negative of WOMEN IN LOVE is, nor has there been any work on trying to restore it...
If anyone has any leads let me know.

 

[Matt Hough]

I am friends with Ken Russell's widow. Alas it seems no one knows where the original camera negative of WOMEN IN LOVE is, nor has there been any work on trying to restore it...
If anyone has any leads let me know.

Argh! And it's one of his very best films, too!

 

[ROclockCK]

Last I heard, Twilight Time had Women in Love, and were considering Valentino and/or The Music Lovers. IIRC, this was mentioned late last year/early this year on their FB wall.

In any case, nothing was ever said about MGM going back to the original negatives and rescanning/remastering for either sub-licensee. In the short run, until confirmed otherwise, I'm assuming not.

 

[MisterLime]

Coming in July from KL STUDIO CLASSICS

 

[MisterLime]

Amazon has the first batch for pre-order:

July 22
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Sabata
The Scalphunters
Witness for the Prosecution

July 29
Duel at Diablo
Separate Tables

July 29
Marty
Paris Blues

 

[ROclockCK]

Coming in July from KL STUDIO CLASSICS

It seems to me that the question being danced around throughout this entire thread is "What can we actually expect under Kino's agreement with MGM?". So far, the list of titles certainly looks promising, but so did Olive's under Mr. Tarzi. And then Olive's scattershot production quality started revealing itself, often painfully so, in a dizzying series of deep appeal catalogue releases with masters that were sadly all-over-the-map in terms of HD quality.

Here's just one example from the titles you've announced so far, which happens to be a personal favourite, Blake Edwards' The Party. Anyone who has seen the legacy DVD doesn't need much convincing that even back in 2001, this picture was in need of restoration and remastering. So dovetailing with my first question, "Has MGM or Kino done any new (or recent, or near-recent) work on it?"

To date, Criterion, Shout/Scream, and Twilight Time have all been exceptionally candid about what they've mined from the MGM/UA library, and in what condition. So I think it's valid to ask for the same transparency from Kino/Lorber Classics.

 

[calvinm]

Is anyone else hoping that Ken Russell's MGM films are released as part of this deal?

The Music Lovers (1970)Valentino (1977)Women in Love (1969)Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

I'd especially love The Music Lovers and Women in Love - two of his very best films. Valentino has been released on Blu-Ray in France. I don't remember Twilight Time confirming Women in Love, but I don't care who releases it as long as it's a high quality transfer. It saddens me to hear that the negative is AWOL.

 

[Brandon Conway]

That cover art is quite great, I must say.

 

[MisterLime]

The Extras:

The Scalphunters – Original Theatrical Trailer & Optional English Subtitles
Sabata – Original Theatrical Trailer
Marty – Original Theatrical Trailer
Duel at Diablo – Original Theatrical Trailer & Optional English Subtitles
Paris Blues – Optional English Subtitles and maybe the Original Theatrical Trailer

Separate Tables - Original Theatrical Trailer, Optional English Subtitles & Audio Commentary by Director Delbert Mann

Witness For the Prosecution – Original Theatrical Trailer with Billy Wilder discussing WITNESS with director Volker Schlondorff

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes:
Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder Featurette
Interview with Editor Ernest Walter
Deleted Scenes
Additional Audio Sequence: Deleted Epilogue Scene
Original Theatrical Trailer & Optional English Subtitles

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Just as Twilight Time has been raked over the coals in the past for some of the less-than-sparkling studio-supplied HD masters that they green-lit, I'd expect that the possibility is there for some of the same with other licensees such as Olive or KL; the quandary: put out the existing HD master OR spring for the (beaucoup dollars) cost of making a new HD master, if one either does not exist or licensee is unsatisfied with the existing one.

Obviously, with most of these deep catalog titles having a limited earnings ceiling, in the grand scheme of things, this can be a very slippery slope, particularly when you add in the initial cost of licensing the title to begin with. If you spend the money on a new transfer on the wrong title and you badly miscalculate on sales projections (perhaps gleaned from listening a bit too much to the "great masses" here and reading the tea leaves on forums like this one or another that shall not be named ), you're in big trouble before long. Also, if licensee pays for creation of new HD master, remember that the studio owns the transfer forever, along with any extra features the licensee pays for and creates, while licensee has use of these things for only the length of its license period, which most probably does not include other (profitable) ancillary streams.

It seems to me that the question being danced around throughout this entire thread is "What can we actually expect under Kino's agreement with MGM?". So far, the list of titles certainly looks promising, but so did Olive's under Mr. Tarzi. And then Olive's scattershot production quality started revealing itself, often painfully so, in a dizzying series of deep appeal catalogue releases with masters that were sadly all-over-the-map in terms of HD quality.

Here's just one example from the titles you've announced so far, which happens to be a personal favourite, Blake Edwards' The Party. Anyone who has seen the legacy DVD doesn't need much convincing that even back in 2001, this picture was in need of restoration and remastering. So dovetailing with my first question, "Has MGM or Kino done any new (or recent, or near-recent) work on it?"

To date, Criterion, Shout/Scream, and Twilight Time have all been exceptionally candid about what they've mined from the MGM/UA library, and in what condition. So I think it's valid to ask for the same transparency from Kino/Lorber Classics.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Here's just one example from the titles you've announced so far, which happens to be a personal favourite, Blake Edwards' The Party. Anyone who has seen the legacy DVD doesn't need much convincing that even back in 2001, this picture was in need of restoration and remastering. So dovetailing with my first question, "Has MGM or Kino done any new (or recent, or near-recent) work on it?"

I ran a 35mm of The Party from MGM about 3 years ago. The print was struck in the mid-00's and I don't recall seeing any significant negative issues (white specks, lines, etc.) on it, so I imagine they have fine material to access to create a good looking HD master.

 

[ROclockCK]

I ran a 35mm of The Party from MGM about 3 years ago. The print was struck in the mid-00's and I don't recall seeing any significant negative issues (white specks, lines, etc.) on it, so I imagine they have fine material to access to create a good looking HD master.

Certainly hope you're right Peter...

 

[JoHud]

I'm pretty sure there won't be much of a departure from Olive in terms of video quality--it will be all over the map in terms of transfer quality. It's also likely that Kino (or Tarzi?) won't pay for a new transfer unless it has to, so most if not all of this first wave will likely be from existing transfers MGM did between this year and 8 years ago.

That also goes well in line with expectations from Kino product--they're rarely pristine transfers and aren't shy about using transfers that have dirt and scratches. Much of their very best transfers were done by overseas restorations (i.e. Murnau and Fritz Lang Films).

I think these MGM/UA titles will have a better batting average in terms of video quality simply because MGM/Fox has been working on the MGM/UA library far longer than Paramount did with the Republic library, which I'm sure was largely untouched until the Olive deal went through. I also Imagine the MGM/UA library has better taken care of than the Republic library over the decades.

 

[ROclockCK]

Just as Twilight Time has been raked over the coals in the past for some of the less-than-sparkling studio-supplied HD masters that they green-lit, I'd expect that the possibility is there for some of the same with other licensees such as Olive or KL; the quandary: put out the existing HD master OR spring for the (beaucoup dollars) cost of making a new HD master, if one either does not exist or licensee is unsatisfied with the existing one.

I do get that Jon...and am not, as it might seem, expecting miracles from Kino/Lorber or any other label struggling, out of economic necessity, to deliver the best HD product they can from what is available. Same kind of slack I cut Criterion, Shout/Scream, or Twilight Time on this point. The difference here though is that I trust those other licensees' acquisition and production standards, and am confident that they will reject sub-standard masters, or at least manage expectations accordingly when they do choose to run with a borderline quality title of classic cinematic interest.

However, in Mr. Frank Tarzi, we have someone closely associated with a period in Olive's recent history when that label was grinding out a maddening mix of very good, mostly good, good enough, acceptable if you squint a lot, sorta iffy unless you're really tired, and "what the h3ll were they thinking?" product. I'm sorry, but from that mixed-bag rep, I just don't have the same implicit level of trust, so until I read some reviews or user comments, and see some caps, or borrow a disc to evaluate for myself, I can't shake this feeling that Kino/Lorber will be getting all of the MGM/UA masters those other labels have already rejected.

Will be thrilled to be proven dead wrong on that point. It's just at this point, after my Olive experience, I'm r-e-a-l-l-y gun shy...

 

[Robin9]

Great news about Separate Tables. I don't remember reading about it in the original news, so that's a nice surprise.

Great news indeed, particularly as my DVD is non-anamorphic!

 

[Matt Hough]

Thank you for those great cover art shots, Mister Lime!