Thanks indeed. Amazing what a change in personnel at a home video division can accomplish. I think I'll suggest to Mr. Ashton that he might want to release Kazan's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" since they can't get "Viva Zapata" out.
Fox has lots of classics still to release and I have full faith that they will come. In the mean time, my top 10 most wanted films from them are:
-Springtime in the Rockies -A Tree Grows In Brooklyn -Come to the Stable -Woman's World -Three Blind Mice -The Left Hand of God -Tales of Manhattan -My Cousin Rachel -Footlight Serenade -Ramona
It's a shame that the studio has yet to apply the same standard of care to its classic TV titles. There are LOTS of series in the Fox vaults from the 50s-70s are awaiting release. Are the same people in charge of releasing Fox films on DVD also responsible for TV releases? Someone must know!
It's a sad commentary that there has to be a marketing impetus (a Tom Cruise movie) to bring out a terrific movie like Fritz Lang's MAN HUNT, but I notice that WB is bringing out an obscure TV movie called THE PLOT TO KILL HITLER, and I would hope that Sony would also bring out the flawed but fascinating THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS with Peter O'Toole. O'Toole also starred in a TV adaptation of ROGUE MALE, the original source material for MAN HUNT.
It's great to get positive confirmation on "Cavalcade" and "Man Hunt". And the fact that they do care about getting "Viva Zapata!" out. And also, its nice to hear they really do care at Fox about their classic catalog. Overall, a very positive and reassuring article
Now if they could just update their website a bit more often...
The Fox movies I want are not their great classics but some of their routine, journeyman movies, like A Certain Smile, April Love, Fräulein and The Sweet Ride.
Agree wholeheartedly. Sometimes it just takes getting the right people in the right spots. Richard Ashton is not a household name yet among classic buffs the way George Feltenstein is (and deservedly so), but he and Schawn Belston have worked very hard to enable Fox to consistently release top notch product and produce some really great surprises along the way.
If I were to petition for more titles I'd offer up:
MEANEST MAN IN THE WORLD (Jack Benny) BRASHER DOUBLOON (yes, I know rights issues) MICHAEL SHAYNE Vol 2 (2 more Lloyd Nolan films to get out; never on home video)
and, for my wife, who asks me monthly if these are out yet:
Fox's devotion to their classics really shows and I am so grateful to the personnel responsible for all the truly rare, often never previously available titles now available thanks to their splendid efforts. More amazing surprises all the time and very ambitious ones at that. A Murnau/Borzage boxset? Who would have ever thought. I have been buying more Fox products than ever this year and looking forward to more!
This very positive article convinces me we will see a lot more of our "wants" on the market.
My preference goes mainly to musicals and my top wants from Fox are the following:
Sun Valley Serenade (41) Margie (46) Centennial Summer (46) The Best Things in Life Are Free (56) I'll Get By (50) Ramona (36) Tin Pan Alley (40) Three Little Girls in Blue (46) Golden Girl (51)
I also hope they continue to distribute the MGM films as well so that we can eventually see These Three (36), Not as a Stranger (55), the Danny Kaye Goldwyn films and many more on DVD.
CHINA GATE is owned by LionsGate, and I believe that ARMORED COMMAND is an Allied Artists film now controlled by WB.....both excellent candidates for dvd.
It is wonderful that there are people in place who care about the classics and continue to release such great products. I have preordered the Murnau/Borzage set and can't wait to see good quality prints of those films.
My wish list would include Ten North Frederick with Gary Cooper along with Call Her Savage and Hoopla; the last films that Clara Bow made. She is sadly underrepresented in the dvd market.