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Sherlock Holmes Restorations (1 Viewer)

Bob Furmanek

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I just ran reels one of THE SCARLET CLAW and THE PEARL OF DEATH. All I can say is - absolutely fantastic! These new UCLA restorations are going to knock you out. They look as good as first generation prints from the original nitrate camera negatives!
If you're coming to the Loew's Jersey tonight, you're in for a BIG treat!
Bob Furmanek
www.loewsjersey.org
 

Larry Sutliff

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Wish I could make it, Bob! Hopefully the rumors are true that these restorations will make it to DVD sometime next year. The Rathbone Holmes films were a staple of my childhood and still hold up as incredible entertainment.
 

Jo_C

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By the way, anyone know who holds the rights to the Universal/Holmes movies? I know it was Universal at first, then it was some company called Leo Gutman, Inc., then Lorimar/Telepictures (which would probably mean WB would have them now). I did read somewhere that CBS/King World now has the rights. Can anyone explain? Thanks.
 

Bob Furmanek

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This is the chain of ownership on the Universal Holmes titles.

1. Universal Pictures
2. Realart Pictures (theatrical re-issues)
3. Associated Artists Productions (theatrical and TV)
4. Motion Pictures for Television
5. Leo Gutman
6. King World Productions/CBS

What's amazing is the fact that none of the distributors that profited from this series had bothered to preserve the original nitrate materials. Thank goodness Hugh Hefner and the UCLA Film Archive came to the rescue and created new 35mm safety film masters. The prints that we ran at the Loew's Jersey this past weekend were magnificent! We'll be doing more of them next year.

Bob
 

Peter Apruzzese

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I wish I could have been there this weekend, Bob. Sometimes work intrudes on reel life. :frowning:
What kind of crowds did you have for the three shows?
 

Bob Furmanek

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Sorry you couldn't make it Pete, but we'll be doing more Holmes next year.

The attendence was around 200, which was less than I expected, especially considering the rarity of the prints. But the weather was pretty nasty all day, and that may have kept people from traveling any great distances to attend. That's one of the downsides to non-summer programming. You sometimes get hit with rough weather and travel conditions.

The biggest crowd was for BABES IN TOYLAND on Sunday afternoon. We had around 300, and there were lots of families with children. Many were coming to the Loew's for the first time. It was fun to watch their awestruck expressions when they entered the lobby!

I hope you can bring the family for WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY on Saturday, December 14th...

Bob
 

StevenT

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Hello, all

New to the forum, and I just have a question on the Holmes movies.

I had read that a *new* box set of the restored Rathbone Holmes was coming out on MPI, with extras such as a big booklet of liner notes by Richard Valley, and an audio commentary by Patricia Morison and Valley.

So, I was quite surprised when checking Amazon to find that a complete 14-disc box set of these movies was already available, and had been since Sept 2004. (But the verbiage for it didn't list any extras at all.)

I emailed MPI, and all they said was the 14-disc box set they're working on is tentatively scheduled for a November release, but they didn't answer my question as to whether a set was already available.

So my question is, is Amazon incorrect in its verbiage for the complete 14-disc box set that they say is available now? (And which seems to be selling quite well?)

On a related note, I checked the listing for these Holmes movies here on this site, and it says that Richard Valley is "the author of several books on Holmes." He's not, ya know. I believe he's turning his liner notes into a book, and indeed I wonder if that won't conflict with MPIs copyright of them...unless liner note writers get to maintain their own copyright?
 

Anthony Hom

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You can buy 3 4-DVD box sets of the Universal titles, plus separate DVDs for the two Fox titles. Those are currently available. All 14 are also on separate DVDs in such places as Costco.
 

StevenT

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>>>You can buy 3 4-DVD box sets of the Universal titles, plus separate DVDs for the two Fox titles.

Hi.

Yes, I know. But my question is, is there really already an MPI 14-disc set out there NOW, to buy for over $200?

I am only a fan of the first two Fox titles, frankly - when the stories were told in period. So, no I'm not going to get the set.

I'm just curious. I find it very interesting that MPI is supposedly offering a box set with no extras for $200, and a year later is going to offer the same box set *with* extras! Do they really think someone who bought the old set is going to now buy the new one? And not be really cheesed off at this?
 

StevenT

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>>I believe this is something Amazon has put together.

Ah, I get it now. Seeing that blowup of the boxes really helps!

Thanks.

So okay, I guess I owe MPI an apology!
 

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