The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection coming to BD on Oct. 18th from Universal (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

I keep looking outside the window for flying pigs. I never would have expected 4K restorations of all five films, let alone a Blu-Ray set. It seemed like a given that Duck Soup and maybe Horse Feathers would end up licensed to Criterion, but the rest would end up as DVD-only.

This is another essential release for me. I'm excited about re-watching the films. Duck Soup has always looked good on DVD, but I found the prior editions of The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers a chore between the poor quality sound and mediocre transfer (mainly for Animal Crackers since I recall The Cocoanuts looking like a newer transfer).

Hopefully this sells well and Universal can dip into their W.C. Fields films next.

 

[Suzanne.S]

I can't wait for this set. My first memory of seeing the Marx Brothers was watching The Cocoanuts on TV in a hotel in Hannibal, MO when I was 11 years old. I was watching my little sister while our parents were at an event downstairs. It has its faults but it has always been one of my favorite Marx movies.

On a more serious note, I think the Paramount films are superior in many ways because they weren't hampered by the Production Code. They built up their comedy over the series. First in a hotel, then they skewered "high society", a cruise ship, a college, and then international politics. The next logical step would have been religion. They couldn't do that due to the societal norms and the Code. I think that Monty Python's Life of Brian is a direct successor to the Marx Brothers style of comedy.

 

[Mike Frezon]

but I found the prior editions of The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers a chore between the poor quality sound and mediocre transfer (mainly for Animal Crackers since I recall The Cocoanuts looking like a newer transfer).

I CAN'T WAIT to hear what these films sound like after these restorations.

I'm not expecting miracles, but even 50% better would be a dramatic improvement.

 

[dana martin]

Hopefully this sells well and Universal can dip into their W.C. Fields films next.

IF they did, and i did say if, they would end up saying that "It's a Gift" , or the price would be to high, you know; never give a sucker an even break, but if they did it the old fashioned way, my little chickadee, well those in the international house, might get in on this too. because you cant cheat an honest man, no matter what the bank dick says.

 

[B-ROLL]

IF they did, and i did say if, they would end up saying that "It's a Gift" , or the price would be to high, you know; never give a sucker an even break, but if the did it the old fashioned way, my little chickadee, well those in the international house, might get in on this too. because you cant cheat an honest man, no matter what the bank dick says.

You're Telling Me!

 

[dana martin]

so much untapped wealth, just ripe for picking from the old Paramount/Universal vault!

 

[B-ROLL]

so much untapped wealth, just ripe for picking from the old Paramount/Universal vault!

And Universal we' re ready are when you are CB

(Collections of Blurays)

 

[dana martin]

think the other titles they were working on will go to Criterion,

My Man Godfrey” and “Shanghai Express”. These will be completed in Q3
- Began 4k restoration work on “The King of Jazz”. These will be completed in Q4
- Began 4k restoration work on silent features: “Last Warning”, “Oh Doctor” and “Outside the Law”. These will be completed near the end of 2015

- Completed standard (non-restoration) feature re-mastering work on “Phantom Lady”. Also began standard re-mastering work on“Something for a Lonely Man”, “Winchester ‘73”, “Desperado Outlaw Wars” and “Desperado Badlands Justice”

 

[Alan Tully]

And Universal we' re ready are when you are CB

(Collections of Blurays)

Yup, & don't forget the DeMille, Reap The Wild Wind (1942) & Unconquered (1947). I recorded Reap in HD when it was on TV & it looks stunning & the Unconquered DVD is one of the best looking DVDs I own.

...& I wonder if Universal have been doing any work on the Hope/Crosby Road To films?, they did a fine job on the DVD box set, & of course there's all those other Bob Hope films.

 

[B-ROLL]

Yup, & don't forget the DeMille, Reap The Wild Wind (1942) & Unconquered (1947). I recorded Reap in HD when it was on TV & it looks stunning & the Unconquered DVD is one of the best looking DVDs I own.

...& I wonder if Universal have been doing any work on the Hope/Crosby Road To films?, they did a fine job on the DVD box set, & of course there's all those other Bob Hope films.

It sounds like you're asking for Utopia

 

[Mike2001]

I'd get Cat and the Canary (1939) and Ghost Breakers (1940) in a heartbeat.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I CAN'T WAIT to hear what these films sound like after these restorations.

I'm not expecting miracles, but even 50% better would be a dramatic improvement.

I was floored by the quality on the '31 Dracula and Frankenstein. While I've always liked Frankenstein, I found Dracula to be tough to sit through. I never purchased the remastered DVD, so I've only known the film from TV airings and the very first DVD (which wasn't even progressive encoded).

 

[dana martin]

maybe not Utopia, by hey if the took this on the road, look at all the places we could go.

 

[B-ROLL]

maybe not Utopia, by hey if the took this on the road, look at all the places we could go.

Well I was never a fan of Kerouac

 

[dana martin]

i was thinking more of these exotic spots

 

[PMF]

IF they did, and i did say if, they would end up saying that "It's a Gift" , or the price would be to high, you know; never give a sucker an even break, but if they did it the old fashioned way, my little chickadee, well those in the international house, might get in on this too. because you cant cheat an honest man, no matter what the bank dick says.

I don't mean to be "short" with you, but after that last fatal glass of beer, you clearly need to see some sort of pharmacist, a dentist, a golf specialist or I don't know what. After you do that, then you should get yourself to the barber shop and thereafter end the day with some pool sharks. At least that's what I would do...if I had a million.

 

[PMF]

. [...] I never would have expected 4K restorations of all five films, let alone a Blu-Ray set. [...] Hopefully this sells well and Universal can dip into their W.C. Fields films next.

Wow. Is this true? ALL will be in 4K? I was already sold, but this is amazing news.
So what happened here? Were ALL five films legitimately restored. And when I say "restored", I'm talking in the Robert A. Harris sense of the word, term and definition. As it is, I thought the negatives were thought to be lost or destroyed. Does anyone out there have some deeper background information?
Also, is it a rule that in order to produce a 4k that one must first have the negative restored?

 

[dana martin]

I don't mean to be "short" with you, but after that last fatal glass of beer, you clearly need to see some sort of pharmacist, a dentist, a golf specialist or I don't know what. After you do that, then you should get yourself to the barber shop and thereafter end the day with some pool sharks. At least that's what I would do...if I had a million.

well that original post would have been truly feature length, but; then i found that last fatal glass of beer, and some wings

 

[PMF]

My, oh, my...we're certainly having a Fields day for ourselves, aren't we?

 

[B-ROLL]

well that original post would have been truly feature length, but; then i found that last fatal glass of beer, and some wings

Had it been around then, you would have one of the Sensations of 1945 with your Song of the Open Road when you would Follow the Boys and listen to their Tales of Manhattan about The Laziest Golfer, who would Never Give a Sucker and Even Break