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Warners announce Bette Davis Collection (1 Viewer)

JohnMor

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That's very true, but also as I understand it, neither the Day nor Davis sets are part of the "Signature Collection" series, so I have no doubt that this will not be the only Bette Davis Collection WB will release. I feel certain there will also be a BD Signature Collection in the future. Although it will probably have a repackaging of Jezebel.;)

Also, unlike Cagney and Bogart, some of Bette's most classic films were on DVD prior to this box set, so in her case, this set can't really help but include repeats.

And, again, this is the one set that I've seen that has so many. I don't think it's a typical example of all the WB box sets.
 

Robert Crawford

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John,
My comments were directed towards the Bette Davie boxset and not the Doris Day set. My point was that Warner releasing six new Doris Day releases with just two re-releases was the right thing to do compared to Warner releasing the Bette Davis boxset with the re-releases outnumbering the new releases.





Crawdaddy
 

Robert Crawford

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Also, I don't have a problem with snappers and would never replace any dvd just because the dvd case was a snapper.
 

Thomas T

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I'm disappointed at the inclusion of such a recent release like The Letter too. I suspected both Dark Victory and Jezebel would be remastered along the way and sure enough Dark Victory has been remastered and since I didn't pick the original release up, I don't mind.

Still, I would have preferred In This Our Life, The Old Maid, Old Acquaintance, Beyond The Forest, A Stolen Life, Marked Woman, The Catered Affair, All This And Heaven Too, Dangerous or The Great Lie as the fifth title.
 

JohnMor

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Agreed, but I simply pointed that out for those who do, the box sets are an ideal, price-effective way to take care of it. Ironically, I never had a problem with snappers either, and never understood the complaints about them. But I do like the uniformity of having the keepcase replacements.

And I was also pointing out that the box sets are there for everyone for whatever reason they want to buy them, not just the die hard fans of a talent or genre. I know alot of people owned these Davis films already. I didn't, and the box set is every bit as much directed at me, as them.

Anyway, I don't want to belabor the point, and I know we'll never see eye to eye on this, so I'll let it go. But I do hope that future box sets will provide you more pleasing title selection. :)
 

Charles Ellis

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How dare they not include All This And Heaven, Too in the box set. George Feltenstein, what the hell are you thinking? You're gonna have to answer for that one in the upcoming online chat!
 

Steve McG

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How disappointing. So many great Bette WB films and they're including the tacky Fox B-Movie "The Star"? :thumbsdown:

I can only imagine this is some sort of stop-gap while Warner prepares a worthy Bette Box Set, perhaps for her centenary.

I'll pick up Mr. Skeffington (horrible cover art btw, surely different original poster art exists for this film?) and Dark Victory presuming it has actually been "restored and remastered.
 

Charles H

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Any chance of the Jeannie Eagles 1929 version of THE LETTER being included on the "B" side finally? What else would they put it on? The Ann Sheridan remake THE UNFAITHFUL (1947)? I believe that the 1929 version is too short to justify a dvd of its own.
 

Joe Karlosi

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It's good timing for me, because I'm presently renting and enjoying Bette Davis films from Netflix and I've made the decision that I'd like to own some of them. But generally speaking, I don't like the idea of WB re-releasing so many titles that have already been issued. It doesn't hurt me in this particular case, but it's not a good move on principal.
 

DavidBC

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I like that The Star is included in this box set. It's the sort of bad movie that I could never buy on its own, but as part of a box set of movies that I don't have (I'm now thankful I couldn't find The Letter anywhere), I can enjoy Bette Davis saying "Let's get drunk" to her Oscar guilt-free!
 

Conrad_SSS

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I'm kind of astonished seeing the negativity here. No matter what Warner does in regard to Davis, there will be omissions, because she made so many great films for the studio....and they all have to be restored to be worthy of DVD quality, which is time consuming and very expensive.

The boxed sets provide an opportunity for those who haven't purchased any of the older titles, to finally purchase them along with others that are new releases. Those who don't want to buy the box, can certainly buy the single releases.

...and yes, that is one of the original one-sheets from MR. SKEFFINGTON on its package.

Also keep in mind that all the video companies do big business with boxed sets at the mass merchants and club stores.

Lastly, I think it's more than likely you'll see A LOT more Davis (and Crawford) product coming from WB in the coming years.
 

Robert Crawford

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True, but as a consumer that has purchased hundreds of Warner dvds, I have rightfully expressed my disappointment that Warner couldn't have substituted another title in place of the recently released "The Letter". I'm fine with those that disagree with my opinion about this matter, but Warner is no different than any other company that makes product decisions in which some people, like myself in this particular situation will express their displeasure in such matters.

I think Warner Home Video is comfortable enough in their ability to produce great products to accept such constructive criticism in the spirit of which it was stated in this thread. HTF has been a big supporter of WHV and even though some of us have been critical of this boxset, it shouldn't detract from the excellent work, WHV has done with the majority of their dvd releases. Anyway, I'm done complaining about this upcoming boxset and will make the proper purchasing decision when that time comes.






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Thomas T

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Re: "So many great Bette WB films and they're including the tacky Fox B-Movie The Star?"

Steve, the question is why WOULDN'T they include it? You may not care for it which is your perogative but to call it a B movie is disingenuous. Ms. Davis received 10 Oscar nominations in her career and up until now only eight of those performances have seen the light of day on DVD. The Star was Ms. Davis' ninth Oscar nominated role and now only Dangerous (of her Oscar nominated/winning parts) remains to be issued. If only Dangerous had been included in the box set instead of The Letter then all of Ms. Davis Oscar output would be available.

The five discs in the box set are all Oscar nominated Bette Davis performances which is why I suppose they were selected.
 

Mario Gauci

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Once again I have to say that I'm lucky I didn't pick up any of the Bette Davis titles in this Collection, although unlike the Joan Crawford titles, it seems that, except for THE LETTER (1940), the supplements will be a little lacking this time around:frowning:!

In any case, I've watched all five films only once so far and, if I were to revisit them, I'm glad I'll be doing so via the improved visual and aural means provided by DVD technology as opposed to the VHS I've taped off cable TV of most of them:). By the way, wasn't Vincent Sherman supposed to have recorded another Audio Commentary for MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944) as reported in that online interview with Warners' George Feltenstein yesterday? Also, no mention is made of this particular film's running time; it has to be the full-length 146-minute version (as opposed to the shorter 127-minute version which made the theatrical rounds after its premiere), right?

As for whether other Bette Davis should have made it into this Collection in place of those already available, I can't say I agree for the reasons stated above, and it's not like this will be the ONLY Bette Davis Collection to come from Warners - and one can always purchase the relevant DVDs on their own, so...as a matter of fact, not that it matters much, in all probability I won't be purchasing that Steve McQueen Box Set since I'm only interested in owning THE CINCINNATI KID (1965) and BULLITT (1968) - provided that THE GETAWAY (1972) does eventually make it into that Sam Peckinpah Box Set we all know is coming:)!

By the way, that rumored SE DVD of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) isn't just a rumor, right?
 

Robert Crawford

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Turner Classic Movies which is a part of Warner has been showing the longer version on television. I'm very positive that WHV will release that version on dvd.




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Cees Alons

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I agree with most (if not all) that Robert Crawford said in this matter.

However, I must point out that Warner (or any studio) can hardly "win" in cases like this. A splendid idea seems to be to group previously released DVDs together in one box-set and the newly released in another, but when one thinks about that solution it obviously has disadvantages for some consumers as well.
Given that fact, I still think it would be the most "neat" offer.

In the case of the Bette Davis box-set, it would have been quite possible.


Cees


PS: Note that for true collectors of films it may be too "risky" NOT to buy a release in the hope it will emerge in a box-set eventually.
C.
 

Robert Crawford

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Cees,
Just to clarify my thinking about this matter, if WHV was able to cancel the dvd release of "The Letter" back in January and then released it with this boxset or sell it separately this upcoming June then not a single negative word would have been written by me. However, since that's not the case in this situation, I have to make my purchasing decisions more wisely now and think ahead to the future. Dvd rental is always an option for me.






Crawdaddy
 

Cees Alons

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Robert,

Yes, good point. Around January they must have been aware of the contents of their box-set already. I didn't think about the time frame before.


Cees
 

ChrisPearson

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Regarding the controversy over title selection, the fact that this set doesn't have a Warner Night at the Movies feature suggests to me that it isn't the last Davis box we'll be seeing from Warner. After all, why would Erroll Flynn receive this treatment and not Davis, surely Flynn's equal among WB stars of the era?

This strikes me as a sort of "tidy-up" set, a way of repackaging three existing titles with a couple of relatively minor new ones. I'm sure there will be a more lavish Signature Collection somewhere down the line.
 

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