Where’s High Society on Blu Ray Warner’s? (1 Viewer)

[Randy Korstick]

TBH, Warner can never make any of us truly happy with their classic film output onto Blu-ray. Unless, they have an unlimited budget and resources to kick out 10-15 titles each month. That's not going to happen so I'm thankful to what I can get from them and the other studios and companies.

This is the best point of the whole thread. If everyone was polled in this forum of all the MGM, Warner and RKO titles that they wanted from Warner on Blu Ray. The list would be well over 2,000 titles. We'll be lucky if Warner Archive releases another 1,000 titles on blu ray when you figure best case is 75 films a year. So we need to accept that many titles we want from Warner Archive are not going to be released because it just isn't possible for all of them to be released. I can see another 10 years of Blu Rays being released from WA but not another 25-30 years that it would take to release everything that everyone wanted.

 

[TheSteig]

Sorry but Ill take Blu rays for Leatherface and the Black Scorpion over 99% of the musicals
They aren't strange releases, they are releasing something for everyone.
Ill take your High Society and raise you a
Now Voyager
Lady in the Lake
The Giant Behemoth
Nora Prentiss
The Thin Man
The Thing from Another World
All This and Heaven Too
Sadie McKee
The Damned Dont Cry
High Sierra
They Drive By Night

 

[Alan Tully]

Flynny......

 

[OliverK]

As to High Society, George Feltenstein and Warner has given their musicals a lot of attention on Blu-ray, much more than they're given credit for on this forum.

Indeed, musicals have fared extremely well, something that cannot be said about historical epics or silent movies.

 

[Dick]

I sincerely believe the condition of a movie is dictating the releases at WAC. The archive - and God bless 'em for it - have adopted the policy that they will NOT release anything that does not meet their high standards. It's time other studios adopted such a policy too because there is NO point to having poorly represented hi-def renditions of anything just to have them.

Okay, but -- and I've said this before -- there are myriad Blu-ray releases of films I love (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS '56, THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE, DRIFTWOOD, hundreds of others) that, had they all been held to the same quality standards that WAC and Sony maintain, I'd never be able to own on anything better than a DVD, if that. I am fine with Warner Archives having these standards, and they control a vast portion of desirable catalog titles that might eventually make it to Blu-ray. But I admit that there are times when I wish the Archives would compromise just a bit (for, say, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS) and give us the best they can before I die of old age (any year now, incidentally), especially if it is highly unlikely that better elements are going to surface.

I agree, no one should be releasing poor-quality Blu's. But, if they were in Warner Bros.' hands, films like THE INCIDENT, THE LION IN WINTER (both of which I think are very good if flawed) and a ton of the Kino and Olive releases might not be in our hands right now. Is that what you're suggesting? These releases are so much improved over their DVD counterparts that it would be a shame if they had never happened because everyone was emulating WAC and Criterion standards without exception.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Indeed, musicals have fared extremely well, something that cannot be said about historical epics or silent movies.

I think Historical Epics have been pretty well represented on Blu Ray. Just about all the major ones have been released. Warner Archive even released the Colossus of Rhodes which shows they are having to dig deep. What historical Epics that Warner owns have not been released? Lots of historical films yes because there have been a couple thousand of those but not many epics that I can think of. Maybe Helen of Troy or Land of the Pharaohs but those aren't A list epics and were not big sellers on previous home video versions. They are more minor films like Colossus. But since they released that there is a good chance they will release those too at some point. Probably the biggest Historical epic missing on Blu Ray is The Alamo which most of us know the sad story but that is in MGM's hands.

 

[Alan Tully]

I don't think Warner had to dig deep, & Colossus wasn't an obvious choice, the obvious choices for ancient world epics were, Helen Of Troy & Land Of The Pharaohs, but I'm not holding my breath.

Let's face it, it doesn't really matter what we write here, Warner will release what they release, & if it's something I want, I'll buy it.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I don't think Warner had to dig deep, & Colossus wasn't an obvious choice, the obvious choices for ancient world epics were, Helen Of Troy & Land Of The Pharaohs, but I'm not holding my breath.

Let's face it, it doesn't really matter what we write here, Warner will release what they release, & if it's something I want, I'll buy it.

They dug deep meaning they were running out of historical epics to release. Personally I don't see any difference in the 3 titles and all 3 sold about the same on DVD so no real difference from Warners perspective. All 3 are 2nd rate epics imho.

 

[OliverK]

How about:

Helen of Troy
The Prodigal
Land of the Pharaohs
Raintree County
John Paul Jones
The Silver Chalice

and there are certainly more. Doesn't look to me as if they were running out of historical epics and for me every one of these titles would have been preferable to Colossus as it is the only title that already has a BD release.

 

[RICK BOND]

Three Robert Taylor Adventure 1950's movies I think should be released on Bluray are....Ivanhoe, Knights of the Round Table, and Quentin Durward. The dvd's are in Good condition. So why not ?? Am I the only fan of these films ?? I don't know. More Flynn, Bogart, and Cagney should also be released. Us fans of these actors, and Great Classic films are NOT getting any younger. Helen of Troy next, or this year PLEASE.

 

[Alan Tully]

They dug deep meaning they were running out of historical epics to release. Personally I don't see any difference in the 3 titles and all 3 sold about the same on DVD so no real difference from Warners perspective. All 3 are 2nd rate epics imho.

I dunno, Warner have only release one ancient world epic, Ben-Hur, they were hardly running out, but if you don't like epics then all these films must seem the same to you. The obvious choice would be, Helen Of Troy, directed by Robert Wise, music by Max Steiner & Land Of The Pharaohs, directed by Howard Hawks, music by Dimitri Tiomkin, not the Italian peplum film Colossus, but Warner hardly ever make the obvious choices. Let's agree to disagree.

...& I just can't enjoy The Law & Jake Wade, daylight exteriors are mostly fine, but interiors & night scenes aren't a pretty sight with those clogged-up blacks & lack of shadow detail, but that's me.

...& I love those Robert Taylor period Adventures.

Anyway, back to High Society, I've always thought Bing looked far too old for Grace Kelly, ten years on & she'd be his carer (but all totally normal in the whacky world of Hollywood).

 

[Nick*Z]

"Till The Clouds Roll By" and "Royal Wedding" are apparently treated like they are in the public domain. I think it is less likely that Warner would spend money restoring these films or if they restored them put them out on blu ray when anyone could then copy their disk and release their own blu ray. Warner would probably have to enforce its copyright on these films by finding a reason why they are still protected like say the music in the films which are still protected. This of course involves legal fees and adds to the cost involved in releasing the blu rays . I would guess the reason Warner didn't enforce its copyright on these films to prevent cheap copies previously is because the cost of ligation exceeded the benefits received from being successful.

Copyright was resolved back in 2009 when both 'Clouds' and 'Wedding' received certified Warner transfers; 'Wedding' as a Fred Astaire Double Bill with The Belle of New York, and 'Clouds' as a stand alone, but frequently packaged with Words and Music and Deep in My Heart as 'the composer's collection'. There's no reason for any of these not to reappear on Blu-ray via Warners.

 

[Nick*Z]

Sorry but Ill take Blu rays for Leatherface and the Black Scorpion over 99% of the musicals
They aren't strange releases, they are releasing something for everyone.
Ill take your High Society and raise you a
Now Voyager
Lady in the Lake
The Giant Behemoth
Nora Prentiss
The Thin Man
The Thing from Another World
All This and Heaven Too
Sadie McKee
The Damned Dont Cry
High Sierra
They Drive By Night

Nobody said they only had to release more musicals. I'll back your Now Voyager, Lady in the Lake, Thin Man (all of them), All This and Heaven Too, The Damned Don't Cry and High Sierra, and raise you a National Velvet, Marie Antoinette, Romeo and Juliet, Selznick's The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche, Ivanhoe, Weekend At the Waldorf, San Francisco, Red Dust and Test Pilot; with honorable mention to A Woman's Face, Gaslight, Flamingo Road, Old Acquaintance, King's Row, Raintree County, China Seas, and Johnny Eager.

 

[Garysb]

Copyright was resolved back in 2009 when both 'Clouds' and 'Wedding' received certified Warner transfers; 'Wedding' as a Fred Astaire Double Bill with The Belle of New York, and 'Clouds' as a stand alone, but frequently packaged with Words and Music and Deep in My Heart as 'the composer's collection'. There's no reason for any of these not to reappear on Blu-ray via Warners.

Not sure about this. Warner released official versions of the films on DVD, I know, but I am not sure the copyright problem is resolved as the films do still appear on TV and streaming services and what is there are public domain copies, not the Warner Bros. versions. Again anyone can release anything and if the copyright owner doesn't complain, nothing happens.

 

[Everett S.]

I sincerely believe the condition of a movie is dictating the releases at WAC. The archive - and God bless 'em for it - have adopted the policy that they will NOT release anything that does not meet their high standards. It's time other studios adopted such a policy too because there is NO point to having poorly represented hi-def renditions of anything just to have them. That said, I think more money ought to be allocated to WAC for more restorations, or, find another way to partner with other institutions for the extra funding to make more fully completed restorations per annum possible, simply because the state of archival elements is not improving with age, but quite the opposite.

I don't think anyone at Warner wants to be in a position in the future to say NO restoration work can be done on a title because elements have deteriorated beyond the point where salvage is possible. The conservation of classic cinema is costly - period. Necessary too. So, partnership may be the only way to go to rescue these films for future generations. Losing films through neglect and the passage of time is not an option. Warner knows this. They're doing a fine job. But more definitely needs to be done. A more aggressive campaign is likely in the works. We'll see.

I wish that they would have done something,anything to On The Town ! Instead of using the same as what is shown on TCM.

 

[TheSteig]

Nobody said they only had to release more musicals. I'll back your Now Voyager, Lady in the Lake, Thin Man (all of them), All This and Heaven Too, The Damned Don't Cry and High Sierra, and raise you a National Velvet, Marie Antoinette, Romeo and Juliet, Selznick's The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche, Ivanhoe, Weekend At the Waldorf, San Francisco, Red Dust and Test Pilot; with honorable mention to A Woman's Face, Gaslight, Flamingo Road, Old Acquaintance, King's Row, Raintree County, China Seas, and Johnny Eager.

And Ill raise you an Angel Face, Macao, Tarzan, Tarzan and his Mate, After the Thin Man, Another Thin Man, The Cyclops, Cry Wolf, In This Our Life, Mr. Skeffington. The Letter, and Village of the Damned !!

 

[Nick*Z]

And Ill raise you an Angel Face, Macao, Tarzan, Tarzan and his Mate, After the Thin Man, Another Thin Man, The Cyclops, Cry Wolf, In This Our Life, Mr. Skeffington. The Letter, and Village of the Damned !!

Ooooo...good ones - every last one! I'll toss in a Knights of the Round Table, When Ladies Meet, Honky Tonk, Boom Town and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, maybe a Johnny Belinda and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...if you're lucky. Do you feel lucky...well...do yah?!?

 

[TheSteig]

Ill take Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde with Frederic March, you can keep Elizabeth and Essex

 

[Randy Korstick]

I dunno, Warner have only release one ancient world epic, Ben-Hur, they were hardly running out, but if you don't like epics then all these films must seem the same to you. The obvious choice would be, Helen Of Troy, directed by Robert Wise, music by Max Steiner & Land Of The Pharaohs, directed by Howard Hawks, music by Dimitri Tiomkin, not the Italian peplum film Colossus, but Warner hardly ever make the obvious choices. Let's agree to disagree.

...& I just can't enjoy The Law & Jake Wade, daylight exteriors are mostly fine, but interiors & night scenes aren't a pretty sight with those clogged-up blacks & lack of shadow detail, but that's me.

...& I love those Robert Taylor period Adventures.

Anyway, back to High Society, I've always thought Bing looked far too old for Grace Kelly, ten years on & she'd be his carer (but all totally normal in the whacky world of Hollywood).

I love epics and like Helen of Troy but at the bottom of my list of epics and don't like Land of the Phaorahs at all. It Needed a big battle scene to spice it up just too dull as is. I would buy Helen and Colossus only on a 4 for $44 sale. I wouldn't buy Land of the Pharaohs at any price. The obvious choice for WAC was which one of the 3 sold the best on DVD. But I don't know of any other Historical Epics that Warner hasn't released. They have released a lot more than Ben-Hur. King of Kings, Greatest Story ever Told, Dr. Zhivago, War and Peace 1956, Mutiny on the Bounty 1962 and How the West was Won just off the top of my head. The majority of historical epics have been released on blu ray. Period adventures is a different type of film and there are so many of those including hundreds of b movies that no realistic chance all of those could ever all come out on blu ray. Nearly every studio has tons of those unreleased. Universal, Sony, Fox and Paramount all of tons of period adventures unreleased on blu ray. So if you meant period adventures and not historical epics then yes Warner has followed the pattern of every other major studio and not released that many of those on blu ray. Most of those that have been released have been from Kino, Twilight Time and Olive.

 

[Dick]

I've always thought Bing looked far too old for Grace Kelly

So true. I'd have been a better age match for her (sigh).