Your favorite 10 films from the 1950s not yet on blu (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

Paramount has already released most of its big guns from the 1950s on blu (Sunset Boulevard, White Christmas, Ten Commandments, To Catch A Thief) with only Roman Holiday and The Greatest Show On Earth still MIA so I imagine it's only a matter of time. Whether some of the popular but "lesser" titles like Strategic Air Command (which never even got a standard DVD release) or The Court Jester get their day is anybody's guess!

 

[Nick*Z]

1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2. Scaramouche
3. High Society
4. The Greatest Show on Earth
5. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
6. The Brothers Karamazov
7. Anastasia
8. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
9. Peyton Place
10. The Last Hurrah

Of honorable mention:

1. Tammy and the Bachelor
2. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
3. Suddenly Last Summer
4. Bad Day At Black Rock
5. The Asphalt Jungle
6. Silk Stockings
7. Around the World in Eighty Days
8. Love Me Or Leave Me
9. Calamity Jane
10. The Bad and the Beautiful

 

[rsmithjr]

Lots of great titles, thanks everyone.

Here are a few echoes from me:

Around the World in 80 Days: still the most charming and sublime film ever made. Saw it 2 weeks ago at the Stanford in archive dye transfer with stereo sound on full-coat magnetic, the latter custom made by Warners. Huge audience, great film.

Porgy and Bess: the most ignored film ever made but a great classic.

plus a few other high points:

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Brigadoon (talk about Scottish independence, this movie does it right!)
High Society
Kiss Me Kate (3D, stereo please!)
Silk Stalkings
Peyton Place (really holds up well, stereo for Franz Waxman's soundtrack)
Love Me or Leave Me
Sayonara
any VistaVision title done properly

 

[classicmovieguy]

I think "Kiss Me Kate" in 3D has been all but confirmed as coming next year.

 

[JohnMor]

So in short it'll be a "Wonderful, Wonderful Day" for many here when Warners releases "Seven Brides..." on Blu-ray.

Hopefully accompanied or quickly followed by a "Once-A-Year-Day!"

 

[Thomas T]

I just noticed I forgot to include High Society in my post about most requested titles! It's had 7 requests so far. Clearly, musicals are popular.

 

[dana martin]

ok I know it more than 10, but going off of how the studios market and release here is what I came up with, the short list, but honestly everything mentioned in this thread would be welcomed


Mr. Roberts
Universal Ultimate SciFi Collection Vol 1: Incredible Shrinking Man / Revenge of the Creature (3D) / Creature Walks Among Us / This Island Earth / Tarantula / It Came From Outer Space (3D)
The Thing From Another World
War Of The Worlds
In A Lonely Place
The Court Jester
Classic Hammer Horror Collection: Curse Of Frankenstein / Horror Of Dracula / The Mummy
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Auntie Mame
Father Of The Bride

 

[davidmatychuk]

So in short it'll be a "Wonderful, Wonderful Day" for many here when Warners releases "Seven Brides..." on Blu-ray.

I pretty much started an alternative solo acoustic musical career for myself so that I could open shows with "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide" (evidence of which can be viewed on YouTube). I'd get to "simple and sweet" and stop, get an audience member to come up and slap me, then come back with "aaaaaaand SASSY as can be!". All I can add is that audience members don't really know their own strength.

 

[lionel59]

I have the Australian Blu Ray release of Vidor's WAR AND PEACE and I am pleased with the transfer. MOBY DICK (Huston) has recently come out here and looks pretty good too. (Try EZYDVD.com.au or ebay.com.au)
I too would cite the '50's as my favourite decade for Hollywood movies. Here is my Top Ten Most Wanted (not in any particular order):

PRINCE OF PLAYERS (in 2.55:1)
RAINTREE COUNTY (Road Show edition or General Release in Blu Ray and the Road Show version on SD)
THE SILVER CHALICE
THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (Jennifer Jones)
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME
THE VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD
A CERTAIN SMILE
THE SECOND GREATEST SEX
PORGY AND BESS
HELL ON FRISCO BAY

I must admit some of these choices are because the films have NEVER been released on any format as yet.

Can we do the '60's?
HOME FROM THE HILL
THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE
SWEET CHARITY
STAR!
CRACK IN THE MIRROR
ONE , TWO, THREE
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM (Smile Box)
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
FLOWER DRUM SONG
CIMARRON

 

[classicmovieguy]

I have the Australian Blu Ray release of Vidor's WAR AND PEACE and I am pleased with the transfer. MOBY DICK (Huston) has recently come out here and looks pretty good too. (Try EZYDVD.com.au or ebay.com.au)
I too would c8ite the '50's as my favourite decade for Hollywood movies. Here is my Top Ten Most Wanted (not in any particular order):

Yes I picked up that Blu-ray of "War and Peace" a few months back and it looks very nice. I would have appreciated a few good extras but on the whole it is a solid disc.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Can we do the '60's?

Here is the thread from May of this year on that topic...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/331617-top-10-favourite-60s-films-that-havent-been-released-in-blu-ray/

- Walter.

 

[FoxyMulder]

1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2. Scaramouche
3. High Society
4. The Greatest Show on Earth
5. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
6. The Brothers Karamazov
7. Anastasia
8. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
9. Peyton Place
10. The Last Hurrah

I forgot about Scaramouche, yes i want that one, it needs the Warner Ultra Resolution process too.*


*Yes please to High Society too.

 

[Thomas T]

Thanks for the heads up on the Aussie blu of War And Peace. My DVD/blu budget is shot for September but I'll definitely check it out in October.

 

[Alan Tully]

How could I forget The Bad & The Beautiful, a key film about Hollywood, it's got Warner Archive written all over it. And while we're talking b/w, another vote for The Thing From Another World. It would also be great to have the b/w western The Big Sky, but that's Warner & as the Archive releases all look really good, the lack of decent elements would probably put the kybosh on that.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I think we all left out a few extra favourites in these lists. I want to add "Tammy and the Bachelor", "Silk Stockings", "The World in His Arms", "Designing Woman", "The Long, Long Trailer", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing", "The Prince and the Showgirl" and "A Star is Born"....

Yes, "A Star is Born"....

The complete print IS out there, I'm sure.

Oh, and "Student Prince" and "Rose Marie". WAC did a brilliant job with "Kismet" so it'd be a great thing to have Miss Blyth's 2 other main MGM musicals on Blu.

 

[Paul_Warren]

So many great choices I would love ALL decent 1950's movies to come to BD ASAP

1: When Worlds Collide
2: War of The Worlds
3: On The Town (I know I am slightly cheating its 1949 but fully deserves an 8K restoration effort its a terrific musical & would still have been playing in theatres in 1950)
4: The Kentuckian (Burt Lancaster)
5: Calamity Jane
6: Good Morning Miss Dove (terrific mid 50s small town drama released this year on Fox Archival DVD MOD only but looks terrific BD would be so much better)
7: The Vikings

 

[lionel59]

rsmithjr listed "Silk Stalkings" a few posts above, but I think he meant to write SILK STOCKINGS.
There was a TV show called Silk Stalkings. A very different show. No singing and dancing.....
By the way, it is known that an ex-Warner employee has two complete 35mm prints of the Judy Garland A STAR IS BORN (premiere version). At this stage, negotiations have proven fruitless.( He may wish to be buried with them).

 

[Thomas T]

rsmithjr listed "Silk Stalkings" a few posts above, but I think he meant to write SILK STOCKINGS.
There was a TV show called Silk Stalkings. A very different show. No singing and dancing.....

Oh those typos! A friend once sent me an e-mail of his favorite films and it included The Band And The Beautiful! I asked him if that was the one where Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner did the Girl Hunt Ballet?

 

[Suzanne.S]

I' m surprised that no one has mentioned Imitation of Life. Unless it's been released and I missed it. (Or someone mentioned it and I missed that.)

I heartily agree with all of the musicals posted!

 

[Thomas T]

I' m surprised that no one has mentioned Imitation of Life. Unless it's been released and I missed it. (Or someone mentioned it and I missed that.)

On my 10, I waivered between Imitation Of Life and Written On The Wind opting to go with WOTW. There's a blu release of Imitation Of Life available in Germany but I've heard it's sub par. I've seen IOL countless times both theatrically (as recent as 2007) and home video and I've never seen a really decent print of it. Perhaps its the film stock they used, I don't know. None of the transfers I've seen were in any condition for HD.