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What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

post #1 of 122
10/18/06 at 11:55pm
Thread Starter 
I've found that scores of movies I've taped from the vintage 80's have held up pretty darn good and I'm glad I have them. The rarest I revisit most are a seemingly extended version of AT LONG LAST LOVE from the "good" AMC;a MALTESE FALCON spoof(other than THE BLACK BIRD) with Gabriel dell called THE MANCHU EAGLE MURDER CASE; a truly bizarre Mastroianni film DOWN THE ANCIENT STAIRS; the wonderful THE WONDERFUL CROOK; everyones favorite dog of a movie WON TON TON(also from AMC), the unfairly maligned and captivating WC FIELDS AND ME;and what seems to be a tv print of SHEILA LEVINE IS DEAD AND LIVING IN NEW YORK-with that incessant "Love Me or Love People" song that never left my head thirty years later.
Granted-none of these are dvd quality-but like an old LP I can pop it in and transport myself at will...pops and crackles and all. Anyone have similar vaulted treasures?
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post #2 of 122
10/19/06 at 12:19am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

THE WONDERFUL CROOK - That's the early Gerard Depardieu film, right? I saw that back when it played on HBO in 1977. Been wanting to see it again, but I don't think it's out even in Region 2. Surprising that a film with a big star like him could remain so obscure.

THE MANCHU EAGLE MURDER MYSTERY - That's another obscurity I've been wanting to see. I think Warner owns it, but I doubt it'll see a release. It doesn't really have any selling points - no stars and a no-name director.

WON TON TON and W.C. FIELDS AND ME were both released in the midst of a bunch of films about "old Hollywood" - NICKELODEON, VALENTINO, THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, GABLE AND LOMBARD - all of them flops. But if GABLE AND LOMBARD can get a DVD release, maybe there's hope yet.
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post #3 of 122
10/19/06 at 12:42am
Thread Starter 

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

THE WONDERFUL CROOK-to my knowledge-hasnt been released anywhere. HBO introduced me -as it did to many 40 somethings-the pleasure of foreign movies. Besides CROOK-I enjoyed THE NIGHT CALLER, JUST BEFORE NIGHTFALL, VIOLETTE, I LOVE YOU ROSA, KAMOURASKA,DONT CRY WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL, MAN ON THE ROOF and of course GOING PLACES-for the right reasons-which notoriously was pulled from HBO after protests.
Now-if someone can put together those shorts HBO used to show between features-one was called "The Mild Ones"-hilarious spoof with guys on invisible motorcycles; a scary(at the time) Japanese ghort about a teacher that turns into a fish; a WILD STRAWBERRIES like b/w short-not sure if it was meant to be funny and a kiddie one with a witch and blueberry pancakes
HBO was like a film school back than-trailers, shorts, foreign films-the works. What a time!

p.s. I was hoping Universal would follow GABLE AND LOMBARD with WC FIELDS AND ME, but G AND L 's sales weren't that great. If they havent released MOMENT BY MOMENT in any form-why?-there isnt much hope for FIELDS. VALENTINO is on R2-a horrid mess!
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post #4 of 122
10/19/06 at 1:11am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I have MIDNIGHT MAN, RABBIT RUN, THEIVES AFTER DARK, RED SKY AT MORNING, THE OUTSIDER (1979), BEST FRIENDS (1975), LAST ROMANTIC LOVER, RIVERRUN, CRAZY JOE, THE LAWYER, THE SPLIT (1968), SHADOW OF THE HAWK, THE PASSAGE (uncut), LIMBO (1972), BANNING, LOLLY MADONNA WAR XXX, CHANDLER, BREAKING POINT (1976), are some rare stuff I taped years ago that never apeared on video anywhere that I still enjoy watching.
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post #5 of 122
10/19/06 at 6:05am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Ace in the Hole

The Man from the Diner's Club

The Last Time I Saw Archie
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post #6 of 122
10/19/06 at 6:27am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

"Ace in the Hole" aka "The Big Carnival"

One of the only remaining major titles by a major director that has not been released on home video ever.
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post #7 of 122
10/19/06 at 7:18am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

New York's Film Forum is showing a new 35mm restoration print of ACE IN THE HOLE in January, so maybe there's hope for a DVD release.

I've gotten rid of most of my tapes, but one I'm holding onto (from 1986) contains the fine 1982 thriller FAST WALKING, with James Woods in one of his best roles.
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post #8 of 122
10/19/06 at 10:33am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Cashill

I've gotten rid of most of my tapes, but one I'm holding onto (from 1986) contains the fine 1982 thriller FAST WALKING, with James Woods in one of his best roles.

FAST WALKING was released on VHS via CBS-Fox Video.
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post #9 of 122
10/19/06 at 10:57am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure may have had an official tape, but I've never found it. I recorded it almost 20 years ago off The Disney Channel. Fox owns it and it's a wonderful movie. It was shot in Panavision, so I'd love to see it in 2.35:1 finally!
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post #10 of 122
10/19/06 at 10:59am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Not a movie, but a TV show: a tape I held onto for a long time was of a 1983 special on PBS: The Regard of Flight, by clown/actor Bill Irwin. It seems to have been available on DVD through the MacArthur Foundation (who gave Irwin a genius grant), but only to libraries, and that is no longer in print.
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post #11 of 122
10/19/06 at 11:02am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure may have had an official tape, but I've never found it.

Ya, it was released on VHS by Playhouse Video.
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post #12 of 122
10/19/06 at 11:43am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I don't have much goodies in the "taped off TV" genre, but in the "only on VHS" category I have a few gems:

Fortress (The HBO movie with Rachel Ward)
Misfits of Science (pilot, presented as stand-alone movie)
Twice Upon a Time
From Star Wars to Jedi

-Lyle J.P.
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post #13 of 122
10/19/06 at 12:08pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Louis Letizia
THE WONDERFUL CROOK-to my knowledge-hasnt been released anywhere. HBO introduced me -as it did to many 40 somethings-the pleasure of foreign movies. Besides CROOK-I enjoyed THE NIGHT CALLER, JUST BEFORE NIGHTFALL, VIOLETTE, I LOVE YOU ROSA, KAMOURASKA,DONT CRY WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL, MAN ON THE ROOF and of course GOING PLACES-for the right reasons-which notoriously was pulled from HBO after protests.
Yeah, they used to regularly show Louis Malle and Lina Wertmuller films. In fact, SEVEN BEAUTIES was the first foreign-language film I ever saw, at the age of 12, courtesy of HBO.

I remember when they pulled GOING PLACES after one or two showings after receiving complaints from affiliates. They replaced it on their schedule with THE CASSANDRA CROSSING. Years later HBO's sister service Cinemax would run GOING PLACES without any problems.

Both MAN ON THE ROOF and THE NIGHT CALLER are available on very good DVDs in Region 2 under their original respective Swedish and French titles. The former with an English subtitle option, and the latter with a pretty good English dub track and at its full 2 hour length (the US version released by Columbia was considerably shortened).

Quote:
Now-if someone can put together those shorts HBO used to show between features-one was called "The Mild Ones"-hilarious spoof with guys on invisible motorcycles; a scary(at the time) Japanese ghort about a teacher that turns into a fish; a WILD STRAWBERRIES like b/w short-not sure if it was meant to be funny and a kiddie one with a witch and blueberry pancakes
I remember that they used to show these between-program filler things, but the only one I clearly recall consisted of a lengthy (ten minutes or so) tracking shot following a group of bicyclists through Central Park, overlaid with piano music.
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post #14 of 122
10/19/06 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I'll check those out-thanks. I was mesmerized by NIGHT CALLER and loved the poster.


Is MAN ON THE ROOF the only foreign film ever that was an official sequel to an American major released film(1973's THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN).?
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post #15 of 122
10/19/06 at 1:47pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Cashill

I've gotten rid of most of my tapes, but one I'm holding onto (from 1986) contains the fine 1982 thriller FAST WALKING, with James Woods in one of his best roles.

FAST WALKING was released on VHS via CBS-Fox Video.

It was later released on VHS by Warner Bros. after they picked up the rights. I believe this was originally a Lorimar release.

Some of my "not available on home video" videos include:
The Warriors - with the alternate opening sequence and assorted extra footage, taped from "Joe Bob Briggs' Monstervision" in late 90s.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - the version running on TBS these days seems to include ALL of the extra tv footage and I recently made myself a decent DVD copy to replace the old VHS tape from an airing on USA in the early 90s.

Obviously, these aren't as rare the aforementioned films that aired on HBO in the good old days...
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post #16 of 122
10/19/06 at 2:02pm
Thread Starter 

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I was hoping the recent Parasmount "Special Edition" of THE WARRIORS would have included the version you mentioned-to me as rare as HBO gems-but instead all we got was a (Greek) tragedy.
A fascinating subthread*or should we start a new one)-are alternate tv versions of feature films from the infamous DUNE to the I wished I taped it TWO MINUTE WARNING. Any others?
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post #17 of 122
10/19/06 at 2:10pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Louis Letizia
I'll check those out-thanks. I was mesmerized by NIGHT CALLER and loved the poster.
The most memorable thing about the film are the lengthy chases (in which Belmondo does his own stunts), including one jaw-dropper across a steep rooftop. The French disc, by the way, is titled PEUR SUR LA VILLE ("Fear Over the City") and is from Studio Canal. It may be out of print, in which case you may still be able to snag a copy from Amazon.fr Marketplace or Ebay. It has both French and English audio tracks, but the extras are French-only.

MAN ON THE ROOF is available under the title MANNEN PA TAKET as a 2-disc special edition. The film itself has optional English subs, but the extensive extras are, alas, not English-friendly. I believe XploitedCinema is currently carrying this disc.
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post #18 of 122
10/19/06 at 2:17pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I had the George Cukor version of THE BLUE BIRD on a homemade videotape for a long time, but it got mistakenly erased, and I've never seen it again. A very guilty pleasure.
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post #19 of 122
10/19/06 at 3:15pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I was a tapin' fool back in the mid-80s, and I'm glad I was. I managed to tape off-air a number of admittedly rather minor films which I nonetheless developed a strong fondness for. That was good, because so very many of these films disappeared from view shortly thereafter, and really haven't appeared on tv since, to my knowledge. I've found myself revisiting these quite often, through the years. Some of these old favorites include:

1. Canon City - 1948
2. The Thief - 1952
3. Beyond Mombasa - 1956
4. The Spirit is Willing - 1967
5. Red Salute - 1935
6. The Atomic City - 1952
7. Ruggles of Red Gap - 1935
8. Geraldine - 1953
9. Destination Inner Space - 1966
10. Hell's Half Acre - 1954
11. The Lady Wants Mink - 1953
12. Suspense - 1946
13. Vice Squad - 1953
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post #20 of 122
10/19/06 at 3:19pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Wizard of Speed and Time
House of Long Shadows
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post #21 of 122
10/19/06 at 3:41pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Floto
Wizard of Speed and Time
House of Long Shadows

Both were on video. SGE Home Video and MGM-UA, respectively.
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post #22 of 122
10/20/06 at 6:55am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyle_JP
I don't have much goodies in the "taped off TV" genre, but in the "only on VHS" category I have a few gems:

Fortress (The HBO movie with Rachel Ward)

-Lyle J.P.

FORTRESS was released in July on Warner Home Video. Amazon has it in stock for $12.

I remember it as well, watched it many times. Been meaning to pick it up.
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post #23 of 122
10/20/06 at 8:19am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Martin
FORTRESS was released in July on Warner Home Video. Amazon has it in stock for $12.

Wow! Either that was a completely stealth release, or I was on good drugs that week. Either way, it has been ordered now.

Oh yeah, I remembered a few things I taped off TV that I prize:

* The Disneyland 25th Anniversary Special
* The 4-hour cut of Needful Things
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post #24 of 122
10/20/06 at 11:22am

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

I like films about airplanes & I have an OTA WS taping of "Fate is the Hunter".
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post #25 of 122
10/20/06 at 1:40pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffrey:K
I remember when they pulled GOING PLACES after one or two showings after receiving complaints from affiliates. They replaced it on their schedule with THE CASSANDRA CROSSING. Years later HBO's sister service Cinemax would run GOING PLACES without any problems.

What were the complaints? I've never seen the film.
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post #26 of 122
10/20/06 at 1:55pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Louis: "Is MAN ON THE ROOF the only foreign film ever that was an official sequel to an American major released film(1973's THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN).?"

Well, it's based on the book, which was part of a series of ten novels. There was a swedish film from the sixties, "Roseanna", so that would make "The laughing policeman" a foreign sequel to a swedish film... They are continuing to churn out Beck-movies here in Sweden, over twenty (also in the making, I think) movies, mostly TV/Direct-to-Video. Don't ask me about them though, I haven't bothered with them.
Sorry for veering the thread off course. I don't have any actual taped treasure...
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post #27 of 122
10/20/06 at 2:31pm
Thread Starter 

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

So we have a celluloid VICTOR/VICTORIA. LP is an American sequel of a Swedish film pretending to be American!? ...or something like that. Thanks for the trivia-I live for this stuff!

MAN ON THE ROOF had its own unique style. A great movie.
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post #28 of 122
10/20/06 at 5:37pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Dragnet 1967--pilot for the upcoming color series
Freud--directed by John Huston, starring Montgomery Clift
Myrt and Marge--Three Stooges in early supporting roles
I Was A Communist For The FBI--starring Frank Lovejoy
My Son John--anti-commie classic, Robert Walker's last film
Lenny Bruce: Swear To Tell The Truth--documentary, narrated by Robert DeNiro
Three's A Crowd and The Chaser--silent movies starring and directed by Harry Langdon
The Old Fashioned Way, Tillie and Gus, The Man on the Flying Trapeze, Poppy--W.C. Fields movies
The Unholy Three--Tod Browning/Lon Chaney movie
Peach O' Reno and This Is Africa--Wheeler and Woolsey, quite risque for their time
The Party Crashers--last film for both Bobby Driscoll and Frances Farmer
It Ain't Hay--Abbott and Costello
Batman--every episode of the Adam West tv show!
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post #29 of 122
10/20/06 at 6:21pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

The 1955 musical of Our Town. Frank Sinatra was the stage manager, Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint played George Gibbs and Emily Webb. Newman and Saint also sing a duet called 'The Impatient Years'. The quality isn't fantastic, but considering it is nowhere to be found these days, it doesn't really matter.
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post #30 of 122
10/20/06 at 6:40pm

Re: What are some of your taped treasures never on video?

Here are a few I don't think ever made it to VHS or LASER, certainly not DVD, that I have recorded off the air:

PARAMOUNT ON PARADE
HOLLYWOOD CAVALCADE
INCENDIARY BLONDE
SING, BABY, SING
THE THRILL OF BRAZIL
YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM IT
SWANEE RIVER
THE GREAT AMERICAN BROADCAST
GEORGE WHITE SCANDALS OF 1934
GEORGE WHITE SCANDALS OF 1935
GOOD MORNING, MISS DOVE
KENTUCKY
DIXIE
WAKE UP AND LIVE
THANKS A MILLION
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