THE DAVID LEAN COLLECTION

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Maybe you're already aware of this, but SUMMERTIME is available through Criterion.

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So is Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. They are Janus titles, so I have no idea why anyone would think MGM would have them.

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Yes, it is, but it's MAR.

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MGM seemed to think they had them at one time. They announced several Lean titles including Great Expectations and Oliver Twist along with several Hitchcock titles including The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps in 2004. These releases were soon canceled. All four aforementioned titles are actually owned by Carlton/Rank, though Janus is the longtime North American distributor. These titles are also often mistakenly believed to be in the public domain. MGM apparently thought they had acquired the rights to these and announced a release for them, but Janus asserted their distribution rights before they were actually released, and MGM backed down.



Summertime was shot in Academy ratio. Criterion's release is correct.

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Some of you might already know that the BFI and Granada have just restored 10 of Lean's films in time for centenary celebrations this year (with events both sides of the Atlantic including theatrical screenings); ITV DVD will release new David Lean Centenary box set in the U.K. later this year.

Anyone interested can see more details in my blog entry here.

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Ah, that's their deal with Studio Canal kicking in; Canal also have 'Hobson's Choice'.

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Thanks John

Would you know if this is coming to Glasgow as well ?

Cheers

Oscar

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The schudule hasn't been finalised yet Osc, but I wouldn't be surprised.

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MGM seems to have the U.S. DVD rights to Great Expectations. Is it possible they are licencing it to Criterion?


Doug

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Where did you get the info that MGM has the rights to Great Expectations? It's a Granada film...I have never heard of MGM licensing from Granada or why they would even want to.

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I don't believe that Granada distributes its own stuff on home video in the U.S. They do have a television distribution arm in the U.S., but most of The Granada stuff that I have seen has been distributed in the U.S. by MPI Home Video.

It may very well be that MGM has U.S. home video distribution rights to Great Expectations.

Doug

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MGM produced the R1 'The Ghoul' in conjunction with Carlton (before they were taken over by Granada).

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Here is an article in the recent New Yorker about David Lean:

Master and Commander: A Critic at Large: The New Yorker

It's written by film critic Anthony Lane.

No insight on any DVD releases, but a good read for his fans.

Jack

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Hi Jack

Splendid read and did not know that David Lean would have been 100 this week.

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IMDb is wrong. Someone probably put added that info about MGM being the DVD distributor after they announced Great Expectations several years ago.

I clarified the rights situation earlier in this thread.

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MAR or not, Summertime could use a new transfer and some extras (not sure if Criterion has this on their list of early dvds that need work).

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Just wanted to mention, I watched the new Lion's Gate DVD of THE SOUND BARRIER. Great film. Good transfer. No extras.

It is on the DVD set THE WORLD WAR COLLECTION which doesn't even have a description listed on Amazon.

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And some HTFers may find this useful:

The David Lean Centenary Box Set is part of the current HMV box set sale at £25.99 in the UK, and I received mine this morning.

I had not long bought the nine disc set when this new 10 film set was announced. Every film has undergone a spanking new restoration, in partnership with the David Lean Foundation, The BFI, Granada Ventures and Studio Canal, and boy, does it show. A brief run through shows these new transfers to be utterly gorgeous, from the totally unmarked BBFC certificates to the end credits. The Technicolor splendour of 'Blithe Spirit' is revealed at last, the gorgeous mono cinematography of 'Great Expectations', 'Oliver Twist', 'Hobson's Choice', 'The Sound Barrier' et al rendered eye-wateringly clear with hardly a mark to be seen anywhere.

The extras from the old discs all appear to be present and correct - I've managed to watch 'In Which We Serve' (a truly beautiful monochrome transfer) and 'This Happy Breed' (breathtakingly beautiful Technicolor) through and couldn't see a mark - not one - of any significance on either.

It's packaged up much the same as the old collection, but with new fangled disc holders making them much easier to remove. There's also a booklet, something of a beginner's guide, but nice to have nonetheless.

I managed to unload my old set some weeks ago in preparation for this new box entering a sale; no doubt it will drop a few quid cheaper at some point, but I'm more than happy to have this now. Beautiful, beautiful work and highly recommended.

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Thanks John

Just might go for this

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Well, you've sold me. The price dropped to £14.98 on amazon.coUK, and I'm the verge of buying it together with the Powell and Pressburger Collection which has dropped £17.99.

Are there any supplements or commentaries, John? Now that you're more familiar with the collection, do you spot any drawbacks?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/i...n=283926&s=dvd

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I just bought the 9-title set (which does not include IN WHICH WE SERVE) from an eBay seller from Korea. This is a legitimate commercial release that contains removable Korean subtitles. The image quality equals what I would have imagined the MGM box would have had it made it to the U.S. I am quite happy with BLITHE SPIRIT, which has much better color than the OOP U.S. edition, and THE SOUND BARRIER. I despise PAL speed-up and so will miss out on IN WHICH THEY SERVE in the British set, unless one of the many public domain editions out there actually looks half-way decent.

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Thanks for the tip on the Korean edition of The David Lean Collection. I'll look into it.

Unless I'm mistaken the restored In Which We Serve is now an individual release in region 2, but you'd have to put up with the PAL speed-up. I think the film is more than worth it.

I'm also uncomfortable with PAL speed-up. I can't explain why, but it is more noticeable in some films than in others. I never know until I play the DVD's. I looked at The David Lean Collection (9 discs) in region 2 that you describe and decided against buying it because The David Lean Centenary Collection is an upgrade from that.

The point is I'm not getting any younger and I'm tired of waiting for a decent release on some of these titles in the USA. The BFI restored all the films: these are entirely different transfers from different sources than the Criterion editions of Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, for example.

There are some fine Korean (region 1 and O) releases, however. I bought the Korean edition of Orson Welles' Macbeth which is the fully restored, uncut version equal in quality to any American release by a major label.

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There are some supplements - previously released featurettes (Profile of Brief Encounter, Profile of Oliver Twist, Casting Appeal for Oliver Twist, Profile on In Which We Serve, stills galleries, trailers, etc), no commentaries, a rather nice but flimsy booklet. But it's a well put together set, from the box, to the menu designs to those glorious transfers. Some have had a pop at the interlaced transfer of This Happy Breed, but I honestly can't see a problem with it.

If I have to be picky, I must mention a very slight authoring glitch in Hobson's Choice at around the 69 minute mark; video slows for a millisecond and slightly interrupts the line 'at your age', but you'd have to be some kind of obsessive to allow it to spoil your enjoyment of the set.

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What's MAR?

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Modified Aspect Ratio, which Summertime isn't.