HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

This will hopefully be the latest restoration which was scheduled for release in R1 by Paramount nearly two years ago now - and which is fantastic - with all the extras from the old release, plus a new 50 minute documentary.

I may have to buy this for the fourth time...

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

i have the region 4 edition in australia- the transfer is sharp with excellent grey scale and detail.

Strange how it took so long to get out in the US??

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I won't hold my breathe that this is an improved transfer.

The Quiet Man has been released multiple times from material far inferior to what exists in the vaults.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I finally got around to seeing High Noon. Great movie, but the DVD looked pretty mediocre. Not as bad as The Quiet Man, but if Lionsgate finally got Paramount to provide the new remaster, that bodes well for other Republic titles.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I'm reliably informed that it is; fans are in for a real treat.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Lionsgate has been releasing some damned good transfers of stuff they licensed from StudioCanal. Anyone who has seen their Renoir or Godard sets can attest to this. The problem with the crappy Republic titles in the past was that Lionsgate owned the distribution rights (inherited from Artisan), but Paramount owned the elements (inherited from Spelling).

Paramount refused to let Lionsgate use the film elements while they were waiting for Lionsgate's distribution rights to expire. Lionsgate was forced to recycle old transfers. Paramount intended to release the titles themselves as soon as they were legally able to. After announcing a few titles, however, they decided to sublicense the Republic library to Lionsgate after all, and promptly cancelled their announced titles. Lionsgate now has access to the original film elements of the Republic titles. I think they have proven that they are capable of releasing more than adequate editions when given the opportunity. I look forward to their upcoming High Noon set, and whatever other Republic titles they may have in the works.

C'mon Johnny Guitar!

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

This is one of my all-time favorite movies and I have to admit that I am one of the suckers that bought each of the Artisan releases. As it turns out the very first release was the one with the best picture quality (but it still paled in comparison to an average Warner/Fox transfer) and the subsequent releases only got worse. I am hoping that Lionsgate finally does justice to this classic with it's new 2-disc release.

-D

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Thanks for posting this information. I was not familiar with the intricate details of the Paramount/Lion's Gate partnership. This definitely changes my view on the situation. However, does anybody have any evidence that Lion's Gate has actually used this access to the materials? Just because they have access doesn't mean that they will use it. Sorry for being such a pessimist, but it's my job!

I second your call for "Johnny Guitar" along with new improved versions of "The Quiet Man" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

Does anybody have a master list of all the films in the Republic library??

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Eric; I don't want to say too much, but I'm told from a source very close to this release that it will be using Paramount's impeccable restoration. I can't say more than that, and I believe that to be the case.

This list is out of date, but it will give you some idea of which Republic owned films Paramount have been working on.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

In that case my 1998 version will get retired.
One of the best - if not the best - Westerns.


Cees

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Great news John!! You're going to try and make an optimist of me yet!

Three of the titles that I've been wanting most are in that list and I hope that new versions are coming soon - "Body and Soul", "Champion", & "Force of Evil"

It's hard to believe, but I'm starting to excited about films from Paramount's library!!

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Don't see The Quiet Man there, but they do show-

"Sun Shines Bright (1953)—Work in progress"

-which would be terrific. One of my favorite Fords.

Oh, and I've never seen High Noon, so sounds like I'm in for a treat.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Considering some of the more recent dvd "announcements" from e-tailers like Amazon which have turned out to be vaporware, (I'm looking at you "Whole Bloody Affair") I'd rather wait to see a genuine press release from Lions Gate before even thinking that this is actually happening.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

DVDEmpire does have cover-art for the new release and that is a good sign that this new release is more than just vaporware.

-D

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

yikes...




I'm sure the transfer should be greatly improved upon though so this is an almost certain purchase of one of my all-time favorite films! I'm looking forward to a full press release with more details...

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

As everybody knows, I usually don't care about artwork and have participated in endless discussions about it, but even I have to say yikes.




Crawdaddy

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Sold !!!

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I'll second that yikes. Can't wait to see 'Attack of the 100ft Gunfighter' though...

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

That is a very nice cover for the new High Noon SE release. It looks a hell of a lot better than that orginal artwork garbage from back when the movie came out:

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/pro...287.1020.A.jpg

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Could I very quietly slip in a request for a restored DVD of A Man Alone, a little-known Republic Western directed by Ray Milland?

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Classic Flix has the details up for that box set and what bonus features it will contain:

BONUS FEATURES:

Audio Commentary with Maria Cooper-Janis, Jonathan Foreman , Tim Zinnemann and John Ritter
“Inside High Noon” – 50-Minute Documentary on the Making of High Noon
“Tex Ritter: A Visit to Carthage, Texas” – Portrait Piece on the Tex Ritter Museum
Full-Length Tex Ritter Performance of Oscar-Winning Original Song “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’” on the Jimmy Dean TV Show
“The Making of High Noon” Featurette
“Behind High Noon” Featurette
Radio Broadcast with Tex Ritter

However, the story is wrong on the site as they state it will be pretty much the same dvd as the 2002 release with and added 10 min feature called behind High Noon. Behind High Noon was on the 2002 release and their information is wrong. There will be a new 50 min documentory titled Inside High Noon that was produced by the Gary Cooper and movie expert John Mulholland.

Welcome to MODA Entertainment.com -- DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTIONS -- Casablanca DVD

The documentary may not be for everyone though as it may get a great deal into the troubles of John Wayne trying to close down the set and threating to blacklist Gary Cooper with Gary telling him to go to hell and all that. It fits right in with my view as a Gary Cooper extremest and no fan to John Wayne but may not sit right with some others here. If you want to get a feel for what the documentary may be like there is a long article that the film Journal posted by John Mulholland on the truth to the behind the scenes troubles on the set of High Noon and Gary's joke on John Wayne by asking him to accept the oscar if he should win. Gary's conversation to Anthony Quin on the set of Blowing Wild is discussed with Gary having reported to say "I wonder what that SOB will say if I win". I'm not sure how much of this John will write into a 50 min documentary but I hope it is all discussed.

From the Cheap Seats… » Letter From America…

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I'm a fan of the work of both Wayne and Cooper and it sits alright with me; if anyone wants to read John Mullholland's comments alluded to by DanMel above, you'll find them in my Filmjournal blog here.

Fascinating stuff, though I doubt much of that will be included in the documentary - we'll see.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I think it will cover the Blacklist controversy fairly well as an email from John dated July 21st 2007 stated it would:

"We did a behind the scenes doc on High Noon for Paramount last year --
interviewed Clinton, even; man was he articulate on High Noon, so bright
and full of boundless curiosity. Paramount was going to release
a double disc dvd on Noon. But they lost the US rights, somehow, and
will not have them back, at the earliest, until next year, maybe not even
then. So here we sit with this one hour Noon doc, covering everything,
especially the blacklist controversy, Cooper's extraordinary courage in
putting his career on the line for Carl Foreman both during and after
the film was finished, etc.

Frustrating, indeed!"

Also on about page for John Mulholand it states this about the documentary that leads me to believe it will be discussed in some detail:

"Mulholland also wrote and directed both: Inside High Noon, on the behind-the-scenes controversy during the filming of High Noon; and Of God & Country: Sergeant York."

ICONSRadio.com :: ICONS Radio Hour :: Hosted by John Mulholland & Stephen Bogart :: ABOUT

What I gather from these two postings is that this is not only going to be a typical documentary on a film but one that may be focused on the behind the scenes controversy with John Wayne and the whole black list thing and Cooper's involvment. 50 min on this would cover everthing that was mentioned on your site about High Noon and then some.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Woah, sounds great... I think I'm actually anticipating the documentary more than the feature itself now, but with over 9 hours of footage I wonder if they're release an extended cut as a separate standalone release down the line?

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

If this is the cover there is nothing especially wrong with it other than that Cooper faced a "gang" not one man, so that is misleading. However, it probably would give newbies to the film the wrong idea that it is a action filled shoot out with little else on its mind, which is certainly NOT the case.

Previous DVD edition covers were a little weak and this seems a step in the right direction to me. I know this is a negligible point for many but there are some of us who DO obsess over this issue a tad. Bear with us folks...

The extras look ok but I've felt they could always do better with this title.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

And we should all thank God that Lionsgate didn't let Legend loose on it with their crayoning set a la It's A Wonderul Life...

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

Lionel Chetwynd wrote and directed a little-seen and never available on video feature documentary DARKNESS AT HIGH NOON: THE CARL FOREMAN DOCUMENTS (2002). It is a provocative film that casts both John Wayne and Stanley Kramer in an unfavorable light and it is based on the letters of Carl Foreman whose future Blacklisted career was most impacted by the McCarthy era's political reaction to HIGH NOON. I haven't seen it but the imdb's reactions to it suggest that this would be (have been) the most significant extra to the SE.

Re: HIGH NOON on 6/10 from LionsGate?

I am really looking forward to see this