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Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

post #1 of 17
10/1/08 at 5:33pm
Thread Starter 
Does anyone have any idea when we will be able to get any of the following GREAT documentaries?

HOLLYWOOD
BUSTER KEATON: A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW
HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS

I know the Buster Keaton doc is available in the UK, but when will it be available in the states?

The DVD format has been available for what, 12 years? It seems inconceivable that these still have not been released!
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post #2 of 17
10/1/08 at 6:40pm

Re: Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodney
Does anyone have any idea when we will be able to get any of the following GREAT documentaries?

HOLLYWOOD
BUSTER KEATON: A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW
HAROLD LLOYD: THE THIRD GENIUS

I know the Buster Keaton doc is available in the UK, but when will it be available in the states?

The DVD format has been available for what, 12 years? It seems inconceivable that these still have not been released!

It's apparently not rights issues. From what I read on CriterionForum.org, only The Jazz Singer had some rights issues, but they were eventually cleared. I'd like to hope it's because the whole miniseries is being remastered from scratch.

Brownlow apparently pulled rights for A Hard Act to Follow from Network since they used the wrong master (missing all the subtitles). They were also going to release Hollywood.
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post #3 of 17
10/2/08 at 10:52am

Re: Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

Yes please. "Hollywood" has been announced for release a couple of times in England, but has yet to appear. The Chaplin doc. is also great. His book on early Hollywood "The Parade's Gone By" should be on every film lovers book shelf.
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post #4 of 17
10/2/08 at 11:06am

Re: Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

ICAM on "The Parade's Gone By"! I read it only a few months ago, and made me appreciate the silents even more.

Two more TV documentaries on classic Hollywood I'd love to see released on DVD are MGM: When The Lion Roars and Hollywood The Golden Years, which told the amazing rise and fall of RKO Radio Pictures. Warner Bros./Turner owns the first, and the second was made by the BBC. However, in the US Warner distributes BBC DVDs, so I suppose they're the people to ask. Supposedly Warners has the MGM documentary in its sights, but is 'waiting for the right time' as per a previous WB chat on this forum.

Not releasing the Brownlow Hollywood documentary to DVD after all these years is quite a travesty. You know, I've always hoped that Brownlow and his late partner David Gill would have done a sequel covering the Thirties and Forties!
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post #5 of 17
10/2/08 at 4:38pm

Re: Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

One of the main reasons that I keep my Laserdisc player still hooked up is the HOLLYWOOD box set that I bought about 10 years ago. I found it in a cut out bin and only had to pay $10.00. I consider it one of my best Home Theater buys. This is definitely a set that truly deserves to be released on DVD.

Hutch
Edited by Robert Hutchison - 7/24/2009 at 01:35 am GMT
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post #6 of 17
10/2/08 at 7:14pm

Re: Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

Quote:
One of the main reasons that I keep my Laserdisc player still hooked up is the HOLLYWOOD box set that I bought about 10 years ago. I found it in a cut out bin and only had to pay $10.00. I consider it one of my best Home Theater buts. This is definitely a set that truly deserves to be released on DVD.

That was a helluva find. I, too have hung onto a few prized silent laserdiscs. I have the Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow doc, as well as a few Chaplin films I was unable to procure on DVD (The Kid, Modern Times). I've transferred them all to DVD-R. I also made a DVD-R of the Harold Lloyd doc which I had DVR'd off TCM. Frankly, I don;t see a reason to upgrade these even if they were released to DVD.

I have Hollywood on VHS that I taped of broadcast TV, but I do not even know if they would track well enough to make DVD-Rs out of them.
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post #7 of 17
10/3/08 at 10:29am

Re: Kevin Brownlow Documentaries - WHEN???

I'd gladly buy all these. I only saw a couple parts of HOLLYWOOD, would kill to get the whole thing.
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post #8 of 17
10/31/09 at 11:15pm
any new about Hollywood being released?
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post #9 of 17
11/14/09 at 5:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corey View Post

any new about Hollywood being released?

Does anyone have even the slightest tidbit of information regarding these great documentaries being released?
I would pre-order right now, if I could!
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post #10 of 17
1/11/10 at 4:01pm
After seeing what's on YouTube from the "Hollywood" series, I decided to do this:

LINK Removed by Moderator. 

At the moment I have five more installments to go.

Note: I am *not* the Doug Pratt who publishes the DVD Newsletter.
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post #11 of 17
1/11/10 at 9:54pm
Welcom to Home Theater Forum Doug.  I removed the link in your post as we don't allow links to sites with video/audio of copyrighted works.  Thanks
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post #12 of 17
1/11/10 at 10:33pm
I finally watched the "Hollywood" series having tracked it down, and it's simply staggering stuff.  I'd buy this set in a heartbeat.  I'd dream of a set with some of the actual silent features as bonus material, I'm sure a bunch of them are in public domain by now, and with blu ray I'm sure there's space on the discs. 

[continues to dare to dream]
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post #13 of 17
3/18/10 at 10:30am
i actually have most of the kevin brownlow documentaries on dvd i dont have the harold lloyd on dvd and cant find it but if anyone does have it even on dvr or cdri would gladly pay for a copy if any one can help
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post #14 of 17
12/19/10 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 

I really wish I would have had the opportunity to put any or all of these on my Christmas list this year.

With Kevin Brownlow justly receiving an Academy Honorary Award last month (November 13, 2010), some studio should really take the opportunity to release these great documentaries.

 

-Rodney

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post #15 of 17
7/16/11 at 12:41pm
Thread Starter 
With the Kino release of Buster Keaton Short Films Collection it is once again time to remind the powers-that-be to release these fantastic documentaries!

To paraphrase Glengarry Glen Ross:

"I'm sitting here waiting to give you my money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it? What's the problem, pal?"
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post #16 of 17
7/19/11 at 12:34am

Brownlow did a nice running Q&A at another forum a few years ago (here). He indicated the problem is rights clearances, and the lack of will to solve that problem. The name 'Paramount' pops up a couple times.    

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post #17 of 17
7/19/11 at 12:59pm
Quote:
He indicated the problem is rights clearances

I don't doubt this, but I will never be able to grasp the rationale for ANY company to hold something up like this. A clip documentary like this is essentially free advertising for the films that are contained within the documentary. How could a company in our current world situation where everything is about advertising not understand that this is FREE advertising. Every time that I see a great film documentary, I can't wait to go out and see the films that were just discussed.

Can you imagine Coca-Cola holding up a film because they are not being paid by the film company because of all of the Coca-Cola billboards present in the film? Of course not.....because Coca-Cola is paying the film company for including it's content.

The same goes for music rights in films and TV shows. They seem to be missing the big picture. They want paid for every play of the song without realizing that the inclusion of the song is free advertising for the song.......and will generate sales of the song.

Am I missing something?

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