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WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

post #1 of 59
Thread Starter 
NATALIE WOOD COLLECTION
Newly Remastered Editions of
Splendor in the Grass and Gypsy
Collection Also Includes:
Inside Daisy Clover ~ Sex and the Single Girl ~
Bombers B-52 ~ Cash McCall

Co-stars Include Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Tony Curtis, James Garner and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

February 3 from Warner Home Video

Burbank, Calif. October 13, 2008 – Actress Natalie Wood was a brunette beauty with sparkling brown eyes who became one of Hollywood's brightest stars and a legend both on and off the silver screen*. On February 3, Warner Home Video will honor her with the Natalie Wood Collection -- featuring a selection of the actress’s best known films co-starring some of the most popular leading men of their time. Splendor in the Grass and Gypsy will be offered as newly remastered releases, while Inside Daisy Clover, Sex and the Single Girl, Bombers B-52 and Cash McCall will make their DVD debuts. All titles except for Splendor in the Grass and Sex and the Single Girl will be offered in the collection only. Ms. Wood’s last film, Brainstorm, will also be available separately, newly packaged in Amaray. The six-disc Natalie Wood Collection will be offered for $59.92 SRP, Sex and the Single Girl and Splendor in the Grass are offered at $19.97 SRP. Brainstorm will also sell for $19.97 SRP.

About the Star

Natalie Wood, born Natalia Zakharenko on July 20, 1938 in San Francisco, first appeared on screen at age five and then won acclaim for Miracle on 34th Street when she was just nine. She transitioned seamlessly into teenage and adult leading roles, beginning with Rebel Without a Cause, followed by a total of 56 film and television roles including (in addition to the films in this collection) West Side Story, Love with the Proper Stranger, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, This Property is Condemned and the TV mini-series From Here to Eternity. During her career, Ms. Wood was nominated for three Academy Awards® (including Splendor in the Grass) and seven Golden Globes,® winning three of the latter. Her last film, Brainstorm, completed just before Ms. Wood drowned in a tragic boating accident in 1981, was released in 1983.


About the Films

Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Directed by Elia Kazan (Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront), and written by William Inge (Come Back Little Sheba, Picnic) Splendor in the Grass stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (in his feature film debut) as teenage lovers full of angst and lust, ripped apart by the repressive small-town mentality of 1920s’ Kansas, with dire consequences. The film won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay, and Ms. Wood received her second Best Actress nomination.

DVD Special Features:
Beep Prepared (1961 WB cartoon)
Theatrical trailer

Gypsy (1962)
Everything’s coming up roses when Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood and Karl Malden entertain you in the lavish movie musical of the Broadway hit about the infamous stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee and her formidable mother Rose. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, Gypsy was nominated for three Oscars®. The musical score by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim is among the most celebrated ever, with such hummable hits as “Let Me Entertain You,” “Everything’s Coming up Roses” and “Together Wherever we Go”

DVD Special Features:
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe (1961 WB cartoon)
Together Wherever We Go (deleted musical)
You’ll Never Get Away From Me (deleted musical)
Theatrical trailer

Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
Helen Gurley Brown’s famous book title provides the jumping off point for this romantic comedy about tabloid magazine editor Tony Curtis, who’s after dirt when he pretends to woo a young famous sex researcher played by Wood. Needless to say, he gets more than he came looking for. Supporting roles are played by the Henry Fonda and Lauren Bacall.

DVD Special Features:
Nelly's Folly (1961WB cartoon)
Theatrical trailer

Inside Daisy Clover (1965)
Daisy Clover (Wood) is a 15-year old tomboy who dreams of being a Hollywood star, and in the vein of “be careful what you wish for,” she finds herself becoming the toast of TInseltown in the 1930s. Daisy is thrust headlong into this strange new life with all the pressure and artifice that goes with the territory and must quickly manage or be driven mad. Christopher Plummer is the studio head who gives her her big chance and Robert Redford plays the man with whom she has a one-day marriage. Film buffs will enjoy seeing the various areas and departments of Warner Bros. Studios, where the film was shot.

DVD Special Features:
Theatrical trailer

Bombers B-52 (1957)
U.S. Air Force pilot Jim Herlihy (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) is in love with Lois Brennan (Wood), much to the disapproval of her sergeant father (Karl Malden). There is romance and action in this flight film set against the backdrop of riveting aerial footage of jet plane maneuvers.

DVD Special Features:
· Boyhood Dayz (1957 WB cartoon)
· Theatrical trailer

Cash McCall (1960)
In this drama of high finance and high romance, James Garner ("Maverick," "The Rockford Files") plays the title role of a dashing and daring tycoon in the business of buying and selling companies for profit. However McCall’s acquisition plans for Grant Austen’s (Dean Jagger) company gets more complicated when he realizes Austen’s daughter Lory (Wood) is the same girl with whom he once had a summer fling.

DVD Special Features:
· Theatrical trailer
· High Note (1961 WB cartoon)

Brainstorm (1983)
Natalie Wood’s last film is a sci-fi thriller, directed by Douglas Trumbull (Blade Runner). The film tells the story of two brilliant research scientists, Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Michael Brace (Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter) who, after inventing a machine that can record sensory experiences, find the application being abused not only for personal reasons but also by the government for their own secret agenda. Eventually the results are devastating. Michael Brace’s estranged wife Karen is played by Ms. Wood.

DVD Special Features:
· Theatrical trailer
NATALIE WOOD COLLECTION
Street Date: February 3, 2009
Collection: $59.92 SRP
All Films Color and Not Rated

Splendor in the Grass
Run Time: 124 Minutes
Catalog #:1000036154
$19.97 SRP

Sex and the Single Girl
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Catalog #: 1000035851
$19.97 SRP

Inside Daisy Clover
Run Time: 128 minutes

Gypsy
Run Time: 101 minutes

Bombers B-52
Run Time: 106 minutes
Cash McCall
Run Time: 114 minutes

Brainstorm
Street Date: February 3, 2009
Order Due Date: December 30, 2008
Catalog #:1000035860
$19.97 SRP
post #2 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Looks like it was worth the wait. Great titles in January and now this for February. Thanks Warners.
post #3 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Finally, terrific! I have always wanted to see INSIDE DAISY CLOVER.
post #4 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

I'm rather disappointed to have to rebuy SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, GYPSY, and BRAINSTORM to be able to get the excellent INSIDE DAISY CLOVER.
post #5 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Fabulous, I have been waiting for a release of Sex and the Single Girl - it's a so bad, it's great kind of guilty pleasure!

Great news - 2009 is shaping up to be, once more, a great year for Warner classics!!!
post #6 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

As a Natalie Wood fan, I'm happy to see the new previously unreleased titles but what happened to Warners' promise not to issue previously released films in new box sets? Why not The Burning Hills, The Girl He Left Behind or All The Young Cannibals all of which Warners holds the rights to.
post #7 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

GREAT NEWS!!!!! FINALLY!!!! I was hoping for more extras on "Splendor" and "Gypsy"...but I'm happy nevertheless.
I don't think BRAINSTORM is part of the boxset. It does not look like it has been remastered.
Maybe GYPSY Blue Ray?
post #8 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Great news, and BRAINSTORM is a very nice surprise! One of my personal holy grails is THE BLUE VEIL, which I understand is tied up ina literary rights issue (it's a remake of a French film). It hasn't been seen in decades and it has a wonderful cast (Wood, Jane Wyman, Joan Blondell, Charles Laughton, etc.) Does anyone know if there has been any movement on resolving the rights issue on this RKO film?
post #9 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Great news! I was about to give up on waiting for SPLENDOR and buy the old version. Just saw CASH McCALL on TCM for the first time. Not one of her best.
post #10 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

This is fantastic news! Glad to see Warner still releasing classics. I gotta say I am bummed out that you have to buy the whole set for some of the movies like Inside Daisy Clover. I'm surprised they are not selling Gypsy separately either.

I am also sad that Penelope isn't part of the set, since that happens to be my favorite Natalie Wood film.
post #11 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Will Brainstorm have it's multiple aspect ratios done right? The version that airs on TCM once in a while does it all wrong.
post #12 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Along with ALL THE YOUNG CANNIBALS, it would have been nice to also include PENELOPE, so hopefully they might do a box set 2 with her if this one sells.
post #13 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverWook
Will Brainstorm have it's multiple aspect ratios done right? The version that airs on TCM once in a while does it all wrong.
So isn't this film partly 65mm? What should it be, mainly 1.85:1 with occasional 2.21:1 sequences?
post #14 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

It sounds like BRAINSTORM is just a repackaging of the original bad transfer. I hope I am wrong..
post #15 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Suprised there's no mention of the fact that the screenplay for SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL was written by Joseph Heller, author of CATCH 22.
post #16 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Even though the press release says Brainstorm is "newly packaged in amaray" I wonder if this is more than just a repackaging. This is Warner and I can't see them just putting that same old non-anamorphic transfer out there. If it were just a re-release I also don't think the MSRP would be priced at $19.97 expecially since the current release's MSRP is $14.95. I'm really hoping this will be a new transfer. Of course I'd still like to know if would switch from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 or have the 1.85:1 portions pillar-boxed in the 2.35:1 frame. ( I heard the old Laserdisc was like that). I guess only time will tell.
post #17 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

I'm glad that WHV has finally announced this set, however, am I the only one who find's the package here a bit underwhelming? It would've been nice to have made Gypsy and Splendor SE's (and maybe Blu-ray releases as well) since they were already previously available, and a doc on Natalie and her career would've been nice. There are already several doc's on her out there they could've used for this collection.

I know beggers can't be choosers, but after waiting for this set for so long, I am just a tad bit disappointed. I mean, couldn't we have at least gotten audio commentaries/featurettes on Gypsy and Splendor since they went through the trouble of remastering them? It will also be a real stinker if Brainstorm turns out to be a repackaging of the old disc. A non-anamorphic release in the age of HDTV/Blu-ray will certainly be a HUGE black eye on Warner's reputation. I generally love Warner releases, but I hope this set does not represent the shape of things to come. When those Lana Turner and Jean Harlow boxsets appear (If they ever do - I have my doubts), will they also have previously released titles with no features in the set after waiting so long?

I can only wonder how Fox would've handled a collection like this.
post #18 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Looking at the features on "Gypsy", it seems like the same as the existing version. So my question is: is it re-mastered from the existing version or just repackaging for the box set? I am suspicious because it is only issued as a single disc, it has the same features and it does not appear it will be available individually.
post #19 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

DVD SAVANT's saturday column mentions that GYPSY and SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS had been prepared for Blue ray release.
post #20 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Koc
DVD SAVANT's saturday column mentions that GYPSY and SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS had been prepared for Blue ray release.
Great, that would mean brand new transfers.
post #21 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Koc
DVD SAVANT's saturday column mentions that GYPSY and SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS had been prepared for Blue ray release.

Ken,

perhaps I'm not reading it correctly, but this is what Savant wrote:

"Dean Blake has informed Savant about more upcoming special editions / remasterings of existing DVDs, that SHOULD HAVE been done for Blu-ray as well: Gypsy, Splendor in the Grass, Breakfast at Tiffany's. At least we know that Gigi and An American in Paris are planned for BD very early next year."

The "should" concerns me. It seems that he's saying that the films have been remastered and "should" have had a Blue-ray release. I honestly think if we were going to see Gypsy and Splendor on Blue-Ray, Warner would've stated it in their press release as they did for Gigi and An American In Paris when those were announced. I don't think BD's for Splendor & Gypsy are being planned for now, but that we might see them at some point in the future since new masters have been created.
post #22 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Wasn't there a Warner press release earlier this year that stated that henceforth all special editions of vault titles would be prepared for both DVD and Blu-ray? I could have sworn that GYPSY was one of the titles that was specifically mentioned, but this may just be wishful thinking on my part since I think it's such a brilliant film version of the stage show.
post #23 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

There is also a single release for Brainstorm

dvdactive has the dvd cover with the mention "DelUxe edition".
Brainstorm (US - DVD R1) in News > Releases at DVDActive
post #24 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

I can finally retire my VHS dub of "Sex and the Single Girl." As CinéKarine mentioned upthread, this is a guilty pleasure picture. It was a "first date" movie for me back in 1964 and I know the dialog by heart.
post #25 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Even though we aren't sure if there are Blu-ray releases of Gypsy or Splendor in the Grass in the pipeline, I don't like the idea that if they are released I'd have to buy the box set to get the exclusive films and then rebuy the two titles available on blu-ray. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
post #26 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerome
There is also a single release for Brainstorm

dvdactive has the dvd cover with the mention "DelUxe edition".
Brainstorm (US - DVD R1) in News > Releases at DVDActive

Yes! I've been wanting a new edition of this for years. I asked about it a few years back at one of the Warner chats. The picture quality on the original disc is a mess. I just hope they get Doug Trumbull to record a commentary. That is the one extra I think is an absolute. I really want to hear his thoughts on the extremely difficult challenges he faced in finishing the film. I'm curious to see if they handle the image aspect ratio differently on this release. I just hope it contains the 6 track Dolby mix for the Brainstorm sequences.
post #27 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

After waiting so long for Gypsy and Splendor in the Grass I found the bonus material rather poor. The latter was added only by a cartoon (which has nothing to do with the film) and the trailer! Come on Warner, you can do better than that.
And a documentary on Wood should had also been included.
post #28 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

At least one poster mentioned retiring their VHS tape of a certain Natalie Wood film above. If there are those who don't want their VHS tapes of her films any longer, please let me know (via a PM). I'll take them (buy, if you wish) off of your hands. Thanks.
post #29 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Koc
It sounds like BRAINSTORM is just a repackaging of the original bad transfer. I hope I am wrong..


Has anyone heard anything on the specs for Brainstorm yet?
post #30 of 59

Re: WHV Press Release: Natalie Wood Collection

My copy of the Natalie Wood box shipped from DVDPacific last night. So It looks like they've got it early. It isn't meant to be released for another 3 weeks!
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