Warner Archive Discussion Thread (The Announcements/The Films) - Page 12

My replacement copy of The Show of Shows was, I'm relieved to say, the correct 123-minute feature.

3 new value paks announced today for the Archives:

1. Olivia DeHavilland - 8 films for $79.95

GREAT GARRICK
FOUR'S A CROWD
PRINCESS O'ROURKE
IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER
STRAWBERRY BLONDE
HARD TO GET
MALE ANIMAL
CALL IT A DAY

2. Katharine Hepburn - 6 films for $59.95

BREAK OF HEARTS
CHRISTOPHER STRONG
LITTLE MINISTER
SPITFIRE
QUALITY STREET
WOMAN REBELS

3. John Garfield - 5 films for $49.95

FALLEN SPARROW
OUT OF THE FOG
CASTLE ON THE HUDSON
FOUR DAUGHTERS
PRIDE OF THE MARINES

I was surprised today when I arrived home and found a package from the WA fulfillment company with a copy of THE SHOW OF SHOWS enclosed.  I had purchased a copy back at the beginning of December and when it arrived it was the correct transfer with the complete 123 minute running time so I did not contact customer service. 

There was a letter enclosed stating that several copies of the film were not transferred completely and were mailed out.  They did not know if the copy I received was one of the incomplete transfers, but they wanted to send a replacement DVD to me at no charge in case I did received an incorrect order the first time.

I was completely taken back by this generous act of customer service and the WA has risen some points in my mind. 

Doug -
     You may want to take a look at Movies Unlimited. They appear to carry all or most of the
Archive releases on a delayed basis. $26.99 is quite high but they have had them on sale for $17.99
a couple of times and their shipping charges are reasonable.

I don't think the shipping charges are very good for international orders. They are $10 for the first, and $4 for each additional Archive disc.

The only reasonable way to get Archive titles is to wait for sales, buy from the Warner Archive site, have them shipped to someone in the U.S. then have them shipped on to the destination country.

Well, I can report at last that I received my third copy of SHOW OF SHOWS this evening, and it is the full version.

I enjoyed the revue very much, and it was intriguing to compare it to MGM's HOLLYWOOD REVUE of 1929.  The respective masters of ceremonies, Frank Fay for WB and Jack Benny for MGM, get a lot of screen time to show off their performing styles of the time (Benny still a bit of a wisecracker on stage, it seems), with the soft-spoken, conversational manner of Fay an influence on Benny's development, or so the story goes.  With no Conrad Nagel to spell him for awhile, Fay in particular dominates Warner's spectacular, and if his style appeals to you, then you certainly won't find a better showcase for this stage star of days gone by.

Warners cannot present any really major female stars in their revue to match MGM's trio of Shearer, Crawford and Marion Davies, but I got the impression that WB had the deeper bench as it were, and for SHOW OF SHOWS the viewer could really use a program (or a quick check of IDMB or the TCM site) to keep track of the many names who pass across their stage, plus some unique added attractions like Ted Lewis and his band, and French boxer Georges Carpentier trying out for a new career as a song-and-dance man.

MGM could boast Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy, whereas WB's clowns of 1929 include such now largely forgotten names as Lloyd Hamilton and Lupino Lane (both wonderful, and deserving not to be forgotten), along with old silent veterans such as Ben Turpin and Chester Conklin.  MGM's one male singing star of the time is on hand, Charles King fresh from THE BROADWAY MELODY, while WB presents us with Nick Lucas and his guitar and his tenor, but tries to compensate for the absence of one Mr. Jolson with a comedy impersonation courtesy of Sid Silvers.

Such a pair of time capsules: Legends of their time, stars and near-stars, careers still at the top as sound took over in theatres but so many fated to fall into obscurity (for various reasons, not always because of the microphone), others who are now so forgotten that it is poignant to watch them burst onto the screen as the 1929 audiences probably recognized them immediately... Sally O'Neil! Jack Mulhall! George K. Arthur! Monte Blue!

Anyway, THE SHOW OF SHOWS is a wonderful treasure from the dawn of sound, and I am really happy to have it at last, 123 minutes and all.

 Thanks Bill & Simon.

I managed to order 5 Discs from Deep Discount prior to Christmas, while they were only $14.98 & $17.97 each ( with quite reasonable international postage costs)
This week I see they have upped their price to $23.88 each. OUCH !!

I also just this week ordered 4 titles from TCM at only $17.99 each. ( freight a bit high at $6 base plus $4 per disc)
Still, that works out at a little over $23 per title delivered, which is OK.

Movies Unlimited is expensive, with discs today listed at $26.99 each plus high International postage costs.
The strange thing is that TCM uses Movies Unlimited Stock, accounting and delivery facilities.

I would presume that the prices at TCM will soon go up to match Movies Unlimited.

The big problem is however, that those 3 online services mentioned only stock around half of the Warner Archive Catalogue.
The recent early sound musical releases are not yet included in their order lists. 
I can only wait and see.

In the meantime thankfully I still have my Dawn Of Sound Laserdisc box sets to fall back on.
 

I feel bad and lucky that my original purchase was correct and now WA sent me a free one without asking so I have two complete copies, while several of you are still struggling to get at least one right.  Jrol, I am glad you finally got the right one.  As you said in your comment, it is a interesting and intriguing film.  I still love Winnie Lightner singing Pingo-Pongo.  Besides DANCING LADY, none of her other films are on DVD so I wish WA would put some more of her talent out.  She seems to have a short interesting film career and then walked away after marring director Roy Del Ruth never looking back.  As usual, her one performance talked about the most is the one that is lost, GOLD DIGGERS ON BROADWAY.

 Today I stumbled on this page for the Archives:
http://www.wbshop.com/New-Releases/ARCHIVENEW,default,sc.html?adid=WACSwpsBnr10
So, I added several titles to my cart, but the price reverted to the $19.95 retali, not the 25% off as stated. I even went as far as I could before hitting the purchase button to see if the price would revert to the displayed price, but no luck, so I didn't order. There does not seem to be a coupon code needed.

Now, when I click on the link, it goes to a page with the $19.95 price, but I swear it was $14.95 per disc minutes ago!! I don't get it.

The two numbers Winnie Lightner sings in the movie are unquestionably the best items in the picture. Her verve is infectious. (The Technicolor sequence is also very entertaining.) Much of the musical material in the film is undistinguished but not her songs.

I swear that what you describe as happening to you - regarding prices mysteriously reverting to $19.95 - happened to me sometime back.  I supposed at the time that it must have had something to do with how the WB website recognized my computer. 

Are you signed up for the Insider Rewards program?  I ask because if you are, and you sign in using Insider Rewards, you get a $14.95 price for up to five titles per order.

By signing up with and connecting to their website using Insider Rewards I now get the $14.95 price - and 25% discounts on other items.  I have even received an additional 25% off Archive titles when they are on sale.  But then again, sometimes I didn't get the additional 25%.  So who knows why or why not?

Thus,  I agree that their website has so many quirks that seem to defy logical explanation.

Added today - 1980's TV movies, 1920's silents, early musicals and a few leftovers -
Angel Dusted (1981)
Bad Seed, The (1985)
Beauty and the Boss (1932)
Captain Salvation (1927)
Deadly Tower, The (1975)
Desperate Lives (1982)
Divorce Wars: A Love Story (1982)
Flying Fleet, The (1929)
Hostage Flight (1985)
Killer in the Family, A (1983)
La boheme (1926)
Operation Heartbeat (aka U.M.C) (1969)
Split Second (1953)
Sunny (1930)
They Met in Bombay (1941)
Tide of Empire (1929)
Under Eighteen (1931)
White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)
Wild Oranges (1924)

More titles to be added in January (unless something delays them):
Blood & Orchids (1986)
Bride Goes Wild, The (1948)
Cry 'Havoc' (1943)
American Romance, An (1944)
Awakening Land, The (1978) (3 discs)
It's a Wonderful World (1939)
Kismet (1944)
Lace (1984) (2 discs)
Lace 2 (1985) (2 discs)
Lady of the Night (1925)
Merry Widow, The (1925)
One Foot in Heaven (1941)
Pagan, The (1929)
Phantom of Hollywood, The (1974)
Possessed, The (1977)
Ripley's Believe It or Not! - The Complete Vitaphone Shorts Collection (1930-1932)
Scruples (1980) (2 discs)
Special Bulletin (1983)
Valley of Decision, The (1945)
White Cliffs of Dover, The (1944)
Without Warning (?)
Death in California, A (1985) (2 discs)
Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)
I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989) (2 discs)

Thanks greylocke5. 
Well, I do belong to the Insider's Club and took every poll and questionaire I could to get a discount here and there. Even got a discount in my birthday month. $20 per title is a bit too much for me, so I make a separate list of things I want and keep it on my computer. I keep adding to the list and when there is a coupon code I can get some of the films. My problem lately is these darn bundles. It seems every bundle has a couple of films I already bought, so duplicating them erases any savings I might get. I have about 10 still on my want-list and hoping for a discount code that would enable me to add any film. So far, I have about 40 of the archive titles and every one has been bought through some discount program. 

Those are some good titles. Think I'll pick up a few.

I was hoping for "Hollywood Wives".

Nice, White Shadows in the South Seas is a tough film to find.
Never got a real release before, and sort of surprised this wasn't released before christmas.  March is terrific in this.

Sorry to see Merry Widow (1925) relegated to the archives - I was under the impression that Warners eventually intended to release more von Stroheim through the TCM label. I wouldn't be surprised if Greed winds up in the archives.

La boheme (1926)

I see a new category -

Wild Western Sale! 35% Off Western DVDs!

They have 40 western titles listed for sale.  Unfortunately, notwithstanding the above category - each title currently shows a price of $14.95 - oh wait, $19.95 - so I guess we will have to wait to see if they fix that glitch! 

35% off should result in a price of $12.97.  Anybody listening over at the WBShop?

Not only did they fix the glitch but they did better. When i put the films into my basket they went to 9.72 ea. They would only let 5 movies do that then after that they go to 12.97.So i ordered 5 at 9.72 and 1 at 12.97 to get free shipping for a total just over 60 for 6 movies.Not bad.

I got five westerns for $52.25, including sales tax, after using the reward25 code. I would buy many more Warner Archive titles if this were the regular price.

I picked up THE COMMAND, SKIN GAME, QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS, THE FIRST TEXAN, and WICHITA.

Looks like many title I listed were added today:
American Romance, An (1944)
Awakening Land, The (1978) (3 discs)
Blood & Orchids (1986)
Cry 'Havoc' (1943)
Death in California, A (1985) (2 discs)
Dying Room Only (1973)
Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)
I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989) (2 discs)
It's a Wonderful World (1939)
Kismet (1944)
Lace (1984) (2 discs) - coming on Thursday
Lace 2 (1985) (2 discs)
Lady of the Night (1925)
Pagan, The (1929)
Possessed, The (1977)
Scruples (1980) (2 discs)
Special Bulletin (1983)
They Met In Bombay (1941)
White Cliffs of Dover, The (1944)
Without Warning (1994)

Coupon question in regard to WB Archives. I'm getting an automatic 25% discount on 5 of 7 dvds in cart (I guess the Insider Rewards discount, which I don't recall getting before). Hoping to discount the last two dvds, I then entered reward25 code which shows as applied, but no changes to the order. Do I need to phone the order in? I doubt emptying my cart and adding it first will make any change.

To get the full discounted price for each title, the order can't exceed 5 titles. 






Crawdaddy

Question: Does anyone know if the Warner Archives has now gone to a once-a-month release
schedule? That seems to have been the case for January ...

I understand it was due the the holidays.  They did not release any titles on the first Tuesday of January, but did so on the second Tuesday.  They then added a another bunch the next week, being the third Tuesday of the month. 

I guess we will see if they are back on schedule this coming Tuesday, which will be Feb. 2, the first Tuesday.

They did two lots this month. On the 19th they announced:

• 
  
  Quote:
  

  An American Romance (1944) - Brian Donlevy, Ann Richards

  Cry Havoc (1943) - Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell, Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt

  Fifth Avenue Girl (1939) - Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, James Ellison, Tim Holt

  It's a Wonderful World (1939) - Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee

  Kismet (1944) - Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, James Craig, Edward Arnold, Hugh Herbert

  Lady of the Night (1925) - Norma Shearer

  The Pagan (1929) - Ramon Novarro, Renee Adoree, Donald Crisp

  The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) - Irene Dunne, Frank Morgan, Van Johnson, Alan Marshal, Roddy McDowal
•  

And on the 11th they announced:

I just noticed another 35% off sale at the WB Archive:  a "War and Peace" sale on 28 war-themed titles.

They include eight new titles to be released on February 2:

      Breakthrough
      Fighter Squadron
      First To Fight
      Force of Arms
      God is My Co-Pilot
      Last Flight, The (1931)
      Operation Secret
      Tanks Are Coming, The

Most are routine war flicks.  The Last Flight and God Is My Co-Pilot might be the cream of this new crop.  (BTW - Fighter Squadron (1948) was Rock Hudson's first film.)