USHE Announcement: The Barbara Stanwyck Collection

Shouldn't There's Always Tomorrow be in Widescreen? These are all listed as Full Frame.

It should be 1.85:1 ratio, but let's remember that these press releases are often wrong about the specs.






Crawdaddy

It would be helpful to have the titles!!!

Yeah, I thought it was just me! I kept scanning all the detail, looking for the titles to the movies!

Ditto

 LOL Me too! I was looking up and down for the titles and couldn't find them!

I took the lack of titles to be a jab at the fact many people on this forum only care about the technical aspects of a DVD (i.e. whether they are pressed or DVD-Rs.)  ;)

Included titles are:
Internes Can't Take Money / The Great Man's Lady / The Bride Wore Boots / The Lady Gambles / All I Desire / There's Always Tomorrow

There's Always Tomorrow  appears to be in an inferior open-matte full-frame from what Dave Kehr has noticed.  Image comparisons between the Masters of Cinema UK release and this release of TAT are posted (scroll down) .

http://www.davekehr.com/?p=558#comments

Let's hope that All I Desire (1953) and There's Always Tomorrow (1956) are proper transfers.
They are directed by Douglas Sirk during his most inspired period.
His films seem to improve with the passing years, like fine wine.
They merit all the attention Universal can bestow on them.

Note to Universal: MORE DOUGLAS SIRK FILMS, PLEASE.

This NYT review says:

...One of the great American movies, “There’s Always Tomorrow” has inspired reams of critical thought since its rediscovery in the 1970s. But inexcusably Universal is offering it here, not in the widescreen format in which it was made, but in a full-frame transfer probably intended for broadcast television and the narrow screens of yesteryear. This version severely compromises Sirk’s compositions (and is soft and muddy to boot); no serious collector would want to own it. Happily, alternatives are available for those with region-free players: “There’s Always Tomorrow” has been issued in an excellent, stand-alone edition by the Masters of Cinema series in Britain (eurekavideo.co.uk) and as part of a Sirk box set by Carlotta Films in France (carlottafilms.com). What a shame, though, that this important film should be treated so shabbily by the studio that produced it...

Thanks for the heads-up on There's Always Tomorrow, John Hodson.
What a shame.
I vouch for the quality of the MoC release in the U.K.
If you can live with a slight speed-up in pitch, the MoC DVD represents the film the way it should be seen.
It's a vital film out of the 1950s and I recommend everybody give it a look apart from the Stanwyck Collection.

All I Desire is no slouch, either.


Richard

Yes, I just received the UK release this weekend and will try to watch it this week.  I might still buy the boxset because of the other titles in that set.






Crawdaddy

Very disappointing news on THERE IS ALWAYS TOMORROW.  I canceled my order, while I want some of the other films, I will wait for sale.

Bummer!  I was on the fence with this boxset with my primary interest being the Sirk film.  Being in the condition that it is, I will likely pass on this box (at least until a good sale).

Too bad!

Dave Kehr, the author of the NY Times piece, has more on the framing issues on his site.

This is really surprising. Universal does a reasonable job with it's older Paramount films. Too bad they don't give the older films made by their own company the same treatment.

This is very disappointing.  I love Stanwyck and had never seen any of the movies in the set and was very excited for it.  What do you suppose the chances of a replacement disc are?

Sorry to arrive late to this party.  I have the collection for review, and I'll have a review up in the next three days for you guys.  I'll include everything about the transfers and the framing.  Just need to sit down with the set, and probably a glass or two of wine...