1950s: What Titles Did You Vote For? (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

Carman Jones is a fine film, but I have been surprised at its strong showing. Musicals, especially with opera-like arias, wouldn't seem to be something a lot of people would be interested in.

Carmen Jones is rare. I suspect that many people are voting for films which they don't have on DVD or where the DVD is way below standard. I certainly am. I'm not voting for my favourite films. I'm voting for films which at present I'm unable to watch without being irritated by the poor quality of the disc.

 

[pickfair14]

did a write in vote for Marilyn Monroe's NIAGARA - shameful that Fox didn't include this in the previous box set, and continue to ignore it.

 

[Persianimmortal]

Great to see that we've managed to get The Bravados up into technically the top three (given two are tied in first place). Sad that Don't Bother to Knock is so far down, and of course notable absentees like The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and Niagara deserve a Blu-ray release for sure. Not too thrilled about the titles in the first place position, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

 

[Sky Captain]

Carmen Jones is rare. I suspect that many people are voting for films which they don't have on DVD or where the DVD is way below standard. I certainly am. I'm not voting for my favourite films. I'm voting for films which at present I'm unable to watch without being irritated by the poor quality of the disc.

I'm voting for Carmen Jones because it's historically significant as one of the great musicals with an Afro-American cast to be given a Blu-Ray treatment.

 

[lionel59]

I would rather CARMEN JONES than DESK SET. Things are not looking good for my top choice- ANASTASIA- but maybe it will come out down the track. Great CinemaScope cinematography in CARMEN HONES and a magnificent Saul Bass title sequence. If Garland was going to miss her much-deserved Oscar that year, it should have gone to Dorothy Dandridge, not Grace. For those who may not know, CARMEN was originally an 'opera with dialogue', others later added music to that dialogue to make it a 'full opera'. Muriel Smith, who sang for Juanita Hall in the film of SOUTH PACIFIC, pioneered the role of CARMEN JONES on Broadway in the early '40's. It played while the war was still on and thus was highly contemporary in its setting. She later portrayed 'Bloody Mary' in London and R+H must have preferred her vocals to Juanita's (which must have grieved Juanita Hall after playing the role on Broadway for so long.BTW, we really need CAROUSEL and THE KING AND I on Blu Ray. And when Fox does OKLAHOMA!, can we please have a GOOD transfer of the restored 65mm TODD AO version? It was bastardized on the 2-Disc edition and looked like a letterboxed VHS transfer.)

 

[Matt Hough]

Since they're so close, I vote that Fox releases BOTH Desk Set AND Carmen Jones.

 

[Lromero1396]

Fox should release more than one classic title a month, their output until this past January was poor in that department. I can safely say that Anastasia will not win in the voting here. I just hope that it doesn't go to Twilight Time. Same with The Tall Men which somehow is getting fewer votes than genuine mediocrity like True Story of Jesse James and Black Widow. Tall Men has a great cast, a great score, and jaw-dropping cinematography. Which, strangely, everyone who is voting here seems to be neglecting.

 

[Robin9]

Fox should release more than one classic title a month, their output until this past January was poor in that department. I can safely say that Anastasia will not win in the voting here. I just hope that it doesn't go to Twilight Time. Same with The Tall Men which somehow is getting fewer votes than genuine mediocrity like True Story of Jesse James and Black Widow. Tall Men has a great cast, a great score, and jaw-dropping cinematography. Which, strangely, everyone who is voting here seems to be neglecting.

The Tall Men is already out on Blu-ray in Germany. People like me who have that disc won't be voting for it here.

 

[OliverK]

The Tall Men is already out on Blu-ray in Germany. People like me who have that disc won't be voting for it here.

Exactly, I would much rather import a title and get another one released that isn't available anywhere than to limit my choices by voting for titles available in other territories. So no love for The Tall Men and several other titles that are already available in Europe like Will Success spoil Rock Hunter and North to Alaska.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Desk Set was on television in the UK over the holidays, I don't believe Fox would sell many copies on Blu-ray. I agree with other posters about not voting for titles that are already available. I have The Tall Men and it has good picture quality. However if it was released in the US/UK with decent extras I would consider buying again as it is one of my favourite westerns.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Desk Set is a high-profile title that's popular even among those of a certain age who otherwise aren't into classic films. It was a perennial evergreen title on local television stations back in the seventies and virtually every cable station in the eighties and nineties tended to run it regularly. There was a time, now long in the past, when I called AMC "the Desk Set channel". TCM runs it regularly. Clearly, many people who are familiar with films of this era generally like this movie. I don't know why this would not among the most popular Fox titles from the 1950s if it were to come out on BluRay. It's not the greatest film of the decade by any means, but is filled with charm, humor, a literate script, a great supporting cast and it has Tracy and Hepburn in top form in their only widescreen comedy. It's got my vote.

 

[FremenDar]

This time it's always Desk Set. Always a nice pairing on Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I have just discovered that Desk Set is available on Blu-ray in Germany.

 

[lionel59]

What a sad waste it will be then if DESK SET and NORTH TO ALASKA are voted in when we can get those titles on Blu Ray from Germany and we could have had CARMEN JONES, ANASTASIA, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, TWO FOR THE ROAD etc released in this format......

 

What a sad waste it will be then if DESK SET and NORTH TO ALASKA are voted in when we can get those titles on Blu Ray from Germany and we could have had CARMEN JONES, ANASTASIA, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, TWO FOR THE ROAD etc released in this format......

I don't know about Desk Set, but the European North To Alaska is region B (I have it) and most U.S. enthusiasts don't have multi-region players so it's not a "sad waste".

 

[OliverK]

I have just discovered that Desk Set is available on Blu-ray in Germany.

I wish you had discovered this earlier! I would find it to be an extremely unsatisfying result of this poll if the 50ies and 60ies winners would be movies that are already out or to put it another way Fox could bring them to Blu-Ray with little to no effort. Imo Fox should also release the highest ranking film that they did not already release on Blu-Ray, no mater if it was in Europe or Asia.

 

[OliverK]

I don't know about Desk Set, but the European North To Alaska is region B (I have it) and most U.S. enthusiasts don't have multi-region players so it's not a "sad waste".

With multiregion players being available so cheaply or modifications for really good players like the OPPOs not adding much to their cost I'd say that every enthusiast should have a multiregion Blu-Ray player.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Just a heads up that we are in the final two weeks of voting. I was able to get a peek at some of the raw numbers (sorry I can't share) and in several decades the first and second place titles are less than 200 votes apart, so every vote counts at this stage. Make sure you vote daily for the film you want to win in each decade!

 

With multiregion players being available so cheaply or modifications for really good players like the OPPOs not adding much to their cost I'd say that every enthusiast should have a multiregion Blu-Ray player.

The people on this forum might be interested in getting a multi-region player (as I have), but the average person picking up a title at Wal-Mart or Best Buy is not going to get that type of player and then order titles from Europe. If Fox wants to sell a lot of discs they're much better off releasing region A or region-free titles in the U.S.

 

[OliverK]

The people on this forum might be interested in getting a multi-region player (as I have), but the average person picking up a title at Wal-Mart or Best Buy is not going to get that type of player and then order titles from Europe. If Fox wants to sell a lot of discs they're much better off releasing region A or region-free titles in the U.S.

You are certainly correct about this but why sell the American customer something as new that is already released in the UK, Germany or even Sweden? Why not release it here, too and also release something that is really new? Now it seems more like they are offering releases where they only have to press the button at the replication line and adjust the artwork a little as after all the work has already been done elsewhere.