A Rare DVD Release for Bogart Fans! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

For clarification purposes, Garbo wasn't in The Big Parade.
Edit:
Patrick, thank you for correcting your post.
Crawdaddy

 

[GlennH]

Tyrone Power is in "The Eddy Duchin Story," which recently became available on DVD.
Fred Astaire is in "The Towering Inferno" but I guess you wouldn't classify that as a "Fred Astaire" movie.

 

[Henry V]

As much as I'm very appreciative of the image quality and affordable pricing of Warner Brothers classic film DVD releases I'm constantly frustrated at the ridiculously low number of releases.Next year we'll be getting Errol Flynn's classic "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and Bogie's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" but these are just a tiny fraction of the enormous number of film's in their back catalogue.At the current release rate most of us won't live long enough to see the more obscure titles ever reach DVD,if they are unwilling to release them themselves then they should consider leasing them to other companies willing to do so.We'd be happy and they get an additional stream of revenue they're not enjoying at the moment.
I don't completely buy the story that most of the original film elements of their back catalogue are in such terrible shape,Ted Turner put a lot of money into restoring the film catalogues when he took them on,any viewing of TCM or AMC will show you this.
I'll leave the last word to Leonard Maltin from a current essay on his website www.leonardmaltin.com/
"The larger problem is that most of the major studios have little interest in the past. They would rather release the worst bomb of the past year than a classic made forty or fifty years ago.
Even some of the smaller companies have the same attitude. Artisan Entertainment prefers releasing direct-to-video titles like Restraining Order with Eric Roberts or Lured Innocence with Dennis Hopper to mining the Republic Pictures library, which they now control."

 

[Patrick McCart]

I don't completely buy the story that most of the original film elements of their back catalogue are in such terrible shape,Ted Turner put a lot of money into restoring the film catalogues when he took them on,any viewing of TCM or AMC will show you this.

You mean just TCM, right? What is this "ACM" channel? Do they show movies?
Check out some of the MGM/UA masters made of Turner material. You'll see why they need to be remastered or restored.
Almost EVERY Turner film put on DVD has had some sort of remastering or restoration. Citizen Kane, North By Northwest, Doctor Zhivago, Now Voyager, Singin' In The Rain, and The Wizard of Oz had extensive digital restoration done before release. Upcoming DVDs for The Adventures of Robin Hood, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Swing Time, Top Hat, King Kong, Around the World in Eighty Days (rumored), and the Looney Tunes DVDs all will have EXTENSIVE restoration done. The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, and a lot of their other B&W titles were restored by UCLA. Little Women and The Hunchback of Notre Dame had to be restored.
If you want a reason why WB needs to look for QUALITY, instead of speed, take a look at Gone With The Wind. A trailer only for extras, a mediocre transfer, and a useless 5.1 mix.

 

[Jeff_HR]

"The larger problem is that most of the major studios have little interest in the past. They would rather release the worst bomb of the past year than a classic made forty or fifty years ago.

Even some of the smaller companies have the same attitude. Artisan Entertainment prefers releasing direct-to-video titles like Restraining Order with Eric Roberts or Lured Innocence with Dennis Hopper to mining the Republic Pictures library, which they now control."

I brought up the thought once before that perhaps the resources that could be used to produce & release these older catalog titles were being used instead on the production of TV show releases(which seems to be growing exponentially). There also seems to be a growing bias toward catering more & more to a group of younger consumers who dislike any movie made before they were born & would not be caught dead watching a B&W movie.

 

[Henry V]

Yes Patrick,AMC plays movies AND with commercials inserted in the middle because they know how much film buffs enjoy that!
I'm sure there's restoration that should/could be done on most movie classics but at this snail's pace release rate I'd settle for almost any version of these films on DVD.I bought the Front Row DVD release of the WB John Garfield film "They Made Me A Criminal",not a pristine print but it's still surprisingly quite watchable for a public domain copy.
Criterion released a very grainy version of "The Scarlet Empress" on DVD,the best print that they could get their hands on from Universal.I'd rather have this print with it's imperfections than none at all.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I agree with the comments above I believe the studios see more profit releasing dreck like "The New Guy" and "Bubble Boy" thanin releasing their classic titles. I think they figure most of the audience for these films are dying off and that our generation (I'm 39) would rather own "Last House on the Left" etc, than "King Kong" or "Grapes of Wrath" it's sad really but I think it's painfully true that the generation of teens going to the movies today would never sit thru Either Film and it's our and their Loss.

 

[Jay E]

I understand your frustration Henry. I have many of the Warner, MGM & RKO classics on Laser so I can watch them whenever I want and most are in very nice condition, I don't see where many of these are in "poor" shape. However many like you don't have this option which is a real shame.

I'm sure that Warner would release a lot more B & W catalog
DVDs if they felt that there was a good profit to be made on them. Until lately, Warner has ignored their older films, I'm glad to see that they are turning things around. Maybe they are starting to see the errors of their way. However, even at the present rate, it will be many, many years before a sizable chunk of their catalog are on DVD.

Also, I'm glad that Gone With the Wind is available on DVD, bare bones and all. I'd rather have the opportunity to watch it now and wait for the special edition later than not being able to watch it all until the SE comes out (whenever that will be).

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I missed two Fred Astaire films in my earlier post. "Towering Inferno", as Glenn pointed out, was one (with an "I Guess" to be added) and the other one was "Holiday Inn", which is available on a nice twofer release from Universal along with "Going My Way".

Regards,

 

[Henry V]

Jay,the problem is that Warners is STILL ignoring their back catalogue of classics,they released titles from the MGM library this year like "Singin' In The Rain:SE","The Women","The Thin Man" and "Shop Around The Corner".
Not that these aren't great films which deserve to be seen, BUT they're MGM films and they continue to ignore the vast library of Cagney,Flynn and Bogart films from their own studio.Next year we'll finally get two count-em-two WB classics on DVD,"Robin Hood" and "The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre",and I'm sure they'll do a wonderful job on these as they have in the past.
Unfortunately that's just a drop in the bucket compared to what's yet to see the light of day from their vaults...

 

[Jay E]

I agree with you Henry, Warner should definitely be stepping up their production of classic DVDs, but they have made some improvement over the past year. 2 years ago they were only re-releasing MGM produced DVDs. At least now they are starting to scratch the surface.

But I still feel that Warner simply does not see a big enough profit in these classic titles for them to increase their budget devoted to them, especially when there are people here saying that most of what they own is in "poor condition". What are the chances that Warner is going to put money into restoring, let's say, 100 films a year? It's not very likely. Warner, rightly so, is only going to be able to restore the big A titles as those are the ones that will be worth the expense. Thus, Warner is concentrating on a handful of B&W titles a year and the rest will simply collect dust in their vaults.

That's why I'd rather see some of these films coming out in good or very good condition on DVD rather than not seeing them at all. But I'm in the minority on that point. People here think that if the film is not in perfect or near perfect condition, then it shouldn't be released on DVD until it is. Well, that thinking might work with titles such as King Kong & Citizen Kane, but for many of the lesser B&W titles, it simply means they won't see the light of day on DVD.

 

[Jeff_HR]

That's why I'd rather see some of these films coming out in good or very good condition on DVD rather than not seeing them at all

I don't have a problem with that stance as long as WB prices these "lesser quality" DVDs accordingly. Say perhaps $9.99. I would buy these "lesser quality" DVDs at a price point that is low enough.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I don't have a problem with that stance as long as WB prices these "lesser quality" DVDs accordingly. Say perhaps $9.99. I would buy these "lesser quality" DVDs at a price point that is low enough

MGM's "wonderful" Exodus DVD is a great example of this kind of releasing.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Indeed!I've a bought a lot of M-G-M DVDs at this price point, that's why I picked it. The DVD that I like the best at that M-G-M price point that I own is "Khartoum". I remember paying $39.99 + tax for the LD version some yrs ago.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Except KHARTOUM is a very nice anamorphic transfer, while EXODUS is a very old recycled LaserDisc transfer that is poor. I'd rather they get it right and charge more...

 

[Jeff_HR]

I'd rather they get it right and charge more...

That may mean not getting some films at all if the cost of restoration &/or clean up is factored in to the equation for the Studios & WB in particular. WB is too slow in releasing catalog titles right now for my taste, but what little we are getting looks wonderful.

 

[Patrick McCart]

One more thing I'd like to add...

Doctor Zhivago was originally going to be released in 1999. It was going to be bare-bones and crammed onto a DVD-9.

Well, by waiting 2 years, we got a spotless digitally restored transfer, 16x9 enhanced. We also got a commentary and music only track. Oh yeah...on a DVD-14! Plus, an entire DVD-9 devoted to a ton of supplements.

So, in this case...it was either get a grainy non-anamorphic bare-bones DVD or a 2-disc special edition. Sure, you would have gotten the film earlier and for cheap, but you'd still have a lousy disc.

 

[Henry V]

In 2002 Warner Brothers released NO Warners classic titles on DVD!
They released a handful of MGM titles on their label,but none of their own studio's great films.The last one they released was "Now Voyager" in 2001,so the argument of do you want quality or quantity becomes moot.
That's why I'd prefer something,anything over nothing.
If they feel there's no profit in releasing their classic films then they should consider allowing Criterion or Image to purchase rights to some of their back catalogue of WB films for release.

 

[Patrick McCart]

In 2002 Warner Brothers released NO Warners classic titles on DVD!

Not counting Them, Oceans 11, 4 For Texas, Robin and the Seven Hoods, Calamity Jane, Oh God! (Warner-Orion?), Time After Time (Orion-WB), and The Price and the Showgirl?

 

[Jeff_HR]

If WB & other studios are going to continue with this trickle out policy regarding catalog titles, then I literally will not live long enough to buy all the catalog titles that I'd like on DVD. So thank the heavens for my large Laser collection & for VHS, otherwise I would not have a lot of older titles to view at all. I really applaud M-G-M for their aggressive releasing schedule.:frowning: :frowning: