Abbott & Costello Vol. 3, Halloween, Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields Titles COMING (1 Viewer)

[AlanP]

Where are
"MIDNIGHT LACE"
"PORTRAIT IN BLACK"-1966
"BACK STREET"
"MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION"
"BRIDES OF DRACULA"

 

[AnthonyP]

The A&C Meet Frankenstein that is in A&C Vol 3, is that the same version that was released awhile ago?

Not sure if I should keep that release if I buy A&C Vol 3.

 

[Rob Willey]

Received my copy of The Big Clock on Saturday and just got done watching it (twice).

I have to say the video transfer is a major disappointment. Dirt and other blemishes appear throughout. The image is soft to the point of appearing fuzzy in many places. But the biggest problem is a constant fading and brightening of the image causing a very distracting shimmering effect.

The movie is great (of course) and the audio is fine but because of the video, I can't recommend this disc even at these bargain prices.

If this is any indication of the quality of the Universal noirs, we can only hope Criterion ends up with the rights to Double Indemnity.

Rob

 

[Sebastian_A]

Crikey, I got myself all 4 new noirs by Universal - man, nice investment... . ARGH!

S

 

[John Hodson]

It's not a great transfer, and some shimmering definitely is there (for good measure did I also spot some EE and haloing?), it's certainly not as good as This Gun For Hire - but it's a great film with a witty, literate and intelligent script and fine acting from all the cast particularly Charles Laughton. At the price you'd be daft not to get it; put it this way, I have some PD titles that make it look like Casablanca

 

[Charles H]

The fading and brightening sounds like an unfortunate bi-product of Macrovision which Universal uses on its catalog titles. The Paramount black-&-white titles from Universal do seem a bit soft but the Technicolor prints from the pre-1948 titles are exemplary. Here's hoping they bring out DESERT FURY (1947), a rare example of a Technicolor noir that has never appeared on home video!!! Great Mary Astor performance, too.

 

[Blu]

Why did they not do A&C vol. 3 right with Meet the Mummy?
They would have gotten all of the titles in one shot then.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

So what is the latest word on Double Indemnity?

 

[Mark Hammon]

OK so it's July 9th and I have yet to see DOUBLE INDEMNITY. I've been in two states (Utah & California) and every store I've been to (7) all said it was supposed to come in, but no one had it.

I went to the Universal link listed on the first page of this discussion and could not find DOUBLE INDEMNITY. I also searched DVD Planet and it is not listed there either.

I've kept my Image disc just in case it got canceled, but it seems weird that it's not out.

 

[Craig Beam]

This was addressed earlier in this very thread... DOUBLE INDEMNITY was initially slated to appear with the other Universal noir titles just released, but was quickly removed from the schedule. It's listed as "cancelled" at dvdplanet.com and "postponed" at dvdpricesearch.com. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a Criterion release...!

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Good Lord, Mark!

You own 2,955 DVD's. I'm sure you have other things that you could watch while you wait for Double Indemnity!

If you watched one DVD every day, it would take you 8.1 years to go through your entire collection!

Plus another day when you get Double Indemnity. :wink:

 

[rich_d]

Plus he could have knocked another DVD off the view list by checking the Internet rather than futilely going to 7 stores. PIck on Mark day ...

For those looking for screen captures and reviews of the Universal Noir Titles ...

http://www.reviews.dvdbeaver.com/

Think I'll take a pass until someone gets it right.

(still saying a silent prayer that somone with a clue gets the rights to Double Indemnity from those bunch of huckleberries at Universal)

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

?

Those screen captures look good and the review is positive of all the titles. Their only complaint is the lack of extras, which is not a deal-breaker for me.

 

[TonyD]

rich, what is wrong that needs to "get right"?

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Nice to know I'm not the only one unsure what I'm missing.

 

[AlexHL]

I've ordered all four of them. You can also look at it the other way: that you can get these great films for very little money. Extra's are always secondary for me. I'm glad to learn that they do contain English subtitles though.

 

[John Hodson]

I know what Rich means; of the Universal titles, only Criss Cross gets anywhere near the standard of the Warners noir releases in terms of transfer (let alone presentation).

However, they didn't cost a fortune and I'm really glad to own them; the films the thing isn't it? And these are cracking film noirs. Watching a movie as good as, say, The Big Clock and you don't really notice that the transfer isn't all it could be.

 

[AlexHL]

Absolutely. I recently watched ultra cheap DVD releases of Detour (Ulmer) and a triple feature pack from GoodTimes containing Fear in the Night/DOA/The Hitch-Hiker. The films are probably in much worse shape than the Universal titles but it didn't bother me at all. When films are engrossing as these you're not so easily distracted by image imperfections.

 

[rich_d]

I should have done a better job explaining my viewpoint.

The film is the thing and my disappointment is around the presentation of the film rather than concerns about extras. The images do not meet my expectations. Comparing the Universal noir results against the recently released WB Noir titles or last year's In a Lonely Place and the differences appear significant.

These are some terrific film noirs, no doubt. I agree with John's point of just how good The Big Clock is and how very engrossing the film is. I don't feel any urge to reward so-so results with my cash when I can just watch my vhs copy made off of TCM.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that my taped results equal these DVD treatments. I am saying that I'm looking for a step-change result that I don't think is there.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Rich,
You haven't actually seen the dvds? If so then you're basing your decision not to buy these dvds on what a review stated am I correct? Anyhow, I've watched all four dvds and though they're not as good as some other releases, they're still a major step up from vhs.







Crawdaddy