Movies not on DVD caught in 'rights hell' (1 Viewer)

[Charles H]

Re FANNY: My Holy Grail of unseen films and unmade dvds is the 1938 MGM remake of FANNY: James Whale's THE PORT OF SEVEN SEAS with a screenplay by Preston Sturges: with Wallace Beery, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Morgan, John Beal, and Jerry Colonna. Has anyone--other than the AFI--ever seen it on tv or elsewhere?

 

[Sean Richardson]

DVDaficionado has had it up for years ("Coming Soon - Not Announced" or something like that; there's never been an announcement, it's just a stub), they say it would be Paramount. I've never been able to track down a reason this hasn't been released.

 

[Jon Martin]

Aren't there also issues with Durbin's IT'S A DATE? That and SPRING PARADE are the only two or her 21 films that didn't get a DVD release in the UK a couple years ago. Although DATE did get a VHS release in the 80's, I believe.

SPRING PARADE is a lot of fun though. There are bootlegs out there, but of poor quality.

And TITICUT FOLLIES did get a theatrical / PBS release in the early 90's. But, like other Wiseman docs, it isn't on DVD.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I'd read that a 20th anniversary edition of THE STEPFATHER was due this year, but nothing further--maybe from Anchor Bay or Blue Underground? The IMDb says Columbia TriStar last had it on VHS in 1996.

COME BACK was a Viacom production released via Cinecom, so it's fair to assume that Paramount does have it in their vaults--where it is likely to remain, given their lackluster track record with catalog titles.

I'm not sure if either of these titles count as being in rights hell--just the regular hell of being ignored.

 

[DanMel]

I think I read somewhere that Ten North Frederick 1958 with Gary Cooper is in some sort of rights struggle and it is unclear on who owns it.

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

"Olson and Johnson's HELLZAPOPPIN is held up over rights issues. Universal doesn't want to pay royalties to the writers (or the estate of the writers) of the original Broadway play. It was released on DVD in Australia."

The Australian release -- like the British release of CAT & THE CANARY -- is unauthorized. However, HELLZAPOPPIN's British release is licensed from Universal and looks terrific. I posted a review up at www.inthebalcony.com.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Napoleon seems to be in a stalemate between Zoetrope, Universal, the BFI, Photoplay Productions, and Studio Canal. However, I've heard there might be some negotiations soon. This year is the 80th anniversary, so a DVD would be nice before the year's end.

I've wanted Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure on DVD for a while but I have no idea who owns it. Fox released the CED, LD, and VHS. However, ITT (the phone company) financed it and The Bobbs-Merrill Company seems to have some copyright. It was shot in Panavision, so I'd love to see a 2.35:1 anamorphic DVD. Richard Williams did a lovely job directing it (even though he had little creative control) and the animation is great (featuring work by Art Babitt, Grim Natwick, and a lot of others). Joe Raposo's score and songs are lovely, too. If Fox has DVD rights, I really wish they'd release a DVD. This year is the 30th anniversary and it would be a pity to go for another year without a release.

Update: It looks like CBS has the video rights now. Bobbs-Merrill is listed as the copyright holder on the 1992 VHS tape instead of Fox, who only seems to distribute. CBS seems to have video rights sublicensed through United Press Syndicate.

 

[Vincent_P]

Dario Argento's FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET.

Vincent

 

[Radioman970]

Thanks for the info Bob.

A remake is slated for 2009. Maybe they'll work this one out by then. Although if LOST didn't get this thing out I don't know what else needs to happen. :frowning:

 

[Dan McW]

There's a similar thread to this over on the TCM boards. A TCM staffer ("MGMWBRKO") occasionally chimes in and says that many of the films in question cannot be shown because of the 1990 Abend decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, which gives the owner or the heirs of the "underlying work" a stake in any derivative works. It's a Wise Child, The Perfect Specimen, and The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929 and 1941 versions) are among the films under wraps because of this decision.

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/threa...rt=0&tstart=15

It's odd for an old film to be issued on VHS and then enter rights hell, but this must have happened to Beyond the Forest.


This film at least has turned up in full-screen showings on the Cinemax channels in recent years. I'm sure Fox still has control of it. "Rights hell" to me would withhold a film from both TV airings and home video. The Joker Is Wild also turns up on U.S. TV frequently, although I don't know if there are music changes involved.

 

[Sean Richardson]

I would disagree with this personally; studios have been negotiating TV rights for a much longer time than home video rights, so it is likely that there are plenty of movies for which they still own the rights to show a movie on TV, but did not secure the rights to release the film for sale on video/DVD. If these rights are unobtainable (which, of course, is open to interpretation), I would think that would qualify as "rights hell", at least with regards to a DVD forum.

 

[Dan McW]

I think I had the TCM thread in my head as I was making that post here. The TCM thread has much to do with why that channel can't run certain films, although most of the films in question on that thread have never been on home video either.

To connect my last post more with this thread--I'd say those Abend-decision films I mentioned are in rights hell for DVD. Darren's mention of The Cat and the Canary sounds like a typical Abend issue.

 

[JulianK]

The Stepfather is available in R2, from Carlton.

 

[Danny Burk]

The 1927 version of CAT AND THE CANARY has been out on DVD for a long time (in several versions, in fact). The film itself is PD; does the Abend decision only affect films back to a particular date?

 

[Radioman970]

Cool! I just noticed it's pretty cheap at amazon UK, about $14 delivered. When I get a multi-region player this'll be one of the first 2 I order.

 

[Corey]

I think whatever issues with Beyond the Forest have been taken care of. Amazon has the title as saying "not yet released" and taking votes. We all know by now, that it usually mean it's in the pipeline, so here's hoping to BD Vol 3.

 

[Dan McW]

That's a tricky question. Maybe there's nothing the heirs of the playwright can do if a derivative work becomes PD, but perhaps they can still have a stake in a work that's not PD, like the 1939 film version. I assume the original Cat and the Canary play itself is PD, as it's now 85 years old.

It does seem odd that a Bob Hope film, from a period in which virtually all of his feature-length films have hit VHS and/or DVD, is still unavailable legally in R1.

 

[WadeM]

I think Swiss Family Robinson (1940) has rights issues too.

It's too bad that any Bob Hope movies have issues.

 

[JonZ]

Previously mentioned Hardware. Id love to have that disc.

Also whatever happened to the Dir Cut of From Beyond??? :frowning:

 

[Richard M S]

I know it was released on VHS, but isn't there also an issue with the James Cagney film Ceiling Zero?