*** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread (2 Viewers)

[Brian McHale]

This is one of the few Warner Archives titles that I’m interested in. It’s disappointing to hear about the video quality, though I have to give Warner credit for having a demo clip that shows the vertical scratches on the left side at the beginning. Now I have to decide if it’s worth upgrading my DVD-R (originally recorded off cable onto a Beta tape). Hmm…

 

[Mike Kuhns]

Just watched CARSON CITY, which I had ordered to replace an old VHS copy recorded from television. It's not a widescreen movie, but it is in color and the color was good for the most part. It's unrestored and has some grain, but the picture is fairly sharp and a great step up from VHS. As far as these old Randy Scott movies go, this one is above average and the WB Archive transfer is more than acceptable.

 

[DaveK]

Has anyone seen Thousands Cheer or Broadway Rhythm yet?

I'm honestly surprised they are both part of the Warner Archive, especially since Warner comes out with a boxset of MGM musicals each year. I figured these two Techincolor titles (along with Meet The People and Two Girls and a Sailor) would be remastered as part of an upcoming boxset.

I wonder what the fate of Panama Hattie and Ship Ahoy will be.

 

[ahollis]

The beginning was the worse part of the transfer, the rest of the film is in good shape. It is still a very enjoyable film and the first couple of minutes with the "platter scratch" does not ruin the fun. I am glad I bought it an have watched it twice. If you buy it, I am sure you will enjoy it as well.

 

[Brian McHale]

I'm glad your overall impression of The Mad Miss Manton is that it was worth it. It would almost have to be an upgrade over the DVD-R (from Beta off cable) that I have now.

I just took a look and noticed that it's back to full price (it was on sale when it first came out). I'll have to think about this a bit.

 

[BarryM]

As my second batch of 4, I got "Mad Miss Manton", "Quality Street", "A Woman Rebels" and "The Little Minister".

The three Hepburn titles are no worse or better than what has been shown on TCM....the three RKO titles are in pretty good shape (thankfully).

"The Mad Miss Manton" - I agree with the line on the left and the extraordinary darkness of the image throughout the entire film. There's times when you simply cannot see Hattie McDaniel's facial expressions! Heavens to betsy...what a lousy looking transfer. Nifty film, tho.

I now have 8 titles and unless something amazing gets issued, I will not be buying too many more.

 

[John Hodson]

The Beaver on the Academy Award winning The Big House.

 

[Mike Kuhns]

A report on RETURN OF THE BADMEN: This is a good Randolph Scott western, very 1940ish with Gabby Hayes in his usual role as a buffoon, and strengthened by the formidable presence of Robert Ryan as the main villain. I was very satisfied with the overall sharpness of the B&W picture, a vast improvement over my old TV copy. There were a couple of rough spots, and the picture froze momentarily at the one-hour chapter switch, but I didn't have to do anything to get it going again. Not pristine, but the best I've ever seen this movie look.

 

[Colin McGuigan]

The Beaver's reviews of The Money Trap and Westbound.
He says that The Money Trap looks like it's had some work done on it, suggesting to me that this title may at one time have been slated for that Glenn Ford box that never materialised.

 

[KELLYBOY]

The quality of THOUSANDS CHEER looks quite good. I just sent for BROADWAY RHYTHM. What is annoying THOUSANDS CHEER is bare bones. The trailer appeared on the old laserdisc but not this DVD. Both these films are not great musicals and that is probably why the folks at WB decided these two would not be good enough for a box set.

 

[Mike Kuhns]

TRAIL STREET: Another entertaining mid-forties Randolph Scott western from RKO. Scott, Robert Ryan, and side-kick Gabby Hayes are on the side of law and order, battling villains Steve Brodie and Harry Woods. There were some rough spots in this transfer, the weakest of the Scott entries so far in terms of picture quality. The condition is much better than some of the older titles, like THE BIG HOUSE, but it's unrestored and beginning to show its age. I'd call it average in comparison to other Archive releases. If you like this movie and don't already have it, you will probably not be disappointed. I bought it to replace an old VHS copy I recorded from television years ago. If you have recorded your own DVD-R from TCM, I guess it all depends on how satisfied you are with that copy.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched "Soldier in the Rain" today and found the video presentation for the most part satisfying without any problems to note here. However, with that being said, the quality of this film and its stars deserved a normal retail release. Anyhow, I'm pleased to have it on dvd in its OAR.





Crawdaddy

 

[Mike Kuhns]

BADMAN'S TERRITORY: Yet another good mid-forties western with Randolph Scott and Gabby Hayes. Also featured in the cast are Lawrence Tierney and Tom Tyler as the James brothers and Steve Brodie as Bob Dalton. The movie starts with one of those British rating announcements, which may indicate that this is the best available print. The picture is quite sharp with good contrast---I would say it's well above average for an unrestored film of its era. The one drawback is the presence of quite a few white speckles throughout.

 

[John Hodson]

Interesting; the film was cut (no details given, but possibly for horse falls) by the BBFC for British release - I wonder if this is a cut print?

 

[Robert Crawford]

John,
Later today, I'll check the time on that disc and compare it's runtime to what AFI has listed for it.

 

[William Miller]

Yes, there is definitely something wrong with the sound on The Big Circus.

I am not sure if this was a true stereo release or not but some idiot at Warner has the same mono sound blasting out of both channels. If they were trying to achieve some kind of fake stereo sound, they failed. It is especially annoying when the actors speak and their voices are spread across the room.

The video quality is OK and the film itself is deliriously entertaining.

 

[wesaussie]

Thank heavens I was not the only one who thought the sound on the BIG CIRCUS was not right. It really needs to be remastered correctly to prevent this problem.

 

[Simon Howson]

You could set your receiver to mono, so that it folds the signal down to one channel.

But I agree, these sort of stuff ups should be fixed.

 

[Hoppy]

The video sample on the Warner Bros. website is from a colorized version, is the actual DVD in b/w?

 

[Mike Kuhns]

RE: BADMAN'S TERRITORY. This is B & W. The running time stated on the box is 98 minutes; most other sources I checked say 97 minutes. I keep close tabs on the running time, and I can say that this is accurate---I wouldn't argue whether it was 97m or 98m or somewhere in between. I think there was a re-edited version circulating at one time, probably for television broadcasts; both the IMDB and the out-of-print 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment guide mention a 79 minute version. This is the full length movie. I was very well pleased with all but the speckles. They weren't really distracting, but I kept wondering whether they were attributable to the source print or some sort of DVD incarnation of the old "laser rot". Since the DVD-R was new, I decided it was the source print and a small price to pay for the overall sharpness of the picture.