Olive Films Blu-ray Release and Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Bob Furmanek]

In that case, it sounds like it's been mastered from a fading Eastmancolor dupe element.

Some of the Monogram/Allied Artists Cinecolor titles were copied to CRI's in the 1970's. Those intermediates are now fading.

I have a 16mm Cinecolor of FLAT TOP and the color is not red or pink in any way.

Here are accurate examples of two-color (SON) and three-color (INVADERS) Cinecolor.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

This is the transfer that I did from nitrate for laser disc back in the early 1990's. This copy is several generations down but it will give you a good idea of the two-color palette.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Any idea when "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" will be released?

 

[JoHud]

Penny Serenade's transfer was pretty above average overall. Outside of a few marks inherent from the elements it was pretty clear with good audio. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is slightly worse for wear overall but looked good through most of it. The roughest patch was the chain gang sequence at the beginning which looked a bit dupey, otherwise the transfer did the cinematography justice.

 

[Doug Bull]

Here are some more scans from actual 35mm Cinecolor prints.

from"Blue Blood"(1951)

You can clearly see the blue and red layers in this damaged clip from "Wild Stallion" above.
"Wild Stallion" is available at Warner Archives, so a comparison DVD screen grab would be interesting.

What a great logo.

Possibly 3 color Trucolor?

Doug.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I finally watched my copy of God's Little Acre tonight.

Okay film. Not great. But it sure was interesting! I enjoyed it very much.

Great performances and great story/screenplay. Although the storyline about Will needing to power up the old mill was pretty strange.

Some interesting choices by the director...along with some really strange edits/sequencing when Will Thompson met up with Griselda in back of the family house that one hot evening. One edit (just before the sequence of alternating close-ups) appeared to be a jump cut. I was wondering if that was a victim of the edits made to tone down the material?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Penny Serenade's transfer was pretty above average overall. Outside of a few marks inherent from the elements it was pretty clear with good audio. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is slightly worse for wear overall but looked good through most of it. The roughest patch was the chain gang sequence at the beginning which looked a bit dupey, otherwise the transfer did the cinematography justice.

I watched both of those blu-rays on Saturday. I found Penny Serenade's video presentation very good with a grade of 4 on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best. It was the best I ever seen this fine film. I'll give Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye a 3.5 overall grade due to a couple of problematic sequences on the BD.

 

[ROclockCK]

Has anybody watched the Magic Town BD? I did this past weekend and found it to be among Olive's best presentations PQ-wise. A good movie with a terrific cast though some better script execution could've made this an excellent film. Anyway, I had a very enjoyable time watching this BD and thoroughly enjoyed the disc presentation.

I just finished watching this Robert. Bought it totally blind largely on the strength of your recommendation here, and I pretty much agree with your assessment...one of the better finds in the Olive catalogue. If anything, I would perhaps be even more forgiving of its script diversions because all of that character colour and detail created a wonderful tapestry...charmingly eccentric and very entertaining.

Magic Town is definitely among my short list best quality Olive discs. Thanks again for the tip!

 

[Dick]

I was pretty dismayed when I began watching GOD'S LITTLE ACRE - the title sequence is blurry. But after that, things became much sharper. Not bad, I think.

 

[Eastmancolor]

In that case, it sounds like it's been mastered from a fading Eastmancolor dupe element.

Some of the Monogram/Allied Artists Cinecolor titles were copied to CRI's in the 1970's. Those intermediates are now fading.

I have a 16mm Cinecolor of FLAT TOP and the color is not red or pink in any way.

I know for a fact that Olive used original era Red and Blue color separation master positives for their scans of FLAT TOP, not Eastman elements.

When UCLA did a restoration of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD (another Cinecolor release where separation masters were used) the masters had to be printed in a certain way in order to yield proper color values.

I've seen the FLAT TOP Blu-ray and the color does appear to be off a bit. While I don't think the disc looks bad by any means, it almost has the look of 1930's Cinecolor, not 1950's "Super Cinecolor."

 

[ThadK]

So, has there been any word about any kind of a replacement/update regarding the incorrectly stretched Betty Boop cartoons?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Per MisterLime the following titles release date has changed from October 15th to January 21st.

CRY DANGER
BANG! BANG! YOU'RE DEAD!
YOUNG AT HEART
THE BAMBOO SAUCER

 

[JoeDoakes]

So, has there been any word about any kind of a replacement/update regarding the incorrectly stretched Betty Boop cartoons?

No and its not going to happen.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Bells of St. Mary coming in November.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/305488-coming-soon-from-olive-films/page-111?p=3999601#entry3999601

 

[ThadK]

No and its not going to happen.

Always glad when a company addresses consumer concerns so courteously. I'll stick with the DVD copies I made from the marred lasers. One set of shitty masters is enough.

 

[JoHud]

Anyone else find this recent batch from Olive cleaner than usual? Shack Out on 101, Plunder Road, and The Americano were practically spotless. The Big Combo has some debris but it's very minor and since that transfer/restoration was handled outside of the usual Olive pipeline (Ignite Films, The Film Foundation and UCLA) I won't count that one in this case.

Guest Wife is the only other one I have coming at the moment (a couple others are still backordered) so it'll be interesting to see if I'm in for a surprise or it will look like a typical warts and all Olive release.

 

[haineshisway]

You think the problems with negative dirt and scratches on The Big Combo are MINOR? I must be watching a different transfer than you because mine is littered with that stuff from start to finish. Some of it looks very pleasing, some of it is too soft, almost as if two sources were used. But you cannot call the "debris" minor. I've seen people on these boards go berserk when a major company has two or three little blemishes - but this somehow is minor. Plunder Road, on the other hand, looks great after the main titles, which look terrible and not because they're an optical. Looking forward to Shackout on 101, one of my very guilty pleasures.

 

[JoHud]

You think the problems with negative dirt and scratches on The Big Combo are MINOR? I must be watching a different transfer than you because mine is littered with that stuff from start to finish. Some of it looks very pleasing, some of it is too soft, almost as if two sources were used. But you cannot call the "debris" minor. I've seen people on these boards go berserk when a major company has two or three little blemishes - but this somehow is minor.

Well "minor" compared to other Olive titles. Certainly not compared to major studio releases. I agree that it doesn't appear any additional clean-up work went into the transfer. Perhaps I was a too forgiving there since I enjoyed the movie so much and didn't find it too distracting.

 

[JohnMor]

Well "minor" compared to other Olive titles. Certainly not compared to major studio releases. I agree that it doesn't appear any additional clean-up work went into the transfer. Perhaps I was a too forgiving there since I enjoyed the movie so much and didn't find it too distracting.

How DARE you be too forgiving where a transfer is concerned!! Don't you know that any blemish calls for vitriolic condemnation and storming of the castle. Otherwise, it's no fun around here.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well "minor" compared to other Olive titles. Certainly not compared to major studio releases. I agree that it doesn't appear any additional clean-up work went into the transfer. Perhaps I was a too forgiving there since I enjoyed the movie so much and didn't find it too distracting.

A certain reviewer, who shall remain nameless gave it a 4.5 video rating. I just hope Bruce doesn't blow a gasket over such a rating.

I viewed From Here to Eternity tonight so I didn't get a chance to view The Big Combo yet. Hope to do so before the week's out.