The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) - Hope Comes from Shout! Factory (1 Viewer)

[ahollis]

The Shout Bob Hope Collection is supposed to released tomorrow, has anyone been able to get an early look to see how the transfers are. Such as, is THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS widescreen? With Shout's involvement I feel that it is done right, but would like to know what others think before I pull the trigger. I always like other guinna pigs once and awhile.

 

[John Morgan]

DVD Talk has a review. The screenshots and review pretty well shows the new transfers of these films and they look terrific. Sadly, the one problem is THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS that I gather is pan and scan.


http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/45799/bob-hope-collection-the/

 

[borisfw]

John, Thanks for the link . I went ahead and ordered this set . two of my favorite Hope films are in this set . My Favorite Brunette and Lemon Drop Kid . Too Bad about The Seven Little Foys .

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by John Morgan

DVD Talk has a review. The screenshots and review pretty well shows the new transfers of these films and they look terrific. Sadly, the one problem is THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS that I gather is pan and scan.


http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/45799/bob-hope-collection-the/

Thanks for the link. I guess I will stick with what I have. I really wanted The Seven Little Foys in widescreen. Despite how good the other four look the Foys is a deal breaker for me.

 

[John Morgan]

Maybe they should retitle the film THE FIVE LITTLE FOYS as the pan scan version, as I remember, cuts two of the kids off.

 

[mdnitoil]

Yeah, frankly I'm starting to wonder if this is all that much better than the existing BCI set. They too used the new transfers where they could and really didn't look that bad.

 

[JoeDoakes]

At the very least, The Lemon Drop Kid looks much better than before. Regarding The Seven Little Foys, is it possible that the print is simply an unmatted print and not pan and scan. From what I have read about Vista Vision, it was shot on a 35 mm negative and intended to be projected in a variety of widescreen aspect ratios. If The Seven Little Foys is simply an unmatted 35 mm image, it would not seem very bad to me (2 of the little Foys would not be missing). I might even prefer it. Jack T., where are you?

 

[JoHud]

Originally Posted by JoeDoakes

At the very least, The Lemon Drop Kid looks much better than before. Regarding The Seven Little Foys, is it possible that the print is simply an unmatted print and not pan and scan. From what I have read about Vista Vision, it was shot on a 35 mm negative and intended to be projected in a variety of widescreen aspect ratios. If The Seven Little Foys is simply an unmatted 35 mm image, it would not seem very bad to me (2 of the little Foys would not be missing). I might even prefer it. Jack T., where are you?

The DVDTalk review seems to take this into account, and the heavy congesting and cropping he noted in the film seems to rule that possibility out.

 

[Mark-P]

VistaVision's native aspect ratio (camera negative) is 1.5:1, so there is no way a 1.33:1 DVD can be uncropped unless the picture is horizontally squeezed.

Originally Posted by JoeDoakes

Regarding The Seven Little Foys, is it possible that the print is simply an unmatted print and not pan and scan. From what I have read about Vista Vision, it was shot on a 35 mm negative and intended to be projected in a variety of widescreen aspect ratios. If The Seven Little Foys is simply an unmatted 35 mm image, it would not seem very bad to me (2 of the little Foys would not be missing). I might even prefer it. Jack T., where are you?

 

[howardWB]

The link to the review with the screen caps looked very good-especially for The Lemon Drop Kid. I'm disappointed no screen caps were shown for My Favorite Brunette. This is probably Hope's best script to be filmed - and to date has been one of the worst PD Hope films on the market.


Can someone let us know how Brunette looks compared to what's been available in the past?


As long as these two movies are better prints, it makes the purchase worthwhile.


Regards,

Howard aka "Beatle Bob"

 

[John Sparks]

"Bob Hope-Legends of Hollywood" released in 2009 from BCI has a newly restored master of "My Favorite Brunette." You can Google and find many reviews for the box set and they say it's quite good! Also in that set and has been restored are, "Road to Rio, Road to Bali and Son of Paleface."


I have no idea if Shout is using the same prints or how they compare to the BCI prints. I picked up the BCI set at Frys for less than $10.

 

[John Morgan]

I have the BCI version and also just got the new Shout Hope collection. THE LEMON DROP KID is superb and is the same one title DVD as the separate LDK Shout DVD. I think ROAD TO RIO and MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE are the same transfers as BCI, they are just slightly dark looking, and seem a generation or two away from the camera negative, but certainly the best I have ever seen for home video. All original Paramount titles are there, as well the end titles. The other standout is the technicolor ROAD TO BALI. Gosh, this really looks great...sharp, colorful with fine sound. As mentioned THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS is full screen 4:3. It looks pretty good as far color and sharpness, but for some reason, the original Paramount-Vista Vision logo is silent; missing the signature music.

I don't know what materials Bob Hope Enterprises got on these films and possibly THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS full screen is what they originally got from Paramount. I also wonder if Paramount still has materials on these Hope films and whether Hope or Columbia or whoever has the rights now could negotiate for a proper future release. I am absolutley happy with THE LEMON DROP KID and THE ROAD TO BALI, but all the others I think (or hope) could be upgraded in the future. For me, MY FAVORITE BLONDE is my favorite Hope film with MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE a close second. Universal's FAVORITE BLONDE is superb.

Originally Posted by howardWB

The link to the review with the screen caps looked very good-especially for The Lemon Drop Kid. I'm disappointed no screen caps were shown for My Favorite Brunette. This is probably Hope's best script to be filmed - and to date has been one of the worst PD Hope films on the market.


Can someone let us know how Brunette looks compared to what's been available in the past?


As long as these two movies are better prints, it makes the purchase worthwhile.


Regards,

Howard aka "Beatle Bob"

 

[ahollis]

I would suppose that the silent VISTA-VISION logo on The Seven Little Foys is due to the music rights. Hope Enterprises or Shout may not have gotten the rights.

 

[mdnitoil]

Originally Posted by John Morgan


I have the BCI version and also just got the new Shout Hope collection. THE LEMON DROP KID is superb and is the same one title DVD as the separate LDK Shout DVD. I think ROAD TO RIO and MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE are the same transfers as BCI, they are just slightly dark looking, and seem a generation or two away from the camera negative, but certainly the best I have ever seen for home video. All original Paramount titles are there, as well the end titles. The other standout is the technicolor ROAD TO BALI. Gosh, this really looks great...sharp, colorful with fine sound. As mentioned THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS is full screen 4:3. It looks pretty good as far color and sharpness, but for some reason, the original Paramount-Vista Vision logo is silent; missing the signature music.

I don't know what materials Bob Hope Enterprises got on these films and possibly THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS full screen is what they originally got from Paramount. I also wonder if Paramount still has materials on these Hope films and whether Hope or Columbia or whoever has the rights now could negotiate for a proper future release. I am absolutley happy with THE LEMON DROP KID and THE ROAD TO BALI, but all the others I think (or hope) could be upgraded in the future. For me, MY FAVORITE BLONDE is my favorite Hope film with MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE a close second. Universal's FAVORITE BLONDE is superb.

So, are you trying to say that Bali and Lemon Drop are improvements over the BCI set? I already own the BCI set and frankly, I'm trying to find a reason to bother with this latest release. A widescreen Foys would have done it, but now I'm on the fence.

 

[John Morgan]

Originally Posted by mdnitoil


So, are you trying to say that Bali and Lemon Drop are improvements over the BCI set? I already own the BCI set and frankly, I'm trying to find a reason to bother with this latest release. A widescreen Foys would have done it, but now I'm on the fence.

There were so many lousy transfers in the BCI set, I DVDr the ones that had decent transfers. I think a couple of them made it to HD, but not Blu Ray. At the time, they were such an improvement, I was very pleased, but after seeing THE LEMON DROP KID on both the stand alone and Hope box set Shout releases, I have to say this title is as good as the Paramount release of MY FAVORITE SPY.

I checked my DVDr of RIO, BALI and BRUNETTE from the BCI set (I think all three came from there) and BALI is cleaner and sharper. RIO and BRUNETTE I think are better. I don't think they keep on retransferring these films every few years, so maybe SHOUT cleaned the HD transfers up a bit. Maybe someone can do a more thorough comparison, but I am happy to see these (I assume) PD films looking this good.


Was LEMON DROP in the BCI set?

 

[mdnitoil]

The BCI set I'm talking about is Bob Hope: Legends of Hollywood. It included:


The Great Lover

How to Commit a Marriage

The Lemon Drop Kid

My Favorite Brunette

Son of Paleface

Paris Holiday

The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell

The Road to Rio

The Road to Bali

The Seven Little Foys


Rio, Bali, Paleface and Brunette were all billed as "restored". Since these titles are identical to the ones Universal put out on HD, it wouldn't surprise me if BCI simply lifted those transfers. The rest of the titles were noticably worse and all the widescreen titles were pan and scanned.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by mdnitoil



So, are you trying to say that Bali and Lemon Drop are improvements over the BCI set? I already own the BCI set and frankly, I'm trying to find a reason to bother with this latest release. A widescreen Foys would have done it, but now I'm on the fence.

Same with me. The Foy foil was a deal breaker for me.

 

[John Morgan]

Yes, Bali and Lemon Drop are superior to the BCI versions. I wish they had replaced SEVEN LITTLE FOYS with SON OF PALEFACE and waited until they could have done a proper transfer for the former film.

Originally Posted by mdnitoil



So, are you trying to say that Bali and Lemon Drop are improvements over the BCI set? I already own the BCI set and frankly, I'm trying to find a reason to bother with this latest release. A widescreen Foys would have done it, but now I'm on the fence.

Same with me. The Foy foil was a deal breaker for me.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Originally Posted by mdnitoil

The BCI set I'm talking about is Bob Hope: Legends of Hollywood. It included:


The Great Lover

How to Commit a Marriage

The Lemon Drop Kid

My Favorite Brunette

Son of Paleface

Paris Holiday

The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell

The Road to Rio

The Road to Bali

The Seven Little Foys


Rio, Bali, Paleface and Brunette were all billed as "restored". Since these titles are identical to the ones Universal put out on HD, it wouldn't surprise me if BCI simply lifted those transfers. The rest of the titles were noticably worse and all the widescreen titles were pan and scanned.

Universal has never released any of these titles. The HD DVD issues were also from BCI. My guess is that Shout anticipated that some fans would not want to buy the whole set. That is why The Lemon Drop Kid is released as a single.