Warner's Catalogue of Films not released on DVD in Region 1! (1 Viewer)

[RAF]

Crawdaddy,

This is an outstanding thread and I salute your ability to put into words what a lot of us are thinking. You are the man when it comes to talking about movies.
We just have to make sure that we get you into a "sit down" with WB next time in L.A. It's a win-win situation.
(And I'm glad the nickname that I gave you "stuck." I think it's a good one.)
Keep the faith!
------------------
RAF
[Demented Video Dude since 1997]
[Computer Maven since 1956]
["PITA" since 1942]
Link Removed

 

[Kevin McCorry]

As MGM retained the UA catalogue, where does this put
the 1960 Inherit the Wind? I'm amazed that this
title has been so utterly ignored thus far, as it is
rich in controversy (evolution vs. creationism)
and boasts perhaps the finest performances of Spencer
Tracy and Fredric March, two former Dr. Jekylls and
long-time friends, as the representatives of opposing
sides in a reenactment of the Scopes monkey trial. Dick
York, Claude Akins, and Harry Morgan round out the cast.
If this is still an MGM property, is there any chance of
this being released soon? I would have thought it of the same calibre as the already released On the Beach.
And as the Pink Panther, Inspector, Ant and the Aardvark,
etc. cartoons are also United Artists, why no continuation by MGM of the DVD releases after its Jet Pink compilation?

 

[Michael Shannon]

Great thread Robert!!!! in addition to "SuperFly" and "Uptown Saturday Night". I would like to see "Piece of the Action" and "Let's Do it again" on DVD as well.
Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby were amazing together.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Quote"Great thread Robert!!!! in addition to "SuperFly" and "Uptown Saturday Night". I would like to see "Piece of the Action" and "Let's Do it again" on DVD as well."
Michael,
Both "Piece of the Action" and "Let's Do It Again" were included in my first draft but I felt a need to edit and limit the number of films included because the list can almost go on and on and that tells you how many films Warner owns the rights to......
Crawdaddy
------------------

 

[Brook K]

Ok guys, make up your minds, what do you want? You criticize MGM for churning out releases without enough regard for quality. I've heard stated many times on this forum that MGM should cut back their slate and make them higher quality.
Well that is exactly what Warner Bros. does. They have a small catalog slate, of exemplary quality. But they get criticized for that approach, too.
Releasing quality product takes time. Restorations can be lengthy processes lasting a year or more. During chats, the response, "it's undergoing restoration" often gets scoffed at around here (King Kong is one of these titles Jack, the RKO catalog was reportedly in atrocious shape). But look at the results of Warner restorations:
North By Northwest has become THE reference example of a catalog presentation on DVD. But Warner has turned out many other beautiful disc's, A Star Is Born, 42nd Street, Rebel Without a Cause, The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The Big Sleep, Anchors Aweigh, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Outlaw Josey Wales and more.
In addition to their visual qualities, Warner offers unique extras not found on any other studio's disc's, like the Ed Sullivan excerpts on Mr. Roberts and the Bogey trailer retrospective on The Maltese Falcon.
Also there is the financial aspect to consider. I talked with a Warner rep at Studio Day about catalog and he expressed dismay at the poor sales of their musical titles. I think that's why we haven't seen any Fred Astaire. They just don't do the numbers right now to justify the expense.
And Warner has put out a bunch of titles. I bet they've released just as much catalog as Columbia or Universal, it's just that their catalog is so much larger, with so many more big name titles, that they still have tons of material left. And they chose to put out a large number of musicals and Bogart films, rather than say, Gangster movies and Errol Flynn. There is another batch of Bogey coming this year that will include Treasure of the Sierra Madre. And Warner will be correcting one of our biggest beefs against them by remastering the Kubrick titles.
Hey, I'd love to have many of these films in my library, too. But I think it's much too easy for us to be negative and not realize the glass is half-full instead of half-empty. I see Warner as being committed to first class presentation of their material, isn't that the most important thing we could want as collectors/fans?
------------------
"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen"
S&S Challenge: 72 ...40
DVD BEAVER

My DVD Collection

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

I agree that Warner's has a huge catalog and hasn't done much with it (though some of these titles undoubtedly need serious restoration), but I have to concur with Brook's assessment-- when Warner's puts out a title on DVD, quality nearly always is not an issue. This stands in contrast to MGM, who have been cranking them out left and right, with uneven results (the Soul Cinema selections look great, however) and now even a lack of inserts! I'd rather see Warner's library be handled with care and caution and not looted for maximum profit.
And Peter Fitzgerald-- I always tremble when I see one of your posts. You make even the most knowledgeable of us look like greenhorns in comparison.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Quote"Also there is the financial aspect to consider. I talked with a Warner rep at Studio Day about catalog and he expressed dismay at the poor sales of their musical titles. I think that's why we haven't seen any Fred Astaire. They just don't do the numbers right now to justify the expense."
Brook,
There are rumblings that suggest more then musicals are not being considered for release. If they can't justify the financials of releasing the titles themselves, then license the titles out to Anchor Bay, Image, or some other distributor. Also, let's not forget that Warner has released their share of dvds without the proper OAR.
Regarding MGM, I know I might be in the minority on this but I think they're doing a very good job with their dvd releases. Sure, they're not perfect and they need some better judgement as to which titles they restore and release anamorphically but unlike Warner, they don't have the financial wear-with-all to give every title the proper treatment.
Crawdaddy
------------------

 

[Martin Jeeves]

Crawdaddy,
Are:
THE WANDERERS
SHOOT THE MOON
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (Jessica Lange remake)
A LITTLE ROMANCE
PRINCE OF THE CITY
All Warner Bros titles? I thought they were?
Any info?
------------------
M.J.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Quote"THE WANDERERS
SHOOT THE MOON
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (Jessica Lange remake)
A LITTLE ROMANCE
PRINCE OF THE CITY"
Martin,
Warner owns "The Wanderers", "A Little Romance", and the already listed "Prince of the City". However, "Shoot the Moon", I believe is the property of MGM and "A Streetcar named Desire" was a television film broadcast by CBS.
Crawdaddy
------------------

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I agree that MGM's release policy is kind of out of control, but at the cheap prices they're selling them at, I'm not going to demand a lot of extras. And hell, who ever thought we'd see Foxy Brown with a commentary from a major studio? Given that the AIP horror movies seem to all be getting anamorphic transfers, I'm not displeased at all.
But Warner's supposed commitment to quality can't explain everything. How many catalog titles did they issue in the year 2000? I can think of two: North by Northwest and A Star is Born. Do they have one guy working in the catalog DVD department? In the meantime, Fox is putting out kickass disc after disc after disc, with plenty of catalog titles interspersed. You can't tell me that AOL/Time/Warner/Turner doesn't have the cash to issue discs. Something else is going on here. Maybe they're waiting to see how things go with the most recent mergermania. Maybe they just want to piss us off. Maybe they're waiting till Fox and MGM exhaust their back catalogs so they can put theirs out with minimal competition. The latter doesn't make much sense to me, but if Warner really wants me to spend all my money over at Fox & MGM, well, I'm happy to oblige them.
------------------
For 11+ hours of Beethoven music available nowhere else, visit www.unheardbeethoven.org (New THIRD Millennium update done 10/22/00 )

 

[Rachael B]

Nice post Crawdaddy! I don't have too much faith that many of these titles will become DVDs. I've aqquired many of them over the years on LD and continue to do so.
aqquired this year:
SARGEANT YORK
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (Flynn)
SUNSET BOULEVARD
FURY
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
MR. SKEFFINGTON
JEZABEL
and some other ones I can't presently recall....
Alan H's contention has some validity. Atleast this was the pattern during the LD age. They'll pull some of our wanted titles out when the format matures, proably. Then again, they may be witholding these titles to guarantee viewing on Turner Classic Movies? Me, I'd rather have DVDs or LDs, I'm a disc fiend! Best wishes!
------------------
Rachael, the big disc cat! Remember, actual mileage may vary....
AFI Film Challenge, hey I've only got 4 to go!

 

[Robert_D]

I have heard that Warner Brothers now controls the Castle Rock films as well and so I wish they would release Kenneth Branagh's 1996 adaptation of Hamlet. This is the packageing I would suggest.
an anamorphic widescreen print of the film from the original 70 MM negative.
full length 4 hour commentary by Director Kenneth Branagh and a second full length commentary on a second track by some eminent Shakespeare historian.
The Making of Hamlet documentary.
All trailers and promotional materials
a still gallery, and cast and crew biographies
Out-takes
a history of Hamlet on stage and screen featurette
a history of Shakespeare on film featurette
Branaghs 1992 Oscar nominated short film Swan Song starring Gielgud (where else will you ever be able to see it)

 

[Peter_A]

Why was Giant released here in Canada and not in the States?
------------------
Peter
"My name? F*** you, that's my name! You know why mister? Because you drove a Hyundai here tonight, and I drove a $80,000 BMW."

 

[KurtE]

First off, great and seriously needed topic. The work that went into creating the initial post and film list is very much appreciated.
However, and this may not be the thread for this point, but I'm surprised that there hasn't been much if any talk about what effect the now-consummated merger of AOL and Time-Warner will have on this subject. I mention this because of a news article I came across this afternoon about how the upper management at the new company has demanded serious cuts in expenses among the company's units (story Link Removed).
One unit specifically mentioned was Warner Film and TV Studio, which has to shed $100 million from their operating budget. Now I don't know enough about Warner to know if home video/dvd falls under this division or another, but I would think this news is relevant to the discussion.
Considering how much Warner's probable P & L on these unreleased titles is a part of this discussion, I would think these expense cuts don't bode well for these titles seeing the light of DVD, at least under a Warner's imprint.
------------------
DVD's

 

[Robert Crawford]

Kurt,
Thanks for the article link and the cuts associated with the merger will definitely have some kind of effect on the home video segment of Warner's but just how much, only time will tell. I've worked in management for a major automobile company for 22 years and everytime there is a downturn in the economy which happens frequently in the car business, the cut spending edicts are sometimes puzzling as to their relationship with common sense. On occassion, "Upper Management" has a tendency to cut it's nose off to spite it's face.
Crawdaddy
------------------

 

[Lolita Maddalena]

I want to speak up about a little known Kate Hepburn film shown occationally on AMC, Quality Street. It is the cutest, funnist Jane Austinesqe piece with some great comic acting. If it ever showes up in DVD, I will be shocked. I will cross my finger for Now Voyager, one of Bette Davis best movies.
------------------
Lolita
SMEG!!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Lolita,
Welcome to the forum. Also, Quality Street was a RKO release that's now the property of Warner and it was previously released on both video and laser. You're right it's a little known film but seeing Hepburn basically play two different characters was a very interesting concept.
Crawdaddy
------------------

 

[LarryDavenport]

Let's not forget a title from a different thread.
What's Up Doc?
I'd also like to see a disc of Woodstock 69 outtakes (there was an LD put out by WB that had performances by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Janis Joplin (and others) some of which (Janis, Canned Heat) that was edited into the Director's Cut LD/DVD.

 

[Randy_M]

As to whether Warner's always lavishes care on their catalog products, I just watched The Big Sleep last night. It's one of my all time favorites, but I find the picture quality to be very mediocre. For about a third of the film, the right side of the picture is noticably washed out, and when near the end of the film, when Bogart has pulled the car over and is talking to Bacall, I notice all kinds of shimmering through the car window.
I don't know if the problem is the transfer or the source material, and I appreciate the extras and alternate version on the disc, but my old VHS copy has a better picture.
The other recent Bogart discs (Key Largo and Maltese Falcon) are beautiful.
Comments?

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I just got Robert Klepper's massive book on Silent Films 1877-1997, and was looking at all the wonderful films that aren't out on video....but are controlled by Warner. It's maddening how much of early film history is in the hands of these people who won't let the public see it, except on their cable channels.
There are a few exceptions--a Kiss for Cinderella is hoarded by Paramount for no good reason, and Fox seems to have forgotten that it owns a beautiful restoration of Murnau's Sunrise--but the lion's share of the material that's extant and not viewable is owned by Warner. If they can't be troubled to issue their sound catalogue, who knows when and if they'll ever get around to their silent films.
btw, the Klepper book, though expensive, is well worth it if you're interested in silents.
------------------
For 11+ hours of Beethoven music available nowhere else, visit www.unheardbeethoven.org (New THIRD Millennium update done 10/22/00 )