WHV Announcement: The Big Parade (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[RBlenheim]

P.S.: Where is the Thames TV version of "The Crowd" with the Carl Davis score. It being unavailable since the old VHS (with the exception of the laserdisc release of it) is a crime. Even TCM's version they show is drastically cut and inferior.

These two King Vidor films are masterpieces and should be readily accessible to everyone interested in the art of film.

 

[Miguel M Santos]

Has the King Vidor documentary been dropped? It's not on the back cover of DVD on Amazon.

 

[David_B_K]

I took a look at a few scenes last night; haven't had time to watch the whole thing. Looks great, like Paramount's Wings BD. It does indeed include the Carl Davis score. It's been a while since I've watched this film. I noticed a few Harold Lloyd cues in the score. Presumably, Davis wrote this score before he did the Lloyd silents for Thames.

There is no Vidor documentary, but the accompanying book is written by Kevin Brownlow and contains some useful info. Would have been nice to include the episode of the Thames series Hollywood that dealt with the making of The Big Parade; but I am happy with this BD. I may not have time to watch the whole thing until this weekend.

 

[Matt Hough]

Of course, it would be nice to have Hollywood as a Blu-ray set. It's a magnificent documentary series and isn't known by enough people.

 

[Jack Theakston]

The Davis score is heavily influenced by (but not exactly the same as) the William Axt-David Mendoza score that played at the opening engagement in New York and toured with the film during its roadshow. Does anyone know if the 1930 re-issue track is included?

 

[JoHud]

Watched it last night with family and were very impressed with this film. Definitely a King Vidor masterpiece and certainly has one of the most iconic depictions of WWI. While parallels with Wings can be easily drawn, I was most reminded of All Quiet on the Western Front. I imagine watching those back-to-back would be akin to watching two sides of the same coin.

The video quality was great on this film with some very noticeable restoration efforts. Very sharp with a very clean looking print. There are a handful of scenes, less than a minute, that seem to have been added from alternate source elements which appear softer. This is pretty well expected of a film of this vintage and hardly an issue overall.

I sincerely hope this blu-ray does well enough to bring forth other long MIA classics like The Crowd, Greed, The Wind and others still in WB holding unreleased on blu-ray or DVD.

The Davis score is heavily influenced by (but not exactly the same as) the William Axt-David Mendoza score that played at the opening engagement in New York and toured with the film during its roadshow. Does anyone know if the 1930 re-issue track is included?

No, the Carl Davis score appears to be the only track.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Got mine yesterday and it looks and sounds fabulous! Put me on the list for THE CROWD, THE WIND and GREED, also. I really hope Warners will consider getting all three to us in BD form someday soon. In addition, I'm keeping my finger crossed for a FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE BD release with the gorgeous Carl Davis score. It played in Los Angeles a few years back. The print looked just wonderful and Kevin Brownlow was there to give an introduction. Seems to me that there would be plenty of folks curious about Valentino and his legendary performance in this film to make it a success.

 

[ahollis]

Yes, I hope this will help bring us THE WIND. I really love that film.

 

[Miguel M Santos]

Yes, I hope this will help bring us THE WIND. I really love that film.

It's one of my favourite silents. I also wish they'd consider taking SHOW PEOPLE out of the archives (ideally in a double bill with THE PATSY, but would be way too much to ask).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I hope this will help bring us THE WIND. I really love that film.

It's up to us, the consumers. We need to buy enough units for Warner to notice these silent classics are in demand. I have my copy, but I'm watching From Here to Eternity tonight. I hope to view this BD within the next week or so as my incoming discs keep increasing while my time to view them has been limited by TV programs.

 

[Lromero1396]

It's up to us, the consumers. We need to buy enough units for Warner to notice these silent classics are in demand. I have my copy, but I'm watching From Here to Eternity tonight. I hope to view this BD within the next week or so as my incoming discs keep increasing while my time to view them has been limited by TV programs.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: I agree that we all need to support the release. Blu-ray.com is holding a giveaway for two copies of the release. I didn't enter, because I happily paid full price, but this will help increase awareness of the release becuase blu-ray.com seems to have more viewership to my eyes than the HTF.

 

[Escapay]

Picked up The Big Parade, From Here to Eternity, and The Little Mermaid this week. Of the three, The Little Mermaid was my favorite movie to watch, From Here to Eternity featured the best supplement (the Graphics-in-Picture track), and The Big Parade was just a wonder to behold in and of itself. Warner really went all out with this, not just in the film's presentation, but in the Kevin Brownlow essay, the Jeffrey Vance commentary, and the 1925 studio tour and trailer.

I'd have loved if the "Men Who Made the Movies" documentary had been included, as it was listed here. But I'm guessing rights issues prevented it, though it certainly hasn't stopped Warner from adding other "MWMTM" documentaries on releases like Bringing Up Baby and Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks), The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor), The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli), and Forbidden Hollywood Volume 3 (William Wellman). Hopefully this means we'll see the King Vidor one on a Blu-Ray release for The Crowd.

And to further speculate, Warner still has three more unreleased "Men Who Made the Movies" documentaries that could be included as supplements on movies.

Frank Capra - the only one Warner could release it with is Arsenic and Old Lace.

Alfred Hitchcock - any of the titles Warner owns but hasn't yet been released to Blu-Ray: Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Stage Fright, I Confess, or The Wrong Man. Though I think I remember reading somewhere that Criterion has the rights to Foreign Correspondent, so maybe they'll licence the documentary from Warner if they release that film.

Raoul Walsh - a wide variety here, too, since he was a regular Warner director. I want it on a Blu-Ray of The Strawberry Blonde. Simply to get The Strawberry Blonde on Blu-Ray.

 

[Mark-P]

Warner should know better than to use Academy aperture (1.37:1) on a silent movie, which should naturally be full aperture (1.33:1).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Warner should know better than to use Academy aperture (1.37:1) on a silent movie, which should naturally be full aperture (1.33:1).

Perhaps certain compromises had to be made in this instance?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Warner should know better than to use Academy aperture (1.37:1) on a silent movie, which should naturally be full aperture (1.33:1).

Perhaps certain compromises had to be made in this instance?

Working on review right now. The aspect ratio actually shifts slightly a couple of times, presumably due to switches between source elements. I have a hard time being upset with any aspect of this presentation. More later, of course.

 

[Roger Grodsky]

I watched the film on TCM and felt that some of the fast action looked rather choppy; almost as if frames were missing (everything else about it was gorgeous). I was wondering if this is an issue on the blu-ray. (Could it be that, as it was restored in Britain, that this phenomenon is present on the traditional video but is absent on the blu?) Certainly the extraordinarily positive comments above make no mention of this, but I have been waiting to purchase.

 

[Matt Hough]

I finally got around to watching this, and it was a complete treat to see it looking so good and having that most effective Carl Davis score track with occasional sound effects. Yes, the few times the beautiful transfer is interrupted by lower quality moments, it's pretty obvious, but it doesn't really spoil the thrill of seeing this masterwork presented so wonderfully.

 

[Dick]

Unfortunately, the hope for further silent classics had dwindled significantly. BIG PARADE was, after all, released almost five years ago. Criterion would seem like the only potential platform for THE CROWD, THE WIND, GREED, etc., none of which have appeared on video since their so-so laser disc releases.