What are some of your taped treasures never on video? (1 Viewer)

I've found that scores of movies I've taped from the vintage 80's have held up pretty darn good and I'm glad I have them. The rarest I revisit most are a seemingly extended version of AT LONG LAST LOVE from the "good" AMC;a MALTESE FALCON spoof(other than THE BLACK BIRD) with Gabriel dell called THE MANCHU EAGLE MURDER CASE; a truly bizarre Mastroianni film DOWN THE ANCIENT STAIRS; the wonderful THE WONDERFUL CROOK; everyones favorite dog of a movie WON TON TON(also from AMC), the unfairly maligned and captivating WC FIELDS AND ME;and what seems to be a tv print of SHEILA LEVINE IS DEAD AND LIVING IN NEW YORK-with that incessant "Love Me or Love People" song that never left my head thirty years later.
Granted-none of these are dvd quality-but like an old LP I can pop it in and transport myself at will...pops and crackles and all. Anyone have similar vaulted treasures?

THE WONDERFUL CROOK - That's the early Gerard Depardieu film, right? I saw that back when it played on HBO in 1977. Been wanting to see it again, but I don't think it's out even in Region 2. Surprising that a film with a big star like him could remain so obscure.

THE MANCHU EAGLE MURDER MYSTERY - That's another obscurity I've been wanting to see. I think Warner owns it, but I doubt it'll see a release. It doesn't really have any selling points - no stars and a no-name director.

WON TON TON and W.C. FIELDS AND ME were both released in the midst of a bunch of films about "old Hollywood" - NICKELODEON, VALENTINO, THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, GABLE AND LOMBARD - all of them flops. But if GABLE AND LOMBARD can get a DVD release, maybe there's hope yet.

THE WONDERFUL CROOK-to my knowledge-hasnt been released anywhere. HBO introduced me -as it did to many 40 somethings-the pleasure of foreign movies. Besides CROOK-I enjoyed THE NIGHT CALLER, JUST BEFORE NIGHTFALL, VIOLETTE, I LOVE YOU ROSA, KAMOURASKA,DONT CRY WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL, MAN ON THE ROOF and of course GOING PLACES-for the right reasons-which notoriously was pulled from HBO after protests.
Now-if someone can put together those shorts HBO used to show between features-one was called "The Mild Ones"-hilarious spoof with guys on invisible motorcycles; a scary(at the time) Japanese ghort about a teacher that turns into a fish; a WILD STRAWBERRIES like b/w short-not sure if it was meant to be funny and a kiddie one with a witch and blueberry pancakes
HBO was like a film school back than-trailers, shorts, foreign films-the works. What a time!

p.s. I was hoping Universal would follow GABLE AND LOMBARD with WC FIELDS AND ME, but G AND L 's sales weren't that great. If they havent released MOMENT BY MOMENT in any form-why?-there isnt much hope for FIELDS. VALENTINO is on R2-a horrid mess!

I have MIDNIGHT MAN, RABBIT RUN, THEIVES AFTER DARK, RED SKY AT MORNING, THE OUTSIDER (1979), BEST FRIENDS (1975), LAST ROMANTIC LOVER, RIVERRUN, CRAZY JOE, THE LAWYER, THE SPLIT (1968), SHADOW OF THE HAWK, THE PASSAGE (uncut), LIMBO (1972), BANNING, LOLLY MADONNA WAR XXX, CHANDLER, BREAKING POINT (1976), are some rare stuff I taped years ago that never apeared on video anywhere that I still enjoy watching.

Ace in the Hole

The Man from the Diner's Club

The Last Time I Saw Archie

"Ace in the Hole" aka "The Big Carnival"

One of the only remaining major titles by a major director that has not been released on home video ever.

New York's Film Forum is showing a new 35mm restoration print of ACE IN THE HOLE in January, so maybe there's hope for a DVD release.

I've gotten rid of most of my tapes, but one I'm holding onto (from 1986) contains the fine 1982 thriller FAST WALKING, with James Woods in one of his best roles.

FAST WALKING was released on VHS via CBS-Fox Video.

Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure may have had an official tape, but I've never found it. I recorded it almost 20 years ago off The Disney Channel. Fox owns it and it's a wonderful movie. It was shot in Panavision, so I'd love to see it in 2.35:1 finally!

Not a movie, but a TV show: a tape I held onto for a long time was of a 1983 special on PBS: The Regard of Flight, by clown/actor Bill Irwin. It seems to have been available on DVD through the MacArthur Foundation (who gave Irwin a genius grant), but only to libraries, and that is no longer in print.

Ya, it was released on VHS by Playhouse Video.

I don't have much goodies in the "taped off TV" genre, but in the "only on VHS" category I have a few gems:

Fortress (The HBO movie with Rachel Ward)
Misfits of Science (pilot, presented as stand-alone movie)
Twice Upon a Time
From Star Wars to Jedi

-Lyle J.P.

I remember that they used to show these between-program filler things, but the only one I clearly recall consisted of a lengthy (ten minutes or so) tracking shot following a group of bicyclists through Central Park, overlaid with piano music.

I'll check those out-thanks. I was mesmerized by NIGHT CALLER and loved the poster.


Is MAN ON THE ROOF the only foreign film ever that was an official sequel to an American major released film(1973's THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN).?

It was later released on VHS by Warner Bros. after they picked up the rights. I believe this was originally a Lorimar release.

Some of my "not available on home video" videos include:
The Warriors - with the alternate opening sequence and assorted extra footage, taped from "Joe Bob Briggs' Monstervision" in late 90s.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - the version running on TBS these days seems to include ALL of the extra tv footage and I recently made myself a decent DVD copy to replace the old VHS tape from an airing on USA in the early 90s.

Obviously, these aren't as rare the aforementioned films that aired on HBO in the good old days...

I was hoping the recent Parasmount "Special Edition" of THE WARRIORS would have included the version you mentioned-to me as rare as HBO gems-but instead all we got was a (Greek) tragedy.
A fascinating subthread*or should we start a new one)-are alternate tv versions of feature films from the infamous DUNE to the I wished I taped it TWO MINUTE WARNING. Any others?

The most memorable thing about the film are the lengthy chases (in which Belmondo does his own stunts), including one jaw-dropper across a steep rooftop. The French disc, by the way, is titled PEUR SUR LA VILLE ("Fear Over the City") and is from Studio Canal. It may be out of print, in which case you may still be able to snag a copy from Amazon.fr Marketplace or Ebay. It has both French and English audio tracks, but the extras are French-only.

MAN ON THE ROOF is available under the title MANNEN PA TAKET as a 2-disc special edition. The film itself has optional English subs, but the extensive extras are, alas, not English-friendly. I believe XploitedCinema is currently carrying this disc.

I had the George Cukor version of THE BLUE BIRD on a homemade videotape for a long time, but it got mistakenly erased, and I've never seen it again. A very guilty pleasure.

I was a tapin' fool back in the mid-80s, and I'm glad I was. I managed to tape off-air a number of admittedly rather minor films which I nonetheless developed a strong fondness for. That was good, because so very many of these films disappeared from view shortly thereafter, and really haven't appeared on tv since, to my knowledge. I've found myself revisiting these quite often, through the years. Some of these old favorites include:

1. Canon City - 1948
2. The Thief - 1952
3. Beyond Mombasa - 1956
4. The Spirit is Willing - 1967
5. Red Salute - 1935
6. The Atomic City - 1952
7. Ruggles of Red Gap - 1935
8. Geraldine - 1953
9. Destination Inner Space - 1966
10. Hell's Half Acre - 1954
11. The Lady Wants Mink - 1953
12. Suspense - 1946
13. Vice Squad - 1953

Wizard of Speed and Time
House of Long Shadows