Criterion Newsletter (1 Viewer)

Anyone want to wager a guess?

I'd like to think it's a reference to Ford, but I reckon I'm way off the mark.
EDIT; hang on, someone on Amazon is claiming that the re-issue of the Ford/Wayne box from Warner does not contain Stagecoach. Can this be so?
Edited by John Hodson - 7/11/2009 at 08:39 pm GMT

THREE GODFATHERS.

3 Godfathers was filmed in and around Death Valley, not Monument Valley. It will be interesting to see what this turns out to be, I hope it is a Western.

Monte Hellman's Ride In the Whirlwind and The Shooting, probably.
Filmed back-to-back in 1965 on 150,000 "Roger Corman dollars."
2 masterworks for the cost of 1.
Shot in southern Utah which many people mistake for Monument Valley.
Remarkable suspense westerns, austerely produced and intelligently written.
Or, could it be a reference to Blake Edwards The Wild Rovers (1970)?
Richard

While I don't think so, I sure wish it would be The Wild Rovers. I think real clue is dry.

Or the hint could refer to the much-rumored One-Eyed Jacks (1961) now that Criterion has a relationship with Paramount.
But I'm inclined to think the hint refers to The Shooting and Ride In the Whirlwind simply because Monte Hellman the director has publicly stated that Criterion will be releasing them.
Incidentally, the later is often given a release date of 1967, which is not accurate. Both films were shot n 1965 and had screenings as early as 1965 although I no longer remember the details. The correct date for both films is 1965.

Would/has ever WB ever licensed a film out to Criterion (or any other homevideo venue)?

Originally Posted by Charles H /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Would/has ever WB ever licensed a film out to Criterion (or any other homevideo venue)?

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Nope, and with their new Archive Program, the odds of them ever licensing out their title is now even slimmer.

Warner is working with Criterion now. I believe Akira Kurosawa's Dreams has been discussed at criterionforum.org as a high possibility.
However, even more interesting is this newsletter clue, which does have a decent chance of being Stagecoach (1939). Some speculation on the part of someone at criterionforum.org:
"I think we may indeed be looking at a Criterion release of Stagecoach. Warner does not "own" the rights to the film, they've licensed them. Its rights situation has always been fairly complicated:
Wikipedia: 'The film was originally released through United Artists, but under their old seven-year-rights rule, surrendered its distribution rights to producer Walter Wanger in 1946. Many independent companies were responsible for this film in the years since. The film's copyright is currently held by 20th Century Fox, who produced a later 1966 remake of Stagecoach. However, distribution rights are now held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive on behalf of ancillary rights holder The Caidin Trust, with Castle Hill Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures representing.
The original negatives of Stagecoach were either lost or destroyed. John Wayne had one positive print that had never been through a projector gate. In 1970, he permitted it to be used to produce a new negative, and that is the film seen today at film festivals. UCLA formally restored the film in 1996 from surviving elements and premiered on cable's American Movie Classics network. The current DVD releases by Warner Home Video do not contain the restored print, but rather a video print held in the Castle Hill/Caidin Trust library.'
Warner has been distributing the film through an arrangement with Castle Hill, which I believe may be about to expire. Warner is re-issuing the John Ford/John Wayne Collection on September 15 with Stagecoach and The Long Voyage Home (which was also licensed from Walter Wanger/Castle Hill) removed from the box. If this is the case, Criterion could have licensed Stagecoach from Castle Hill, The Wanger Estate, UCLAFTA, or The Caiden Trust -- maybe other films too.
While discs are currently still available, it certainly appears that Warner could be losing the rights to Stagecoach and other Wanger/Castle Hill properties. The fact that there is a major restoration available that Warner did not or could not use would certainly be incentive for Criterion to try and top the Warner disc, and if there is any film that screams "Monument Valley," this is the one."
(And other Castle Hill film properties that Criterion would possibly be interested in: Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be, Kazan's A Face in the Crowd, and Welles' Othello.)

Other Castle Hill films that I'd love to see cpme out on dvd: HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT (Borzage) and I MARRIED A WITCH (Rene Clair).

Sounds like Stagecoach is the most likely possibility then.
I'll buy it in an instant if that's the case.

Someone else on criterionforum.org made this pretty keen observation:

"I believe that that it will be Ford's "Stagecoach." And with a December release. The key clue word is "dry." Doc Boone dries out (sobers up) to do his job as well as deliver the memorable closing line."

Warner has talked about working with Criterion on certain titles. If it is indeed "Stagecoach" then I hope it's released on BRD too. The current hints seem to point to that title because it's a western famously filmed in Monument Valley and is being released around Christmas time with Doc Boone drying up to deliver a baby.

Seeing how the horse's reins are arranged for pulling an object, that gives more evidence that it may be Stagecoach

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway /forum/thread/290262/criterion-newsletter#post_3583509
Warner is working with Criterion now. I believe Akira Kurosawa's Dreams has been discussed at criterionforum.org as a high possibility. ...
(And other Castle Hill film properties that Criterion would possibly be interested in: ... Welles' Othello.)

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Two of my favorites! If Criterion put out a Blu edition of Dreams I would be over the moon!

The problem with Stagecoach is that since the ONeg is long gone, there's no way to salvage the thing. Criterion can't do "their magic" for the transfer if the best quality source element isn't that good. I'd like to be proven wrong... but... no.

Of course this could be refferencing a blu-ray of the new Once Upon a Time in the West restoration but that would involve a train.

I would seem like a perfect opportunity for a Blu ray release. Criterion's Blu ray's have been outstanding so far.

Originally Posted by Lord Dalek /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Of course this could be refferencing a blu-ray of the new Once Upon a Time in the West restoration but that would involve a train.

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And it would involve Paramount handing the film to Criterion. It does appear that they intend to release it themselves.

Originally Posted by John Hodson /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And it would involve Paramount handing the film to Criterion. It does appear that they intend to release it themselves.

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I doubt it. The previous CE didn't really sell very well IIRC.