International 55 Days At Peking / Circus World U.K. Release April 7 (1 Viewer)

Anchor Bay Entertainment will be releasing these two titles on blu ray - wonder if a U.S. announcement will follow? Hopefully they will both look good as well. If Circus World is at least as good as the current French version there is some hope.

Great News.

DP 70 said:

Great News.

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Doesn't seem to be for pre order at Amazon UK and Anchor Bay's website doesn't list them either.

john a hunter said:

Doesn't seem to be for pre order at Amazon UK and Anchor Bay's website doesn't list them either.

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This was reported by someone over at Blu-ray.com but no link. I'm not surprised there's no pre-order yet, it is over three months away.

They are both now listed on Amazon.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/55-Days-At-Peking-Blu-ray/dp/B00I3ZMDCC/ref=sr_1_23?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1391178704&sr=1-23&keywords=55+days+at+peking

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Circus-World-Blu-ray-Henry-Hathaway/dp/B00I3ZMCOG/ref=sr_1_53?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1391178853&sr=1-53&keywords=circus+world

Region free?

Region free?

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Ah, I don't think we're going to know that until they're released & someone reports.

Brent Avery said:

wonder if a U.S. announcement will follow?

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I certainly hope so!

Brent Avery said:

If Circus World is at least as good as the current French version there is some hope.

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If the Amazon listing is right, then the new Anchor Bay version of "Circus World" is missing 10 minutes.

I would have made allowances for PAL speedup, but the same running time of 134 minutes is also listed on the Anchor Bay Blu-ray.

The french blu-ray disc runs 144 min.

Doug.

Doug Bull said:

If the Amazon listing is right, then the new Anchor Bay version of "Circus World" is missing 10 minutes.I would have made allowances for PAL speedup, but the same running time of 134 minutes is also listed on the Anchor Bay Blu-ray.The french blu-ray disc runs 144 min.Doug.

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I didn't think there was any PAL speed up on Blu-ray. I could be wrong so correction is acceptable. But perhaps it's the loss of the overture, enter acta and exit music?

ahollis said:

I didn't think there was any PAL speed up on Blu-ray. I could be wrong so correction is acceptable. But perhaps it's the loss of the overture, enter acta and exit music?

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You are correct Allen, there is no speedup on Blu-ray.
Had the shorter running time been only on the DVD, then I would have blamed speed up, but seeing the same time is on the Blu-ray , it means that something is missing.

I agree it most likely is the Overture, Intermission and Exit music.
If that's the case I will stay with the forced sub-titles. (Although I will probably wait for reviews)

Doug.

Doug Bull said:

You are correct Allen, there is no speedup on Blu-ray.Had the shorter running time been only on the DVD, then I would have blamed speed up, but seeing the same time is on the Blu-ray , it means that something is missing. I agree it most likely is the Overture, Intermission and Exit music.If that's the case I will stay with the forced sub-titles. (Although I will probably wait for reviews) Doug.

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They may just have ported over the specifications from the DVD.I am very excited about 55 Days as I only watched in once before on the big screen in a moderately faded 70mm print and after that I could not bring myself to watch it on DVD anymore!

Doug Bull said:

You are correct Allen, there is no speedup on Blu-ray.
Had the shorter running time been only on the DVD, then I would have blamed speed up, but seeing the same time is on the Blu-ray , it means that something is missing.

I agree it most likely is the Overture, Intermission and Exit music.
If that's the case I will stay with the forced sub-titles. (Although I will probably wait for reviews)

Doug.

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I have the Korean DVD. The running time on Amazon is 135 minutes. It's actually 137 minutes and 48 seconds. It has no overture, intermission or exit music.According to the DVDCLASSiK web site that has screen caps for the French Blu-ray "Running time is 142 minutes with the intermission and exit music, but not the overture." So, the Intermission and exit music are about 4 minutes.

The Overture of 55 Days at Peking is one the best and most rousing of the Roadshow epics. I really hope it is on the blu ray.

Ken Koc said:

The Overture is one the best and most rousing of the Roadshow epics. I really hope it is on the blu ray.

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Khartoum did have an Overture.

I can't find any evidence that Circus World had an overture. People who have seen it, even the Cinerama version, said it did not have an overture. The soundtrack album does not have an overture.

RolandL said:

Khartoum did have an Overture.I can't find any evidence that Circus World had an overture. People who have seen it, even the Cinerama version, said it did not have an overture. The soundtrack album does not have an overture.

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It was on the laserdisc. Not sure if it was added for that release, as was 1776, or not.

After fifty years I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I seem to recall Circus World's haunting title song being played as an overture when I saw it at DC's Uptown Theatre. I do remember thinking it strange, since after a tacked-on "in Cinerama" title card, the opening credits began and the exact same song played again. Perhaps there was no overture and the Uptown projectionist played the song from the soundtrack album (which I still have) for a bit of showmanship.

I also remember my father calling the Uptown to ask when that evening's showtime was, and the lady in the box office replied "What time can you come?" That may have been the moment when I fell in love with the Uptown.

Both are listed by Amazon as B/2.

I'm more interested in 55 Days at Peking than Circus World, but I'll wait to see some reviews before ordering.