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The Classic titles of Paramount owned by Universal (1 Viewer)

FrankXS

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When will Universal start a regular release program for the Paramount titles of the 1930's and 1940's ?
They have such a wealth of titles with Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Veronica Lake, Ginger Rogers, Paulette Goddard and others. I know of 80-90 titles that I would buy if only Universal would bring them out of the vaults!
 

Vic Pardo

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I've never seen any of the Paramount Dorothy Lamour "sarong" films and am esp. eager to see the four in Technicolor: HER JUNGLE LOVE, TYPHOON, BEYOND THE BLUE HORIZON, ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS. These never played on TV when I was growing up, even though other early Paramount Technicolor films occasionally did (EBB TIDE, BAHAMA PASSAGE). William Wellman's Technicolor aviation opus, MEN WITH WINGS (1938) is another Paramount title I've never seen. Also, a b&w musical, Raoul Walsh's ARTISTS AND MODELS is one I've always wanted to see.

Why hasn't TCM mined more films from this treasure trove?
 

Steve...O

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The Henry Aldrich films are well on their way to obscurity due to lack of exposure the past several decades but were popular in their day. Supposedly Universal was restoring these for showings at Cinecon type events. Not sure they will ever make it to home video, but it would be nice to finally see these films. The actor who played Henry, Jimmy Lydon, is still alive and reportedly doing well.
 

JoHud

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The Universal MOD line and the now-rare TCM release seem like the only ongoing venue for R1 DVD and very few of them seem to have new transfers. Any movement on the blu-ray front is virtually non-existent aside from a very rare Criterion release. I'm talking about the still vaulted films, not those previously on R1 DVD.

There are plenty of hidden gems and untapped obscurities in those vaults. Universal does quite well on the preservation side, but on the distribution side the studio doesn't seem to have a clue on what to do with them otherwise.
 

Camps

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Oh this has long been a sore point for me, gents. Been railing about this for years, screaming for the relatively moribund Universal Home Entertainment Dept. to mine this rich library.

Especially hungry for the never-before-released-on-home-vid (nor to TV in recent decades) Paramount horror titles including "The Mad Doctor," "Among the Living" (per your question, David) and "Man in Half Moon Street."

Many of us on this forum and others have been calling on Universal for years to at least give us some answers on its plans for this library. Nada.
 

revgen

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Universal recently released For the Defense (1930), with William Powell and Kay Francis, through their MOD line.

We may see more MOD titles in the future.
 

TheSteig

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I hope Universal will release Among the Living, that's a cool little gem of a film .. I knew Paramount didnt have it but wasnt sure who did :)
 

Camps

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Universal owns most (not necessarily all) of the pre-1948 Paramount library, thanks to a deal Paramount unfortunately did with Universal decades ago when it needed the money...
 

ahollis

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Camps said:
Universal owns most (not necessarily all) of the pre-1948 Paramount library, thanks to a deal Paramount unfortunately did with Universal decades ago when it needed the money...
Actually they were sold to an MCA subsidiary and sold as movie packages to local TV stations (main reason they did not purchase the silent Paramounts). The money Paramount derived from the sale helped to pay bills from their long running feud with the Justice Department that ended with the Concent decree. MCA later purchased Universal in the early 60's and the Paramount films ended under Universal's control.
 

Vic Pardo

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Camps said:
Oh this has long been a sore point for me, gents. Been railing about this for years, screaming for the relatively moribund Universal Home Entertainment Dept. to mine this rich library.

Especially hungry for the never-before-released-on-home-vid (nor to TV in recent decades) Paramount horror titles including "The Mad Doctor," "Among the Living" (per your question, David) and "Man in Half Moon Street."

Many of us on this forum and others have been calling on Universal for years to at least give us some answers on its plans for this library. Nada.
Not to mention THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL (1941).
 

Camps

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Vic Pardo said:
Not to mention THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL (1941).
The good news on that is that they recently released that on a perfectly fine MOD (on top of a VHS release in the '90s). But no word on any of the others.
 

DeWilson

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ahollis said:
MCA later purchased Universal in the early 60's and the Paramount films ended under Universal's control.
...and they were sold in syndication into the late 1980's. WHLL-27 Worcester/Boston, MA ran parts of the package till at least 1990. They actually ran "theme weeks" of Henry Aldrich films, and would fill the night-time prime-movie slots with them. (The AIP package and Kung-Fu films would play overnights) While we're on the subject of Universal, let's not forget their own library of films also sitting collecting dust! Perhaps next to Warner/MGM/RKO it's the 2nd largest library of pre-1950 films.
 

DeWilson

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Camps said:
Universal owns most (not necessarily all) of the pre-1948 Paramount library, thanks to a deal Paramount unfortunately did with Universal decades ago when it needed the money...
I'm not sure if a list was ever put together of what films were not part of the deal - ones held back due to rights issues, Like the 1938 Little Orphan Annie film, the three Fu Manchu films,The 1929 Return of Sherlock Holmes,etc.
 

holeymoley

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When will Universal start a regular release program for the Paramount titles of the 1930's and 1940's? They have such a wealth of titles with Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Veronica Lake, Ginger Rogers, Paulette Goddard and others.

Fortunately all of Barbara Stanwyck's Paramount films, whether owned today by Universal or Paramount, are now available on DVD, namely:Internes Can't Take MoneyUnion Pacific (included in the Cecil B. DeMille Collection set)Remember the NightThe Lady EveThe Great Man's LadyDouble IndemnityThe Bride Wore BootsThe Strange Love of Martha IversCalifornia (included in the Classic Western Round-Up, Volume 2 set)Sorry, Wrong NumberThe File on Thelma JordonNo Man of Her OwnThe FuriesRoustaboutAll but one of her Universal titles are now available:Flesh and FantasyThe Lady GamblesAll I DesireThere's Always TomorrowThat leaves just one Universal-owned film that's unreleased: "The Night Walker" (1964).As for my own Universal wish list, as far as I know they own both of the musicals that Alice Faye made while on loan-out from Fox:Every Night at Eight (Paramount, 1935)You're a Sweetheart (Universal, 1937)Earlier this year the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland showed a great print of "Every Night at Eight" as part of its Raoul Walsh retrospective. It's a charming, fast-paced showbiz tale, also starring George Raft, Patsy Kelly and Frances Langford, that introduced the standards "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "I Feel a Song Coming On," both by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields.David
 

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