What is the rarest film ever you would like to be released on Blu-ray? (1 Viewer)

This thread concerns films that are extremely rare, meaning they haven't got a VHS/DVD release, neither they are broadcasted on TV in the last years and literally have disappeared!

My wish would be for "Storia di una Donna" (Story of a Woman/1970).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066410/
It's a romantic drama with Bibi Anderson, Robert Stack and James Farentino.
It was broadcasted a couple of times on TV in the 80s, but not ever since.

I had contacted studios, libraries and archives, the director's relatives, but noone knew anything about the whereabouts of the film.
Fortunately, it appeared some months ago in yotuube, although with its first scenes cut off, but then it was taken down due to copyrights.
It's a typical drama, but the main reason I want this is that it has an exceptional score by John Williams.



So, what's yours?

Me, Natalie (1969) with Patty Duke and Al Pacino and a Henry Mancini score. Released by Cinema Center Films, it should still be under CBS's control.

Well, I see a VHS tape listed on Amazon for $100.00 so I guess it doesn't fit, but a film that I haven't seen since being broadcast that I'd really like to experience again is The ABC Movie of the Week from 1970

Tribes starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Darren McGavin. I'm uncertain how well it would hold up, because I've re-visited other shows / films that had a strong nostalgia factor and sometimes they work and sometimes they do not - but I wouldn't mind seeing this again.

- Walter.

Well, the first that comes to mind is The Other Side of the Wind which supposedly would be the last Orson Welles project that could see the light of day...or a projector...or a television. It has never been released because Welles never completed a final cut. The story is he got about halfway through before he passed but asked Peter Bogdanovich to complete it in the event of his death. Shooting on the film was complete so all that needs to happen is for Bogdanovich to finish cutting it to Welles specifications...which supposedly are clear. Sadly it has been caught up in a variety of bickering and legal wrangling for years now and also a dispute over if Bogdanovich should be allowed to finish the film...which was after all what Orson wished...or they should just release unedited footage as it currently exists with no attempt to piece a finished product together. The specter of the second option caused financial backers to pull away from funding the completion and release of the film though leaving the project in financial limbo as well. Personally, I'd like to see Bogdanovich finish it and then any unused footage (if any would be) could be included as a special feature. So I can see why financial backers would rather not support just releasing unedited footage or just a documentary about the film because it is a far more attractive option to see what a finished film would look like.

With F for Fake coming soon to blu-ray and being a fantastic late model Welles film that showed he still was an amazing filmmaker it would be quite wonderful to see The Other Side of the Wind completed so people could see what he was up to in his later years.

I Am Suzanne (1933).

My choices are "The Castle" (1968) with Maximilian Schell based on the Kafka novel that was barely released on video tape and never on dvd. My second is the funny "Uforia" (1985) with Cindy Williams and Fred Ward that was also only on video tape...both hard to find but glad i have and the only two video tapes i have in my collection.

I'd say Lady in the Dark.

I have to think about this one for a while. However, off the top of my head I would like Geronimo (1939) released on BD or even DVD for that matter. For kicks, how about Invasion of the Saucer Men, a favorite of my Creature Feature broadcasts on Channel 11 out of NYC.

Heaven Only Knows (1947) aka Montana Mike, a fantasy western.

I remember watching this in the 60s on broadcast TV and have always wanted to see it again.

Buster and BillieLooking For Mr. Goodbar

Mine would be:

Brotherhood of the Bell, a 1070 made-for-TV movie with Glenn Ford. I saw it in the 80's on TV and thought it was great and have not seen it on TV since. It was done by CBS and Warner Brothers, but to my knowledge no official DVD has ever been released and I haven't seen it shown on TV since my original viewing. A Google search shows several presumedly bootleg DVD's and a YouTube version. I'd love to see this get a release of any kind.
Synopsis: A successful professor has his life disrupted by a secret from his past - in his college days he became a member of a powerful secret society, and now the society has a job for him.

Walter Kittel said:

Well, I see a VHS tape listed on Amazon for $100.00 so I guess it doesn't fit, but a film that I haven't seen since being broadcast that I'd really like to experience again is The ABC Movie of the Week from 1970

Tribes starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Darren McGavin. I'm uncertain how well it would hold up, because I've re-visited other shows / films that had a strong nostalgia factor and sometimes they work and sometimes they do not - but I wouldn't mind seeing this again.

- Walter.

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There are several of the ABC Movies of the Week I'd love to see released. IMO, ABC has missed out by not releasing more of these on home video. Others I'd like to see are:

Killdozer with Clint Walker

The Challenge with Darren McGavin

A Cold Night's Death with Eli Wallach and Robert Culp

Home for the Holidays (a nice thriller with Sally Field, Walter Brennan, and Eleanor Parker)

Goodnight, My Love a great homage to 40's private eye movies with Richard Boone, Michael Dunn and directed by Peter Hyams

"Breakfast With Les and Bess", also made for TV (PBS?), with Dick Van Dyke and Cloris Leachman.I like those actors; plus, as a fan of "What's My Line", I think the story is a thinly-fictionalized version of the morning radio show Dorothy Kilgallen hosted with her husband in their New York City apartment.The film *was* on laserdisc, but never on DVD or Blu.

Well, the first title that came to me isThe Cheaters ('45).It was shown on TCM a few years ago (after having disappeared from TV for decades) with a very nice print.Of course my number one choice would be the Fred Astaire Emmy winning TV specials An Evening With Fred Astaire '58Another Evening With Fred Astaire '59Astaire Time '60The Fred Astaire Show '68The first three were shown on The Disney Channel in the 80's. I don't think the fourth has ever been seen since it first aired. I know the major hangup is his widow's reluctance to release these (and I'm sure there are now music rights issues as well). The first one is one of the very first color broadcasts.

Porgy and Bess (1959)

This film has never appeared on home video in any format, has been almost completely unavailable for 40 years with only a few festival showings permitted, and was for a long time completely suppressed by the Gershwin estate.

It is a big candidate for Blu-ray, having been filmed and exhibited in 70mm 6-track magnetic.

The film itself is an Oscar/Golden Globe/Grammy award winner, starred virtually every important African-American actor of its day, is on the Library of Congress list of important films, and is the only filmed version of the classic play. I have seen it and it is excellent.

There are several of the ABC Movies of the Week I'd love to see released. IMO, ABC has missed out by not releasing more of these on home video.

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Alex, I like all of those choices. A collection of the ABC Movies of the Week has always been one of my TV on DVD Holy Grails. I know that some films have had individual releases (such as Trilogy of Terror, Bad Ronald, and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark) but there are really under-represented on home video.

- Walter.

My favourite fifties ww2 p.o.w. escape film is, Danger Within 1959. A great cast, & it really works well, it was never released on DVD. It shows up every now & again on TV in a battered old print. I'd love to see a pristine looking Blu-ray in the correct aspect ratio.

Warner Archives has released some of these (Dying Room Only comes immediately to mind), and I did buy commercial releases of Brian's Song and Duel. Like others, I'd like to have more.

Wasn't The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler part of the ABC Movie of the Week series?

Matt Hough said:

Warner Archives has released some of these (Dying Room Only comes immediately to mind), and I did buy commercial releases of Brian's Song and Duel. Like others, I'd like to have more.

Wasn't The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler part of the ABC Movie of the Week series?

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Yes, both of those were ABC MOW presentations and acted as pilots for the series. Most of the networks used "MOW" presentations as pilots for potential series. Charlies Angels and many other 70's series were spawned from TV movies. I was just looking at the Wikipedia list of the ABC MOW's; it brought back some great memories of my family watching these movies together. Lot's of titles I'd forgotten about and when I saw the title/synopsis, I went "Oh yeah, I remember that one!".