That's not quite correct. It was indeed originally published as simply THE GRACIE MURDER CASE, but when Paramount bought the film rights, they added "Allen" to make sure audiences knew who it was about. The publisher then changed the title to make it a movie tie-in.
Something that most people here seem to forget or are unaware of:
In the old days, release prints were struck from the camera negative. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that the elements for a big hit would ipso facto be in far worse shape than that of a then-minor silent that opened...
The "Crime Club" series' rights are on the murky side. Believe me, nobody wants to see the three Bill Crane features (based on Jonathan Latimer's lovable drunk P.I.) more than I do.
Don't hold your breath for THE MENACE. Columbia lost the rights years ago back to the Wallace estate.
As for the others: They had zero interest in putting stuff like this out even 15 years ago when I was there. I tried to set up a sub-license deal with VCI and they shot that down as well. And...
Oh, f'gawdsake, when I said "new" I clearly meant titles not previously released on disc!
I may be ignorant, but at least I understand the meaning of words when I read them.
We showed this at Cinecon this past September with both Nancy Olson and Peggy Webber Q&As. Astounding that a 72-year-old movie still has two of its adult cast members alive.
George has repeatedly said that 77SS and its brethren will never be released because of the staggering costs in clearing the music. (This is also why MURPHY BROWN never got past its first season.) However, I think THE ALASKANS is possible, because like the westerns, it takes place in the 19th...
One of my all-time favorites is in BOWERY BATTALION. The film ends with the Bowery Boys being locked in the brig, and their sergeant (Donald MacBride) turns to the camera and snarks, "This is the greatest finish of any picture I've ever seen."
Oh, for everyone! Groucho, Oliver Hardy, W.C. Fields, George Burns, Olsen and Johnson, the Bowery Boys, Bugs Bunny, ad infinitum. I love doing it because it invites the audience to become co-conspirators in the zaniness.
Thank you, kind sir.
Interesting anecdote: While rewatching it for the first time in eons of your Earth years to prepare, I was struck by how much it resembled the new movie I just shot this year, ROCK AND DORIS (try to) WRITE A MOVIE. The gag cameos, the pop culture references, the constant...
The film was produced by Gareth Wigan, who was Vice Chairman of Sony when I met him shortly after starting to work there. He was shocked that I'd even heard of the film and even more so when I told him I had a 16mm print of it. (The guy who sold it to me had never heard of it--he'd acquired it...
The original release was wonderful. The re-edit was terrible. I don't know if this third cut will be any better, but I'll be buying it for the original on disc 2.
The intimate nature of the film, including what looked like GoPro closeups of Branagh as he was going down the stairwell, pretty much demanded smaller, lighter cameras. It looked swell.