A Few Words About A few words about...™ Jezebel - in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Mark-P]

I watched Jezebel right through last night and wanted to add some further comments. What a delightful film, even though I've seen it several times before. I keep humming Max Steiner's beautiful ballroom waltz to myself. Hypothetical question: Has anyone ever conjectured what might have happened if the story-line had gone on after the final scene?

I was pleased with the really nice grey scale and black levels which remained perfectly constant throughout the movie. Regarding the sound, I was able to listen through the centre channel rather than the "left plus right" default. I've thus reassessed the sound quality as 4 out of 5.

If you want to hear just how good optical sound of the period can be just listen to the accompanying cartoon. It's high fidelity a la 1938. The cartoon appears to be a 2K or 4K scan as it's extremely sharp with rock solid saturated colours.

I'm glad to hear that you have retracted your earlier assessment of the soundtrack. At the risk of taking this thread off-topic, have you not purchased very many mono Blu-ray discs? Because DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono is pretty much the norm. A few releases employ 1.0 but for the most part the industry has opted for 2.0 mono delivery. It's unfortunate that your equipment won't allow you to decode DTS-HD-MA with steering logic. If I bought a receiver that wouldn't let me use pro-logic on Lossless Audio tracks, it would go straight back to the store, because there are just too many movies in 2-channel (stereo or mono) that need that option!

 

[OLDTIMER]

DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono is pretty much the norm. A few releases employ 1.0 but for the most part the industry has opted for 2.0 mono delivery.

Usually 2.0 mono sounds fine, but not quite so in this particular case. Normally I can select pro-logic.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Hey Old Timer. You have a great memory. That article was originally in Melbourne's Age. by the way .. a newspaper I worked with for 20 years, as Arts Editor in my final years there.

 

[DeeF]

Just watched. Truly astounding. The audio alone! would justify the cost of the disk.

 

[PMF]

[...]The point also must be made that this is a true restoration. An expensive one. So for those who like to request classic films, and may not yet have purchased The Thin Man and Footlight Parade, be aware that your purchases speak volumes, and create the ability to restore more nitrate productions.[...]

In order for WAC to know of our support, is it better to order directly through the Warner Bros. Studio Store or will any supplier suffice?*

*i.e. Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, et al.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Australians aren't able to order through the Studio Store. Nor from anywhere in Australia!

 

[David Norman]

In order for WAC to know of our support, is it better to order directly through the Warner Bros. Studio Store or will any supplier suffice?*

*i.e. Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, et al.

There is no studio store. Unless every report over the last 4 years is incorrect, WBShop is no more a part of Warner than Best Buy is. Warner was 2 or 3 owners of the name ago

Australians aren't able to order through the Studio Store. Nor from anywhere in Australia!

Maybe I'm missing the point. You can order from Deep Discount/WowHD or Moviezyng (Allied Vaughn storefront) and some AUS still seem to be able to order from Barnes & Noble. MovieZyng doesn't have the best general price, but they do have stupid cheap shipping

 

[PMF]

Australians aren't able to order through the Studio Store. [...]

[...]WBShop is no more a part of Warner than Best Buy is.[...]

This is good to know. So, I am surmising that at long as any vendor's stock and inventory are showing the steady sales of "Jezebel", "The Letter", "Gaslight", "The Thin Man" and "Footlight Parade" that WAC will know of our collective support, no matter where the purchases have derived. Well, if that's the case, it wouldn't hurt for me to throw in "Summer Stock", just for good measure.
So, here's to WAC and their restoration of Nitrate films.

 

[David Norman]

This is good to know. So, I am surmising that at long as any vendor's stock and inventory are showing the steady sales of "Jezebel", "The Letter", "Gaslight", "The Thin Man" and "Footlight Parade" that WAC will know of our collective support, no matter where the purchases have derived. Well, if that's the case, it wouldn't hurt for me to throw in "Summer Stock", just for good measure.
So, here's to WAC and their restoration of Nitrate films.

I'm assuming a sale anywhere registers as support.

Honestly Allied Vaughn handles all the production/distribution of WAC disc based on the encodes/files that Warner gives them.
I would think if anything, MovieZyng is as close to a direct order from the factory as you can get, but I doubt a sale there is anymore important than one at BestBuy or DeepDiscount. 80+% of mine are purchased via BN sales though i will pay a little more if a 4/44 hits at the right time if they actually include any items I didn't buy at the last BN sale. I did just buy several at Target's B2G1 sale.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, all the product for any sale anywhere is sourced from WB or their designated affiliate, so it shouldn't matter where you buy it. Sales numbers from all retailers should make their way back to WB.

 

[PMF]

I'm assuming a sale anywhere registers as support.

Honestly Allied Vaughn handles all the production/distribution of WAC disc based on the encodes/files that Warner gives them.
I would think if anything, MovieZyng is as close to a direct order from the factory as you can get, but I doubt a sale there is anymore important than one at BestBuy or DeepDiscount. 80+% of mine are purchased via BN sales though i will pay a little more if a 4/44 hits at the right time if they actually include any items I didn't buy at the last BN sale. I did just buy several at Target's B2G1 sale.

My topic is not about finding a bargain. There are times in which such projects; that being the full restoration of nitrate films; deserves to see our full dollar support. Even through the Warner Store price of $21.99, "Jezebel", "The Letter", "The Thin Man", "Gaslight" and "Footlight Parade" are each at an individual steal; especially when one factors in the sometimes year-long efforts their in-house team had labored over and put forth over a single nitrate production. Many a time, we have pleaded for such deep catalog titles; as well as having that full expectation of a 5/5 presentation within its end result; and now we got them. Once in a while, I feel its important to pony up; especially when we have the full hopes of seeing more in the future. Sometimes our individual budgets can not do this; but within those moments of when and where we can, I say "Yes, absolutely, and more than glad to do so".

 

[David Norman]

I guess I show my support in sheer volume

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I CONTINUALLY show my support of Warner Archives. And yes, it is easy to get around the problem by going to other vendors. It's not as restrictive as Disney's refusing to put so many classic titles on sale anywhere outside of America !

 

[OLDTIMER]

In recent times I've been getting my WACs from WowHD who offer free postage to Australia. My shelves are stacked with WACs!

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I'll seek out WowHD. Sounds a great deal.

 

[Will Krupp]

My topic is not about finding a bargain. There are times in which such projects; that being the full restoration of nitrate films; deserves to see our full dollar support. Even through the full Warner Store price of $21.99, "Jezebel", "The Letter", "The Thin Man", "Gaslight" and "Footlight Parade" these are each a steal for the time and effort put forth. We pleaded for such deep catalog titles; as well as having that full expectation of a 5/5 presentation within its end result; and now we got them. Once in a while, I feel its important to pony up; especially when we have full the hopes of seeing more in the future. Sometimes our individual budgets can not do this; but in those moments where we can, I say absolutely.

I don't really think it makes a difference to WAC, Philip. I'm pretty sure they sell their product to distributors at the same (or close to the same) discount, so any price point you pay between that wholesale price and the "retail" price goes to that distributor. Back in the long ago days when I worked in a bookstore during college, our discount from the publisher was usually a standard 40% (I have no idea what blu-rays of today are but I can't imagine the PROCESS is any different) so any discounts we put on bestsellers, etc came out of our markup and not out of the money that we paid to the publisher.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I think Will is right on hte money. As long as Warner gets its full reward for the work done in issuing these, then our job as supporter is done.

 

[OLDTIMER]

The only problem I find with a lot of the WAC DVDs is the poor picture quality. Does anyone know the reason for this? I assume that first generation copies are not available.

 

[PMF]

The only problem I find with a lot of the WAC DVDs is the poor picture quality. Does anyone know the reason for this? I assume that first generation copies are not available.

Did you say DVD's? Hopefully, by now, you've given a spin to any one of the Blu Rays from WAC, at this stage of the game. If not, you are in for a real treat. You will absolutely discover a consistent quality across the boards and on all fronts; be it in picture quality or sound. The only reason for a WAC DVD is to see what remnants are left of non-BD titles such as "Mister Roberts", "The Nun's Story", "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Raintree Country", as these are the closest we'll ever get to having these films; due to the cost prohibitive funding that is needed for a full-out restoration. The race against the clock to save all films is a daunting one, to say the least. Make no mistakes, there will be some causalities of major titles along the way; especially if funding and contributions are not ever-flowing nor renewed.

Again, OLDTIMER, if you have not yet experienced the Blu Rays of WAC, I recommend you revisit some of your favorite titles through their catalog. Their Black and Whites are crisp and revelatory; whilst their Color fares are rich and expansive. Truly, you'll be experiencing something that is at once familiar and, yet, altogether a whole new experience and film.

Bottom Line: If its a Blu Ray and its from WAC, you can't go wrong.

 

[OLDTIMER]

Again, OLDTIMER, if you have not yet experienced the Blu Rays of WAC, I recommend you revisit some of your favorite titles through their catalog.

Yes, I did say DVDs. I'm very much aware of the excellent WAC blu-ray quality, having been buying them since they first came out. (In fact I did a mini review of the Blu-ray of Jezebel on this thread.) My question referred to the DVDs, especially those from the 1920s and early 30s which, as I said, are often quite poor quality. I would like to know what format these movies were stored in and how they were sourced. Presumably they are existing video recordings, but many are too poor to be even from reasonable 35mm prints.