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

[Richard M S]

I pre-ordered this Collection with some reluctance; I too have purchased some of these films over and over again and the price seemed too high. However along with new transfers for the musicals, my incentive was also the mini-book. (I am irrationally thrilled when I get a mini-book with my DVD or Blu-Ray purchase.)


However I just cancelled my Amazon pre-order with absolutely no reluctance.


The cost-benefit ratio is just not there. Besides, though we are only in April, I also feel like this will be one of those Collections I see around the holidays at some ridiculously low price point, which as per holiday tradition, is always lower than what I paid.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

I had On the Town and Anchors on order individually but have now cancelled.

Anchors Aweigh on DVD looks terrible frankly. and this appears to be taken from the same dupe source. Not interested and it's one of the weakest MGM post war Musicals. My library can live with the not much loved DVD.

But On the Town is so important despite the abbreviated score I will wait for a full restoration (which will probably never come.)

Very disappointing, but I suspected these were not going to be rescans and proper remasters, just like Band Wagon, which is clearly taken form their older master for DVD which I also consider a big disappointment.

I still have my pre-order up for this set but I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider cancelling.
I have Anchors Aweigh and On The Town on DVD and for DVD, I found them quite acceptable, even on the 70" (same goes for Take Me Out To The Ballgame). Was hoping for a big improvement but from RAH is sayin, these two Blus might be more like my Wanda Nevada Blu; better than the DVD but not by much.
Don't yet have the other films in this set so I'm getting something for my $48. Hopefully I'll be happy with these Blus but will be on the lookout for a true remaster & transfer (and will lead the charge on WHV to do them over and do them right).

 

[Robert Harris]

I still have my pre-order up for this set but I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider cancelling.
I have Anchors Aweigh and On The Town on DVD and for DVD, I found them quite acceptable, even on the 70" (same goes for Take Me Out To The Ballgame). Was hoping for a big improvement but from RAH is sayin, these two Blus might be more like my Wanda Nevada Blu; better than the DVD but not by much.
Don't yet have the other films in this set so I'm getting something for my $48. Hopefully I'll be happy with these Blus but will be on the lookout for a true remaster & transfer (and will lead the charge on WHV to do them over and do them right).

There is no doubt that these are far better than their DVD counterparts. That said, the 6x upgrade in resolution, black levels, gray scale et al, tends to point up the lack of gray scale in Mr. Iturbi's Opus. Not black crush, but seemingly from a problematic optical dupe.

Also, for those who wish to own these films on Blu, I would lay odds on the fact that they will not be seeing new work for the foreseeable future.

RAH

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

There is no doubt that these are far better than their DVD counterparts. That said, the 6x upgrade in resolution, black levels, gray scale et al, tends to point up the lack of gray scale in Mr. Iturbi's Opus. Not black crush, but seemingly from a problematic optical dupe.

Also, for those who wish to own these films on Blu, I would lay odds on the fact that they will not be seeing new work for the foreseeable future.

RAH

Well, glad I did not cancel. I do love these patriotic films by Frank from back in the day, especially since they went the length and expense to do them in Technicolor which I'm sure wasn't cheap back in the latter 1940s. A package to look forward to.


Now if we could only get Take Me Out To the Ballgame on the next Chairman Of The Board Set, Vol 2.

 

[Mike Frezon]

This is distressing news. Anchors Aweigh and On the Town were the central reasons for my pre-order of this set.


In fact, I had pre-ordered both the full set and those two titles individually. When the set dropped in price on Amazon to $48.xx, I decided to drop the individual title pre-orders and just stick with the set to get all the bonus features. (I already own Guys & Dolls.)


Now...what to do. What to do.


As of now, I'll stick with the order. Anchors Aweigh is an absolute favorite (not sure why there's so little love for it here).


And these two points from RAH are going to have to carry the day for me:

There is no doubt that these are far better than their DVD counterparts.


...

Also, for those who wish to own these films on Blu, I would lay odds on the fact that they will not be seeing new work for the foreseeable future.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

...

Anchors Aweigh - Mr. Sinatra's first real feature role, in a film directed by George Sidney, co-starring Kathryn Grayson and Frank Sinatra, and with Jose Iturbi firmly in place thanking the entire United Stated Navy aboard an aircraft carrier (albeit via horrible matte shots). The film would be of little value had it not been for Mr. Iturbi's role.


Photographed in three-strip Technicolor, it is presented on a BD-25, and from an older recombine dupe. No restorative measures here, beyond a clean-up. Virtually no visible grain, color okay, black levels off the board, with very little shadow detail.

...

I don't think "Virtually no visible grain" is a fair assessment for this one. There is a pretty consistent presence of grain throughout. I can't argue with "Black levels off the board", though. In the interest of fairness, I would also say they did an exceptional job with the lossless mono audio on this one. I also think the film has more to offer viewers than Iturbi. It's visual inventiveness, Kelly's creativity in one of the first MGM films where he was given free reign on all of his major production numbers, and the "at their peak" voices of Sinatra and Grayson do a lot to smooth over the film's shortcomings (such as the fact that it crams 60 minutes of plot into a 140 minute container).

 

[Robin9]

I also think the film has more to offer viewers than Iturbi. It's visual inventiveness, Kelly's creativity in one of the first MGM film's where he was given free reign on all of his major production numbers, and the "at their peak" voices of Sinatra and Grayson do a lot to smooth over the film's shortcomings (such as the fact that it crams 60 minutes of plot into a 140 minute container).

I'm sure Robert Harris's comment was made tongue-in-cheek. Iturbi's contribution is minimal. The contributions made by Kelly, Sinatra, Styne and Cahn are enormous.


I'm a big Sinatra fan so my judgement may be unbalanced, but the dance duet by Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra is a joyous gem and Sinatra's singing of those ballards, particularly I Fall In Love Too Easily, lifted the standard of popular singing to a new height.


I'm disappointed that Anchors Aweigh and On The Town have not been optimised but I'm still buying these two discs. The DVD of Anchors Aweigh, which I watched a few weeks ago, is poor quality, and I never did get around to buying the DVD of On The Town.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I don't think "Virtually no visible grain" is a fair assessment for this one. There is a pretty consistent presence of grain throughout. I can't argue with "Black levels off the board", though. In the interest of fairness, I would also say they did an exceptional job with the lossless mono audio on this one. I also think the film has more to offer viewers than Iturbi. It's visual inventiveness, Kelly's creativity in one of the first MGM film's where he was given free reign on all of his major production numbers, and the "at their peak" voices of Sinatra and Grayson do a lot to smooth over the film's shortcomings (such as the fact that it crams 60 minutes of plot into a 140 minute container).

I agree with Ken - I saw consistent grain here as well. And I also think the movie's waaaay too long for its minimal story!


I think people are misinterpreting RAH's comments as a total pan of "AA". Is it a great presentation? No, but I think it looks pretty good - and it certainly blows away the ugly old DVD...

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I'm sure Robert Harris's comment was made tongue-in-cheek. Iturbi's contribution is minimal. The contributions made by Kelly, Sinatra, Styne and Cahn is enormous.


I'm a big Sinatra fan so my judgement may be unbalanced, but the dance duet by Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra is a joyous gem and Sinatra's singing of those ballards, particularly I Fall In Love Too Easily, lifted the standard of popular singing to a new height.


I'm disappointed that Anchors Aweigh and On The Town have not been optimised but I'm still buying these two discs. The DVD of Anchors Aweigh, which I watched a few weeks ago, is poor quality, and I never did get around to buying the DVD of On The Town.

Tongue in cheek or otherwise, this is as good as Iturbi was ever used in a film. The inventiveness of the musical sequences (use of the Hollywood Bowl, shooting through glass piano keys, etc.) and contrivance of his character in a way that lines up with his limited acting range makes him downright charming.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Personally, We Hate to Leave and I Begged Her are two of my favorite musical numbers committed to film.


Sinatra was a real gamer for his dancing performances in Anchors Aweigh. But when you've got Gene Kelly as your personal dance instructor...


And, Ken, thanks for your comments about the quality of the lossless mono soundtrack.

 

[david hare]

There is no doubt that these are far better than their DVD counterparts. That said, the 6x upgrade in resolution, black levels, gray scale et al, tends to point up the lack of gray scale in Mr. Iturbi's Opus. Not black crush, but seemingly from a problematic optical dupe.

Also, for those who wish to own these films on Blu, I would lay odds on the fact that they will not be seeing new work for the foreseeable future.

RAH

These two miraculously arrived after I"d cancelled them, and so far no credit card charge!! Bizarre....

Anyway I am even more surprised they are as good as they are, much better than I was expecting. There's no doubt there has been some careful guidance through the transfers from DVD master to BD, and On the Town in particular is quite nicely viewable with a PJ setup, even though it's never going to look like a 2 mill Powell and Pressburger three strip restoration from Film Foundation. I thought the color timing and general image quality was quite nice, if not stellar and the lossless audio is a big step up. Those Salinger percussion parts!!!


If WB can keep this standard up on a number of the other unreleased Freed and WB Musical titles from the 40s and 50s which did look pretty good on DVD under Feltenstein's curatorship I won't be unhappy to get them at this level of BD transfer given the parlous economics of the business these days.

Obviously something like the 51 George Sidney Showboat and probably also Harvey Girls (which suffers from quite a bit of registration fringing) might need more attention.

 

[davidmatychuk]

Obviously something like the 51 George Sidney Showboat and probably also Harvey Girls (which suffers from quite a bit of registration fringing) might need more attention.

Those are the two I would specify as well. They're the only really unsatisfactory MGM musical DVD's I have, and they really suffer by comparison to all the others.

 

[Matt Hough]

I think The Pirate suffers from being too dark and from lackluster color which should be blazingly bright and immersive.

 

[davidmatychuk]

I think The Pirate suffers from being too dark and from lackluster color which should be blazingly bright and immersive.

I know what you mean. It should be magnificent, rather than merely serviceable, but I have increasing confidence in the Blu-Ray restoration powers of the good folks at Warner Archive.

 

[haineshisway]

On the Town - nothing to celebrate here - better than the DVD, but that wouldn't have been hard, but looking nothing like it should - it's never sharp enough, never colorful enough (the color is mostly not right) and this could and should look great.

 

[Nick*Z]

Sincerely torn. Viewed all three movies and have to concur, they are light years better looking than their DVD counterparts but not up to Blu-ray's standards. That doesn't make them a 'fail' in my opinion. It just doesn't make them perfect - which is disappointing unto itself.


I surely wish Warner gets right with their mastering and gives us more of MGM's musicals. Would kill to see Show Boat, The Student Prince, Holiday in Mexico, Silk Stockings, High Society, The Harvey Girls, Good News, Athena, I Love Melvin, Lovely To Look At, That Midnight Kiss, The Toast of New Orleans, Bathing Beauty and Million Dollar Mermaid in 1080p. None, in my opinion, have been satisfactorily mastered on home video yet!

 

[classicmovieguy]

I have little interest in these titles with the exception of "On the Town", which is one of the best Metro musicals.

 

[classicmovieguy]

Sincerely torn. Viewed all three movies and have to concur, they are light years better looking than their DVD counterparts but not up to Blu-ray's standards. That doesn't make them a 'fail' in my opinion. It just doesn't make them perfect - which is disappointing unto itself.


I surely wish Warner gets right with their mastering and gives us more of MGM's musicals. Would kill to see Show Boat, The Student Prince, Holiday in Mexico, Silk Stockings, High Society, The Harvey Girls, Good News, Athena, I Love Melvin, Lovely To Look At, That Midnight Kiss, The Toast of New Orleans, Bathing Beauty and Million Dollar Mermaid in 1080p. None, in my opinion, have been satisfactorily mastered on home video yet!

"Student Prince" looked OK to me, when I screened on an upscaling player, but the main issue is that it's in Ansco Color. It's going to take some work to bring it back to life for Blu-ray, but I'll definitely be a buyer if WA decides to tackle it.

 

[David Weicker]

Well,by my count, there have been 13 MGM musicals released on Blu-Ray (16, if you count the three That's Entertainment films).

That is a far cry from all the glorious musicals that Leo opened.

I spot checked both On The Town and Anchors Aweigh. Both looked good to me

 

[david hare]

I think The Pirate suffers from being too dark and from lackluster color which should be blazingly bright and immersive.

Absolutely it looks hideous, like Rio Bravo BD, brown and muddy with no true primary color registration and fudged blacks. God knows what possessed them with the source and treatment for this. I understood there was still a pristine vault Nitrate IB which used to get shown around.

That was then of course.