UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Mummy - Universal Classic Monsters 2 -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Will Krupp]

It was what the studio was geared to it was in fact their bread and butter kept their studio afloat barely until James Whale started going behind schedule on Show Boat and John Stahl spent a fortune too bad Show Boat did not save the Leammle's and Whale and Leammle Jr wound up forgotten

Stahl's deal with Universal made him practically his own boss and he answered to no one. Universal's real issue at the time was that Junior was spending too much time and money chasing the first run market (they had no theaters) and that strategy took too long to pay off. Show Boat was a hit but it came too late, the Laemmle's were already gone and the short lived Robert Cochrane/Charles Rodgers regime (which followed) got the credit, as much good as it did them. They themselves were out by 1938 with the discovery of Deanna Durbin being the one remnant of their time there about which they could be proud.

 

[RobertMG]

Stahl's deal with Universal made him practically his own boss and he answered to no one. Universal's real issue at the time was that Junior was spending too much time and money chasing the first run market (they had no theaters) and that strategy took too long to pay off. Show Boat was a hit but it came too late, the Laemmle's were already gone and the short lived Robert Cochrane/Charles Rodgers regime (which followed) got the credit, as much good as it did them. They themselves were out by 1938 with the discovery of Deanna Durbin being the one remnant of their time there about which they could be proud.

Wonderfully informative === then came Abbott and Costello! Were they the only studio w.o their own theaters?

 

[Will Krupp]

Wonderfully informative === then came Abbott and Costello! Were they the only studio w.o their own theaters?

Not counting poverty row studios and independents, Universal and Columbia were considered the "major minors" because they maintained extensive production facilities without the vertical integration of Loew's/MGM, Stanley/Warner, Paramount, Fox or RKO (the big 5.) United Artists did it the opposite way, owning theaters without a centralized production facility.

Universal embarked on a theater buying program in the 1920s, but they were sold to finance Junior's first bid for the big time in 1929-1930, including All Quiet on the Western Front.

Abbott & Costello was an aberration for the Nate Blumberg/Cliff Work regime (the "New" New Universal) of 1938-1946. It was a low cost/high yield formula that took the industry completely by surprise.

Cliff Work saved Universal in the late 1930's. He was a production chief with no ego and he was content with concentrating his efforts on the "low" end of the production scale. He tightly oversaw the studio's life blood (programmers, B movies, and serials) and left the "A" features completely to his producers. Both Junior Laemmle and Charles Rodgers made the mistake of wasting too much of their time and energy only on the "A" features while ignoring the rest of the studio's output. The Blumberg/Work team cut the studio's deficit to $500,000 in their first year, made a profit of $1,000,000 in their second and stayed at Universal until the 1946 merger with International (another attempt for the studio to go highbrow.)

 

[RobertMG]

Not counting poverty row studios and independents, Universal and Columbia were considered the "major minors" because they maintained extensive production facilities without the vertical integration of Loew's/MGM, Stanley/Warner, Paramount, Fox or RKO (the big 5.) United Artists did it the opposite way, owning theaters without a centralized production facility.

Universal embarked on a theater buying program in the 1920s, but they were sold to finance Junior's first bid for the big time in 1929-1930, including All Quiet on the Western Front.

Abbott & Costello was an aberration for the Nate Blumberg/Cliff Work regime (the "New" New Universal) of 1938-1946. It was a low cost/high yield formula that took the industry completely by surprise.

Cliff Work saved Universal in the late 1930's. He was a production chief with no ego and he was content with concentrating his efforts on the "low" end of the production scale. He tightly oversaw the studio's life blood (programmers, B movies, and serials) and left the "A" features completely to his producers. Both Junior Laemmle and Charles Rodgers made the mistake of wasting too much of their time and energy only on the "A" features while ignoring the rest of the studio's output. The Blumberg/Work team cut the studio's deficit to $500,000 in their first year, made a profit of $1,000,000 in their second and stayed at Universal until the 1946 merger with International (another attempt for the studio to go highbrow.)

Amazing history! Thank you!

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Forgettable? Hardly. While Pierce and his work were amazing, he was just one genius among several who made these films what they are, and THEIR accomplishments don't deserve to be diminished in order to praise the makeup work. At all.

Ok I used the wrong wrong word. ‘Less than they are’- whatever that word is. Vocabulary is not my forté, mathematics is. Sorry to offend.
I was just trying to point out that make-up artists rarely get mentioned ever and Pierce was in a league of his own.

 

[RobertMG]

Amazing history! Thank you!

Wasnt Goldwyn Studios in reality United Artists Studio until he drove mary Pickford nuts by changing the name to Samuel Goldwyn Studios

 

[Will Krupp]

Wasnt Goldwyn Studios in reality United Artists Studio until he drove mary Pickford nuts by changing the name to Samuel Goldwyn Studios

No?

We're getting far afield of The Mummy so I would recommend researching it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Artists

 

[RobertMG]

No?

We're getting far afield of The Mummy so I would recommend researching it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Artists

Okay will ---- sorry for wandering a bit. Back to the Mummy and other frights!

 

[Capt D McMars]

This movie is all about the genius of Jack Pierce the makeup artist also responsible for Frankenstein. Without him they’d be forgettable.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pierce_(make-up_artist)

Jack was king of the Monsters!!

 

[RobertMG]

Jack was king of the Monsters!!

Great pics!

 

[Nelson Au]

Sorry if this was covered in the other reviews and Words About, are the titles in this Universal Monsters Volume 2 as well as the first Universal Monsters set, are the new 4K discs mastered from a new 4K harvest, or from the same 4K harvest of film elements for the previous blu rays? And then tweaked and reworked for the basis of the 4K discs?

 

[Worth]

Sorry if this was covered in the other reviews and Words About, are the titles in this Universal Monsters Volume 2 as well as the first Universal Monsters set, are the new 4K discs mastered from a new 4K harvest, or from the same 4K harvest of film elements for the previous blu rays? And then tweaked and reworked for the basis of the 4K discs?

Phantom of the Opera is from a new master - I think the rest are from the same as the blu-rays.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for the clarification Nick!

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Saw this in a vintage shop in Cold Spring NY this weekend!

 

[Dave H]

Very similar to the 2017 Blu-ray. A tiny bit more resolution, but it's minor from a proper seating distance. They've done a very nice (delicate) job with the black levels which is helpful.

I happen to love the film.

If you do, the upgrade (especially since the Technicolor Phantom, comes along for the ride) is worthwhile.

If not, the Blu-ray should suffice.

I watched this projected the other night and fully agree. Truly spectacular release. I did look at some of the BD afterward and agree; the UHD BD is a nice, albeit small overall improvement/refinement. But it truly feels like THE definitive release of a great monster classic. The story is told so well within 1:13 minutes.

 

[Wayne Klein]

This movie is all about the genius of Jack Pierce the makeup artist also responsible for Frankenstein. Without him they’d be forgettable.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pierce_(make-up_artist)

I could disagree more. The make up, as brilliant as it is, is just part of the equation.

 

[Wayne Klein]

Saw this in a vintage shop in Cold Spring NY this weekend! View attachment 160574

looks like the old Aurora model kit.

 

[Capt D McMars]

I could disagree more. The make up, as brilliant as it is, is just part of the equation.

Agreed, the makeup helps to elevate the film but not define or validate it. Jack Pierce's amazing work blends seamlessly with the actors, to harmonize with those actors, to better express thier "interpretation" of the charcters they inhabit.

 

[Alan Tully]

looks like the old Aurora model kit.

Yup, it looks like one of those Aurora model kits that were advertised in the back pages of Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine back in the early sixties (I used to love looking at all the horror stuff on those pages, but they all seemed so far away to an 11 year old in the UK), those kits must be worth a bit now.

I love those Universal Legacy Blu-ray sets (they look so good). The Mummy & Frankenstein are favourites, it's about I looked at them again.

 

[Alan Tully]

I watched The Mummy last night (just the Blu-ray), it does look amazing for a 1932 film, & still works a treat. Not really a horror film, more fantasy really. I'm going through the whole box, next is the larky Mummy's Hand (the template for all the mummy films that followed), I'll miss out the boring Mummy's Tomb, but the last two are fun, The Mummy's Ghost & The Mummy's Curse. I'm not sure if we'll ever get 4Ks of the whole set, they could release them individually & reuse those lovely garish VHS covers, that would get them a few extra sales.