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John Morgan

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I first saw The Sea Hawk televised in the late 50s. I was about 12 years old and I just loved it. Of course, at that time, facts on films were hard to come by, such as edited (shortened) releases of certain films for reissues. Years later when video came in and I bought The Sea Hawk, I was surprised at how many scenes from my youth were missing...especially the night scene where Doña Maria is racing to the pier in the carriage to catch Geoffrey Thorpe before his ship leaves - only to arrive too late. It wasn’t until years later that I found out the 16 mm prints were the full 127 minute film and hadn’t been edited to correspond with the theatrical 35mm rerelease.
 

Will Krupp

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I enjoyed taking in the whole "Warner Night at the Movies" (and seeing the cartoon "PORKY'S POOR FISH" in High-Def!). Definitely one of the best Blu-rays of the year for me!

It's interesting in that Warner seems to have relaxed their self imposed "special features in SD" mandate. Unless I'm not remembering correctly (which is highly possible) all earlier special features have been in SD. PORKY'S POOR FISH is, indeed, in glorious HD on this disc, while the other elements of the "night at the movies" are still in SD (and interlaced!)

I'm finally sitting down to watch the whole thing now, can't wait!
 

Paul Penna

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It's interesting in that Warner seems to have relaxed their self imposed "special features in SD" mandate. Unless I'm not remembering correctly (which is highly possible) all earlier special features have been in SD. PORKY'S POOR FISH is, indeed, in glorious HD on this disc, while the other elements of the "night at the movies" are still in SD (and interlaced!)

Of the ones I have, The Maltese Falcon has the Porky Pig Meet John Doughboy in HD, and The Adventures of Robin Hood has Katnip Kollege, Rabbit Hood and Robin Hood Daffy in HD.
 

Will Krupp

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Of the ones I have, The Maltese Falcon has the Porky Pig Meet John Doughboy in HD, and The Adventures of Robin Hood has Katnip Kollege, Rabbit Hood and Robin Hood Daffy in HD.

See, I TOLD You it was highly possible :)
 
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Mark-P

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It's interesting in that Warner seems to have relaxed their self imposed "special features in SD" mandate. Unless I'm not remembering correctly (which is highly possible) all earlier special features have been in SD. PORKY'S POOR FISH is, indeed, in glorious HD on this disc, while the other elements of the "night at the movies" are still in SD (and interlaced!)

I'm finally sitting down to watch the whole thing now, can't wait!
It wasn’t so much as a mandate as just what was available at the time. They weren’t budgeting anything towards restoring the special features. So most of the currently available WNATM extras were SD. However a few of the cartoons had been remastered in HD in the interim and were used for Blu-ray. That said, they have taken to remastering trailers in HD in recent years.
 

Will Krupp

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It wasn’t so much as a mandate as just what was available at the time. They weren’t budgeting anything towards restoring the special features. So most of the currently available WNATM extras were SD. However a few of the cartoons had been remastered in HD in the interim and were used for Blu-ray. That said, they have taken to remastering trailers in HD in recent years.

Thanks, Mark!! That makes sense! :)
 

Robert Harris

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Back in the day, I paid around $300 for a nice 16mm of Sea Hawk. Beautiful original quality, but nowhere near Blu-ray.

I don’t believe that the public has any idea how much it costs to create. Fair price on this should be $35.
 

dpippel

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I watched this for the third time in two weeks last night with my wife, who'd never seen it and isn't nearly as much of a movie fan as I. She loved it. This film is so well staged, well shot, and well acted that it just sweeps you up and never really lets go until the end title card. I've heard someone describe it as "the Star Wars of its day", and I can certainly see that as a valid comparison. This Blu-ray is absolutely revelatory!

By the way, IMO Flora Robson effortlessly steals every single scene she's in as Elizabeth. What a performance!! I love that woman.
 
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Robert Harris

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File under: you learn something new every day.

From IMDb

Biography
Brenda wanted to be a film actress, all right; it's just that she didn't want to be Brenda Marshall. Throughout her years in Hollywood, she insisted that her friends and coworkers address her not by her studio-fabricated cognomen, but by her given name of Ardis Ankerson (with the addition of the surname of her first husband, Gaines). A Warner Bros. contractee of the early 1940s, Ankerson/Marshall did her best work opposite Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk and Footsteps in the Dark. From 1941 through 1973, Brenda Marshall was married to actor William Holden, a curious union that evidently soured early on (Holden's friends blamed Marshall, and vice versa), and was distinguished by extended separations and numerous extracurricular romances.
 

AnthonyClarke

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I pre-purchased and did hope I'd receive it this year. Seems not, since post delivery times on this last day of the year cease around now. Hopefully early in the New Year! At least I've done my bit and hoping Warners reciprocate with a Blu ray release of Captain Blood.
 

Will Krupp

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File under: you learn something new every day.

She came to Warner Brothers just as America's Brenda Frazier obsession was its height and she bore more than a passing resemblance to the most famous debutante in the world. I've often wondered if that's the reason Warner gave her the stage name of Brenda in the first place. Ironically enough, Ardis Ankerson always struck me as a synthetic "Hollywood" type name.

brenda.jpg
 

Bert Greene

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I always liked Brenda Marshall in "Strange Impersonation" (1946). Such a wild little b-film, with a far-flung plotline that manages to skirt odds, and wind up more endearing than exasperating. Marshall is great in it.
 

Robert Crawford

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The Sea Hawk shows what a great director Michael Curtiz was.
He certainly was, as he was underrated during this directorial career in comparison to the other well regarded directors, but I think film historians have since recognized that he was indeed a great director, no matter the film genre.
 

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