A RAISIN IN THE SUN — Ah, Phooey! (1 Viewer)

[Rick Thompson]

The definitive Porgy and Bess cast recording is still the 1985 Broadway Cast (Houston Grand Opera) with Clamma Dale.and Donnie Ray Albert.

 

[rsmithjr]

While I would love to see a Blu-ray of a restored Porgy and Bess, this thread was about A Raisin in the Sun.

Raisin is a very important theatrical element of the civil rights era and deserves more discussion and study in its own right.

 

[Mike Frezon]

this thread was about A Raisin in the Sun.

That's kinda debatable!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Although it would be great if Criterion could release Porgy & Bess as well, I see no reason to be anything other than delighted about the fact that they are releasing A Raisin in the Sun. It is an wonderful and important film which certainly deserves its spot in the prestigious collection and the excellent treatment it will get from them.

Furthermore, this release has no baring whatsoever on whether or not they will be able to release Porgy in the future.

 

[MatthewA]

Maybe MGM's new CEO will do less to prevent an eventual Porgy & Bess release from happening, but until then it should be interesting to see exactly how this film's disc will look and sound. Sony's technical standards are high and they have rarely disappointed.

The irony is that Columbia actually distributed the former to theaters originally, but they have no claims on it now. Raisin is theirs outright.

 

[Lord Dalek]

The definitive Porgy and Bess cast recording is still the 1985 Broadway Cast (Houston Grand Opera) with Clamma Dale.and Donnie Ray Albert.

1976 actually but you're very much right.

 

[haineshisway]

I saw that production when it came here to LA and played the Ahmanson - it was fantastic because - wait for it - they trusted the material.

 

[richardburton84]

Maybe MGM's new CEO will do less to prevent an eventual Porgy & Bess release from happening, but until then it should be interesting to see exactly how this film's disc will look and sound. Sony's technical standards are high and they have rarely disappointed.

The irony is that Columbia actually distributed the former to theaters originally, but they have no claims on it now. Raisin is theirs outright.

As far as I know, Gary Barber wasn’t involved in the suppression of Porgy and Bess, in fact whether or not they even have the rights is entirely questionable (The Alamo’s suppression on the other hand has Barber’s fingerprints all over it).

 

[warnerbro]

A RAISIN IN THE SUN -- great. PORGY AND BESS -- greater! It may never happen. For some reason the people who own the rights to this have vowed never to release it. You can see an edited, smeary TV version on YouTube. I love it. It has a strange, haunting quality to it.

 

[haineshisway]

Dear Warnerbro - did you just not read any of the posts in this thread, which explains all the problems - can't keep trotting out that some of the rights' holders have vowed - because it's not true and I made a lengthy post about it.

 

[Dick]

Well, at least we have that wonderfully evocative song, which practically emits actual heat, and has produced hundreds of quite unique interpretations. I could listen to these end to end for twelve hours and not get tired of hearing "Summertime."