- Joined
- Jun 20, 2004
- Messages
- 3,527
- Real Name
- Richard W
I wish WB would reconsider some of the sets they've already issued. As in re-do them.
For example, THE PETRIFIED FOREST should be paired with the remake Bogart produced in 1956 for live television. Lauren Bacall replaced Bette Davis and Henry Fonda replaced Leslie Howard. I understand a kinescope survives in good quality, and that it's more like the original theatrical play than the film, although I've never seen it. Get Bacall to do a commentary on the teleplay, and hurry up about while she's still with us. Just think of it: a lost Bogart performance that re-unites him with Bacall. It's really their 5th film together. It's also a chance to see Hollywood's greatest actor re-invent one of his greatest roles. Who wouldn't want to see that?
I read somewhere on this message board that THE MALTESE FALCON had a Spanish-language counterpart filmed simultaneously. This is exciting news. I never knew that. I'm dying of curiosity to see it. Who's in it? Who directed it? Did they try to better it like the crew on Dracula? Naturally it should be included with John Huston's classic so that we can compare them, if it survives in adequate quality -- or even if it doesn't -- but if it survives in adequate quality, there's no excuse for omitting it. I can't muster up much excitement for the two earlier versions -- let them be a double-feature DVD unto itself, or consign them to TCM. It's the Spanish language counterpart that matters here.
I would like to see Robert Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE re-released with three additional supplements. First, an interview with the director in which he is pressed to explain why he regards the genre, the author of the book, and his audience with such contempt. Second, a kinescope of Dick Powell's live teleplay of THE LONG GOODBYE from the early 1950s, with Powell playing private-eye Philip Marlowe for the second time. Third, a CD-ROM feature offering Leigh Brackett's original screenplay, so that we can compare it to how Altman shot it.
And while you're at it, make THE DEVILS and the preview version of ALTERED STATES the most urgent priority in the home video department. No other titles in your back-catalogue are as hotly wanted by consumers as these two legendary Ken Russell films.
C'mon Warner Brothers.
Let's start using some imagination.
For example, THE PETRIFIED FOREST should be paired with the remake Bogart produced in 1956 for live television. Lauren Bacall replaced Bette Davis and Henry Fonda replaced Leslie Howard. I understand a kinescope survives in good quality, and that it's more like the original theatrical play than the film, although I've never seen it. Get Bacall to do a commentary on the teleplay, and hurry up about while she's still with us. Just think of it: a lost Bogart performance that re-unites him with Bacall. It's really their 5th film together. It's also a chance to see Hollywood's greatest actor re-invent one of his greatest roles. Who wouldn't want to see that?
I read somewhere on this message board that THE MALTESE FALCON had a Spanish-language counterpart filmed simultaneously. This is exciting news. I never knew that. I'm dying of curiosity to see it. Who's in it? Who directed it? Did they try to better it like the crew on Dracula? Naturally it should be included with John Huston's classic so that we can compare them, if it survives in adequate quality -- or even if it doesn't -- but if it survives in adequate quality, there's no excuse for omitting it. I can't muster up much excitement for the two earlier versions -- let them be a double-feature DVD unto itself, or consign them to TCM. It's the Spanish language counterpart that matters here.
I would like to see Robert Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE re-released with three additional supplements. First, an interview with the director in which he is pressed to explain why he regards the genre, the author of the book, and his audience with such contempt. Second, a kinescope of Dick Powell's live teleplay of THE LONG GOODBYE from the early 1950s, with Powell playing private-eye Philip Marlowe for the second time. Third, a CD-ROM feature offering Leigh Brackett's original screenplay, so that we can compare it to how Altman shot it.
And while you're at it, make THE DEVILS and the preview version of ALTERED STATES the most urgent priority in the home video department. No other titles in your back-catalogue are as hotly wanted by consumers as these two legendary Ken Russell films.
C'mon Warner Brothers.
Let's start using some imagination.
