Billy Budd Rip Off (1 Viewer)

[JohnOPR]

Has anyone besides me purchased the recently released movie, "Billy Budd", for an incredibly expensive price and felt just a tad disappointed? Such a fine movie, with such a lousy transfer....and no extras whatsoever. To be honest, when I looked at the playing side of the disc, I thought that I had bought myself a bootleg....a "burned" copy. However, judging from the comments of others on the Amazon site, I guess this was not the case. I suppose I'll just have to live with what I bought, although I'm less than satisfied.

 

[John Hodson]

The distributors 'Allied Artists', IIRC, are indeed a bunch of rip-off merchants who have nothing to do with the studio of the same name. It's a crying shame that this magnificent film has been given such shoddy treatment.

 

[Dick]

Help, Warner Bros, HELP!!!

 

[Patrick McCart]

I don't recall this being in the public domain. Is this even in the original Panavision format?

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Speaking as one of the world's greatest admirers of Herman Melville, I did d on DVD! Mazanot even now that this rare film masterpiece had been released! Amazon seem to be the only e-tailer listing the DVD, which is always fishy, if you ask me.

From the Amazon reviews: It was shot in Panavision by the great Robert Krasker (The Third Man, Brief Encounter, Odd Man Out) but it has not been seen in its original 2.35:1 framing since the 60s. The pan and scan Key Video VHS was released way back in 1985. There was no Laserdisc edition, unfortunately. It is one of the great neglected film masterpieces, I feel. A magnificent adaptation of one of the most powerful pieces of American literature by a master of the psychological narrative.

The problem with the film is that the production companies who financed the film - Anglo Allied and Harvest Films - went bust after the film's release. Which individual or company now owns the film, is the great question.

 

[John Hodson]

It is being screened in anamorphic OAR on Sky Cinema in the UK.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

That's great news, John! Have these been recent presentations? When is the next screening? Damn, I wonder who holds the rights.

 

[John Hodson]

Very recent, but I hate to tell that I think it's stopped it's run; keep an eye out for it - it was a beautiful print BTW. It was distributed by Rank in the UK, so the rights over here could be - possibly - held by Granada Ventures?

 

[walter o]

I believe Warner holds the rights from their buy out of Lorimar (who in turn bought Allied Artist's library), but just like GOLD, some of these Allied Artist title seem to be open target for "grey" labels.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

It's quite possible that Granada own the rights. I just emailed an enquiry; I'll post the reply if I recieve one.

 

[Dick]

Are you listening, Warner Bros? This is a true classic....

BTW, It is not entirely true that BB hasn't been seen in widescreen since the 60's. Turner Classic Movies ran this film just a couple of times about five years ago in the 2.35:1 ratio. It was full of aliasing, but better by far than nothing, which is what we have on DVD.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Ah, TCM showed it? Surely then, Warner knows of this one; it is strange that they have yet to release it. But then, they still have a few gems from the 60s to dish out. Someone must mention this at the next chat.