Blake Edwards on Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Alan Tully]

I imported the S.O.B. DVD to the UK years ago, I didn't know it had been deleted. A big favorite of mine, really funny & a great cast (& Julie Andrews topless doesn't hurt!), quite an angry film too. It really needs an HD release, but I suppose you could say that about hundreds of movies.

 

[Timothy E]

High Time has been announced as a BD release by Twilight Time on August 14, 2012.

I have not seen High Time yet so it will be nice to discover it for the first time in HD.

I would never have predicted a BD release of High Time before so many other worthy films by Edwards but I will buy any Edwards film that is released on BD. Edwards is, to me, one of those writer-directors whose lesser efforts tend to be more entertaining than the best efforts of most other directors.

 

[haineshisway]

Well, I will cop to the fact that I pushed Nick REALLY hard to do High Time - it was not a film he knew well, if at all. But it's a favorite of mine - I first saw it at a sneak preview about six months before it opened, at the Village Theatre in Westwood. The audience reaction was great - lots of laughs - and such a great cast. The Mancini score is fantastic, too. It has an Oscar-winning song (ironically not by Mancini) and should look great in its original scope ratio. It is as worthy as many of Blake's greats.

 

[Twilight Time]

Yes, there is no bigger Blake Edwards nut than BK-- ironically, as Bruce knows, we had been working on a new CD of the soundtrack at Fox a year or two ago which unfortunately had to be abandoned owing to rights issues...so now we have the opportunity to do the film with an isolated score...so win, win!

Nick R.

 

[Ejanss]

S.O.B., Victor/Victoria, and Skin Deep are being released today on DVD via the Warner Archive. 

Forgot that V/V was already on Blu--Otherwise, yes, it's been getting scary how many Warner/MGM catalog titles are going into Stalinist gulag Archive exile, and if it weren't for V/V being redeemed early, we'd still wonder about whether once they're locked in, the door has been shut on Blu forever.
S.O.B. hasn't really aged well: I watched Darling Lili just to get the jokes, and you can't really blame the studios for chopping that one.
(Darling Lili tried to "change Julie Andrews image" by turning her into a likeably nasty-villainous character, but that's not the same as sympathetic.)
In any industry-satire, the movie-within-a-movie will turn out to be just plain ol' bats**t WEIRD , and end up watering down the satire.
Also, I think this sets the all-time record for how many times Blake did the "Strange bedfellows waking up with the lights on" joke, which he's been doing since the first Pink Panther--Between that and his preoccupation with drag nightclubs, ya really gotta wonder sometimes...
Me, I just remember it for Robert Preston doing his V/V routines as the doctor, before his Last Starfighter comeback.
And Skin Deep...wow, Blake was getting pretty misogynist by the end. There's no plot here, JUST snarky disgruntlement that makes "10" look cuddly.
I just watch it for the bodybuilder babe, and the "Condom" scene that the studio was reduced to only promoting in the ads. When studios sell one minute of a movie and not the other 89, you know something's wrong.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by haineshisway /t/318505/blake-edwards-on-blu-ray#post_3918792
Well, I will cop to the fact that I pushed Nick REALLY hard to do High Time - it was not a film he knew well, if at all. But it's a favorite of mine - I first saw it at a sneak preview about six months before it opened, at the Village Theatre in Westwood. The audience reaction was great - lots of laughs - and such a great cast. The Mancini score is fantastic, too. It has an Oscar-winning song (ironically not by Mancini) and should look great in its original scope ratio. It is as worthy as many of Blake's greats.

"The Second Time Around" is a wonderful song, but it didn't win that year's Oscar. It went to "Never on Sunday." Nevertheless, I'll look forward to seeing High Time again. I haven't seen it in decades and never in its Cinemascope ratio.

 

[haineshisway]

 "The Second Time Around" is a wonderful song, but it didn't win that year's Oscar. It went to "Never on Sunday." Nevertheless, I'll look forward to seeing High Time again. I haven't seen it in decades and never in its Cinemascope ratio.

It's funny what's in one's head. I think somehow over the years it just kind of becomes ingrained that this song was the Oscar-winner - of course you're right and it wasn't, but I'd bet that many people "think" it was I recently made the exact same mistake with The Rose, which I just assumed was an Oscar-winner. That was even more embarrassing, as it wasn't even nominated. It had won the Golden Globe. When I told its writer about the mistake she was delighted and said that's exactly what she wants everyone to think - somehow this stuff just gets in the ether.

 

[NY2LA]

Something else for the ether bunnies here: AFAIK, only the stage version of Vic/Vic is on blu. Ever notice how similar it is to Lili? Scenes, characters, shots, sets looking alike... but nobody I know likes the cut version. Did anyone else see the "sneak preview" unfinished version of SOB? the topless scene was different.

 

[ajabrams]

In an ideal world, I'd love to see VICTOR/VICTORIA on Blu-ray coupled with the two other earlier film versions - VIKTOR UND VICTORIA with Renate Muller (1933) and FIRST A GIRL with Jessie Matthews (1935) - both terrific films in their own right. That would make a great package!!!

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by haineshisway /t/318505/blake-edwards-on-blu-ray#post_3918833
It's funny what's in one's head. I think somehow over the years it just kind of becomes ingrained that this song was the Oscar-winner - of course you're right and it wasn't, but I'd bet that many people "think" it was I recently made the exact same mistake with The Rose, which I just assumed was an Oscar-winner. That was even more embarrassing, as it wasn't even nominated. It had won the Golden Globe. When I told its writer about the mistake she was delighted and said that's exactly what she wants everyone to think - somehow this stuff just gets in the ether.

When you look over that year's nominees now more than half a century after the fact, I'd put "Never on Sunday" at or near the bottom of the nominees. "The Green Leaves of Summer" also lost that same year.

 

[Erik_H]

Last week, the VUDU streaming service expanded the list of Warner/MGM titles available for purchase, and those titles include Edwards' "Victor/Victoria" and "The Great Race" (other titles include "Ryan's Daughter," "The Americanization of Emily" and a host of MGM musicals). Each is offered in multiple formats, including 1080p (the 1080p version costs $19.99). Picture quality of the 1080p versions of "V/V" and "The Great Race" is very good. Not on the level of a Blu-Ray, but given the recent surprising Warner Archive announcement for "V/V" I wouldn't hold my breath for a Blu-Ray release of either of these titles any time soon.

 

[NY2LA]

In an ideal world, I'd love to see VICTOR/VICTORIA on Blu-ray coupled with the two other earlier film versions - VIKTOR UND VICTORIA with Renate Muller (1933) and FIRST A GIRL with Jessie Matthews (1935) - both terrific films in their own right. That would make a great package!!!

agreed

 

[NY2LA]

Last week, the VUDU streaming service expanded the list of Warner/MGM titles available for purchase, and those titles include Edwards' "Victor/Victoria" and "The Great Race" (other titles include "Ryan's Daughter," "The Americanization of Emily" and a host of MGM musicals). Each is offered in multiple formats, including 1080p (the 1080p version costs $19.99). Picture quality of the 1080p versions of "V/V" and "The Great Race" is very good. Not on the level of a Blu-Ray, but given the recent surprising Warner Archive announcement for "V/V" I wouldn't hold my breath for a Blu-Ray release of either of these titles any time soon.

Wouldn't it solve a lot if the industry found its way to making BluRay on Demand? Then the catalog titles would only need a good master...
In the meantime (though it's better than nothing) they're charging about what they'd get for a physical disc for an HD download with no extras.

 

[Timothy E]

Experiment In Terror has been announced as a BD release by Twilight Time on January 15, 2013.

Twilight Time has already released High Time on BD. I hope Warner Brothers and Paramount are watching, so we might see more BD releases of Edwards' films from those studios. I would love to see The Great Race, S.O.B. and Victor/Victoria released by Warners and Gunn and Darling Lili(extended and director's cut) released by Paramount (provided those titles were not part of the package licensed to Warner Brothers.)

I stand by my intention to purchase every Edwards film released on BD. I will preorder Experiment In Terror as soon as it is listed for sale.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

The fact that the PINK PANTHER movies haven't been released on Blu-Ray remains baffling to me.

 

[Worth]

The fact that the PINK PANTHER movies haven't been released on Blu-Ray remains baffling to me.

Well, the first one has been released. And there's a 50th anniversary coming up in 2014.

 

[Oliver Siegel]

Well, the first one has been released. And there's a 50th anniversary coming up in 2014.

You mean....2013?

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Well, the first one has been released. And there's a 50th anniversary coming up in 2014.

Wow -- you're right! I never saw that it was available before. I've never seen that anywhere, but I still should have done my due diligence.

 

[Worth]

You mean....2013?

Well, it was released in the US and the UK in early '64, but I guess it carries a 1963 copyright. Either way, the 50th anniversary is coming up, which would be a good excuse for MGM to get the remaining films out there.

 

[Richard--W]

The Pink Panther (1963) opened in Germany, Finland and Sweden in December 1963. So it's a 1963 release.
It opened in London January 7, 1964 and March 18 in the USA.
The release dates according to imdb:
West Germany 19 December 1963
Finland 20 December 1963
Sweden 26 December 1963
UK 7 January 1964 (World Premiere)
UK 8 January 1964
Spain 20 February 1964 (Barcelona)
Denmark 21 February 1964
Brazil 24 February 1964
Japan 29 February 1964
France 4 March 1964
USA 18 March 1964 (premiere)
USA 20 March 1964
Spain 29 March 1964 (Madrid)
Italy 5 June 1964
Hong Kong 10 December 1964
Portugal 17 December 1964
Turkey December 1966
Spain 3 May 1974 (re-release)
Portugal 16 May 1980 (re-release)
France 7 February 2007 (re-release)
Portugal 1 February 2011 (Cinemateca Portuguesa)