Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I watched through the 80's. No Never Cry Wolf in the video. No The Gods Must be Crazy either, which was on the Netherlands list. Plenty of other stuff, though.

Tell me about it which is why I mentioned it. I really hope it appears on Disney+ and/or given a DMC Blu-ray release.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well, so much for plans. I got sidetracked by phone calls from different siblings so I ended up being on the phone for hours. Therefore, "Black Hawk Down" got a postponed viewing. However, I was able to watch "This Gun for Hire" a couple of times today on Blu-ray including the very informative audio commentary by Steve Mitchell and Alan K. Rode. The video presentation was excellent and fans of this fine early film noir should be very happy. A big thumbs up from me. Veronica Lake looked really beautiful in this film and Alan Ladd had one of his best acting performances as Raven. The Production Code had a fit about that particular role.

This weekend's Noir Alley selection is "This Gun For Hire". Above is my thoughts on the 2019 Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.

 

[Matt Hough]

Looking forward to Eddie's comments on This Gun for Hire and also seeing whether the HD transfer will be used for the broadcast. Even though I've seen the movie many times, I'll still likely watch it since it's so good, and I haven't watched it in awhile.

 

[Mark-P]

Just in case some of you missed it, Sam Posten linked the following video from Disney about Disney+ that's launching in four weeks. Man, I hope "Never Cry Wolf" is shown on Disney+.

I think it may be the brief nudity that occurs in Never Cry Wolf that knocked it off the service. I notice super scary Disney movies like The Watcher in the Woods didn't make the cut either. I did just spend 35 minutes watching up through 1989, and here are the notable exclusions I found so far:
Make Mine Music
So Dear to My Heart
The Sword and the Rose
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
The Littlest Outlaw
The Great Locomotive Chase
Westward Ho the Wagons!
Johnny Tremain
The Light in the Forest
Tonka
Third Man on the Mountain
Toby Tyler
Kidnapped
Moon Pilot
Bon Voyage!
Big Red
In Search of the Castaways
Savage Sam
Summer Magic
A Tiger Walks
The Three Lives of Thomasina
The Moon-Spinners
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
Follow Me, Boys!
The Gnome-Mobile
The Happiest Millionaire

Way too many missing classics for my liking. Perhaps this video isn't complete or they plan to add a lot more as they go along.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Mark,

I seriously doubt that the video even with it being over 3 hours long captured all of the stuff that's going to be available on Disney+.

 

[Mark-P]

Mark,

I seriously doubt that the video even with it being over 3 hours long captured all of the stuff that's going to be available on Disney+.

I sure hope you’re right! I’ve already signed up for a year. Mainly to be able to watch some of their exclusive content, and to catch up on some of the remakes like Dumbo and Aladdin that I want to see but not necessarily own.

 

[B-ROLL]

I think it may be the brief nudity that occurs in Never Cry Wolf that knocked it off the service. I notice super scary Disney movies like The Watcher in the Woods didn't make the cut either. I did just spend 35 minutes watching up through 1989, and here are the notable exclusions I found so far:
Make Mine Music
So Dear to My Heart
The Sword and the Rose
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
The Littlest Outlaw
The Great Locomotive Chase
Westward Ho the Wagons!
Johnny Tremain
The Light in the Forest
Tonka
Third Man on the Mountain
Toby Tyler
Kidnapped
Moon Pilot
Bon Voyage!
Big Red
In Search of the Castaways
Savage Sam
Summer Magic
A Tiger Walks
The Three Lives of Thomasina
The Moon-Spinners
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
Follow Me, Boys!
The Gnome-Mobile
The Happiest Millionaire

Way too many missing classics for my liking. Perhaps this video isn't complete or they plan to add a lot more as they go along.

I doubt it. NCW was run uncut (so to speak ) on the Disney(R) Channel (after Midnight of course) when they were a premium channel. I had a VHS I recorded during a free preview... butt that had to be thrown out when I was "right-sizing" ...)

 

[Mysto]

I think it may be the brief nudity that occurs in Never Cry Wolf that knocked it off the service. I notice super scary Disney movies like The Watcher in the Woods didn't make the cut either. I did just spend 35 minutes watching up through 1989, and here are the notable exclusions I found so far:
Make Mine Music
So Dear to My Heart
The Sword and the Rose
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
The Littlest Outlaw
The Great Locomotive Chase
Westward Ho the Wagons!
Johnny Tremain
The Light in the Forest
Tonka
Third Man on the Mountain
Toby Tyler
Kidnapped
Moon Pilot
Bon Voyage!
Big Red
In Search of the Castaways
Savage Sam
Summer Magic
A Tiger Walks
The Three Lives of Thomasina
The Moon-Spinners
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
Follow Me, Boys!
The Gnome-Mobile
The Happiest Millionaire

Way too many missing classics for my liking. Perhaps this video isn't complete or they plan to add a lot more as they go along.

Your list kinda looks like my Disney want list. So much for D+ filling in my blanks LOL

 

[Matt Hough]

I think it may be the brief nudity that occurs in Never Cry Wolf that knocked it off the service. I notice super scary Disney movies like The Watcher in the Woods didn't make the cut either. I did just spend 35 minutes watching up through 1989, and here are the notable exclusions I found so far:
Make Mine Music
So Dear to My Heart
The Sword and the Rose
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue
The Littlest Outlaw
The Great Locomotive Chase
Westward Ho the Wagons!
Johnny Tremain
The Light in the Forest
Tonka
Third Man on the Mountain
Toby Tyler
Kidnapped
Moon Pilot
Bon Voyage!
Big Red
In Search of the Castaways
Savage Sam
Summer Magic
A Tiger Walks
The Three Lives of Thomasina
The Moon-Spinners
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
Follow Me, Boys!
The Gnome-Mobile
The Happiest Millionaire

Way too many missing classics for my liking. Perhaps this video isn't complete or they plan to add a lot more as they go along.

These omissions are the very reason I haven't signed up yet (along with no sign of The Mickey Mouse CLub or Zorro) being part of the offerings. Once the service is up and running, reports that some of these ARE indeed present will persuade me to join. Otherwise, I have much of the DIsney I could want on disc in some form or other.

 

[Robert Crawford]

These omissions are the very reason I haven't signed up yet (along with no sign of The Mickey Mouse CLub or Zorro) being part of the offerings. Once the service is up and running, reports that some of these ARE indeed present will persuade me to join. Otherwise, I have much of the DIsney I could want on disc in some form or other.

I did see a "The Sign of Zorro" (1958) clip from on that 3+ hour video clip.

 

[bujaki]

Several of the "missing" titles played on TCM hosted by Leonard Maltin.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Mike Clark's Blu-ray review of "The Set-Up". He disparages "Audrey Rose", one of the last films Robert Wise directed. I almost bought the HD digital from iTunes this morning for $4.99. Is it that bad of a movie?

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/the-set-up-review/

 

[Rob_Ray]

No, though it's a minor film, not one of Mr. Wise's classics, and plays like something made for 70s television, I rather liked AUDREY ROSE for what it was. It's creepy tale of reincarnation that doesn't wallow in gory shocks like so many 70s and 80s films do. Sort of a throw-back to his Lewton period.

 

[cda1143]

Mike Clark's Blu-ray review of "The Set-Up". He disparages "Audrey Rose", one of the last films Robert Wise directed. I almost bought the HD digital from iTunes this morning for $4.99. Is it that bad of a movie?

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/the-set-up-review/

Thanks for bringing this up. Another review.

https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4629rose.html

Chris

 

[Matt Hough]

Mike Clark's Blu-ray review of "The Set-Up". He disparages "Audrey Rose", one of the last films Robert Wise directed. I almost bought the HD digital from iTunes this morning for $4.99. Is it that bad of a movie?

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/the-set-up-review/

You can read my opinion of it here.

 

[Robert Crawford]

First time viewing of "Brewster's Millions" (1945) starring Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker, June Havoc, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Gail Patrick and Mischa Auer. This movie has been remade so many times, I've been wanting to see this 1945 film version for many years. Thank you, TCM. An entertaining comedy with June Havoc, particularly funny in it. Considering the part she played in this film, it's kind of funny that she was actually Gypsy Rose Lee's younger sister. Also, a shout out to Mischa Auer as his scenes with Havoc had me chuckling a couple of times.

A footnote, Helen Walker is another sad case similar to other talented actresses that should have been a bigger star, but bad luck and decisions caused them not to be and to die young in life.

 

[bujaki]

First time viewing of "Brewster's Millions" (1945) starring Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker, June Havoc, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Gail Patrick and Mischa Auer. This movie has been remade so many times, I've been wanting to see this 1945 film version for many years. Thank you, TCM. An entertaining comedy with June Havoc, particularly funny in it. Considering the part she played in this film, it's kind of funny that she was actually Gypsy Rose Lee's younger sister. Also, a shout out to Mischa Auer as his scenes with Havoc had me chuckling a couple of times.

A footnote, Helen Walker is another sad case similar to other talented actresses that should have been a bigger star, but bad luck and decisions caused them not to be and to die young in life.

Yes, I saw this at MoMA in 1976 (?) and found it delightful.

 

[Bert Greene]

Three other Edward Small produced comedies with Dennis O'Keefe I'd like to see circulate again, "Up in Mabel's Room" (1944), "Abroad With Two Yanks" (1944), and "Getting Gertie's Garter" (1945). I thought all of them were pretty good comedies. If anything, I thought "Brewster's Millions" might have actually been the weakest of the lot. But I'd like to watch them all again for a renewed evaluation, as my memory might be sketchy. I have the "Brewster's" dvd, but the others I haven't seen in decades.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just bought the HD digital for "The Bad and the Beautiful" on iTunes. With my luck, watch it be released by Warner Archive on Blu-ray in the coming months. Anyhow, my next movie viewing will be "Green for Danger" (1949) on The Criterion Channel. It's a film I never seen beforehand, but highly recommended by other HTF members and highly rated by film critics. It's coming out in the UK on Blu-ray disc so I want to watch it before doing a blind buy.

What did I tell you guys:

NEW 2019 1080p HD MASTER FROM 4K SCAN OF ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE!

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952)
Run Time 118:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English
Aspect Ratio 1.37:1, 4 X 3 FULL FRAME
Product Color B&W
Disc Configuration BD 50
Special Features: Feature Length Documentary "Lana Turner...A Daughter's Memoir"; Scoring Session Music Cues; Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Appearances are everything in Hollywood. So, when conniving moviemaker Jonathan Shields realizes few mourners will show up for the funeral of his equally conniving father, he knows what to do: hire extras. Kirk Douglas gives a magnetic, Oscar®-nominated performance as Shields, who turns talent, charisma and ruthlessness into film success, stomping on careers and creating enemies along the way. Vincente Minnelli directs this winner of five Academy Awards® that’s more than a compelling insider’s look at Tinseltown: It’s an opportunity for buffs to guess which real-life stars and moguls inspired the roles played by Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Best Supporting Actress Gloria Grahame and more.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Eddie's brief comment about "Framed" (1947).