Fox Cinema Archives Debuts 18 New Classic Films on DVD starting March 18! (1 Viewer)

[Robin9]

FXM Retro has been showing Henry King's CHAD HANNA in sumptuous color. Has anyone picked up the Fox Archive release of this one? If it is anything like what has been playing, it's worth getting; and maybe, just maybe, Fox's restoration team could work on it and release it themselves or through TT.
Dorothy Lamour, Linda Darnell and even Henry Fonda's blue eyes in a gorgeous color print...worth checking.

I watched the DVD-R of Chad Hanna last night. It's quite good and well worth buying if you like the film. (I do. Linda Darnell is my favorite female movie star and I always like the two Henrys, Fonda and King)

The colors are good. Blues and reds are vibrant and although the transfer has some difficulty coping with Ernest Palmer's and Ray Rennahan's more subtle shadings, in total I have no major complaint. The focus is slightly soft but I don't know if the original negative had soft images or if it's a problem with the remaining elements. Anyway, I emphasise slightly. The sound is good.

I'm pleased with this disc. It's so much better than the old VHS off-air recording I've been persevering with all these years.

 

[Thomas T]

Anyone pick up The Lieutenant Wore Skirts yet? There are no reviews for it on Amazon's site. I'm waiting for confirmation that it's actually 16x9 as Movie Unlimited suggests.

 

[lionel59]

Me too. No reviews anywhere and some website stores (eg. Deepdiscount) don't have it listed yet. The Letterbox transfer shown on FMC was very good. Let's hope the dvd has come from the same print and is really in stereo.

 

[rkirk]

Yes! The Lieutenant Wore Skirts is anamorphic widescreen. I haven't viewed the movie yet but was pleased to see the widescreen image.

 

[Thomas T]

Thank you, Mr. Kirk! Now I will order it with confidence!

 

[GregoryMesh]

Today's announcement:

 

[classicmovieguy]

"Magnificent Dope" sounds fun. Lynn Bari is always great.

 

[lionel59]

Don Ameche was a busy man at Fox in those days. Glad he finally won an Oscar late in his career (although I am not a fan of the film he won it for, apart from certain performances in it and the James Horner score). I recently viewed THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (which led to the telephone being called "the Ameche", see BALL OF FIRE for cinematic evidence of this) and SWANEE RIVER. I hope the latter comes out on Blu Ray. The Archives release apparently looks like the whole film was shot at midnight under limited lighting (!) The print I saw- from a UK broadcast- was brighter with good color however Fox must have a good HD master as it was a nominee in their voting procedure last year.

 

[Vic Pardo]

Don Ameche was a busy man at Fox in those days. Glad he finally won an Oscar late in his career (although I am not a fan of the film he won it for, apart from certain performances in it and the James Horner score). I recently viewed THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (which led to the telephone being called "the Ameche", see BALL OF FIRE for cinematic evidence of this) and SWANEE RIVER. I hope the latter comes out on Blu Ray. The Archives release apparently looks like the whole film was shot at midnight under limited lighting (!) The print I saw- from a UK broadcast- was brighter with good color however Fox must have a good HD master as it was a nominee in their voting procedure last year.

There were still Don Ameche telephone jokes being made in Mad Magazine in the 1960s!

Re: THE MAGNIFICENT DOPE: I've never seen Fonda looking like he does in the poster. I can't imagine him making a face like that, even in the movie.

 

[JoHud]

Re: THE MAGNIFICENT DOPE: I've never seen Fonda looking like he does in the poster. I can't imagine him making a face like that, even in the movie.

At first glance, I thought I was looking at Eddie Cantor.

 

[Doug Bull]

At first glance, I thought I was looking at Eddie Cantor.

Looks more like Keefe Brasselle.

 

[lionel59]

Here are the latest two announced by Fox Archives.
YOUNG MR PITT is a great historical drama

 

[Robin9]

Here are the latest two announced by Fox Archives.

Oh good! I've never seen Manila Calling but I've always wanted to. I quite like Carole Landis and I sometimes think I'm the only person who does!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing Manila Calling for the very first time.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Robin9, I "quite like" Carole Landis, also, so you're not the only one. I've always enjoyed this clip from Command Performance, "and Carole Landis will now sigh"-



Love her in Four Jills in a Jeep as well. I have candid photos my Father took of her with the other three Jills (Kay Francis, Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair) when they were touring the camps overseas during WW2.

 

[Robin9]

Robin9, I "quite like" Carole Landis, also, so you're not the only one. I've always enjoyed this clip from Command Performance, "and Carole Landis will now sigh"-



Love her in Four Jills in a Jeep as well. I have candid photos my Father took of her with the other three Jills (Kay Francis, Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair) when they were touring the camps overseas during WW2.

Those photos are probably worth a lot now because of their rarity value.

I'm glad I'm not alone in liking Carole Landis. I don't know much about her other than she was a contract player at 20th Century Fox and took her life in tragic circumstances. There is a book about her touted on Ebay but I haven't bought it as most biographies today about movie stars are fiction combined with malicious gossip.

I have more than once been offended by really spiteful gossip about her. I recall in particular a television documentary about . . . I don't know what, and some jackal made a truly poisonous remark about her status at 20th Century Fox. I remember exactly what the jackal said but I won't repeat it here because once something is stated on the Internet, it has a life of its own and becomes accepted as the truth. I'm willing to believe that Carole Landis was no refugee from the church choir and perhaps lived life to the full - good luck to her; I hope she enjoyed herself - but that does not make her some kind of leper. She was a good, reliable contract player who was never given a star role in a major production. For example I recently watched the Fox Archive disc of My Gal Sal - a sub-standard disc by the way - and she was given a role at the beginning of the fim and disappeared after about thirty minutes.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Those photos are probably worth a lot now because of their rarity value.

I'm glad I'm not alone in liking Carole Landis. I don't know much about her other than she was a contract player at 20th Century Fox and took her life in tragic circumstances. There is a book about her touted on Ebay but I haven't bought it as most biographies today about movie stars are fiction combined with malicious gossip.

I have more than once been offended by really spiteful gossip about her. I recall in particular a television documentary about . . . I don't know what, and some jackal made a truly poisonous remark about her status at 20th Century Fox. I remember exactly what the jackal said but I won't repeat it here because once something is stated on the Internet, it has a life of its own and becomes accepted as the truth. I'm willing to believe that Carole Landis was no refugee from the church choir and perhaps lived live to the full - good luck to her; I hope she enjoyed herself - but that does not make her some kind of leper. She was a good, reliable contract player who was never given a star role in a major production. For example I recently watched the Fox Archive disc of My Gal Sal - a sub-standard disc by the way - and she was given a role at the beginning of the fim and disappeared after about thirty minutes.

There are so many more displayed in a photo album that's artfully put together. Dad was stationed in England and Ireland and became an art teacher after the war. There are candids of Gable and Cagney, pictures of fighter planes, Portobello Road in London, everyday life in camp, etc. Yes, I've been told it has value. Fascinating real life document of war.

My avatar is a picture of part of one of his paintings.

I agree, let's enjoy the performances and beauty of Ms. Landis and leave the gossip to others. To me she always did a great job with sometimes limited parts as you state. And don't get me started on the sorry state of many of the Fox Archive releases.

 

[Bob Gu]

I like Carole Landis too. and remember first seeing her in the serial DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE, on TV. In addition to her obvious beauty, I thought her voice and the way she said her lines was unique.

She was the leading lady in many Hal Roach movies like TURNABOUT, ROAD SHOW and ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. You can see her in Blu-Ray in the Three Mesquiteers movie THREE TEXAS STEERS.

I have read that she was the fourth most popular World War II pin-up. I assume Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth were ahead of her, so who was number three?

 

[Matt Hough]

Dorothy Lamour perhaps?

 

[Bob Gu]

Dorothy Lamour, sounds right.