FOX MAY BE ON ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST, BLU-RAY WISE (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Time Disney was told that not everyone is interested in their Star Wars and Marvel films- many of which are rubbish in my opinion. Money makers- yes but classics -no. In fact I cannot think of any or their Star Wars and Marvel films that I would regarded as being a classic. Many or the Fox films are. In fact a massive amount are. They will be still remembered long after Star Wars and Marvel have been long forgotten.

Those Star Wars and Marvel movies might not be classics for you, but they will be for millions of other people that grew up watching them. No, Star Wars and Marvel movies will not be forgotten, despite how many times you or any other classic film fan thinks or says it so.

 

[Bert Greene]

Really enjoyed reading your memories/impressions of vintage treasures from Fox. What a wealth of wonderful material the studio gave us. And what a shame if the bulk of it winds up effectively off limits.
A few fond memories of my own involving 20th Century Fox's catalogue:
I saw "Cadet Girl", a 1941 musical with Carole Landis and George Montgomery on TV when I was about ten and loved it. Have never came across it since. And nowadays it seems as lost as Atlantis.
Caught "Walking Down Broadway"(1938) online last year and found it completely absorbing, with enough big city drama packed into its 75minutes to fuel a mini-series. Claire Trevor anchors the thing with customary excellence but she gets fine support from a group of talented Fox ingenues including Leah Ray, Phyllis Brooks, Jayne Regan and Lynn Bari.
My favorite of Alice Faye's 30's films is probably "Music is Magic"(1935). Her co-star in it is Bebe Daniels, delivering what may be that lady's best performance
I've always been a fan of John McGuire, an actor Fox seems to have had high hopes for in the mid 30's. He's a standout in Will Rogers' "Steamboat 'Round the Bend"(1935) and the Jane Withers vehicle "This is the Life" (same year). Have never managed to see him in his last starring part at Fox ,"Street of Memories"(1940). But that same year he was the main character in RKO's cult classic, "Stranger on the Third Floor" and did splendidly. This picture's often cited as the first genuine film noir. After a dual role in the under-rated "Invisible Ghost"(Monogram '41) with Bela Lugosi and Polly Ann Young (Loretta's sister), McGuire drifted into unbilled bits.
Also liked a couple of the indie westerns singer Smith Ballew made in the late 30's. Fox distributed them. "Hawaiian Buckaroo"(1938) is a breezy entertainer. Also solid is "Rawhide" from the same year. The latter teams Ballew with baseball great Lou Gehrig who proves a real natural as an actor.
Gene Tierney's porcelain beauty may have been a million miles away from the real-life character she played, but I found her "Belle Starr" from 1941 pretty irresistible. With Randolph Scott, Dana Andrews and perfect 40's Technicolor to sweeten the deal.
Anyway all of this is just the tip of the 20th Century Fox iceberg. And vintage Fox fans all have their own particular favorites. Darryl Zanuck Forever!

"Cadet Girl" (1941) is a Fox B that I've never seen, but been on the lookout for. Always sounded good. Another one is "Murder Among Friends" (1941) with Marjorie Weaver. Weaver was in another one around that time, with George Reeves, "Man at Large" (1941) which is pretty good. I also rather like "Careful, Soft Shoulders" (1942) with Virginia Bruce. The only B around that time I found a little below-par was "Man in the Trunk" (1942), that comedic ghost story. But maybe I need to revisit that one. Haven't looked at it in 25 years or so. Finally caught up with "Dixie Dugan" (1943), which particularly interested me because of its comic-strip origins, but the movie was only so-so.

Fox in the late-1940s had those Sol Wurtzel produced B's, which always intrigued me (perhaps mainly because they were so hard to run into). I was glad when the Fox Archive line put a few out. I liked the light crime/domestic-drama "Fighting Back" (1948), but found "Backlash" (1947) to be a rather muddled, uninvolving affair. The one I always most wanted to catch is "Trouble Preferred" (1948), about policewomen in training, and starring Peggy Knudsen and Lynne Roberts. I got several lobby-cards to the film forty years ago, but have still never seen the darned movie. "Tucson" (1949), a little collegiate-rodeo themed item with Jimmy Lydon and Penny Edwards has also been high on my agenda. However, I did see that other Wurtzel film starring Lydon, "Miss Mink of 1949" (1949), but found it awfully weak, with Lydon playing such a damp squib of a husband. It co-starred Lois Collier, whom I've always liked. Had hoped it would be better.

Still there are even some late-era Fox b-films which I've been wanting to see, like "The High-Powered Rifle" (1960) with Willard Parker, and "Police Nurse" (1963) with Merry Anders. You know, considering the sheer number of b-films she starred in, I always thought Anders should qualify as a 'b-movie queen,' alongside Beverly Garland and some others. But Anders seemed to be a bit short-shrifted by happenstance, as so many of her starring B's (mostly at UA and Fox) as a whole were not available and not run in syndicated tv-packages over the years, where they fell into deep obscurity. Anyway, I'm glad the Fox Archive line did manage to dig out a few of those early-60s b-films, like "Air Patrol" (1962), "The Silent Call" (1961), quite nice, and "Squad Car" (1961), a bit weak. Too bad they never got around to "Police Nurse." Or, "20,000 Eyes" (1961). Wonder if that Fox Movie Channel ever aired them. Haven't had access to that station for a long, long while, and haven't followed their doings.

 

[cadavra]

CADET GIRL is still extant. We ran a nice 35 of it at Cinecon a few years ago. Alan Ladd has a bit part!

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I’m a senior who grew up loving that beautiful 20th Century Fox logo and the stars and films it represented. As most collectors know, the whole Fox catalogue was acquired in recent years by Disney.
And that company’s attitude toward releasing physical media (beyond high profile franchises) seems to be save it for possible streaming or bury it in the vaults.

Ah yes, streaming: the revenge of DIVX.

 

[Thomas T]

Those Star Wars and Marvel movies might not be classics for you, but they will be for millions of other people that grew up watching them. No, Star Wars and Marvel movies will not be forgotten, despite how many times you or any other classic film fan thinks or says it so.

The nostalgists (for whom cinema ceased being important after 1970) have a skewered view of what is or is not a classic. They'll gush over Nancy Goes To Rio or The Dolly Sisters yet somehow a film like Stars Wars, a film as impactful on its generation as The Wizard Of Oz was on its generation is somehow not a classic.

And this is coming from someone who loathes Marvel's output. I detest them but hey, if it floats your boat, go for it! What I (or anybody else) thinks of them doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

 

[Thomas T]

Time Disney was told that not everyone is interested in their Star Wars and Marvel films- many of which are rubbish in my opinion. Money makers- yes but classics -no. In fact I cannot think of any or their Star Wars and Marvel films that I would regarded as being a classic. Many or the Fox films are. In fact a massive amount are. They will be still remembered long after Star Wars and Marvel have been long forgotten.

And not everyone is interested in Fox's Tyrone Power swashbucklers, Betty Grable musicals, Charlie Chan mysteries or pious Biblical bores like The Robe either! Disney knows their market and their demographics and they don't include you or me!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Those Star Wars and Marvel movies might not be classics for you, but they will be for millions of other people that grew up watching them. No, Star Wars and Marvel movies will not be forgotten, despite how many times you or any other classic film fan thinks or says it so.

In fact, sadly, those films may replace the classics that we all know and love.

A big part of the reason that Disney is refusing to release Fox classics is that the generation that grew up on them has slowly been dying out. Another reason, of course, is Disney's desire to promote streaming as mainstream viewing.

The classics that compromise the birth of cinema through (let's say) the 1960s are not nearly as popular with today's generation.

So, I wholeheartedly agree with Robert that Star Wars and Marvel will become more prominent movie classics for those that grew up watching them.

 

[roxy1927]

I'm no fan of Star Wars but to say it's not a classic is very strange. Very odd that Sound of Music has received no 4k.
Bob Chapeck has thrown in his lot with streaming so that more blurays seem unlikely.
But then they come out with Monkey's Go Home which makes things even more confusing. Will That Darn Cat or The Happiest Millionaire be next?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'm no fan of Star Wars but to say it's not a classic is very strange. Very odd that Sound of Music has received no 4k.
Bob Chapeck has thrown in his lot with streaming so that more blurays seem unlikely.
But then they come out with Monkey's Go Home which makes things even more confusing. Will That Darn Cat or The Happiest Millionaire be next?

Hey Vincent!

From what I understand, Disney has put all its eggs in its streaming channel.

Blu-ray and 4k releases are secondary and when they do occur, it's usually always a Marvel movie or "A" Disney release.

I am not hopeful Disney is going to put any of the Fox classics out on 4k. And The Sound of Music is a prime example (of many) that should be.

 

[roxy1927]

Bob Iger spent 71 billion to buy Fox. Outside of his own commission for brokering the deal(talk is he wants to run for president) what was the point of spending that much money when they already owned Star Wars?

 

[Beckford]

My feeling is not that 20th Century Fox vintage titles are inherently superior to the currently popular Star Wars/Marvel stuff. I just happen to like them better. Most audiences find their nostalgia in the favorites they grew up with. So in years to come the current generation will generally find more resonance in the blockbuster tent-poles of their youth than in "Captain from Castile" or "Little Miss Broadway".
Of course, there will always be viewers with an archaeological bent, fascinated by movies and movie stars that flourished years before they were born. But they will forever constitute just a small fraction of the total audience.
I guess my perception is that most of these Fox films are becoming prematurely inaccessible to the (admittedly niche) audience that's still around to collect and enjoy them. A shrinking group, granted. But we're not quite out the door yet.

 

[roxy1927]

Well I'm one of those still around and while those are films I love, and they are way before my time, the way I see people dropping around me that door is often closer than I think. I am beginning to understand Noel Coward's comment, 'I just hope my friends make it through lunch.'

 

[Britton]

I'm no fan of Star Wars but to say it's not a classic is very strange. Very odd that Sound of Music has received no 4k.
Bob Chapeck has thrown in his lot with streaming so that more blurays seem unlikely.
But then they come out with Monkey's Go Home which makes things even more confusing. Will That Darn Cat or The Happiest Millionaire be next?

I took the Star Wars comment to mean that the Disney produced ones are not classics, which they’re definitely not. I think they’d get buried too if not for SW still being a valuable IP. In a way they have been buried because you can‘t find a legal copy of the OOT outside of the crappy laserdisc port to DVD and even that is out of print.

I also think the announcement of the IMAX versions of the MCU films on D+ speaks a lot to where their focus is and will remain.

Still don’t know why they‘d pass up the money they’d get from licensing out their back catalog. Most people won’t cancel their D+ subscriptions just because you can buy a Fox back catalog movie on physical media.

 

[RichMurphy]

Still don’t know why they‘d pass up the money they’d get from licensing out their back catalog. Most people won’t cancel their D+ subscriptions just because you can buy a Fox back catalog movie on physical media.

I agree. With the growth of Disney+ subscriptions slowing, you'd think they would try to monetize their investment in Fox. I can't believe they bought Fox only to own the first six Star Wars movies and the Fantastic Four.

At the very least, they could start a "Twentieth Century Movie Club" similar to their Disney Movie Club. While not as accessible as Warner Archive, a movie club would at least make the older Fox films available.

I found it interesting that Discovery apparently sees the value of legacy intellectual property, since George Feltenstein's return to Warner soon followed the announcement that AT&T was planning to offload its Warner Media purchase.

 

[70 Millman]

There are Fox blu ray's available in Europe like Demetrius and the Gladiators from Spain in a much better print than the Twilight Time release. You'll need a region free player and will have to scout around on Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es. (Watch out for bootlegs there). I'm grabbing all I can while I can. Not Fox, but have the two Steve Reeves Hercules movies on bluray coming from Amazon.japan. There are interesting items out there internationally.

 

[TravisR]

I agree. With the growth of Disney+ subscriptions slowing, you'd think they would try to monetize their investment in Fox. I can't believe they bought Fox only to own the first six Star Wars movies and the Fantastic Four.

I think Disney is taking their time because of the relatively little demand and because they own them forever so they have no real reason to hurry.

Also, I think everyone needs to make peace with getting a Hulu subscription because that'll be where Disney put those movies in the U.S. Why put it on their biggest streaming service that many people already pay for when they can drive up Hulu subscriptions/money by putting it on their other service?

I took the Star Wars comment to mean that the Disney produced ones are not classics, which they’re definitely not. I think they’d get buried too if not for SW still being a valuable IP.

As a big Star Wars fan, I know the fanbase and I can tell you that every era of Star Wars movies is someone's favorite. There are people who loved The Rise Of Skywalker and think of the original Star Wars as some boring old movie. You can argue that any SW movie or TV show made after 1980 is simply riding the coattails of the first two movies but it ultimately doesn't matter because nostalgia dictates that they'll still be remembered and loved by some people.

 

[Bryan^H]

I've been waiting patiently for Planet of the Apes (1968) in 4K. I thought it would have been a no brainer on its 50th in 2018. I'm starting to lose hope now.

 

[Bert Greene]

Eh, I'm not going to get involved in that merry-go-round of a topic involving what constitutes 'classics' and such. I'll instead veer over to an aspect about old Fox films that sometimes exasperates me a little. That is, Fox Studios had an annoying tendency to re-use titles. Naturally, this makes sense when it comes to the fair share of remakes they made, like "State Fair," "Riders of the Purple Sage," "Seventh Heaven," and such. But in other cases, they just took an old title and plopped it onto a newer, unrelated film. Cases like these:

1. CITY GIRL (1930) Charles Farrell, Mary Duncan
CITY GIRL (1937) Phyllis Brooks, Ricardo Cortez
2. TOO BUSY TO WORK (1932) Will Rogers, Marian Nixon
TOO BUSY TO WORK (1938) Jones Family comedy
3. YOUNG AMERICA (1932) Spencer Tracy, Doris Kenyon
YOUNG AMERICA (1942) Jane Withers, Lynne Roberts
4. BORN RECKLESS (1930) Edmund Lowe, Catherine Dale Owen
BORN RECKLESS (1937) Brian Donlevy, Rochelle Hudson
5. CHANGE OF HEART (1934) Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell
CHANGE OF HEART (1938) Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen
6. THE SPIDER (1931) Edmund Lowe, Lois Moran
THE SPIDER (1945) Richard Conte, Faye Marlowe
7. QUICK MILLIONS (1931) Spencer Tracy, Marguerite Churchill
QUICK MILLIONS (1939) Jones Family comedy
8. HALF ANGEL (1936) Frances Dee, Brian Donlevy
HALF ANGEL (1951) Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten
9. UP THE RIVER (1930) Spencer Tracy, Warren Hymer
UP THE RIVER (1938) Preston Foster, Tony Martin
10. A HOLY TERROR (1931) George O'Brien, Sally Eilers
THE HOLY TERROR (1937) Jane Withers, Tony Martin
11. SCOTLAND YARD (1930) Edmund Lowe, Joan Bennett
SCOTLAND YARD (1942) Nancy Kelly, Edmund Gwenn
12. WOMAN WISE (1928) William Russell, June Collyer
WOMAN WISE (1937) Rochelle Hudson, Michael Whalen
13. DANGEROUSLY YOURS (1932) Warner Baxter, Miriam Jordan
DANGEROUSLY YOURS (1937) Cesar Romero, Phyllis Brooks
14. FAIR WARNING (1930) George O'Brien, Louise Huntington
FAIR WARNING (1937) J. Edward Bromberg, Betty Furness
15. THE ESCAPE (1928) William Russell, Virginia Valli
THE ESCAPE (1939) Kane Richmond, Amanda Duff

Probably a few others as well. Pointless minutia, I suppose, but it's tripped me up a few times in the past, between encountering incorrect tv-listings or ordering old movie stills.

 

[Beckford]

In those pre-TV days I suppose the studio figured the earlier version was pretty much forgotten
in most cases, especially if we're talking about B pictures. Possibly they'd copyrighted the title for a certain time and wanted to wring a little more value out of the deal. Maybe even figured they could take a decent title and match it up with a better script this time around.
Once vintage movie titles became regular night and day fodder on local TV stations in the 50's and 60's, then, of course, the redundant titles could become a mild annoyance, I suppose.

 

[Sam Favate]

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN(1945) Gene Tierney *

This came out on blu-ray as a Criterion.

Leave Her to Heaven

Novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) seems to have found the perfect woman in Ellen (Gene Tierney), a beautiful socialite who initiates a whirlwind romance and steers him into marriage before he can think twice. Yet the glassy surface of Ellen’s devotion soon reveals monstrous depths, as...

criterion.com