ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME FOR A COMPREHENSIVE MARILYN MONROE Blu-ray set?!? (1 Viewer)

[jayembee]

Thanks. Well, I don't mind that price for 7 movies.
(Though I already have Some like it hot in 4K, so it's really 6 movies for me).

- Forever Marilyn Collection

Forever Marilyn Collection:Monroe, Marilyn,BLU-BLU-RAY,DRAMA

www.bullmoose.com

 

[jayembee]

Our best hope is probably third party 4k releases.

But most of the films are Fox titles, owned by Disney. Disney has to be willing to license them out for third party 4K releases to happen. Unless Criterion has any in their pipeline, that seems unlikely.

Some Like It Hot got a UHD because it was a United Artists release owned by MGM. The Misfits is in the same boat, so it might get a 4K release. Most of everything else is either with Disney or Warner.

 

[albert_m2]

Aside from the fact that it's Disney now which sucks for so many catalog titles, if something wasn't really adjacent to the recent movie, I'm not what would inspire Disney to do one.

 

[sultan of cinema]

No issues with a Monroe box set, but wouldn't hold my breath with Disney in control. What does intrigue me is an Elizabeth Taylor set! Would love to have both Butterfield 8 and The Sandpiper, which I saw theatrically. I know they are both MGM titles.

 

[Worth]

...What does intrigue me is an Elizabeth Taylor set! Would love to have both Butterfield 8 and The Sandpiper, which I saw theatrically. I know they are both MGM titles.

Warner has them now.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

No issues with a Monroe box set, but wouldn't hold my breath with Disney in control. What does intrigue me is an Elizabeth Taylor set! Would love to have both Butterfield 8 and The Sandpiper, which I saw theatrically. I know they are both MGM titles.

WAC doesn't really go in for box sets, but I think we have a good shot at seeing both of those films released on Blu-ray individually. BUtterfield 8 was on a list of titles Mr. Feltenstein was asked about and replied that all were good candidates for release, so that bodes well. And The Sandpiper, with its majestic Big Sur backdrop (for those scenes that weren't shot on a soundstage in Paris, lol), would look sensational.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I would be interested if they care to revisit Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on 4K. I don't know what to say about the current blu-ray, except that it looks like it was filmed on location at Madame Tussaud's.

 

[roxy1927]

Due to the good reviews of both Blonds and Millionaire on bluray. com I purchased them both. Haven't seen them but it is disappointing to now find out they were poorly done.

Blonds at the Beacon on that large screen with that brilliant Technicolor back in the 80s was one of my great movie going experiences. A real time machine going to see what these films looked like first run at the Roxy.

 

[Robin9]

Grace Kelly won an AA, not just a pretty face.

I'm posted this before but it bears repeating: I think Grace Kelly's movies show her to be better as an actress than as a celebrated beauty. As an actress, she's consistently underrated. Beauty is a matter of taste and neither she nor Marilyn Monroe are to my taste.

 

[roxy1927]

Kelly is at her best in Rear Window. She really is superb in that. My favorite of her performances.

Monroe wipes Olivier off the screen in The Prince and the showgirl. While they were making the film I believe one of the elderly actresses who probably knew Olivier from way back said to him 'she's stealing the picture from you.'

 

[Emcee]

I'm posted this before but it bears repeating: I think Grace Kelly's movies show her to be better as an actress than as a celebrated beauty. As an actress, she's consistently underrated. Beauty is a matter of taste and neither she nor Marilyn Monroe are to my taste.

Quite true --- beauty is subjective. But so is acting talent.

In saying that, Rear Window is easily one of my favorite Hitchcock movies. I love James Stewart and Grace Kelly together, and speaking of underrated talent, character actress Thelma Ritter shows up as well, and she's always a delight.

Maybe I just haven't revisited Kelly's films recently enough to have a more valid representation of her work to discuss here more fluently. I do think she was a good actress, and she had strong, yet brief career on the screen. Most people agree her only true misfire (and box office flop) as a star was Green Fire.

 

[roxy1927]

I was surprised to read The Swan was not a success. It seemed to have been the perfect movie for her at the perfect time. But I think Showgirl was a disappointment financially for Monroe as well.

 

[Emcee]

I was surprised to read The Swan was not a success. It seemed to have been the perfect movie for her at the perfect time. But I think Showgirl was a disappointment financially for Monroe as well.

Ironic that you mention these two movies together. I've always viewed Kelly's The Swan and Monroe's The Prince and the Showgirl as being equally disappointing for both their careers.

The Prince and the Showgirl was Monroe's attempt to break away from 20th Century-Fox and do an independent production underneath Marilyn Monroe Productions. Monroe was psyched to be working with Laurence Olivier and Dame Sybil Thorndike, but the production was crippled with off-camera melodrama. One documentary said that there was a "glaring lack of chemistry" between Monroe and Olivier, and that most critics dismissed the story as a "slow-moving miscalculation". The movie wasn't a total financial flop, but when comparing its returns to what The Seven Year Itch and Bus Stop had raked in, it was considered a disappointment, especially with a star of Monroe's caliber at the helm. In short, the movie didn't quite help Monroe succeed as an independent filmmaker and screen star.

Likewise, The Swan was a muddled misfire for Kelly. The script, based on an old Hungarian play, had been tailored for her. She had even played the part on TV back in 1950. But the movie itself was just a slow-burning misfire. It was Kelly's penultimate film, and her final box office dud.

 

[An Elvis Fan]

What are the chances, if any, that Warner Archive will eventually release Monroe's "Prince and the Showgirl" and Kelly's "High Society" on Blu-ray? I figured that those titles would be no-brainers for them since both would be good sellers. Now that so many years have passed, would winning the lottery be more probable?

 

[Emcee]

What are the chances, if any, that Warner Archive will eventually release Monroe's "Prince and the Showgirl" and Kelly's "High Society" on Blu-ray? I figured that those titles would be no-brainers for them since both would be good sellers. Now that so many years have passed, would winning the lottery be more probable?

Despite all the flack I give it, I'd like to see a Blu-ray release for The Prince and the Showgirl.

 

[jayembee]

What are the chances, if any, that Warner Archive will eventually release Monroe's "Prince and the Showgirl" and Kelly's "High Society" on Blu-ray?

The chances are as good as their releasing anything else. Warner has several thousand titles in their catalog, a lot of which aren't up to snuff for blu-ray release, and therefore need restoration and/or clean-up work. Any specific title will get released when it gets released.

 

[An Elvis Fan]

Jayembee,
Thanks. That's what I figured. I was only doing some wishful thinking. I guess a fellow can daydream. Perhaps maybe someday!

 

[Filmgazer]

What are the chances, if any, that Warner Archive will eventually release Monroe's "Prince and the Showgirl" and Kelly's "High Society" on Blu-ray? I figured that those titles would be no-brainers for them since both would be good sellers. Now that so many years have passed, would winning the lottery be more probable?

I've read somewhere on this forum that the original Vista Vision elements for "High Society" are in bad shape and would need extensive restoration. I'd love to see it on Blu-ray, too!

 

[Douglas R]

Ironic that you mention these two movies together. I've always viewed Kelly's The Swan and Monroe's The Prince and the Showgirl as being equally disappointing for both their careers.

The Prince and the Showgirl was Monroe's attempt to break away from 20th Century-Fox and do an independent production underneath Marilyn Monroe Productions. Monroe was psyched to be working with Laurence Olivier and Dame Sybil Thorndike, but the production was crippled with off-camera melodrama. One documentary said that there was a "glaring lack of chemistry" between Monroe and Olivier, and that most critics dismissed the story as a "slow-moving miscalculation". The movie wasn't a total financial flop, but when comparing its returns to what The Seven Year Itch and Bus Stop had raked in, it was considered a disappointment, especially with a star of Monroe's caliber at the helm. In short, the movie didn't quite help Monroe succeed as an independent filmmaker and screen star.

View attachment 159118

Likewise, The Swan was a muddled misfire for Kelly. The script, based on an old Hungarian play, had been tailored for her. She had even played the part on TV back in 1950. But the movie itself was just a slow-burning misfire. It was Kelly's penultimate film, and her final box office dud.

View attachment 159117

I've always liked The Prince and the Showgirl. It has a strong nostalgic element for me because I saw it with the family when it was first released and I was 11 years old. I think the film was very popular in the UK. I certainly remember us all thoroughly enjoying it and talking about it afterwards. My father concentrated on taking us to see films which critics had praised (e.g. Bridge on the River Kwai, although I had to plead with my parents to take me to see Seventh Voyage of Sinbad) so I assume the reviews in the UK were also very good.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Quite true --- beauty is subjective. But so is acting talent.

In saying that, Rear Window is easily one of my favorite Hitchcock movies. I love James Stewart and Grace Kelly together, and speaking of underrated talent, character actress Thelma Ritter shows up as well, and she's always a delight.

Maybe I just haven't revisited Kelly's films recently enough to have a more valid representation of her work to discuss here more fluently. I do think she was a good actress, and she had strong, yet brief career on the screen. Most people agree her only true misfire (and box office flop) as a star was Green Fire.

View attachment 159111

True about Green Fire being a misfire as a film, but not true that it was a box office flop. According to the Eddie Mannix Ledger the film made a profit of $834,000 which was a very healthy ROI for 1954-5.

I'm sure the box office benefited enormously from the fact that Kelly had appeared in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and The Country Girl all released in the same year.