Josh's Blind Buys: Watching The Unseen Collection (1 Viewer)

[Bob Furmanek]

In defense of Lugosi's performance in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN: he's playing Ygorstein and as originally scripted and filmed, the Monster had dialogue and was blind.

Here's one of the cut scenes where they discuss Dr. Frankenstein's missing diary.

 

[BobO'Link]

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is one I almost passed on, and I'm a *huge* fan of the original Batman series, because I'd watched the early trailers and they just looked awful. Because of those trailers I did a rare rental (using some free digital credits) from Amazon before deciding on purchasing a copy of the disc. That way I could avoid the purchase if was as bad as the trailer made it appear. I have many of the same reservations as you about the production. Sometimes it was just like watching a "lost episode" but others the seams showed just a little too much. I enjoyed it enough that I purchased a copy but have not yet opened tit. I really should do so to see if it plays better on the main TV instead of the Fire Tablet I used to watch the rental.

And... While it's a direct-to-video production it did receive a one or two day theatrical run so there's no cheating needed.

I've always liked The Longest Day and recently purchased a BR upgrade. It came in a 4 film set along with Patton, The Sand Pebbles, and Tora! Tora! Tora!. While I wasn't looking for anything "bad" I also didn't notice the image looking too "clean" and thought it looked quite good. Maybe I've gotten used to overly aggressive DNR (not likely) or it just looked so good that I didn't pay much attention (more likely). From what I read about the set I purchased, Patton is the "earlier" BR release and has issues. I didn't notice anything glaring and thought it, too, looked quite good. Anyway... The only issues I've ever had with The Longest Day is some of the rear projection shots early on. They're so obvious that they take me out of the film a bit. Thankfully, they get better and were practically dropped as the film progresses. It has some wonderful moments in its running length and, like Tora! Tora! Tora!, doesn't try to hide mistakes made on any side of the battle. Unlike many "all-star-cast" type productions it doesn't suffer due to all those appearances with only a few minor ones that just don't quite work.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

The shot that remains in the film where Ygorstein's vision is restored.

Whoa, pure evil!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The scale of the production for Longest Day was incredible. That they had all of those moving pieces that somehow came together as a coherent film is a remarkable achievement.

The BD isn't unbearably awful. And I'm sure this is a case where having a large projection screen works against me. I'd bet that on a TV it look fine. It's just when you start blowing it up that it looks less impressive.

 

[TravisR]

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders... Sometimes it was just like watching a "lost episode" but others the seams showed just a little too much.

Yeah, there were parts that I loved and parts that I wished were better.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Even though I love The Dark Knight Rises including it's ending, I really laughed at the shot they took at it.

 

[BobO'Link]

Even though I love The Dark Knight Rises including it's ending, I really laughed at the shot they took at it.

I missed that... but I had a hard time making it through that film (I absolutely dislike the "Nolan Trilogy"). If I knew the approximate scene/location I might watch that part for the "shot" but I don't know if I could tolerate another full viewing. It's just not my Batman (and I'm the one guy who liked Frank Miller's "All Star Batman and Robin").

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'm glad I passed on Batman: Return of he Caped Crusaders. I have been re-watching some of the old series episodes since Adam West's passing. That series is so much fun despite its campy nature and plot holes, and the BD's look terrific.

 

[Mark McSherry]

And there is that 'meta' moment in THE LONGEST DAY where Richard Todd (playing Major Howard) meets himself at Pegasus Bridge--

From wiki, the real WWII Richard Todd---

"On 6 June 1944, as a captain, he participated in Operation Tonga during the D-Day landings.[5] Todd was among the first British officers to land in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. His Battalion parachuted in after the initial glider-borne forces had landed with the objective of capturing the Pegasus Bridge near Caen.[5] During the operation he met Major John Howard on the bridge, and organized the repelling of several German counterattacks."

O, as IMDB put it---

"He (Richard Todd) was an officer in the 7th Battalion (LI) The Parachute Regiment. On D-Day this Battalion made contact with Major Howard at the Orne Bridge now called Pegasus Bridge. Todd was the officer who made contact. In the The Longest Day (1962) he played Major Howard and the meeting with Todd was one scene. "

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

The scale of the production for Longest Day was incredible. That they had all of those moving pieces that somehow came together as a coherent film is a remarkable achievement.

The BD isn't unbearably awful. And I'm sure this is a case where having a large projection screen works against me. I'd bet that on a TV it look fine. It's just when you start blowing it up that it looks less impressive.

I started watching it on Amazon Prime last week to see if there was any difference with the Blu-ray. It seemed like a different transfer but I started getting into the movie and didn't pay attention. Suddenly, I realized the Germans were speaking English - Amazon is running a different print of the film than the Blu-ray. I found it distracting, so I switched over to the (waxy) disc for the rest of the movie.

EDIT - it was on Netflix, not Amazon.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I started watching it on Amazon Prime last week to see if there was any difference with the Blu-ray. It seemed like a different transfer but I started getting into the movie and didn't pay attention. Suddenly, I realized the Germans were speaking English - Amazon is running a different print of the film than the Blu-ray. I found it distracting, so I switched over to the (waxy) disc for the rest of the movie.

I read that the studio had insisted they shoot an all English language version just in case, but that outside of some television airings, it's rarely been seen. (Wikipedia also suggested it may have been a bonus features on an earlier DVD release.)

I'd be interested in the English version as a curiosity if I had enjoyed the movie more, but since one of the things I liked about the movie was how it switched languages, I'm less likely to watch a version that removes one of the things I really liked.

In watching the Blu-ray, I was surprised that Fox used an element that had the subtitles already burned in. Normally, it seems like they'd go back a generation or two earlier to whichever version didn't have the subtitles, and then would include the subs as a player-generated option. Maybe the disc is overly tinkered with because they weren't using a suitable element for the transfer in the first place.

 

[BobO'Link]

I started watching it on Amazon Prime last week to see if there was any difference with the Blu-ray. It seemed like a different transfer but I started getting into the movie and didn't pay attention. Suddenly, I realized the Germans were speaking English - Amazon is running a different print of the film than the Blu-ray. I found it distracting, so I switched over to the (waxy) disc for the rest of the movie.

That's interesting. According to wikipedia:

Another version, which was shot simultaneously, has all the actors speaking their lines in English (this version was used for the film's trailer, as all the Germans deliver their lines in English). However, this version saw limited use during the initial release. It was used more extensively during a late 1960s re-release of the film. The English-only version has been featured as an extra on older single disc DVD releases.

That kind of makes me want to get out my DVD copy and see if that English only version is present - but it would be only out of curiosity. I've always seen it with native languages spoken and just don't think it'd be as good, or effective, with all the actors speaking English.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I made a mistake, the "English" version I watched was on Netlix, not Amazon.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#109 - ffolkes (1980) - aka North Sea Hijack
Viewed on: June 13th, 2017
Viewing Format: DVD (Universal)

ffolkes, originally released in the U.K. with the title North Sea Hijack, is an action movie from director Andrew V. McLaglen that gives Roger Moore an opportunity to plan an anti-Bond sort of protagonist. Also playing somewhat against type is Anthony Perkins as a terrorist mastermind holding several oil rigs and their crews hostage for ransom.

As the film begins, the insurance company Lloyd's Of London is growing concerned that they have been asked to insure numerous oil drilling rigs, but don't have a contingency plan should anything go wrong. They reach out to a private counter-terrorism expert, Rufus Excalibur ffolkes (Roger Moore), and task him with developing a plan, which he does. Soon after, terrorists do take over some of the rigs, and while the British government is unwilling to directly pay the ransom, they are interested in accepting the help offered by Lloyds, specifically, ffolkes. Had anybody else played the title role, the movie would probably be completely forgotten by now; it's a competent but unremarkable late 70s/early 80s action movie. (Having seen a fair number of films by Andrew McLaglen this year, this film isn't one of his best; it's not bad, but he's done better work elsewhere.) It's great to see Moore and Perkins onscreen, and I also enjoyed supporting turns from James Mason and Michael Parks.

Roger Moore is dryly hilarious as ffolkes, a character that's the anti-Bond in almost every way. Though Moore plays the role straight (as it needs to be played), many of the laughs come just virtue of it being Moore in that role. For instance, while Bond is a womanizer, ffolkes is a misogynist and practically seems to be afraid of women at points. Bond believes in the British government and armed forces; ffolkes thinks they're a bunch of morons. And while Bond likes all of the fanciest things in life, ffolkes would like nothing more than to be left alone with his cats.

ffolkes is not an impossible title to find, but one with fewer options than most. It has not been released on Blu-ray anywhere in the world as far as I can tell, and in the U.S., it is not available from any of the digital services. Though I would have preferred to have the option to rent the film or buy it in HD, the DVD version that is available was decent enough. The transfer has a very drab and flat look to it, but I'm not sure how much of that was intentional on the part of the filmmakers, and how much is the transfer itself. It's certainly watchable but never inspiring. The mono audio was reasonably clean and clear, and English subtitles are also available. The disc does not include any bonus features.

With the passing of Roger Moore, it was nice to have the excuse to revisit his Bond films, and when I heard this film being talked about on HTF, I was eager to give it a look. If the movie itself is a bit ordinary, Moore's performance is worth the price of admission. This isn't a film I'm likely to revisit as often as the Bond films, but I will probably check it out again next time I'm watching some of Moore's 007 entries.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

110 - The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
Viewed on: June 13th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Universal)

The Mummy's Ghost is the sequel to The Mummy's Tomb, returning Lon Chaney Jr. to the title role for the second of three times. Picking up after the events of the previous film, the story begins as a new high priest called Yousef Bey is summoned to the temple and told that Kharis, the mummy, has survived in America and must be returned to Egypt. Bey is told that Kharis can sense the presence of tana leaves being brewed. Simultaneously, back in the U.S., a history professor discovers some ancient tana leaves and begins experimenting with them, which has the unfortunate side effect of luring Kharis, resulting in the professor's immediate demise. Kharis is spotted by a local resident with Egyptian heritage (played by Ramsay Ames), and is terrified of the mummy, but Kharis takes a liking to her. Unfortunately for her, the soul of Kharis' beloved is trying to reincarnate into Ames' body. Even worse, after seeing Kharis' intended bridge, Yousef Bey also begins to fancy her. It's up to her boyfriend Tom (played by Robert Lowery) to figure all of this out and try to rescue her before its too late.

I enjoyed The Mummy's Ghost, but am starting to experience some diminishing returns with these Mummy films. They're enjoyable in and of themselves, but the later ones are content to repeat and recycle the storylines rather than coming up with something new. The atmosphere that made the original film so haunting is all but gone by this point. And while Lon Chaney Jr's makeup here seemed better than the last time, the role doesn't really allow him to do much. That the story was set primarily in America was a little bland to me; I liked it better when the films were set in Egypt. Seeing a mummy coming to live on the streets of suburban America seems impossible to believe; witnessing it in Egypt somehow seems more plausible. (That's an opinion I can't really defend but I feel strongly about it anyway!) I appreciated that the filmmakers provided exposition through dialogue rather than simply giving us a ten minute highlight reel of the previous film.

The transfer from Universal is as good as the other titles in this set, with very nice video and audio, as well as English subtitles. There were no bonus features specific to this film included on the disc.

The Mummy's Ghost was a perfectly enjoyable and forgettable b-movie. Lacking the atmosphere and freights of the original film, and retreading the plot of previous sequels, there isn't anything really new or compelling here, but if you're a fan of the series, it's a perfectly pleasant way to end an evening. While I'm glad to have seen it, I'm starting to understand why many people find the Mummy films to be inferior to some of the other Universal Monsters of the time. But at the very least, the movie zips through its running time, was fun to watch, and had a great transfer on the disc.

 

[TravisR]

110 - The Mummy's Ghost (1944)

...That the story was set primarily in America was a little bland to me; I liked it better when the films were set in Egypt. Seeing a mummy coming to live on the streets of suburban America seems impossible to believe; witnessing it in Egypt somehow seems more plausible. (That's an opinion I can't really defend but I feel strongly about it anyway!)

You're probably right that it's somehow more plausible (probably because a mummy's natural surrounding is a sand dune) but I love seeing the Chaney Mummy walking the streets of the Universal backlot. No doubt it was all due to the budget dictating that they wouldn't be going to a desert but I like the fish out of water aspect of the locale.

 

[PMF]

#108 - The Longest Day (1962)
Viewed on: June 12th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Fox)

[...]The black and white widescreen picture appears clean and clear throughout. The problem is that it's been scrubbed to death of any grain [...]

...and that ain't good, when one considers that the main event takes place on the sands of a beach.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

...and that ain't good, when one considers that the main event takes place on the sands of a beach.

Philip for the win!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#111 - House Of Dracula (1945)
Viewed on: June 14th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Universal)

House Of Dracula is the sequel to House Of Frankenstein, continuing the stories of Count Dracula (John Carradine), Frankenstein's Monster (Glenn Strange) and Larry Talbot aka The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr). As the film begins, Dracula has traveled to a mysterious castle seeking out Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens), who he hopes might be able to cure him of his vampirism. The doctor believes a series of blood transfusions from a healthy donor, like himself, might lead to a cure. While working on this cure, Larry Talbot arrives, hoping to find a cure of his own. In the course of trying to help Talbot, the doctor also encounters the barely-alive remains of the monster. But despite having the best of intentions, things eventually go wrong as the doctor is poisoned by Dracula's blood and begins to go full-on mad scientist.

Just as House Of Frankenstein was a lot of fun, House Of Dracula carries on with that tradition. It's not particularly scary, but it does have thrilling moments, and allows the characters to be something more than one dimensional cut-outs. In these films, Larry Talbot's character has always been given a chance to show some depth, but in this film, Dracula has our sympathy at the beginning, and the Dr. Edelmann character also appears as something more than one-note. This is a movie where I actually cared about the different monsters and wanted them to find happy endings, and I felt badly for them when the various plans started to fall apart. For a sixty-seven minute b-movie, I managed to get pretty invested in its story and characters.

Like the other titles in the Frankenstein Legacy Collection, this disc looks and sounds fantastic. English subtitles are available. There are no bonus features related to this film on the disc.

House Of Dracula was an enjoyable film, and it was great to see Lon Chaney back as Larry Talbot once again. Though I'm a little sad to be nearing the end of the box set, it's been great seeing these other Frankenstein films that I had missed out on until now.

 

[Nelson Au]

Josh, your recent post about the Frankenstein set got me to watch more titles I haven't seen yet, such as Ghost of Frankenstein. And while I've seen the DVD of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, I had not seen the blu ray yet and so I re-watched it the other evening. I was tempted to view the next title, or actually jump to the original monsters box and watch The Mummy. I've never seen that, except as a kid, on Creature Features, I saw some of it and it freaked me out, so I stopped. I wasn't bothered by Frankenstein or Dracula, but The Mummy was unsettling. But I may give it a shot soon.

With that said, I chose to take a total nonsequitor and picked an incongruous title I haven't fully seen, and I'm curious if it's a title of any interest here or other people's take on it. This thread has many westerns, sci-fi, drama and horror, but I'm not sure I've seen too many titles of this subject. Growing up, I'd heard about this title from my parents talking about it. A film that takes place in Hong Kong in late 1940 after WW2 and the upheaval with the communist government overthrow in China. The film is Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. I had the DVD ages ago but never watched it. But I recently saw a portion of it on PBS which was a widescreen version and it looked remastered so I checked for a blu ray. It looked so good, I picked up the Twilight Time blu-ray.

It was interesting to see as a historical period piece, but in the end it was more a soapy love story. And after seeing it, I researched it and found it is based on an autobiographical novel by the main character Dr. Han Suyin. It might seem quant today to younger viewers. But I was very curious about the historical aspects for the backdrop and region itself as well. It was well acted I thought. Starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones. Plus many Chinese actors who've gone on to long careers as support characters, James Hong, Philip Ahn, Richard Loo, and Keye Luke. Though the scenes in China with Suyin's family seem more like how Hollywood would portray a formal family interaction and that seemed overly fake to me, or theatrical. Allegedly, Jones didn't get along with Holden, but they don't the show it. The film's score and song is also well known and an Oscar winner.

There was a party scene in the film and since this was filmed in 1955, it has that look of the era. Since I had been watching so many Cary Grant films recently, I could see Cary replacing Holden and it would have probably have worked as well. Though this might not have been seen as an appropriate film for Grant at the time. There's another William Holden film I've never seen called The World of Susie Wong. I believe it's also filmed in Hong Kong. I might want to check that out. Interesting for the Star Trek connections there. Shatner had done the Broadway version with France Nuyen and Nuyen was to be the female lead in the film version. Holden was a box office known actor and so they probably didn't consider Shatner as he was too much an unknown for the lead. But too bad for Nuyen and he personal life issues, as she had to be replaced by Nancy Kwan. Also Thorin Thatcher who plays Palmer-Jones was a Star Trek guest character!

There's another film of the era with Holden I have on DVD which I once saw on TV ages ago called The Bridges of Toko-Ri with Grace Kelley. I haven't seen that one yet. I also have the Bridge on the River Kwai blu-ray which I've not played yet, though I've seen the DVD years ago. I have Sabrina as well, but I haven't watched it. I didn't realize I have so many Holden titles! I don't have The Country Girl though. There's a copy of Stalag 17 on a no frills DVD I bought way back and it's 4x3. I never watched it because I thought there might be a widescreen version. But it looks like it's the way it was. Maybe I'll try to get the blu ray. I did watch The Towering Inferno blu ray recently, but that wasn't a Holden headliner. I didn't mean to turn this into a William Holden post, but it sort of evolved into it from one decision to watch one of his films.