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

[skylark68]

I had mixed feelings regarding Ride the High Country as I had recently watched through all of the Ranown Cycle films previously on DVD (I was on a big Randolph Scott kick). While the visuals were stunning on the new bluray disc, I wasn't as enamored with the direction. I guess I've never been a huge Peckinpah fan and while this is an early film of his it just didn't hit me as hard as Seven Men From Now, The Tall T and Ride Lonesome. I wish those films could see new transfers, particularly Seven Men From Now.

 

[B-ROLL]

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS!

 

[Edwin-S]

It's one that I need to revisit. I was left cold by it when I saw it upon release, but that could've been my mood at the time and I want to give it another chance.

I guess my being down somewhat on the film is less to do with its quality and more to do with the raving that it was a more realistic look and fresh take on the Old West. AFAIAC, it wasn't.

As long as I look at the film as a more realistic "spaghetti" western then it was decent. As an Oscar worthy film breaking new ground in the Western genre? Forget it.

Also, listening to Eastwood's Munny's moaning exposition got old and irritating fast. Hackman, on the other hand, was standout in his part as the sheriff as was Richard Harris as English Bob.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Man, you bought that Sony Choice Collection release. I hesitated due to the pricing because I was unsure of the PQ. However, I'll spring for it eventually, I might use some of my Amazon Bonus Points.

That's exactly how I paid for mine.

I figured that the title was something I was interested in, that I generally do collect Capra films, and that Amazon's return policies would have me covered if I wasn't satisfied.

I have to say, I was really impressed. I think I mentioned this in my review, but the quality of the printing on the insert and disc is equal to one of Sony's pressed releases. I think Warner Archive's pressed Blu-rays have terrible printing - just look at the cases for titles like Bad Day At Black Rock or Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm -- if you look at the tech spec grid on the back, the ink is practically bleeding out, and there are no distinct lines. Same for the rest of the text on the package, every so slightly fuzzy and out of focus. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was bootleg product. So to see Sony's MOD release, where they could have easily cut corners, looking so physically nice as a package was a good start.

As to the transfer itself, it really seemed to fit the high standards we've come to expect from Sony. This wasn't like a Warner Archive DVD-R where it was some ancient transfer burned to a DVD on the theory that something was better than nothing. This looks like a new scan, or if not brand new for this disc, a very recent one made with a quality element on good equipment. The encoding appears as good as on one of their regular releases. My guess is that Sony made this transfer with the idea of it being a potential "Capra Collection" release (since they've been putting out one per year under that banner) but that they got cold feet for whatever reason.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#135 - The Wheeler Dealers (1963)
Viewed on: August 15th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Warner Archive)

The Wheeler Dealers was another blind purchase during the recent Warner Archive 4/$44 sale, and I'm pleased to say that I got exactly what I was hoping for out of this movie. Earlier in the year, I had watched the Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedies, and I really enjoyed that particular style of filmmaking and that specific sense of romantic comedy. It would really only work in that specific time and place, and it's still clearly a fantasy and not real life, but it's a style that I found very charming. Happily, The Wheeler Dealers is at home with those films.

As directed by Arthur Hiller, James Garner stars as the titular 'wheeler dealer' who essentially makes a living my buying and selling things he couldn't possibly afford, and getting payouts from banks and tax rebates for arranging the sales. Some of the stuff seems legal but shady, while other schemes come across as a bit more underhanded. But Garner always delivers for his partners, and at the worst, the only loser is Uncle Sam on some tax revenue. Garner has come to New York to raise money needed to buy an oil well. While there, he meets a female stockbroker (Lee Remick) at a time when women were expected to be secretaries until marriage, and then retire. Remick views herself as being just as good at her job as a man, and is frustrated at being underappreciated by her bosses. Because her supervisors have done a poor job running the company, they have to cut staff, and have decided to fire Remick even though she's one of the best workers. But realizing she can't be fired without cause, they decide to give her the worst stock in the world, demand that she unload it, and then fire her when she can't. However, when she meets Garner (who's looking for investors), she's able to convince him to look into the stock, and he starts working out how to make people think it might have some value. What follows is a nice mix of early 1960s workplace comedy, a little bit of fish out of water humor, and Pillow Talk-like romantic shenanigans. Garner and Remick have good chemistry, and Hiller's direction is light and humorous. There's a large number of familiar faces in supporting roles and brief appearances, including Chill Wills, Phil Harris and Charles Watts as the trio of Texans that Garner often sells to. Look out for John Astin (Gomez Addams) and James Doohan (Scotty) in brief appearances during a climactic trial sequence.

The transfer from Warner Archives is another quality affair, with nearly pristine picture and equally good lossless mono audio. The disc includes English subtitles and a trailer.

The Wheeler Dealers isn't a perfect film, and your enjoyment of it is probably dependent on how much you enjoy this particular cast, and how much you're willing to watch something that's essentially a cartoon version of reality. But I don't think people come to romantic comedies for absolute truth. As the film ended, my wife and I turned to each other, and said almost exactly at the same time, "That was cute." I stand by that assessment.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#136. Edge Of Eternity (1959)
Viewed on: August 19th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Twilight Time)

Sometimes you just know. Sometimes you see a particular piece of poster art or just a still, and you know that this is a movie for you. Edge Of Eternity was one of those titles. Last year, I saw a movie called "Second Chance" as part of a Film Forum retrospective of dual-strip 35mm 3D films. I had never heard of it before, but really enjoyed that film, especially a sequence in the end set in a cable car. When I saw Edge Of Eternity being announced by Twilight Time, and saw the cover art with another cable car, I immediately flashed back to Second Chance, and decided that "1950s movies with protagonists stranded above ridiculous heights on an unsteady cable car" was definitely a subgenre I wanted to see more of. I've been cutting back on full priced TT blind buys lately just for the cost (after shipping, it can be $35 -- a bit much for taking a chance on something when you consider most of their films can be streamed for about $4 each), but when they announced their Sony sale, I just couldn't resist any further.

Directed by Don Siegel, the film stars Cornel Wilde in an appealing performance as an Arizona deputy sheriff. While flirting with a woman he pulls over for speeding (Victoria Shaw), Wilde misses out on a murder being committed nearby, arriving only in time to find the body. As that case begins connecting with some similar unsolved crimes, Wilde begins to suspect that there's more going on than meets the eye. The plot is a pretty standard detective story, but the answers were hidden well enough that I was never ahead of the film. Where the film really shines is in its CinemaScope photography and use of Grand Canyon and western locations. The film is wonderfully evocative of a time and place (even if it's Hollywood's idea of that time and place), and I found myself sucked into the story from the start. Though the films are very different stylistically and storywise, and though I'd be hard pressed to explain exactly why, I was reminded a little bit of "Inferno" (the 1953 film with Robert Ryan) when watching this.

The transfer on this Twilight Time release, provided by Sony, looks amazing. The photography is incredible, the scenery is beautiful, and the disc makes it look as if it was all shot yesterday. Audio is provided via lossless mono and was perfectly satisfactory. The disc also includes subtitles, a commentary track and an isolated score track. I was a little disappointed in the absence of a trailer, if only because it would have been interesting to have seen how the film was originally promoted.

Edge Of Eternity was a wonderful discovery, the kind of film that makes a great second half of a double feature, and a wonderful note to and a night on. It's got an enjoyable cast portraying (mostly) likeable characters, beautiful scenery, and incredible Cinemascope photography - what's not to love?

 

[Mark McSherry]

"Second Chance" was RKO's first 3D movie! It does play on TCM in 2D. How was the 3D?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There were some projection problems due to issues with the theater personnel (nothing wrong with the film itself or the print), but despite the issues, I thought it was a quality experience. I'd love to see it again with better projection!

 

[Robin9]

There were some projection problems due to issues with the theater personnel (nothing wrong with the film itself or the print), but despite the issues, I thought it was a quality experience. I'd love to see it again with better projection!

You are to be envied. Most of us Robert Mitchum/Linda Darnell fans have never seen Second Chance in 3D.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

You are to be envied. Most of us Robert Mitchum/Linda Darnell fans have never seen Second Chance in 3D.

That's why it was so irritating that the projection was imperfect - I knew that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was a shame to see it marred by avoidable error. I guess this is unlikely to come out on BD3D, but obviously I'd snatch it up if I could. But "Edge Of Eternity" is a pretty good consolation prize.

 

[bujaki]

I was lucky. My wife and I saw it in LA in dual 3D projection. I recall a flawless experience and an exciting film.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I was lucky. My wife and I saw it in LA in dual 3D projection. I recall a flawless experience and an exciting film.

Fortunately, I could tell the issues I had during the screening were due to the theater itself and not the source material. It would have been heartbreaking if the print had been in bad shape or damaged by the theater but I don't think that was the case.

 

[Robin9]

I hope Bob Furmanek and his co-workers are reading this thread. Given their track record, I wonder if they could work with that print and produce an acceptable 3D disc.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I hope Bob Furmanek and his co-workers are reading this thread. Given their track record, I wonder if they could work with that print and produce an acceptable 3D disc.

I'm sure technically speaking they could.

The problem would be that the title was produced by RKO, which means that it's now controlled by Warner. Warner generally does not license their titles. For the couple instances where they recently did license something to Criterion, they provided the master, because they still insist on everything that comes from them on BD to be pristine. It seems extremely unlikely that Warner would license the title; if they did, it's extremely unlikely that they'd allow access to their elements; and it's extremely unlikely that they'd allow the use of elements that would result in anything less than a pristine version. I would absolutely love to be proved wrong on all of these, but I suspect we're not going to ever get a 3D BD of Second Chance, which is a damn shame.

 

[Richard V]

ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 

[B-ROLL]

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Josh, I have a pq question about The Paradine Case for you. I watched The Kino Blu recently and thought it was grainy with almost faint vertical lines running through most of the film. Did you experience anything like this with your copy? BTW, I found it to be a better film than I had expected and agree with your assessment from quite a few posts ago.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Josh, I have a pq question about The Paradine Case for you. I watched The Kino Blu recently and thought it was grainy with almost faint vertical lines running through most of the film. Did you experience anything like this with your copy? BTW, I found it to be a better film than I had expected and agree with your assessment from quite a few posts ago.

I don't remember it perfectly - I've seen so many other films since then. I went to pull up my review to see if that jogged my memory, which it did somewhat. I found the film "dupey" - meaning that it seemed to be taken not from the original negative but from other prints that were further generations removed from the source. And I remember it being somewhat inconsistent, where some parts looked better than others, but in general, I noticed some dirt and damage and speckling. It's entirely possible that I was thinking "faith vertical lines" when I wrote that. I'd certainly believe it possible for them to be there.

It's not the best looking transfer ever, but it's decent enough. It looks like they probably used whatever the best, most readily available element was on hand to scan, but then didn't do any significant work on those scans to digitally repair the damage.

 

[Joel Arndt]

As always, thanks for your detailed reply and again your insight makes sense. It's an acceptable transfer with no work upgrading it recently. Did you mean "faint vertical lines"? I know it wasn't an issue with the monitor since these were only noticeable on the film itself, not on any of the bonus features. We've become so spoiled by the remarkable restoration work that Sony, WAC and others have released lately that less than perfect is a disappointment even on a less than perfect Hitchcock film.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Haha, "faith vertical lines" - I'll try to save that description for print damage on biblical epics

I agree, to get "acceptable" Hitchcock is disappointing, especially considering that a lot of the fixed would probably have been minor work. It seems a lot of these titles won't be revisited and that this might be the version that remains out there for all time. So you'd hope for better.

I can deal with movies in acceptable condition, no problem, but I can't help but be drawn to things that look closer to pristine.