Kino-Lorber Insider Announcement Thread (Read Guidelines Post #3) (16 Viewers)

[Sadsack]

Region free players are cheap now.

I'm not interested in buying specialized bootleg hardware, although I'm sure I'd share your experience if I gave into temptation. I also dont want to amass a video library in a foreign region, in case I want to unload it some day. Lastly, PAL-region blu-ray sometimes have bonus features in PAL. Maybe a Region 1 release would have same bonus features in correct film speed instead.

 

[RichMurphy]

I think it's a bit of a stretch to equate "region-free" and "bootleg."

 

[Randy Korstick]

Also region free blu ray s do pal conversion so there is nothing you can't watch on them.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Guys...let's please get back to the topic at hand:

From the groundrules for this thread (in post #3):

1. KINO LORBER INSIDER, as a representative of Kino Distribution, will be posting new release information in this thread as it becomes available.

2. KINO LORBER INSIDER will only be posting release announcements. They will respond to questions they are allowed to answer. They have new KL guidelines to what questions they are allowed to answer and what they're not. The insider is not required to answer every question posed to him.

3. This thread is for announcements and reaction to the announcements only.

Thanks.

 

[Camps]

KL Insider, two questions (and if you're not in a position to answer, no problem):

Does your deal with Paramount access you to the late-'50s Regal films that are part of the Republic library owned by Paramount? Some have been released by other distributors of course; in this case I'm thinking of the unreleased 1957 titles Unknown Terror and Back from the Dead.

And I happily grabbed your releases of Cyborg 2087 and Dimension 5. Any more releases contemplated from the Harold Goldman/United Pictures library?

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Coming Soon!
First Time on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New HD Master from a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative!

A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
Starring John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn (in her film debut), Billie Burke, David Manners, Paul Cavanagh and Henry Stephenson
Produced by David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind)
Music by Max Steiner (Casablanca)
Shot by Sidney Hickox (The Big Sleep)
Directed by George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story)

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

KL Insider, two questions (and if you're not in a position to answer, no problem):

Does your deal with Paramount access you to the late-'50s Regal films that are part of the Republic library owned by Paramount? Some have been released by other distributors of course; in this case I'm thinking of the unreleased 1957 titles Unknown Terror and Back from the Dead.

And I happily grabbed your releases of Cyborg 2087 and Dimension 5. Any more releases contemplated from the Harold Goldman/United Pictures library?

We have 10 more titles to announce, 5 are actual Paramount titles, 5 are Republic. None are Regal or United.

 

[dana martin]

poster art...... is a lost art form i am glad that Kino is willing to use the actual art

 

[Josh Steinberg]

A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

This is exciting news! I've wanted to see this film since I read Hepburn's autobiography but never had a chance to before.

 

[Thomas T]

Coming Soon!
First Time on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New HD Master from a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative!

A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
Starring John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn (in her film debut), Billie Burke, David Manners, Paul Cavanagh and Henry Stephenson
Produced by David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind)
Music by Max Steiner (Casablanca)
Shot by Sidney Hickox (The Big Sleep)
Directed by George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story)

View attachment 44027

Kino Lorber, you guys continue to amaze me with these gems that I never thought would see the light of day on blu ray.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I see a bright side to the decline of physical media. More and more, with studios turning their catalog titles over to smaller independent releasing entities like Kino and Twilight Time, I see more obscure titles that film buffs want to collect. We saw this happen with the obscure LaserDisc medium and now, we are seeing it again with BluRay. I don't think Warner would have ever released a blu ray of A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT.

 

[Camps]

We have 10 more titles to announce, 5 are actual Paramount titles, 5 are Republic. None are Regal or United.

OK. Thanks for the prompt and clear reply! Looking forward to whatever's coming.

(Is it too much of a cliche to say "Keep up the good work"....? )

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

The Maze bonus features updated:

• Audio Commentary by Film Historians Tom Weaver, Bob Furmanek, Dr. Robert J. Kiss and David Schecter - previously we had listed Tom Weaver (solo)
• Interview with Star Veronica Hurst
• Restored three-channel stereophonic sound by Eckhard Büttner
• Original 3-D Trailer
• Reversible Art

 

[Matt Hough]

Exciting times ahead with these announcements!

 

[Dick]

Kino Lorber, you guys continue to amaze me with these gems that I never thought would see the light of day on blu ray.

Yes, it's like a revival of the peak DVD era.

 

[Garysb]

So Kino has a deal with Warner Bros ? Any details? Are these going to be mostly RKO ?

 

[Dick]

Also region free blu ray s do pal conversion so there is nothing you can't watch on them.

It should be noted that PAL conversions do not mean you are getting the film at normal speed (that would require a home conversion using special software). They will play on your machine, but there will still be a 4% speedup, annoying as hell if you are very familiar with certain actors' voices. Plus, not all of these play very well on region-free players. I've had four players of three different brand names, plus own close to a hundred PAL DVD's which I am always happy to replace when an American counterpart comes available, because they can be jerky when there is motion onscreen, as though every ten to twenty seconds there is a 2-3 frame freeze or skip-frame. Blu-rays, on the other hand, more often than not play back perfectly.

 

[battlebeast]

So Kino has a deal with Warner Bros ? Any details? Are these going to be mostly RKO ?

Is A Bill of Devorcement a Warners title? Or Does Warners control the RKO library?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Coming Soon!
First Time on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New HD Master from a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative!

A Bill of Divorcement (1932)
Starring John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn (in her film debut), Billie Burke, David Manners, Paul Cavanagh and Henry Stephenson
Produced by David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind)
Music by Max Steiner (Casablanca)
Shot by Sidney Hickox (The Big Sleep)
Directed by George Cukor (The Philadelphia Story)

View attachment 44027

Do you guys now have a deal with Warner as this title is an old RKO title that is own by Warner now?

 

[Justin Ray]

I once asked the Warner Archive Collection if they planned to release A Bill of Divorcement, and they mentioned they no longer owned the film rights. Through a little digging, I found that many of the David O. Selznick titles (and Kino has released several- Portrait of Jennie and Since You Went Away to name a couple) were owned by ABC Films (now owned by Disney). Whether this is still true or not, I don't know, but this was the case when many of these Selznick titles were licensed by Anchor Bay in 2000 for VHS (A Bill of Divorcement included) and MGM for DVD a few years after (minus A Bill of Divorcement). Hope this information proves useful. Regardless of its ownership, I'm just stoked to see this film finally surface on DVD/Blu-Ray after such a long-absence from home entertainment media.