Kino Lorber Insider (Read Guidelines Post #3) (18 Viewers)

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Check Facebook and Twitter this weekend for 2 new announcements.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Looks like "The Last Sunset" with Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas and Dorothy Malone is coming out on BD, May 11th. I hope it's an improvement over that 2012 German BD which was mediocre at best.

 

[Justin Ray]

Coming May 4th!

The Last Married Couple in America (1980)
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Lee Gambin
• Theatrical Trailer (HD)
• Optional English Subtitles

Color 103 Minutes 1.85:1 Rated R
Screen legends Natalie Wood (Love with the Proper Stranger) and George Segal (Where’s Poppa?) star in The Last Married Couple in America—a contemporary comedy that addresses the divorce epidemic that has been sweeping the country head on. Mari (Wood) and Jeff (Segal) are a happily married couple in Beverly Hills whose recently divorced friends make them feel like they are missing out by remaining married. To add to their woes, Jeff’s best friend (Richard Benjamin, Scavenger Hunt) fixes him up with dates while Mari’s best friend (Valerie Harper, Blame It on Rio) is chasing Jeff all while a plumber turned X-rated star (Dom DeLuise, Haunted Honeymoon) wants to use their house for a wild party. Written by John Herman Shaner (Goin’ South), directed by Gilbert Cates (I Never Sang for My Father) and co-starring Bob Dishy (Lovers and Other Strangers) and Priscilla Barnes (TV’s Three’s Company).

View attachment 85554

Such a charming, fun film! If you're a fan of Natalie Wood or early 1980s comedy, you're in for a treat. A hidden gem, for sure!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Saturday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming Soon!

Brand New 2K Master!

O.S.S. (1946) Starring Alan Ladd & Geraldine Fitzgerald – Shot by Lionel Lindon (The Manchurian Candidate) – Written by Richard Maibaum (Goldfinger) – Directed by Irving Pichel (Quicksand).

 

[Robert Crawford]

A Day One purchase for me!

 

[borisfw]

Wow ! O.S.S. is an excellent WW2 thriller. More Alan Ladd is always welcomed.

 

[bujaki]

Whereas I'll always welcome more Geraldine Fitzgerald! She was so beautiful and talented!

 

[timk1041]

Saturday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming Soon!

Brand New 2K Master!

O.S.S. (1946) Starring Alan Ladd & Geraldine Fitzgerald – Shot by Lionel Lindon (The Manchurian Candidate) – Written by Richard Maibaum (Goldfinger) – Directed by Irving Pichel (Quicksand).

A really good Alan Ladd title. I wonder if this will have the old MCA-TV logo before the Paramount one that the VHS and I think the DVD had. I kind of like that old MCA-TV logo and the music. Also hoping for "Lucky Jordan" and "Salty O'Rourke" to get out on blu too.

 

[timk1041]

BUY ME THAT TOWN - a good little film. There are a lot of good "B" pictures like that - strong cast, good script, entertaining film.

Yeh, that's the thing - close to 700 Paramount titles from 1929-1949, and most wouldn't sell enough to justify the release. Add on top of that 100's of Universal-Universal International titles in the same boat. (Even if you take out films with rights issues, and music clearance issues, etc.) There's alot of "B programmers" in the library.

Which means all we'll get is the cream of the crop - some already released on other formats. Oh, I suspect handful of surprises because they never got around to releasing a few good "A" titles from either studio's library in any format over the years - ones with key stars and directors. (Plus I guess there's interest in good pre-code "A" and "B" pictures never released that would sell enough to justify the release.)

Then there's still the issue of the surviving prints and negatives - no matter how good Universal's "asset management" is, we know some films survive in better shape than others.

Though it's a 1950's "B" title from UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL and is a bit of a novelty, "Firemen Save My Child" - the "salvaged" Abbott and Costello comedy with Buddy Hackett, Hugh O'Brian and Spike Jones & his City Slickers is a title I'd love to see a release on - but then I'd suspect 1)Music clearance issues with Spike and The Band and 2) would it sell enough, even with the novelty of being the "Abbott and Costello Film That Never Was"? (Well, they do appear in some of the long shots.)

Then as I've suggested - I guess music clearance issues on a few musicals from both Libraries is an issue which I'd guess why we might never see any of the Universal "B" Andrew Sisters films, which is a shame, really - those should see the light of day.

Perhaps someone else will come along and take a chance with titles that KL passes on for various reasons from the 1920's-1950's.

Yes. I hope so.

 

[timk1041]

i have question for you kino lorber insider any have plan time chance anything universal horror Erle C. Kenton Noah Beery, Jr. and Lois Collier and Gale Sondergaard and Brenda Joyce any plans in your new deal universal third also Kurt Neumann Gloria Stuart and lionel Atwill and Stuart Walker and claude rains and heather angel and Phil Rosen and Patric Knowles and Maria Montez maybe get finally come out on blu ray? also new disc on dvd and blu ray never been released before home media video.

Love those Universal "B" titles!

 

[Travis87]

More Alan Ladd is welcome! I had just sat down to watch Whispering Smith when I read this.

 

[RobertSiegel]

I know that MILLIE has its fans and I remember seeing it as a child at the Centre Theatre in Denver CO and thinking it was fun... BUT it is FLOWER DRUM SONG (and ST. LOUIS BLUES!) that I want. With all of its problems and flaws, it is still an important and historic musical and singular in the R and H catalog. Not to mention a watershed moment in Asian American representation in an extremely successful mainstream Hollywood film (Check the box-office grosses for that year...). I know that there are problems with Juanita Hall not being Chinese. Just as there are real concerns in MILLIE... nevertheless, these films give us a great deal to think about in addition. to their hotly debated entertainment value. WILL WE EVER SEE THE PARAMOUNT, VISTAVISION BLACK MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY OF W.C. HANDY, ST. LOUIS BLUES, starring NAT KING COLE, EARTHA KITT, CAB CALLOWAY, ELLA FITZGERALD, MAHALIA JACKSON and more??? THIS IS THE MUSICAL I WANT MOST ON BLU RAY! One of a kind Black Musical royalty, the likes of which we will never see again all in one film, as important in cinema history as CARMEN JONES, STORMY WEATHER and yes, PORGY and BESS. I saw the last PORGY and BESS showing at the Lincoln Center and the print was near unwatchable... and for those of us who know and love the opera, the film is... complicated and challenging. ST. LOUIS BLUES PLEASE!!!!

I totally agree with you with Flower Drum Song, an often overlooked excellent musical, one of my top 10 films of all time and one of my 4 most eagerly awaited blu-rays. Members tell me that Kino wasn't interested in releassing this, but I can't find anyplace where they say that. Surely the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization would work with Kino for a beautiful blu-ray release of the film, I am told the organization holds some behind the scenes footage among other things for Flower Drum. I've written to Criterion 4 or 5 times now about Flower Drum Song, it seems a good release for their label considering its Asian American cast and the history behind that in the film. Hopefully, one day!

But also on that list of 4 I have been waiting for on blu-ray is Thoroughly Modern Millie. One of my favorite movies of all time. This is a movie you can slip into the 'ole player and just sit back and thoroughly enjoy! The casting was just fantastic, the way they used the music was very inventive, it has some hilarious scenes, and all of these actors were at the top of their game at the time this was made.

Kino, please retain the overture, intermission and exit music, and also, as mentioned, on You Tube there are 2 or 3 production shorts (which are not that short) one about the costumes, ect. Universal must have these in their archives. This became Universal's top grossing film of all time when it was released, and surely finally deserves to have some extras attached to it. Maybe Universal will restore these shorts for this blu-ray release. The different trailers are alot of fun as well. There's also a You Tube segment from Merv Griffin with an interview with Julie Andrews that is about 20 minutes long.

I am so happy this has a new 4k restoration, the DVD was not very good. And I really hope they restore the soundtrack. If you listen to the DVD, when Julie sings the title song, it sounds as if her voice is on AM radio (while the music sounds great in stereo). There's no depth or vocal crispness to it, I can't imagine that was what the soundtrack sounded like when the film was released, unless they were going for a 20's sound, but that doesn't make sense considering the film is in true stereo. I would sure love to have this in 4k one day now that there is a restoration, but I will be overwhelmingly happy with the blu-ray!

 

[RetroGuy]

I totally agree with you with Flower Drum Song, an often overlooked excellent musical, one of my top 10 films of all time and one of my 4 most eagerly awaited blu-rays. Members tell me that Kino wasn't interested in releassing this, but I can't find anyplace where they say that.

Robert - you'll find that in post #4,025 of this thread (dated August 26, 2019) where the KL Insider states "We were not interested in Flower Drum Song."

Kino Lorber Insider (Read Guidelines Post #3) | Page 202 | Home Theater Forum

 

[DeWilson]

Yes. I hope so.

See, there's an opportunity for some outfit to grab the "B" titles that may not have much sales interest from KL (Films without clearance issues like music)

Not every film is going to be an "A" or a cult pre-code, or an early appearance by a later major star and we're talking 100's of films between Paramount and Universal/U-I from 1929-1949 that will continue to sit collecting dust.

All films in the library have value in one form or another - VCI is doing the unreleased serials for instance.

KL is just a small indie label that has to put out what will sell, and worth the time end effort to have Universal's Assets Management team go into the vault and make new transfers. (Which is most likely already reflected in the films offered to them.)

 

[[email protected]!]

Robert - you'll find that in post #4,025 of this thread (dated August 26, 2019) where the KL Insider states "We were not interested in Flower Drum Song."

Kino Lorber Insider (Read Guidelines Post #3) | Page 202 | Home Theater Forum

Yes. I remember this rather terse response (in my opinion) to FLOWER DRUM SONG. Not a response I pretend to understand. I can say, that while we are all fighting to get classic, recognized films or even our personal favorites from Gance's NAPOLEON to RYAN'S DAUGHTER or PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (the film AND the series) ON YOUR TOES or a remastered DAY OF THE LOCUST... into our Home Video Libraries, the more we can all be supportive of releases that are ethnically, racially, or culturally inclusive, the better! Often films with Black, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQIA, or non-White principals in the cast, don't make it past a DVD or even VHS. Where is CABIN IN THE SKY? or even HALLELUJAH! on blu-ray and those are by Vidor and Minnelli...! What happened to the Universal Blu Ray release of ZOOT SUIT? We are a part of film history too! I am not implying that this is a reason KL is not interested in FLOWER DRUM SONG, and their releases of early Black film and Early work by Female Directors are all excellent. I'm merely stating that many of us don't want to see our images lost or neglected, even those that are imperfect or challenging. These images and films are part of a larger history that is important. I'd like to see more advocacy and interest in film restoration and preservation of these films as part of a more inclusive enthusiasm about the art of cinema and global representation.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

(off topic, deleted by author with his apologies)

 

[jayembee]

Where is CABIN IN THE SKY? or even HALLELUJAH! on blu-ray and those are by Vidor and Minnelli...!

Both of those are with Warner, and they tend to be very fussy about the condition of the elements they have, and what condition they want them to be in to release them on Blu-ray. Cabin in the Sky and Hallelujah have both been released by them on DVD, and while they both look reasonably good, they would need some work done to be ready for Blu.

 

[B-ROLL]

A really good Alan Ladd title. I wonder if this will have the old MCA-TV logo before the Paramount one that the VHS and I think the DVD had. I kind of like that old MCA-TV logo and the music. Also hoping for "Lucky Jordan" and "Salty O'Rourke" to get out on blu too.

From the Paramount titles that are with Universal that KINO has released (whew) - the the ones I've seen have a KINO logo, followed by the newer multichannel Universal logo with the "choir" reaching a crescendo with the drums ending with a DUM-DUM-DUM. Then a proper(vintage) Paramount logo and the rest of the film.

Arguably the best solution as there are legal reasons the logos appear.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Let's knock off the talk about Flower Drum Song. And, for that matter, any general talk about films which need to be restored/saved/etc. And, for that matter, films that are with other studios/distributors.

This is a thread about Kino Release Announcements. And that's the ONLY topic that should be discussed here.

There will be no debate about K-L's release choices/criteria. Any questions? Don't think we're serious? See post #3 in this thread and then keep making posts that are off-topic. I would suggest you don't if you want to continue to engage in discussions about films on this forum.

 

[Robert Harris]

Let's knock off the talk about Flower Drum Song. And, for that matter, any general talk about films which need to be restored/saved/etc. And, for that matter, films that are with other studios/distributors.

This is a thread about Kino Release Announcements. And that's the ONLY topic that should be discussed here.

There will be no debate about K-L's release choices/criteria. Any questions? Don't think we're serious? See post #3 in this thread and then keep making posts that are off-topic. I would suggest you don't if you want to continue to engage in discussions about films on this forum.

Mike,

If you’ll permit, I believe I can end the FDS discussIon. Years ago, I was going through the physical Goldwyn inventory, and ALL elements were with them. One might presume that they went with OK and SP to Fox, and then on to Disney.