Let's get these classic movies out on DVD soon, please! (1 Viewer)

[CLASSICFILMFAN]

Hi, I'd like to meet other like minded classic movie/DVD fans. Or at least share my frustration with other classic movie fans interested in lobbying the DVD companies/studios to get more of their great, classic films (that are not available on DVD) released. There are some great films being lost to "new" audiences through shear neglect or for lack of commercial interest - I guess. Here's some examples of my classic DVD dream wish list (listed in order by the original releasing movie studio):

Universal Studios:

An Audie Murphy series, box sets from Universal (would be nice to see a series like Universal did with the Abbott & Costello catalogue a few years back), i.e. a series of 8 movies in a set covering Audie's complete films at the studio in order of their initial release.And similar box sets would also be nice and appreciated for Universal's other western stars at the time, i.e. Joel McCrea, Jeff Chandler, Rock Hudson and Rory Calhoun. Or some boxed western sets for what I call, "one shot star films" made by Universal studio: such as, 1948 Black Bart (Dan Duryea); 1955 Man Without a Star (Kirk Douglas); 1953 Mississippi Gambler (Tyrone Power); 1955 Saskatchewan (Alan Ladd); 1956 Backlash (richard Widmark); 1951 Apache Drums (Steven McNally; 1950 Comanche Territory (MacDonald Carey/Maureen O'Hara), etc..


Warner Brothers:

1959 The Hanging Tree (Gary Cooper)

Another tripple feature DVD set for Randolph Scott's remaining unreleased westerns made during the 1950's at Warner Bros. : 1951 Sugarfoot, 1952 Carson City, 1954 The Bounty Hunter, 1957 Shoot - Out at Medicine Bend and 1959 Westbound.

A tripple feature of Alan Ladd westerns at Warner Bros: 1952 The Iron Mistress; 1954 Drum Beat and 1958 The Big Land.

DVD released for 1941 The Strawberry Blonde (Cagney and DeHavilland) &
1941 The Sea Wolf (John Garfield and E.G. Robinson).

1952 Bugles in the Afternoon (Ray Milland).


20th-Century Fox:

Western Releases for:

1960 One Foot in Hell (Alan Ladd)
1960 Guns of the Timberland (Alan Ladd)
1952 Pony Soldier (Tyrone Power)
1949 Canadian Pacific (Randolph Scott), other 1949/50 Scott Fox westerns.

Affordable Fox film noir releases for 1950's Night & the City (Richard Widmark) and 1953 Pick Up on South Street (Richard Widmark) - these were released by Criterion but at 50.00 to 60.00 each it is way too expensive for the average joe.


Turner:

Another noir box set: with RKO classics including: 1949 The Window; 1947 They Won't Believe Me; 1951 Cry Danger; 1947 Crack-Up; and some MGM film noir flicks: 1957 Party Girl MGM - Robert Taylor and 1956 Rogue Cop MGM Robert Taylor.

Westerns: 1949 Blood on the Moon Robert Mitchum (RKO); 1952 The Lusty Men (Mitchum, Hayward, Kennedy); 1951 The Half-Breed (Robert Young); 1951? Best of the Badmen Robert Ryan; RKO 1946 to 1948 Randolph Scott westerns. More Robert Taylor westerns like MGM's Ride Vaquero 1953; Devil's Doorway 1950; Ambush 1950; 1956 The Last Hunt and 1951 Westward the Women.

Another RKO Tarzan set (Volume 3) with Lex Barker's 5 Tarzan films from 1949 to 1953, would be really nice!


Paramount:

1951 Pony Express (Charlton Heston)
1953 The Savage (Charlton Heston)
1950 Union Station (noir with William Holden)
1943 Five Graves to Cairo (Billy Wilder WWII classic)
1959 The Hangman (Robert Taylor)
1955 Run for Cover (James Cagney, John Derek and Ernest Borgnine directed by Nicholas Ray).

Allied Artists:

1955 Shack on Hwy 101 (Cult film Terry Moore, Lee Marvin, Whit Bissell and Frank Lovejoy)

Joel McCrea (Allied Artist releases?), such as: 1955 Wichita, 1957 The Oklahoman, 1956 The First Texan, 1957 The Tall Stranger, etc.


Anyone out there interested in getting these movies out on DVD. Please let the studio executives know.

 

[GlennH]

Sure, many of us would like to see as many of these and other classic titles as possible. But the current economic downturn seems to have slowed classic DVD releases even more than it's previous frustratingly slow pace.
Not sure what you mean about this. Based on this statement I thought maybe the Criterions had gone OOP, but both are readily available, and at a lot less than that. A quick check at Amazon shows Pickup is currently $22 and Night & the City a bit more at $36 (I got it for under $21 on sale back in 2006).

 

[Dick]

There are major foreign-language films MIA:
PATHFINDER (original Lapp language); JOURNEY OF HOPE; FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE; tons more.

 

[Simon Howson]

Warner no longer owns Drum Beat. They said so in a discussion about 3 years go.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Many times when discussions like this comes up, someone will inevitably say "you have to have patience with the studios and try to understand that these older catalog titles don't sell that well". Well, if that's true in the studios' eyes, then it doesn't make sense to just hold onto them; because by their own logic, if things aren't hopping off the shelves TODAY, they're less likely to do much better TOMORROW. Meaning that, with rare exceptions for some younger movie buffs, the studios' target audience is usually older people who aren't going to be around forever. Better to mine whatever cash they can ASAP rather than waiting God knows how long, while the core audience decreases.

 

[Simon Howson]

Yeah true. A lot of those Allied Artists films referenced above are only about 80 minutes long, so they could probably put 2 films on 1 dual layer disc.

I think there is an argument for the studios starting up a no frills line like Criterion's Eclipse. They could be bare bones discs featuring transfers of the best available elements (i.e. don't create a new element), but with no digital scratch fixing or cleaning. Use reproduction of the original cover art, and sell them in in double THINpaks of 4 films. for say US$35 RRP.

Alternatively, if they don't want to go to the expensive of pressing the discs, why don't they do the transfers then release them on iTunes? If a title sells really well on iTunes, THEN they could release it on DVD.

Classical Hollywood was a mass art, with each of the major studios producing a film a week for fourty odd years. It would be great if DVD sales of classic films adopted that same mass release ethos.

 

[Charles H]

If there is really going to be a Warner Bros chat coming up soon, would it be more reasonable to have a list of films long in gestation given before the actual chat and request that they comment on the status (e.g., RAINTREE COUNTY, the Lex Barker and beyond TARZAN films, THE HANGING TREE, TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING, WHERE'S CHARLEY?, the SHOWBOAT Trilogy, PARTY GIRL, the remaining Astaires (YOLANDA AND THE THIEF, THE SKY'S THE LIMIT, and DAMSEL IN DISTRESS), BEYOND THE FOREST, MISSION TO MOSCOW, the remaining Minnelli melodramas, as well as films like THE CONSTANT NYMPH , THE BLUE VEIL and LETTY LYNTON that are tied up in litigation issues)?

 

[nikkif99uk]

All the Young Men (1960) starring Alan Ladd (Columbia Pictures)
The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) starring Glenn Langan (Columbia?)
The Bamboo Prison (1954) starring Robert Francis (Columbia)
Barquero (1970) starring Lee Van Cleef (MGM or United Artists?)
Battle Circus (1953) starring Humphrey Bogart (MGM)
Battle Flame (1959) starring Robert Blake (Allied Artists)
Battle Taxi (1955) starring Sterling Hayden (United Artists?)
Battle Zone (1952) starring John Hodiak (Allied Artists)
The Big Chase (1954) starring Lon Chaney Jr (Lippert Pictures?)
The Blue Peter (1955) starring Sarah Lawson (?)
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur (1976) starring Henry Fonda (?)
Combat Squad (1953) starring John Ireland (Columbia?)
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) starring Edward G Robinson (Warner)
Denver and Rio Grande (1952) starring Sterling Heyden (Paramount)
Freud (1962) starring Montgomery Clift (Universal)
Geisha Girl (1952) starring Archer MacDonald (?)
Ghost Town (1956) starring Kent Taylor (United Artists?)
The Glory Brigade (1953) starring Lee Marvin (20th Century Fox)
The Great Impostor (1961) starring Tony Curtis (Universal)
I Want You (1951) starring Dana Andrews (Samuel Goldwyn Company)
Inchon (1981) starring Laurence Olivier (MGM?)
The Jazz Singer (1952) starring Peggy Lee (Warner)
Jet Attack (1958) starring John Agar (Columbia?)
Mädchen in Uniform (1931) starring Dorothea Wieck (?)
Marines, Let's Go (1961) starring Tom Reese (20th Century Fox)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) starring Peter Lorre (Warner)
The McConnell Story (1955) starring Alan Ladd (Warner)
Men of the Fighting Lady (1954) starring Van Johnson (MGM)
Mirage (1965) starring Gregory Peck (Universal)
Mission Over Korea (1953) starring John Hodiak (Columbia?)
The Mortal Storm (1940) starring James Stewart (MGM)
The Nun and the Sergeant (1962) starring Robert Easton (United Artists?)
Operation: Daybreak (1975) starring Joss Ackland (Warner?)
Period of Adjustment (1962) starring Jane Fonda (MGM)
Prisoner of War (1954) starring Ronald Reagan
The Rack (1956) starring Paul Newman (MGM)
Retreat, Hell! (1952) starring Frank Lovejoy (Warner)
Sabre Jet (1953) starring Robert Stack (United Artists?)
Savage Drums (1951) starring Robert Easton (?)
The Search (1948) starring Montgomery Clift (MGM)
Take the High Ground! (1953) starring Richard Widmark (MGM)
Tank Battalion (1958) starring Edward G Robinson Jr (?)
Target Zero (1955) starring Charles Bronson (Warner)
The Uninvited (1944) starring Ray Milland (Paramount)
War Is Hell (1963) starring Baynes Barron (Allied Artists)
A Yank in Korea (1951) starring Lon McCallister (Columbia)

 

[GregoryMesh]

VCI released The Big Chase in Forgotten Noir set and Universal released Mirage in Gregory Peck Film Collection.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

More Alan Ladd on DVD in general would be a good thing!

 

[CineKarine]

I certainly agree!!!!! Alan Ladd has to be one of the most under-represented stars on DVD.

As for the upcoming Warner Chat, if I get the chance to ask a question, you can be sure it will be about The Constant Nymph, Three Comrades and more musicals

Of course, I hope others will ask about the Showboat trilogy, the Jean Harlow collection, The White Cliffs of Dover, the Andy Hardy movies, more Shearer, more Bette Davis, more Flynn, the Four Daughters film and sequels, more noir (Born to Be Bad, The Man I Love, Backfire, etc.), more Lancaster, The Enchanted Cottage (more romantic films in general!), more Cary Grant, more Stanwyck...all wonderful films/collections to wish for for sure.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Warner chat will be on March 23rd.

Live Chat with Warner Home Video

 

[RafaelPires]

Mr. Crawford, So far this is the best news of the year!

Thank you Warner!!!!

 

[CineKarine]

Best news of the year indeed, I could not agree more!!!! Thrilled to hear about the chat, but it will be impossible for me to participate that particular evening. :frowning: I have not been lucky with the Warner chat dates - 3 years ago, I was at the hospital, 2 years ago I was on vacation with my family and now that particular evening I will be on a plane! That's irony for you. I will look forward to the chat transcript with IMMENSE antiicipation the next day. Very happy for all who will be able to attend

Sure it will be another wonderful experience for all with lots of great info on upcoming releases. Such a unique opportunity the HTF is providing us with.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Karine,

That's a great list Most of these are among my favorites as well. If I can participate in the chat, I'll add my Texas voice to your list

I remember hearing something about the Andy Hardy series being planned for a future release. I don't know if that's still on their runway.

Speaking of Lancaster, "I Walk Alone" is among my top movies but it's a Paramount property, I think :frowning:

[Ms Richardson] "I'm Ms Alexis Richardson".
[Frankie Madison] "You say that like it was spelled in capital letters".
[Ms R] "Sit Down".
[Frankie] "Are you telling me or asking me?"
[Ms R] "Please?"
[Ms R] "You know, you're quite an attractive man."
[Frankie] "Keep going."
[Ms R] "How far do you want me to go?"
[Frankie] "I'm at the plate. You're doing the pitching."

 

[CULTMAN1]

WARNERS IF YOU ARE READING THIS THREAD PRIOR TO THE CHAT TOMORROW PLEASE CONSIDER .....OPERATION DAYBREAK....(1975) ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED WAR MOVIES EVER MADE WITH SUPERB DIRECTION ACTING VISUALS AND A WONDERFUL CD SCORE BY DAVIS HENTSCHEL

 

[BethHarrison]

A Stolen Life (I am beginning to really enjoy Glenn Ford)
Until They Sail (1957 Jean Simmons is a favourite of mine!)
Desperate Journey
Four's a Crowd
Mission to Moscow
Confessions of a Nazis Spy
The Prize (1963)
Film Noir Volume 5
Westerns Volume 2 (I have just finished the 1st volume)
I'd also really love some Joan Crawford silents (Our Dancing Daughters and Our Modern Maidens, West Point)
More Barbara Stanwyck (quickly becoming my favourite actress), Edward G Robinson, Jean Harlow
Oh and just for Cultman1 - Operation Daybreak

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Great news re. the chat!

Could anyone please tell me in advance if these guests will be able to answer any questions related to the upcoming Peanuts releases, or if that would stick with the TV division?

I can't wait to find out about more classic westerns, a Robert Taylor set and Noirs... and if given the chance, Tex Avery, Happy Harmonies and a long overdue 'complete' remastered MGM Tom & Jerry collection!

 

[Thomas T]

I won't be participating in the chat but Warners if you're reading (or if someone could bring it up), I'd love to see a "Suspense In The Skies" themed box set consisting of Above And Beyond (1952) with Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker (the story of the pilot who flew the plane that dropped the A bomb on Hiroshima), Chain Lightning (1950) with Humphrey Bogart and Eleanor Parker (Bogart as a test pilot), The Crowded Sky (1960) with Dana Andrews and Rhonda Fleming (an air force jet and passenger airliner on a collision course), Julie (1956) with Doris Day (as a stewardess who has to land the plane on her own) and a double feature of Five Came Back (1939)/Back From Eternity (1956), a story of an airliner crashed in the South American jungles both the original and remake directed by John Farrow.

I know Warners has the rights to all these films and while it might be "risky" to release on their own, I think a themed box set would be a slam dunk!