Long awaited classic DVDs such as EAST SIDE KIDS comedies available but at what cost? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

I hate to advertise or bring attention to a
company that not only doesn't advertise with
this forum, but even more concerning, I know
very little about.

I received a catalog from a company called
OLDIES.COM. I was absolutely surprised
that this company had DVD titles that I have
been anxiously awaiting for one of the major studios
to release.

http://www.oldies.com

What especially caught my eye were no less than
14 EAST SIDE KIDS comedies being offered
on DVD. You have any idea how many times posts
went up in this forum over the past 6 years asking
for the studios to release these titles?!

Something seems to be real fishy about this
operation, and I'll explain why right now....

The company is offering these titles at $5.95
each or 5 for $25. 5 DVD titles for $25?! Are
you nuts?!

In the back of my mind I can't help but think
these are public domain titles that some company
picked up, threw on DVD with absolutely no
restoration work, and is pawning them off at
the most attractive price it can.

If you look through their COMEDY section I
think you would be amazed at the stuff being
offered here -- titles which I have never seen
offered by any of the major studios.

Are these bootlegs? If they are, the company
has gone to great lengths to advertise their
products. There are bundles of these catalogs
being sent through the Postal Service.

Would I feel safe ordering any of these titles?
Absolutely not. But I am curious.

Anyone have any experience dealing with this
company? What do you think about the titles
being offered here, and why do you think they
are being offered for the first time on DVD at
such an outrageously low price?

Look forward to comments.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

They say the actual source is "Alpha Video" whoever they are. Alpha video DVD's are also available from http://800-buy-movies.com/studios/dvd-APH.htm . Alpha Video shows up enough on Google that I would guess they may be legit....

Isn't it odd how many small time players are springing up? People are always amazed when I pull out my DVD set of James Burke's "Connections" - they never heard of the source, Ambrose Video www.ambrosevideo.com . And Connections for sure is legit.

 

[oscar_merkx]

Thanks Ron for bringing this to our attention.

They do have very interesting titles like this Fu Manchu 1956 TV series

http://www.oldies.com/product/view.cfm/id/4087D.html

or this Lon Chaney's The Battles of Chief Pontiac that is due for september 16, 2003. This is addition to The Ace of Hearts, The Unknown, and Laugh Clown Laugh that are coming out.

http://www.oldies.com/product/view.cfm/id/4256D.html

seems that they are all region titles as well.

 

[Rodney]

Ron:

These are all public domain, and the quality varies. Most are not very good, and none have been restored from what I can tell.

For more information on the serials they offer, check out Serial Squadron and go to the forum, they discuss them there.

I am tempted to get the Junior G-Men set, since it is only $10.00. Remember, you get what you pay for.

 

[William Miller]

Alpha is now releasing about 20 titles a month.

They are all public domain titles or titles that Alpha seems to think or hope are public domain titles.

The covers are great!

The price is low!

They are releasing many obscure titles!

Now, if you want to actually watch any of them, that's another story.

Restoration? Are you kidding? They grab any old thing they can. VHS tapes. Copies of VHS tapes. Copies of copies of VHS tapes. TV prints. Battered old 16mm prints. I keep buying them despite the poor quality. I just love old movies. But if they were priced any higher, I wouldn't buy any of them. This way, I only throw $5 down the toilet each time I buy one. Every once in a while, I watch one that is "not too bad". About 2 in 10. No, make that 1 in 10.

Alpha could start a new trend in DVD collecting. People can buy them and look at the covers and trade them with each other. Sort of like expensive baseball cards. You really can't do anything with baseball cards except look at them. And that is my recommendation for these DVD's. Buy them...look at the packaging...file them away in your collection. But don't watch them. Then you will be happy.

These are all very strange comments coming from someone that has over 200 Alpha DVD's in his collection.

 

[george kaplan]

I got burned a couple of times early on by Madacy. This sounds like it would be just as bad.

 

[Dave Mack]

I bought a Bowery Boys, etc... DVD recently at Best Buy, 1 with Bela, and the quality was abysmal. Sub-VHS... Full of cuts, etc... wasn't worth the 5.95 I paid. Don't know the studio but I'll check.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

One of the studios really needs to
get The Bowery Boys out on DVD.

 

[David Lambert]

The items below are for sale in both Costco and Borders, which tends to lend an air of credibility to Alpha's right to sell what they are selling. I say "lends", because oftentimes even the legit retail chain buyers are fooled:






This is the nice way to describe it. William might be more accurate with his post. "Baseball cards"...I like that!

 

[John Sparks]

Alpha puts out CRAP...period!!!

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Looks like we're going through the whole alphabet with purveyors of crummy DVDs: Alpha, Delta..... too bad Madacy isn't a letter.....

 

[AlanBrom]

DVD Drive-In has a review of SPOOKS RUN WILD:

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/n...oksrunwild.htm
http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/n...oksrunwild.htm

And they have reviewed some of their horror titles

 

[Randy Korstick]

All 48 Bowery Boys films retored on DVD is on the top of my dream list. Would be instant buys if they are released.
East Side Kids are ok and I would buy them if they had better releases but The Bowery Boys is the cream of the Crop for these films IMHO.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Here's the question of all questions....

What's the difference between the East Side
Kids and The Bowery Boys?

I thought they were one of the same team that
comprised of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall.

Always thought they just went by both names, or,
that the East Side Kids was an earlier name from
around the time Angels With Dirty Faces was
made.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Ron
The Dead End Kids, East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys all featured Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. The main differences were:

Dead End Kids(1936-1940): This is where they started as tough NYC/Brooklyn "type" Street Kids. As Dead End Kids they generally played it straight with a little comedy. They were part of major films starring Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and Others such as "Angels with Dirty Faces". They made around 10 of these pictures

East Side Kids(1940-1945): Monogram Studios signed the boys to new contracts and renamed them "The East Side Kids". Here they starred in a series of low budget films that took the melodrama of the Dead End Kids and mixed it with some Slapstick comedy. Sort of a 50/50 mix. There were a little over 20 of these pictures.

Bowery Boys(1946-1958): Leo Gorcey and Monogram Pictures revamped and renamed the series. Leo Gorcey added his father Bernard Gorcey who played "Louie" the sweetshop owner to the mix. This is where they would always hang out. The series initially started out similar to the East Side Kids but quickly turned to Pure Slapstick Comedies. This format had the most success and ran the longest with 48 of these pictures.

I left out many smaller details but this is the quickest way I could explain the differences. Hope this helps.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Those guys played "kids" from 1936 through 1958??!!?? They were like in their 40's by the time they were through.

 

[AlanBrom]

All the actual "Bowery Boys" titles are owned by Warner Bros.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Actually, the "Dead End Kids" and the "East Side Kids" were from the lower east side of Manhattan not Brooklyn.

Warner produced the "Dead End Kids" which starred Billy Halop along with Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsley.

Monogram produced the "East Side Kids" starred Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Sunshine Sammy Morrison and David Gorcey.

I'm a big fan of both series of films as well as the later series of films "The Bowery Boys".




Crawdaddy

 

[Brian W.]

Oldies.com is the web site of the Collectables label. I can't vouch for the quality of their DVD releases, as I've never viewed any, but they are a very well-known music reissue label, concentrating on oldies, hence the web site name. They have put together some great CDs, things that have never been issued on CD elsewhere. They're a legit operation.

However, I do think they are only distributing these DVDs -- I don't think they produce them themselves.