Man With A Camera-The Complete Collection 11/20/07 (1 Viewer)

[Hank Dearborn]

Sorry to say that it's still completely under copyright and owned by our friends at MGM, just like all of the Ziv shows. Buried with all of them I'm afraid.

 

[michael_ks]

So then "Sea Hunt" is a dim prospect indeed--very unfortunate. Hank, for the following shows that, like "Tales of the Vikings" only lasted a season or less, are any not owned by the majors?

Five Fingers
Hong Kong
Way Out
The Dakotas

 

[Hank Dearborn]

FF and HK are both owned by Fox and since Buffy wasn't in either of those 2 great shows, they would not look likely. Dakotas is WB and they ignore their b/w catalog. Way Out on the other hand may be a possibility. It's owned by CBS, they have all of the kines (the show aired on 2-inch tape but those are long gone) and now that Infinity is putting out Suspense they may have opened the door with CBS. So I would say that at least there may be a chance for this great show. I had the opportunity to view them all at the Museum of Broadcasting a few years ago and some of them are so great. I really hope that this gets put out. I do know that when SciFi channel started they tried to get it and for some reason couldn't. Whether that reason would stop a DVD release, I don't know.

 

[Bob Gu]

Thanks Hank and Jeff, for your Tales Of The Vikings info. I did not know it was a ZIV show. I thought maybe the Douglas family owned it.

Although I don't remember seeing it in 1959, I saw reruns of the show in the early '70s, and liked it and was familiar with the cast from other shows.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

It wasn't a Ziv show. But it was owned by UA, however, thus now MGM. Regardless, it's still buried along with the Ziv shows.

 

[Bob Hug]

Cover artwork for "Man With A Camera" has been posted at DeepDiscount:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/viewprod...ctId=21528872#

DD has also raised the price a little, from $21.34 to $21.98. I don't know if DD will be again doing their November 20% off sale, but if they do and the timing is right, it may be possible to get this full series for under $18 shipped.

Edit: Better picture here at CD Universe:

http://www.cduniverse.com/images.asp...Collection+DVD

 

[Bert Greene]

Even though November is bringing volumes of "Wild Wild West" and "Mission: Impossible," and that highly impressive full-series "Man From UNCLE" set, I'll be darned if I'm not just as excited at the prospect of this little oddity!

 

[Bob Hug]

Bert, I get more excited by these older, "forgotten" series getting a DVD release than I do most of the "warhorses." Many of the well known vintage series have already received, in some instances, multiple seasons and even full series runs on DVD. But when these lesser known series get a chance, it usually piques my interest. I appreciate the fact that somewhere out there, some executive at an independent releasing company has enough faith in these older series to give them a green light.

 

[Bob Gu]

I agree with you guys, Bob and Bert. There is something highly entertaining about these more obscure and short-lived series. These productions, even within the low budgets, give us good fast paced, straight to the point stories.(Heck,as strange as it was, I even would like for VCI to give us the rest of Craig Kennedy,Criminologist).

Thanks,Bob for the bigger box-art picture. Even on the smaller pic I could recognize Yvonne Craig and S.Cabot. But on the other two, I guessed wrong.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

Well, hopefully this and Code 3 will sell well and that will encourage Infinity to continue in this direction. They really seem to be the main independent at this point that's interested in mining these forgotten nuggets. Smore does a good job as well but their releases seem to come out at a snails pace. There are several more goodies that Infinity could bring out if they are so inclined.

 

[Gary OS]

Add me to the chorus that Bert, Bob Hug, and Bob Gu are singing in. I'm looking forward to this one, even though it's almost a blind buy for me. Other than the Mill Creek set, I haven't seen this show. But I'm looking forward to it, as I do all these smaller, seemingly forgotten series from the 50's and 60's. Keep 'em coming.

Gary "thank God for companies like Mill Creek, Alpha and Infinity" O.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Hey, gang....Bob H, Gary,

This one sounds like I might like it as a blind-buy but I don't know anything about the premise of the show. There wasn't much info at TV.Com so I thought I'd ask the "real experts" here Does it compare to another show around the same time period, ie "Honey West", "Decoy", etc? I like Bronson's early guest spots on other shows around thiis time period ("Combat!", "Twilght Zone") so I figure I'll like this show.

How do you all expect the xfrs to rate with this release?

I checked Amazon for their "Co" review (and looked for Bob's name ) but I didn't see a review posted yet for this one.

- Jeff "Gary, Mike KS, I finally watched the '....Hollywood' episode today, will post one of my amateur reviews on the Fuge thread later" W.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

My sources are telling me that even though they are coming off 16mm prints as opposed to 35mm, the transfers are looking pretty good.

 

[Bob Hug]

Jeff, for a little more on the premise of "Man with a Camera," click this link:

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/kovac.html

As far as the transfers are concerned, I'd expect them to be up a notch or two over the two episodes found on the Mill Creek Detectives 150 Episodes box set (one of the episodes on that set, "Missing," had a missing opening title sequence and they substituted the end credits. At the end of the episode, they simply had a "The End" card.). This is really a different type of show than "Honey West" or "Decoy," so you really can't compare. I think Bob Gu's earlier comments about this show (and others) that are low budget, but provide good, straight-to-the-point stories are right on the money.

 

[David Lambert]

Hank, if your sources work for Infinity, then please mention to them that TVShowsOnDVD would talk their stuff up more if we got info more quickly and directly, instead of waiting for their PR firm to issue press releases a couple of weeks prior to release and then have to have me go back and beg for cover art.

I *HATE* finding out about a release because a listing appears at Amazon or some other retailer. I'd rather the studio inform me at around the same time (give or take a week) the retailers find out! I'm sure you all agree.

 

[DeWilson]

I wonder if they'll plaster a logo all over these episodes! *Sigh*

 

[Hank Dearborn]

Actually, my sources are more in the area of where the prints are coming from and what show are suggested as opposed to Infinity so I can't help in that regard. Sorry.

 

[tomterrific]

Hank,
Any chance the following shows might be released: The Goldbergs, Aldrich Family, Duffy's Tavern or Lights Out?

 

[Bob Hug]

A few episodes of "Lights Out," presumably public domain, are available from Alpha Video.

http://www.oldies.com/product-view/9518D.html

A post at IMDB.com indicates the following episodes have been released by Alpha:

The Passage Beyond (on Vol. 1)
The Man With the Watch (on Vol. 1)
Dark Image (on Vol. 2)
The Faceless Man (on Vol. 2)
The Veil (on Vol. 2)
Perchance to Dream (on Vol. 2)
The Martian Eyes (on "Mars Invades the Earth")
Lost Will of Dr. Rant (on "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (TV version)")

 

[Bob Hug]

I just received my copy from DeepDiscount yesterday and had the opportunity to watch the first three episodes . . . . . the transfers do appear to be sourced from 16 mm prints and, so far, are in reasonably good shape. Considering that this series only had 29 episodes and, outside of a couple of public domain episodes, hasn't had any kind of wide release in decades, the fact that the entire series is getting a release is nothing short of amazing. And, as was previously reported, the UCLA Film & Television Archive was involved in this release (their second, after "Mister Peepers"), while Infinity Entertainment is distributing.

The guest star list isn't as high profile as some other series of the late 1950s, but old "Billy Jack" himself, Tom Laughlin, appears in an early episode as a boxer. The stories move along at a fairly quick clip and Bronson is a bit more animated in this series than in some of his later films. The DVD packaging is identical to Infinity Entertainment's "Route 66" release . . . . . two plastic trays with a snap open second layer. There's a nice write-up of the series on the packaging, but there are no DVD extras (not that I was expecting any).