Bill Burns
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- May 13, 2003
- Messages
- 747
DVDFile has just announced a teaming between AMC and Falcon Pictures Group for a series of DVD releases:
http://www.dvdfile.com/software/dvd-...003/10_09.html
I've run across Falcon Pictures Group once before, in an on-line reference to a release about which I'm still trying to find info: Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Collection, which is listed on Amazon but remains absent from many e-tailer sites (there's a Roan set of the same films I'd assume to be the best available resource for these films until more is known). Feedback here (post #19 and responses/follow-ups thereafter)...
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=160145
... was much appreciated, and suggests Falcon may be a public domain company, possibly associated with Triton (post #30)? That's a leap on my part, though, as I only saw Falcon's name itself associated with Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Collection on a single website; the front cover art provided on Amazon does not mention them. If anyone has definite info, that might better characterize this new AMC/Falcon announcement (in both quality and legality, I'd much rather know than assume, but I'll of course give both companies the benefit of the doubt; see below). Also, the "Monsterfest" label seems to have a few distinct titles on the way for Region 2 (or are they now available? The thread linked below dates back to April; I haven't searched DVD Drive-In) ...
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=133827
... but the new announcement for Region 1 does not contain any of the titles mentioned in that thread.
One point of concern is that a few of the films mentioned in the DVDFile report are already available in nice editions, and one, The Ghoul, is out on DVD from a major studio: MGM. Does the studio have an exclusive license for this property? Or is their restoration/remastering (possibly/likely LDI) their only claim on the film, with other source prints up for legal grabs? I wouldn't want to speculate without definite info.
AMC is not my favorite classic movies channel.
They allow commercial interruption and frequently present films in MAR; it's quite a challenge to find their infrequent widescreen broadcasts anymore. I don't know that this was always the case, and if a recent change, I certainly consider it one for the worst. Turner Classic Movies, on the other hand, has maintained a great dedication to quality for years, and while I've been without that station for a little more than a year now (due to a change in providers), I believe they continue a commitment to OAR and interruption-free broadcasts of their films. They also have a much stronger commitment to the films of early Hollywood, which with their occasional silent offerings has always secured them a very warm place in my heart.
TCM, as many may know, has their own label offering arriving later this month on DVD, in conjunction with Warner Bros. (their parent company? Warner owns the Turner library, at any rate): The Lon Chaney Collection. That release looks absolutely outstanding by all advance news, and I can't wait to lay eyes on it. This new announcment from AMC ... well, I'm hopeful the titles are entirely on the up and up, and the line offers some sort of real QC, but so many of these are already out there (Image has an edition of Phantom Ship from David Shepard, Roan has Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome in their excellent Dick Tracy Collection, etc.), and in some cases (The Ghoul, Phantom Ship, Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome*) the existing editions seem fairly definitive; with as many as four titles per disc in the AMC/Falcon line (again, according to DVDFile) ... I'm keeping any enthusiasm to which I might otherwise find myself prone in check, pending further. For me, the first thing to confirm is legality (are these new transfers, are the films in the PD), and again I of course give AMC and Falcon the benefit of the doubt here, and the second thing to confirm is quality. The Bela Lugosi titles have a number of PD releases, including an edition of The Devil Bat from Navarre that claims to be the only "authorized" edition (Bela's son provides a commentary); editions of Carnival of Souls are out there from both Criterion and Image ....
Ah well. I can only guess; all I know of what AMC and Falcon have in store is what DVDFile says in their report. If anyone has further info on these upcoming discs, or on Falcon Pictures Group themselves and the edition of Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Series mentioned above, which may or may not be theirs, I'd love to hear it. As mentioned above, Roan's set for Wong would seem to be the definitive set (and, if speculation in that earlier thread is accurate, possibly the only legal set) at the moment, pending further details.
* Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is the only film in Roan's Dick Tracy Collection I haven't checked, as the side of the DVD-10 on which it is recorded is damaged (in the thread linked earlier I mistakenly identified it as Dick Tracy vs. Cueball; it's in fact Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome); but the other titles in the collection look, upon examining a few scenes and watching the first in its entirety, very good by studio standards and absolutely excellent by PD standards; the supplements in that set put it right over the top into "must own" for fans).
http://www.dvdfile.com/software/dvd-...003/10_09.html
I've run across Falcon Pictures Group once before, in an on-line reference to a release about which I'm still trying to find info: Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Collection, which is listed on Amazon but remains absent from many e-tailer sites (there's a Roan set of the same films I'd assume to be the best available resource for these films until more is known). Feedback here (post #19 and responses/follow-ups thereafter)...
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=160145
... was much appreciated, and suggests Falcon may be a public domain company, possibly associated with Triton (post #30)? That's a leap on my part, though, as I only saw Falcon's name itself associated with Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Collection on a single website; the front cover art provided on Amazon does not mention them. If anyone has definite info, that might better characterize this new AMC/Falcon announcement (in both quality and legality, I'd much rather know than assume, but I'll of course give both companies the benefit of the doubt; see below). Also, the "Monsterfest" label seems to have a few distinct titles on the way for Region 2 (or are they now available? The thread linked below dates back to April; I haven't searched DVD Drive-In) ...
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=133827
... but the new announcement for Region 1 does not contain any of the titles mentioned in that thread.
One point of concern is that a few of the films mentioned in the DVDFile report are already available in nice editions, and one, The Ghoul, is out on DVD from a major studio: MGM. Does the studio have an exclusive license for this property? Or is their restoration/remastering (possibly/likely LDI) their only claim on the film, with other source prints up for legal grabs? I wouldn't want to speculate without definite info.
AMC is not my favorite classic movies channel.
They allow commercial interruption and frequently present films in MAR; it's quite a challenge to find their infrequent widescreen broadcasts anymore. I don't know that this was always the case, and if a recent change, I certainly consider it one for the worst. Turner Classic Movies, on the other hand, has maintained a great dedication to quality for years, and while I've been without that station for a little more than a year now (due to a change in providers), I believe they continue a commitment to OAR and interruption-free broadcasts of their films. They also have a much stronger commitment to the films of early Hollywood, which with their occasional silent offerings has always secured them a very warm place in my heart.TCM, as many may know, has their own label offering arriving later this month on DVD, in conjunction with Warner Bros. (their parent company? Warner owns the Turner library, at any rate): The Lon Chaney Collection. That release looks absolutely outstanding by all advance news, and I can't wait to lay eyes on it. This new announcment from AMC ... well, I'm hopeful the titles are entirely on the up and up, and the line offers some sort of real QC, but so many of these are already out there (Image has an edition of Phantom Ship from David Shepard, Roan has Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome in their excellent Dick Tracy Collection, etc.), and in some cases (The Ghoul, Phantom Ship, Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome*) the existing editions seem fairly definitive; with as many as four titles per disc in the AMC/Falcon line (again, according to DVDFile) ... I'm keeping any enthusiasm to which I might otherwise find myself prone in check, pending further. For me, the first thing to confirm is legality (are these new transfers, are the films in the PD), and again I of course give AMC and Falcon the benefit of the doubt here, and the second thing to confirm is quality. The Bela Lugosi titles have a number of PD releases, including an edition of The Devil Bat from Navarre that claims to be the only "authorized" edition (Bela's son provides a commentary); editions of Carnival of Souls are out there from both Criterion and Image ....
Ah well. I can only guess; all I know of what AMC and Falcon have in store is what DVDFile says in their report. If anyone has further info on these upcoming discs, or on Falcon Pictures Group themselves and the edition of Mr. Wong, Detective: The Complete Series mentioned above, which may or may not be theirs, I'd love to hear it.
As mentioned above, Roan's set for Wong would seem to be the definitive set (and, if speculation in that earlier thread is accurate, possibly the only legal set) at the moment, pending further details.* Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is the only film in Roan's Dick Tracy Collection I haven't checked, as the side of the DVD-10 on which it is recorded is damaged (in the thread linked earlier I mistakenly identified it as Dick Tracy vs. Cueball; it's in fact Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome); but the other titles in the collection look, upon examining a few scenes and watching the first in its entirety, very good by studio standards and absolutely excellent by PD standards; the supplements in that set put it right over the top into "must own" for fans).
