Obscure/Rare film you’d like that will never see the light of day? (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

From Disney I would like to see the release of two T.V. movies in particular: THE BLUE YONDER with Huckleberry Fox and Peter Coyote, and THE GIRL WHO SPELLED FREEDOM, which is an awesome story of the immigration of a large Cambodian family escaping the Khmer Rouge, taken in by a suburban American couple, Wayne Rogers and Mary Kay Place, who have children of their own. The communications challenges are many, and the sincere attempts to assimilate the refugees into an modern American household the local society are fraught with obstacles. But the oldest child brought into their home has a knack for spelling English words and may be the key to bridging the emotional gap. Beautifully done. Both films would make for perfect Movie Club exclusives.

While on the topic of T.V. movies never released to video, how about Steven Spielberg's SAVAGE (1973) and SOMETHING EVIL (1972). Other fine no-show t.v. movies are SOMETHING ABOUT AMELIA, HEARTSOUNDS, GOD BLESS THE CHILD, DAVID COPPERFIELD (1970), CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1970), THE PEOPLE (1972), THAT CERTAIN SUMMER (1972), GO ASK ALICE (1973), A COLD NIGHT'S DEATH (1973), THE BORROWERS (1973), THE GLASS MENAGERIE (1973), THE EXECUTION OF PRIVATE SLOVIK (1974), THURSDAY'S GAME (1974), QBVII (1974), THE BLUE KNIGHT (1975), FEAR ON TRIAL (1975), THE U.F.O. INCIDENT (1975), FOSTER AND LAURIE (1975), TAIL GUNNER JOE (1977), THE DEADLIEST SEASON (1977), MARY JANE HARPER CRIED LAST NIGHT (1977), THE DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME (1978), A WOMAN CALLED MOSES (1978), VAMPIRE (1979), A PIANO FOR MRS. CIMINO (1982), THE PEOPLE VS. JEAN HARRIS (1981), DAVID (1988). These were all broadcast by the big three networks in the days before HBO and Showtime began turning out their own, commercial-free movies.

Speaking of the premium channels, a bunch of their excellent TV movies are also missing on DVD and/or Blu-ray: BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT, THE BURNING SEASON, COUNTDOWN TO LOOKING GLASS, GULAG, MURROW, CITIZEN COHN, BARBARIANS AT THE GATE, AND THE BAND PLAYED ON, CITIZEN X, INDICTMENT: THE McMARTIN TRIAL, THE JACK BULL (available in Europe from time to time on Blu), BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA, NIGHTBREAKER, and many others.

None of these is likely to appear on DVD or Blu, but I never thought I'd see PLAYING FOR TIME or PROMISE or FRIENDLY FIRE or DEATH OF A SALESMAN or THE GLASS HOUSE or DRACULA (1974) or THE LEGEND OF LIZZIE BORDEN or THE BURNING BED or DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW to come out, either.

Upgrades from DVD to Blu would be most welcome for GARGOYLES, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN, HELTER SKELTER, SYBIL, THE THORN BIRDS, the two Ewok movies, WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE JIM JONES STORY, SPECIAL BULLETIN, BRIAN'S SONG, THE CELLULOID CLOSET, ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR, FOUR LITTLE GIRLS, THE GREEN MAN (BBC), LENA: MY 100 CHILDREN, THE NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA, SOMETHING THE LORD MADE, SOMETIME IN APRIL, TREASURE ISLAND (1990), etc.

So there is the list I said I wasn't going to post in this thread.

 

[StarDestroyer52]

I don't believe the 1977 TV movie, "Raid on Entebbe" has ever seen a home video release. That's one I love to see be released

 

[Matt Hough]

I thought A Cold Night's Death was issued on DVD-R by Warner Archive. Is that the one with Cloris Leachman whose husband goes missing at a truck stop? If it is, I am sure I have it.

 

[Mark B]

STATE FAIR '33
ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS
THE SUBTERRANEANS
THE RAT RACE
THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY
A TICKLISH AFFAIR
THE COMIC

 

[Mark B]

I thought A Cold Night's Death was issued on DVD-R by Warner Archive. Is that the one with Cloris Leachman whose husband goes missing at a truck stop? If it is, I am sure I have it.

That is DYING ROOM ONLY

 

[TJPC]

I would love to get a copy of “Just Imagine” (1930), a musical set in the far flung future of 1980!

 

[Bert Greene]

I would love to get a copy of “Just Imagine” (1930), a musical set in the far flung future of 1980!

About fifteen years ago, my late grandmother was talking about how much she loved this film when it came out, with all its futuristic set-pieces and such. She had such marvelous memories of it, and hadn't seen it since it was in theaters. As I had the film on tape (from an off-air recording back around 1990), I showed it to her, and 'disappointed' doesn't even begin to describe her reaction. She was positively aghast. I guess I should have refrained from showing it to her, and shattering her pleasant memories.

I'm really not too keen on the film myself, other than the always-delightful Marjorie White. I'd buy the film on blu, just due to her. Isn't the surviving copy of the film actually a 'work print' as opposed to the official release? I was sometimes under the impression this was the case with a few of those 1929-35 Fox films.

 

[battlebeast]

STATE FAIR '33
ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS
THE SUBTERRANEANS
THE RAT RACE
THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY
A TICKLISH AFFAIR

State Fair? YES PLEASE!

 

[Dave Lawrence]

Here are some (though not all) I'd like that, to my knowledge, have never been released on DVD or Blu:

Angel in My Pocket (1969) - Andy Griffith/Lee Meriwether/Jerry Van Dyke (The DVDs that have come up when searching this title don't look like legit releases.)
Checkered Flag or Crash (1977) - Joe Don Baker/Susan Sarandon/Larry Hagman (All I've found is a Netherlands VHS from Warner Home Video.)
Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968) - Phyllis Diller/Bob Denver/Joe Flynn
The Goldbergs (1950) - Gertrude Berg and the rest of her TV series cast starred in this film.
Gunn (1967) - Craig Stevens reprised his role as Peter Gunn in this film made several years after the TV series.
HealtH (1980) - Carol Burnett/James Garner/Lauren Bacall (a Robert Altman film)
Ladybug Ladybug (1963) - William Daniels/Nancy Marchand
Limbo (1972) - Kate Jackson/Kathleen Nolan/Stuart Margolin
The Man (1972) - James Earl Jones/Martin Balsam/Burgess Meredith (with a Rod Serling script)
Some Kind of a Nut (1969) - Dick Van Dyke/Angie Dickinson (The DVDs that have come up when searching this title don't look like legit releases.)

And since TV movies are also being included in the discussion, there are plenty I would like. Here are just 5 of them:

The Death of Ocean View Park (1979) - Mike Connors/Martin Landau
Getting Away From It All (1972) - Larry Hagman/Barbara Feldon/Jim Backus
A Howling in the Woods (1971) - Barbara Eden/Larry Hagman (This drama aired a year after their sitcom I Dream Of Jeannie ended.)
Let's Switch (1975) - Barbara Eden/Barbara Feldon
The Missing Are Deadly (1975) - Leonard Nimoy/Ed Nelson

 

[Matt Hough]

That is DYING ROOM ONLY

That's exactly right. Thanks for the correct information!

 

[TJPC]

About fifteen years ago, my late grandmother was talking about how much she loved this film when it came out, with all its futuristic set-pieces and such. She had such marvelous memories of it, and hadn't seen it since it was in theaters. As I had the film on tape (from an off-air recording back around 1990), I showed it to her, and 'disappointed' doesn't even begin to describe her reaction. She was positively aghast. I guess I should have refrained from showing it to her, and shattering her pleasant memories.

I'm really not too keen on the film myself, other than the always-delightful Marjorie White. I'd buy the film on blu, just due to her. Isn't the surviving copy of the film actually a 'work print' as opposed to the official release? I was sometimes under the impression this was the case with a few of those 1929-35 Fox films.

The last time it was shown locally, I taped it with my Beta (!) recorder. If it ever is “disked” I would store it with other kitschy, campy musicals from the 1930s staring El Brendel.

 

[Bert Greene]

Well, if we're getting into El Brendel films, we've definitely qualified for obscure!

Anyone clamoring for a blu of "Mr. Lemon of Orange" (1931)?

 

[bujaki]

The 35mm nitrate copy of Just Imagine that I saw at MoMA was not a work print (if I remember correctly, sometime in the '70s).

 

[LeoA]

I don't know if they're particularly rare or obscure, but three films I'd love to see on Blu-Ray that I doubt will be happening are One Way Passage (1932), The Smiling Ghost (1941), and One Foot in Heaven (1941).

Perhaps more suitable for this topic, how about the Maureen O'Hara tv movie version of Mrs. Miniver? That's one kinescope I'd buy a HD transfer of, if it's ever uncovered.

I'm sure it wouldn't match or surpass the wartime movie, since I fell in love with it first and we're of course talking about a television movie. But it's easy to see Maureen O'Hara being perfect for the role as Mrs. Miniver.

 

[Nick*Z]

Only two for me: the complete version of Cukor's '54 version of A Star is Born - with all the outtakes and deleted scenes taken out after the first prevue.

...and, Six Weeks - costarring Dudley and Mary Tyler-Moore - shameless tear-jerker I remember fondly.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Only two for me: the complete version of Cukor's '54 version of A Star is Born - with all the outtakes and deleted scenes taken out after the first prevue.

...and, Six Weeks - costarring Dudley and Mary Tyler-Moore - shameless tear-jerker I remember fondly.

I read the original novel by Fred Mustard Stewart a few years before the film came out. Dudley Moore was hopelessly miscast- the role called for James Garner, Paul Newman, or Robert Redford. No wonder the film flopped!!!

In recent years the Time Warner has used its lawyers to untangle legal issues that prevented films like The Constant Nymph and Night Flight from being shown on TCM or being put out on home video. So why no action yet on Beyond the Forest or the most notorious example of a film being 'locked up' over a rights issue- Letty Lynton? That 1932 Joan Crawford film is very much in the Turner vaults, and bootleg versions have been put out on DVD

In the meantime- a clip:

.

 

[Robin9]

I'd be very interested in any decent disc of the Kim Novak version of Of Human Bondage. I've never heard why that has disappeared.

 

[Thomas T]

I'd be very interested in any decent disc of the Kim Novak version of Of Human Bondage. I've never heard why that has disappeared.

It's not on blu ray but there's a perfectly decent MOD available through the Warners Archive.

 

[Robin9]

It's not on blu ray but there's a perfectly decent MOD available through the Warners Archive.

Well, I'm astonished. I didn't know that. Many thanks. I'm placing my order immediately!

 

[Nick*Z]

I read the original novel by Fred Mustard Stewart a few years before the film came out. Dudley Moore was hopelessly miscast- the role called for James Garner, Paul Newman, or Robert Redford. No wonder the film flopped!!!

In recent years the Time Warner has used its lawyers to untangle legal issues that prevented films like The Constant Nymph and Night Flight from being shown on TCM or being put out on home video. So why no action yet on Beyond the Forest or the most notorious example of a film being 'locked up' over a rights issue- Letty Lynton? That 1932 Joan Crawford film is very much in the Turner vaults, and bootleg versions have been put out on DVD

In the meantime- a clip:

.

I'd all but forgotten about Letty Lynton. Beyond the Forest - at this point - is beyond comprehension. What rights issues are delaying movies that are more than 50 years old?