PARAMOUNT: Did ONE-EYED JACKS fall into public domain, and... (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

There have been many terrible P&S transfers of this film available on tape, and already on DVD, of this unique Brando-directed western. Nonetheless, I am aware that a nice-quality letterboxed laser was issued by Paramount, so what are the chances of getting a DECENT DVD release?

 

[Bruce Morrison]

I have also been concerned about this. I'm not sure why certain movies, even as recent as the 1960's such as One-Eyed Jacks, suddenly seem to be available for anyone to release. Anyway I share your hope that Paramount will get around to doing a proper job of this great film on DVD before long. I included it in my top five wants in Martin Blythe's recent poll for Paramount, and I think it was mentioned by several other contributors as well, so perhaps there is hope!

 

[Douglas R]

I also very much hope Paramount will release One-Eyed Jacks - a superb western with great performances from Marlon Brando and Karl Malden and marvellous photography. I also don't understand why such a major film has become a public domain title.

 

[Martin Blythe]

Hasn't someone else already put out a version on DVD? If so, that definitely hinders us doing one.

 

[Douglas R]

Martin - I'm sorry you've said that. I was hoping this might be heading for a Paramount release before too long. From comments I've read, the various releases of One Eyed Jacks on DVD are very poor quality and none are anamorphic widescreen which is why I haven't bought any. I'm waiting for Paramount to do a decent release as I'm sure they would.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hasn't someone else already put out a version on DVD? If so, that definitely hinders us doing one.

Martin,
Yes, it was released on dvd if you want to call it that, however, this fine film deserves more than this very poor quality dvd release. I've seen video tapes with a better video presentation than this dvd. Furthermore, this beautiful film shot by the great Charles Lang on the Monterey Peninsula should be shown in all it's glory and in it's proper widescreen format on a quality dvd release.
Crawdaddy
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[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Though I'm not necessarily a fan of ONE-EYED JACKS, the comment by Martin Blythe prompts me to respond. In most cases, "public domain" releases of studio classics are of low quality (sometimes even missing some footage), and as a consumer, I tend to avoid them like the plague*, waiting instead for the major studio to utilize their (usually superior) film elements to deliver a definitive video edition. Some examples:
a.) Many "bottom-feeder" dvd companies (Madacy, Diamond, Marengo, etc) released their own public domain versions of HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940), but I waited for Columbia Tristar to do it right (and they did).
b.) I didn't buy the Roan Group (even though they're a good little company, and have released some nice stuff) public domain dvd of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1958), double-featured with THE BAT (1959) though it was, because Warner gave us a far better version of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL a bit later on.
c.) I won't buy a faded public domain dvd of LIFE WITH FATHER (1946), in the hope that Warner will favor us some day with the nice Technicolor print that airs often on Turner Classic Movies.
* - The only exceptions being a couple of Roan Group dvds of titles I figured the major studios would never bother with:
1. BIRD OF PARADISE (1932), an RKO film that was later acquired by Fox (it was run several times on Fox Movie Channel, about a year ago), but also has fallen into the public domain.
2. CAUSE FOR ALARM (1951), an MGM suspenser starring Loretta Young, of which Warner controls the original negatives.
--These are both of decent quality, but if Fox and Warner were to release superior editions of these films on DVD, I'd buy them. The public domain titles I'm more inclined to buy, provided the quality is halfway-decent, are smaller, lesser-known, independently-made flicks that the big studios wouldn't have in their vaults anyway.
I don't think I'm alone in the opinions I've outlined here, and hope this has given Martin some further (hopefully helpful) insight into the matter.
Pete Fitzgerald
[Edited last by Peter M Fitzgerald on July 13, 2001 at 08:36 PM]

 

[Bruce Morrison]

To Martin Blythe: Please, please Martin, don't be put off by the fact that One-Eyed Jacks has been released on DVD already (dumped onto DVD would be a more accurate way of putting it). Nobody who loves this great movie will be satisfied with the present dreadful DVD version of it. Most people won't even have bought it, and the ones who did will be wishing they hadn't. Everyone is waiting for Paramount to do justice to this classic western (as they hopefully will to Gunfight At The OK Corral). I hope you will reconsider your view on this one.

 

[Jeff(R)]

YES! Paramount, please release a quality definitive
DVD version of this great film. This film deserves
a better presentation than the P&S-mutilated-print-DVD
I saw. It's a classic and now at the top of my list of favorite westerns. I'll buy THIS DISC if you make it and I'm certain many others will too!
Jeff

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Yes, please, beat the bootleggers at their own game. The easiest thing you could do to counter all these inferior DVD's is not only put out a clean, anamorphically enhanced transfer, but add new copyrighted content to it -- an interview with surviving cast and crew (Yeah, Brando would be impossible, but why not Karl Malden, a commentary track by film scholars or director fans (like the Noah Baumbach track on SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS), or heck, just splice new Paramount logos onto the print. These fly by night artists would not issue this film of yours if there weren't money to be made off it, so don't let them pick your pocket.