Preston Sturges "The Palm Beach Story" - 2/1/05 & more (1 Viewer)

[John Hodson]

I haven't seen this anywhere else - maybe it passed me by - but I was surprised to see (at www.dvdreviewer.co.uk ) the following extras for the Fields set: W.C. Fields Behind the Laughter: Historians, co-workers and family members talk about the life and legacy of W.C. Fields. My Little Chickadee Theatrical Trailer; You Can't Cheat and Honest Man Theatrical Trailer; International House Theatrical Trailer.

I have no idea exactly what W.C. Fields Behind the Laughter is, but let's hope it's a decent documentary.

Fingers (and everything else) crossed for the films themselves (sorry for going OT)

 

[george kaplan]

I know I'm mixing up threads here, but here goes. Someone said (in some thread), that the Marx Brothers packaging was the way it was because eventually the films would be made available for individual release. Does anyone know if this is also true for the W.C. Fields set? I'm only interested in It's a Gift, and don't want to buy the box set to get it, if it's going to be available as a single at some point.

 

[Charles Ms]

Does this mean that Where the Buffalo Roam gets its original Soundtrack back, that included some songs from Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix ? That would rock.

Or is this just a re-release at a lower price ?

 

[Charles H]

About a year ago, the Sturges Estate was "negotiating" with Universal with the possibilities of Universal "coupling" dvd releases of Sturges directed films (CHRISTMAS IN JULY, HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO, THE GREAT McGINTY, THE GREAT MOMENT, etc.) with Sturges-scrpted films (EASY LIVING, REMEMBER THE NIGHT, IF I WERE KING, DIAMOND JIM, etc.) I guess the stand alone THE PALM BEACH STORY means, it "ain't going to happen.

For Sturges fans awaiting release



of the rumored dvd of a Criterion UNFAITHFULLY YOURS, there's a pretty good Pal Region 2 version with extras.

 

[Brook K]

Palm Beach is my least favorite of the Sturges Paramount films, but it is still a definite buy for me and very good news. I just hope this prods Paramount to release Morgan's Creek.

 

[Jim_K]

Well, I'm not expecting a Warner B&W transfer (which surpasses Criterion's work IMO) but if it's passable such as the Universal Noir titles of this past summer, for the price they're asking I'll be satisfied.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

My order of Palm Beach shipped today. Should have it by Friday. I hope the transfer is good. The commentary by Marian Keane on Criterion's, The Lady Eve is excellent; it's a shame that Universal didn't ask her to record one for Palm Beach. Kenneth Bowser would also have obliged, I'm sure.

There will probably be a Criterion of Unfaithfully Yours this year, as Fox lent out the rights to Optimum in the UK. It has a great transfer and extras. Fox have already lent out titles to Criterion, as have Universal.

Remaining Sturges films not on DVD and who owns the rights:

Christmas in July (Universal)
The Great McGinty (Universal)
The Great Moment (Universal)
Hail the Conquering Hero (Universal)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Paramount)
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (Fox)

As writer only:

Easy Living (Universal)
Remember the Night (Universal)
The Power and the Glory (Fox)

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock is on DVD in two editions on R1, but I have heard the quality of both ain't that great. Is this film Public Domain?

How is Kino's DVD of The Good Fairy?

On the Official Sturges site there is THIS:

"Paramount Home Video is presently working on a dvd of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. We are likewise discussing a program of releases with Universal Home Video that would 'double-feature' a well-known film with a work from earlier in his career."

But there hasn't been any word from Paramount on this, so I'm not sure what to make of it.

And yes, I love Sturges!

 

[Bradley-E]

Actually Paramount only holds the rights to The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Universal has the rights to The Great Moment and Hail the Conquering Hero.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I stand corrected!

Cheers, Bradley.

 

[Bradley-E]

Cheers to you even though I am correct.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Oops, I typed "correct", when I meant to type "corrected". Easily done.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Double post.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I recieved Palm Beach today.

Fantastic transfer! I'm guessing that Universal made a new print from the O-neg. It's clean and the contrast/brightness is better than most Universal b&w transfers. It's quite a sharp transfer, also, although, fine film grain is present, the bitrate is very high throughout (7-8 mbps) so there are no obvious compression artefacts. Overall, it is an excellent transfer. Just a pity we couldn't get some extras - there isn't even the original trailer. A must-buy for Sturges fans, though

 

[SteveGon]

Just got and watched The Palm Beach Story. The DVD has a decent transfer but the cover art is terrible - the man pictured doesn't really look like Joel McCrea. And no extras is disappointing. Still, it's nice to have it.

 

[John Hodson]

Yup, nice and sharp, good deep contrast (and it wouldn't be a Universal transfer without grain galore). I agree about the cover (contrast that with The Life of Emile Zola which arrived in the same shipment), but again, this is Universal...

The film's the thing, and it's a decent job so a reason to rejoice.