Riders to the Stars / On the Threshold of Space - no good copies available? (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I just wanted to double check if anyone knew differently - there are no good copies of either “Riders to the Stars” or “On the Threshold of Space” available, right? I don’t even care if it’s DVD, streaming, whatever - I’m enjoying my usual summer vintage space themed movie rewatch and I’ve never seen either of those films due to not being able to find copies of them.

 

[BobO'Link]

I just wanted to double check if anyone knew differently - there are no good copies of either “Riders to the Stars” or “On the Threshold of Space” available, right? I don’t even care if it’s DVD, streaming, whatever - I’m enjoying my usual summer vintage space themed movie rewatch and I’ve never seen either of those films due to not being able to find copies of them.

"Riders to the Stars" is on Amazon:

Watch Riders To The Stars | Prime Video

Three men put their lives on the line when they volunteer for the Office of Scientific Investigation's top secret mission to discover a metal better suited for space travel. The pioneers are launched into space as they attempt to capture a meteorite.

www.amazon.com

Though it currently requires a sub to something called ScreenPix - though it appears you get some kind of free trial. I watched it before it went to a sub service. It was a fairly passable copy - don't know about the sub version though..

Good luck!

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

IIRC, Riders to the Stars on Amazon is in black and white and standard definition.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

IIRC, Riders to the Stars on Amazon is in black and white and standard definition.

What’s it supposed to be? Color?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

In beautiful widescreen SuperCinecolor!

You’ll see some clips in Jack Theakston’s featurette on Jack and the Beanstalk: Imperfect Spectrum, A Brief History of Cinecolor.

 

[Capt D McMars]

This is about as good as it gets for Threshold of Space - See on Amazon

 

[Capt D McMars]

I just wanted to double check if anyone knew differently - there are no good copies of either “Riders to the Stars” or “On the Threshold of Space” available, right? I don’t even care if it’s DVD, streaming, whatever - I’m enjoying my usual summer vintage space themed movie rewatch and I’ve never seen either of those films due to not being able to find copies of them.

See on Amazon

 

[Mark McSherry]

Here's some screenshots from TCM---

And William Lundigan ("the voice with a smile") before he starred in 1959 TV series "Men Into Space."

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Here's some screenshots from TCM---

Oh man, I wish I still had TCM for airings just like that.

This is about as good as it gets for Threshold of Space - See on Amazon

Ugh, I saw that too - the DVD part doesn’t bother me but the pan and scan does.

 

[Robert Harris]

In beautiful widescreen SuperCinecolor!

You’ll see some clips in Jack Theakston’s featurette on Jack and the Beanstalk: Imperfect Spectrum, A Brief History of Cinecolor.

Why not license the film, and prep it for Blu-ray. MGM should have the elements.

 

[octobercountry]

Ugh, I saw that too - the DVD part doesn’t bother me but the pan and scan does.

Though, is the version available through Amazon really pan-and-scan, or simply an open matte version of a film that would have been masked in theaters? Looks like TCM showed an un-masked version---heck of a lot of head room in those frame grabs.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Though, is the version available through Amazon really pan-and-scan, or simply an open matte version of a film that would have been masked in theaters? Looks like TCM showed an un-masked version---heck of a lot of head room in those frame grabs.

I think the TCM Riders is open matte, so I could work with that. The DVD Threshold is pan and scan from CinemaScope so that’s something I try to avoid as much as possible.

 

[Mark Stevens]

ON THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE is one of those mid-50s Fox films that the company evidently feels is not worth the trouble of doing a new widescreen transfer for. I recorded it off Fox Movie Channel about 14 years ago and it was the same pan-and-scan, non-stereo sound transfer that had run on local stations from the 70's on. A few years back I managed to badger the great boutique soundtrack label, Intrada, into releasing Lyn Murray's great score for THRESHOLD (in stereo) on CD, coupled with the Paul Sawtell score for Fox's THE HUNTERS. Unfortunately, it's now out of print.

 

[Mark McSherry]

ON THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE is one of those mid-50s Fox films that the company evidently feels is not worth the trouble of doing a new widescreen transfer for. I recorded it off Fox Movie Channel about 14 years ago and it was the same pan-and-scan, non-stereo sound transfer that had run on local stations from the 70's on. A few years back I managed to badger the great boutique soundtrack label, Intrada, into releasing Lyn Murray's great score for THRESHOLD (in stereo) on CD, coupled with the Paul Sawtell score for Fox's THE HUNTERS. Unfortunately, it's now out of print.

Thanks for the info. Was able to get the Intrada CD from Ebay for $20. Another brand-new CD is also listed.

 

[Mark McSherry]

Youtube has a 96-minute THRESHOLD to view. Tantalizing because of the opening with credits---

And last shot---

But everything else is P&S. Cut from main credits to---

From IMDB biography of John Hodiak---

"On the morning of October 19, 1955, 41-year-old John suffered a coronary thrombosis and died instantly while shaving in the bathroom of his home. He was on his way to the 20th Century-Fox lot to complete final work on his last film, On the Threshold of Space (1956), when he was stricken.

"The movie was released posthumously with John's role left intact. While no previous record of a heart ailment, per se, was ever uncovered, the hypertension that kept him out of the service, at a relatively young age, no doubt contributed to his death..."

 

[Robert Harris]

Is this film PD, or does Disney not do take-downs?

 

[Mark McSherry]

Of the two listings on youtube, both were posted in 2022, the one mentioned above on June 14.