Robert Harris on The Bits - 3/17/03 column - OFFICIAL THREAD (2 Viewers)

[Ruz-El]

Damn,

Here I was all prepared to buy "The Day The Earth Stood Still", it being one of my favorite Sci-fi movies, and blissfully ignore all the other Fox releases, but NOOOOOO, I have to read another Robert Harris column on the bits! Now I'm out a good $60 and stuck eating microwave burritos for the next month!

Seriously though, thanks once again for a great column!

 

[Robert Harris]

Russell G:

Those microwave burritos are a great snack while viewing Fox classics, which will last a good deal longer than a meal.

You can hardly purchase a good bottle of Australian shiraz for the price of these films on DVD.

 

[Brian E]

Now I'm out a good $60 and stuck eating microwave burritos for the next month!

Ramen's not bad either

 

[Paul Drake]

Mr. Harris, a most entertaining and informative article, thank you.

You mentioned H. Bruce Humberstone and how he directed some of the "Charlie Chan" series. After hearing how Fox did a major restoration of the Chan series a couple of years ago (promoted via the Fox Movie Channel), I have been hoping that they would find their way onto DVD, but nothing has been said about this. If you have any knowledge about this, please be so kind to share.

If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Humberstone also directed a number of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series. Bob Gitt has indicated to a fellow fan that the UCLA restorations of those films will be coming to DVD in 2003, although no official word has surfaced.

Thanks again.

 

[Steve Pendleton]

>It's sad that negatives have been "misplaced" so often.
>[...] film cans on top of their car and forgetting.

Maybe sometimes. And negligent storage. But remember:

- Nitrate stocks decay and burn, burn, burn.
- Dupe stocks weren't that good (that's why the fades
in old films "pop" to a lower quality. They made
release prints from the negs, which wore out (that's
why UNpopular films sometimes look better than hits).
- Color stocks are unstable, an 'intrinsic vice.' A pity
the studios didn't adopt Kodachrome (or a negative
film with similar technology) when they went monopack.

I bring this up to promote empathy for the practical
side of it. Chemical film is not an archival medium,
even if stored conscientiously (as was often not the case).

>Was The Day The Earth Stood Still restored from the negative, unlike the other films?

The restoration demo says 'fortunately, the negative's in reasonable shape' or something like that.

 

[Bob Taylor]

And lets not forget that The Enemy Below and Sink The Bismarck! are due in May. Two of my favorite WWII movies.

 

[Danny_N]

And lets not forget that The Enemy Below and Sink The Bismarck! are due in May.

Enemy Below seems to have disappeared off the R1 schedule, just like Viva Zapata and Grapes Of Wrath. See this thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=127019

For some strange reason both Enemy Below and Viva Zapata will be released on R2 in the next months though so if you're multi-region capable ...

 

[Piers C]

Danny, thanks for sharing some hard news.

Its a shame Fox is cutting these classic films from its release schedule for R1.

Robert, any insight you can share on Fox's approach/strategy?

 

[GerardoHP]

I'm surprised there seems to be no mention anywhere of LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, perhaps my favorite 1940's Technicolor film and a Fox classic in every sense of the word. I even asked about this on a couple of threads and got no response. Fox issued a great LD of this title some years ago but, aren't there any plans to reissue it now on DVD?

 

[Claes Ljunghorn]

Anyone checked with the BFI about a European release (of Sunrise)?

Yes, I did. The answer I got was this: "The BFI has no current plans to release this title as a video/DVD, but some other company may. Like all video releases, it comes down to rights and who presently holds them in the UK."

 

[Thomas T]

I think the Fox Studio Classics series is marvelous. I've already sent off for Sunrise and plan on buying the entire series. I hope they continue through 2004. There is still some great stuff yet to be released by Fox. My suggestion for their 2004 Studio Classics release schedule:

01/04 A Letter To Three Wives (1949)
02/04 The Razor's Edge (1946)
03/04 Blood And Sand (1941)
04/04 Peyton Place (1957)
05/04 Anna And The King Of Siam (1948)
06/04 Prince Valiant (1954)
07/04 Three Coins In The Fountain (1954)
08/04 Heaven Can Wait (1943)
09/04 Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
10/04 Kiss Of Death (1947)
11/04 Broken Arrow (1950)
12/04 Diary Of Anne Frank (1959)

 

[Richard Gilmore]

It's wonderful to see such classics restored and reasonably priced, to boot. Costco had both "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" for under $10. This makes it affordable enough for me to collect the entire series. BTW I'm exposing my kids to these fine classics and they are enjoying them just as much as me!

 

[Brian E]

This makes it affordable enough for me to collect the entire series.

I agree. At the price point these have I'll likely be getting all of them.

 

[Darren Gross]

Mr. Harris,

Were the minor trims David Lean made to LAWRENCE OF ARABIA made exclusively to the sequences being put back into the shorter version of the film or were they also made to scenes in the 160+ mins cut?

There was an old two-tape pan 'n scan VHS set made of the short version prior to the restoration and I'm wondering if it's worth picking up to see those fragments...

Also, do you think there's any chance the longer version of the porch section will ever be put back? I've read the script and the cut part of that scene is brilliantly written. I'd love to see it, even if it was silent with subtitles and included as a bonus on a future disc release.

 

[Robert Harris]

The trims which were made to LoA after it was reconstructed to 222 minutes were, with the exception of the balcony sequence and the first third of the Murray introduction extremely short trims for pacing and not for content.

Trims were made not only to those shots restored, but also to shots extant in the 202 minute version.

I would not suggest viewing the old pan and scan as, among other problems, reel 2A is flopped.

 

[Jeff Hershauer]

Hi,
No useful commentary to add, but I'd just like to chime in and say how much I appreciate this forum, and threads like this monthly Digital Bits article discussion.

I've bought great films in the past as a result of Mr. Harris' articles (films I would never have picked up on my own), like Life/Death of Col. Blimp. Now, thanks to the combination of the article and this thread, I've just picked up The Day the Earth Stood Still and Journey to the Center of the Earth for $10 each at CostCo.

Great movie advice and fantastic prices...what more could a person ask for?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[DonJLong]

Greetings Robert Harris and to all.

I am enjoying reading your online articles about classic wide-screen movies being restored for DVD release.

This is indeed good news about many classic Fox films being released on DVD. I especially am excited about the new DVDs of DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, and GHOST AND MRS. MUIR. They are titles I've been anxiously awaiting for years on DVD, and now that I have them, I am ecstatic, for now we have a recording medium which will probably last at least another 20 years or so from now until they invent digital movies on a microchip.

This is a message to Mr. Harris inquiring if he has heard anything from Mr. Shawn Belston at Fox of any plans to release "The EGYPTIAN" on DVD as a collectors' edition anytime soon, perhaps next year for its 50th Anniversary?

I have posted a more complete film review of "The EGYPTIAN" (Fox, 1954) on the Home Theater Forum, at this URL:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=146158

Please feel free to click on this and read it.

Also, I have one more question: what about classic TV shows made by the studios and indies in the 1950s and 1960s? I am especially anxious to see new DVD sets by season of such classic TV as Universal/Revue's LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, WB's 77 SUNSET STRIP, HAWAIIAN EYE, BOURBON STREET BEAT, MAVERICK, CHEYENNE, SUGARFOOT, The ROARING 20'S, MGM's The THIN MAN starring Peter Lawford, and Fox's RIVERBOAT, DOBIE GILLIS, HONG KONG starring Rod Taylor in his prime, and of course The UNTOUCHABLES starring Robert Stack. And ZIV-TV's SEA HUNT starring Lloyd Bridges, SCIENCE FICTION THEATER, MEN INTO SPACE, etc.
Is this just wishful thinking, or do the studios even care about the classic TV shows (each episode actually a mini-movie in those days) or have they dumped them all because they have the curse of being in black & white and 40 years old?
I hate to think of all of these shows ending up sharing the same fate as most of the silent pictures, lost and deteriorated beyond repair from years of neglect, lost forever except on choppy, splicy, worn out old 16mm TV prints transferred to cheap VHS videotapes.
Is Shawn Belston doing anything with Fox's backlog of classic TV series? Many of them had music cue tracks by Bernard Herrmann and other excellent classic composers.
Is he, or are you, working with Nick Redman?

Cheers,

Don J. Long

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Thomas, I'm watching The Razor's Edge on TV right now - great print. Wow, was this restored recently? If so, it couldn't have just been for TV. An absolutely amazing story, brilliantly filmed and acted. The Bill Murray version is on DVD, and has it's great moments, but the 1946 version is an amazing film.

I'd love to see it released as a Studio Classics title with insightful extra features.


Gordy

 

[Jeff_HR]

but the 1946 version is an amazing film

I've always thought so.