International Sweet Charity comes to blu ray France August 24th (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

It arrives in France courtesy of Elysees. Considering how French blu and DVDs are insistent on forced subtitles, I hope this is an indication Universal will soon release it in the U.S.

 

[classicmovieguy]

My first thought was "Yay!", followed by "Ugh... forced subtitles most probably".

I concur, I shall wait until perhaps Germany picks it up, if not the US...

 

[JPCinema]

Fingers crossed that Universal announces it soon in the US.

 

[Dick]

Fingers crossed that Universal announces it soon in the US.

Small chance, I'm afraid. Again....region-free, my friend!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Small chance, I'm afraid. Again....region-free, my friend!

Sorry to barge in here, but if you've read the above 3 posts, it should be clear that "Region Free" isn't the primary issue in regards to this specific release, but the tendency of France's video releases to use Forced Subtitles. Just saying!

CHEERS!

 

[RobertSiegel]

I am also keeping my fingers crossed, I have been writing to Universal every single week for 4 years to release Thoroughly Modern Millie and Flower Drum Song on blu-ray! Maybe this is a sign of good things to come.

 

[Dick]

Sorry to barge in here, but if you've read the above 3 posts, it should be clear that "Region Free" isn't the primary issue in regards to this specific release, but the tendency of France's video releases to use Forced Subtitles. Just saying!

CHEERS!

There are programs that can remove these, but point taken. At the opposite end of the French Blu-ray subtitle issue is that, for their indigenous titles, English subtitles are sometimes not included at all.

 

[Thomas T]

Of course, we don't actually know if Sweet Charity will have forced subs so when it's released hopefully we'll find out for sure then make a decision to buy or pass. I have the French DVD of Alain Resnais wonderful Providence (1977) which gives us both French language and English language options and no forced subtitles. Since the cast are English speaking (Gielgud, Bogarde, Burstyn etc.) I went with the English language version but the French language version has some well known names (like Gerard Depardieu) doing the French dub.

 

[Tony Bensley]

There are programs that can remove these, but point taken. At the opposite end of the French Blu-ray subtitle issue is that, for their indigenous titles, English subtitles are sometimes not included at all.

That's so typical of the French!

CHEERS!

 

[trajan007]

Amazon France is stating that it is all regions. Don't know if there are forced sub titles.

 

[Thomas T]

Of course, I hope it's the complete Roadshow version with overture, intermission and entr'acte.

 

[cinemiracle]

I am also keeping my fingers crossed, I have been writing to Universal every single week for 4 years to release Thoroughly Modern Millie and Flower Drum Song on blu-ray! Maybe this is a sign of good things to come.

I am also waiting for these titles on bluray and THE STUDENT PRINCE ; THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE; STAR;DAMN YANKEES; MAME; MAN OF LA MANCHA and LI'L ABNER. The studios don't seem to care about musicals being released on bluray. They would rather release crappy films that end up in the bargain bin for a few dollars.Sadly the real problem is that the studios are run by business men ,not people who have a passion for cinema.

 

[cinemiracle]

Also ANNIE GET YOUR GUN.

 

[Roger Grodsky]

The last time TCM showed SWEET CHARITY, it seemed like a new transfer, brighter with better color. But I think the overture was omitted, which they used to play.

 

[cinemiracle]

Of course, I hope it's the complete Roadshow version with overture, intermission and entr'acte.

Don't forget that there were 2 roadshow 70mm versions: the one with the happy ending ( ran for 8 months at my local and the sad ending which had a much shorter run in another city also in 70mm.

 

[Matt Hough]

I only saw the sad ending in the theater. The first time I ever saw the happy ending footage was on the laserdisc (which weirdly letterboxed the musical numbers only).

The stage version also comes with both sad and happy ending versions which the production can choose to play.

 

[bujaki]

I've never seen the happy ending. I hope it's included, but I don't want to see it since it's a travesty.

 

[Thomas T]

Don't forget that there were 2 roadshow 70mm versions: the one with the happy ending ( ran for 8 months at my local and the sad ending which had a much shorter run in another city also in 70mm.

I saw the the film during its original Roadshow engagement in San Francisco and the ending was Fosse's original ending, the unhappy one. That's the ending that played in the original 1966 Broadway show and true to its source material, Fellini's Nights Of Cabiria which also had the downbeat ending. The "happy" ending is a bad bad joke forced on Fosse for its TV showings. I've never heard that the "happy" ending actually played cinemas since Fosse was against it. The 70 millimeter prints were blow ups. The film was not shot in 70mm but in Panavision.

 

[haineshisway]

Apparently things shown where Cinemiracle lived (New Zealand/Australia?) were shown in ways they were never shown here in the US - the only ending that ever played here in roadshow was the original - they filmed the happy ending, previewed it, and cut it.

 

[cinemiracle]

I saw the the film during its original Roadshow engagement in San Francisco and the ending was Fosse's original ending, the unhappy one. That's the ending that played in the original 1966 Broadway show and true to its source material, Fellini's Nights Of Cabiria which also had the downbeat ending. The "happy" ending is a bad bad joke forced on Fosse for its TV showings. I've never heard that the "happy" ending actually played cinemas since Fosse was against it. The 70 millimeter prints were blow ups. The film was not shot in 70mm but in Panavision.

As I said before,the happy ending ran in 70mm for about 8 months in Sydney. Melbourne had the unhappy ending.It was not until the film was released onto dvd (in the USA) that I got to see the unhappy ending ,with the happy ending included as an extra. It was unusual to have 2 different versions playing in 70mm in the same country.. We also had a different version of SOUTH PACIFIC to that which was shown in the USA. (some opening scenes were swapped around).That was the same in Europe as well. I understand that the Sydney season of SWEET CHARITY was the longest running in the world. Correct me if I am wrong.