THE BOWERY BOYS on DVD: continuing discussion of Warner's eventual release plans (NEW UPDATE 10/2 Po (1 Viewer)

[LouA]

Warner Brothers Archives has been issuing some films like the Jock Mahoney and Gordon Scott Tarzan films and the Thin Man , and many of thier low budget horror titles like Queen Of Outer Space on blu-ray . Any one think that any of the Bowery Boys films will make it to
blu-ray ? If so, any one who would venture a guess as to which one might rate the upgrade ?

 

[JoeDoakes]

Warner Brothers Archives has been issuing some films like the Jock Mahoney and Gordon Scott Tarzan films and the Thin Man , and many of thier low budget horror titles like Queen Of Outer Space on blu-ray . Any one think that any of the Bowery Boys films will make it to
blu-ray ? If so, any one who would venture a guess as to which one might rate the upgrade ?

the one wb owns with bela lugosi

 

[Tony Bensley]

Warner Brothers Archives has been issuing some films like the Jock Mahoney and Gordon Scott Tarzan films and the Thin Man , and many of thier low budget horror titles like Queen Of Outer Space on blu-ray . Any one think that any of the Bowery Boys films will make it to
blu-ray ? If so, any one who would venture a guess as to which one might rate the upgrade ?

A Blu-ray set of the horror themed Bowery Boys films would be my best guess.

These four BB titles would likely fill the bill:
1. SPOOK BUSTERS (1946)
2. MASTER MINDS (1949)
3. GHOST CHASERS (1951)
4. THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS (1954)

CHEERS!

 

[LouA]

A Blu-ray set of the horror themed Bowery Boys films would be my best guess.

These four BB titles would likely fill the bill:
1. SPOOK BUSTERS (1946)
2. MASTER MINDS (1949)
3. GHOST CHASERS (1951)
4. THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS (1954)

CHEERS!

That DOES sound great!
But I wonder , any way we could sneak Smuggler's Cove in there?

 

[Tony Bensley]

A bit off topic, but in google searching Bowery Boys related sites, I stumbled onto this interesting Bowery Boys New York City History webpage!

The Bowery Boys: New York City History -

www.boweryboyshistory.com

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Well, this looks interesting!

NEW BOWERY BOYS BIOPIC WILL DEBUT IN 2020 - The Life & Times of Hollywood

(New York)- A major motion picture is planned for the story of Hollywood’s “Poverty Row” studios and a ragtag gang of misfits that…

thelifeandtimesofhollywood.com

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

I guess when it comes to documentaries and biopics, we're just sheer out of luck for any Bowery Boys goodness!

Still, we do have all 48 Bowery Boys Features, which once upon a time, seemed highly unattainable, so I guess we should be happy with what we do have, and not dwell on the above regurgitatin' developments!

Thank you so much, Warner Archive, for making these fun to view titles available on DVD!

 

[rmw650]

I guess when it comes to documentaries and biopics, we're just sheer out of luck for any Bowery Boys goodness!

Still, we do have all 48 Bowery Boys Features, which once upon a time, seemed highly unattainable, so I guess we should be happy with what we do have, and not dwell on the above regurgitatin' developments!

Thank you so much, Warner Archive, for making these fun to view titles available on DVD!

And Tony, don't forget you also have that rare film from their last appearance together in Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar, circa 1965

 

[Bob Gu]

THE BOWERY BOYS: Legends of Laughter-1985, Documentary, 83 minutes, DVD-R. Release date- July 17, 2023. Studio: Marshall Publishing. (I never heard of Marshall, either. They do DVD documentaries on trucks, trains, history, and movie related stuff.)

So far, the DVD is up for pre-order at the DeepDiscount owned sites Movies Unlimited, Importcds, etc. It's on Amazon Prime Video, also.

Bowery Boys Manufactured on Demand on DeepDiscount

Bowery Boys, DVD, Manufactured on Demand, Comedy Video, Special Interest-Documentary, 810134941908

www.deepdiscount.com

Trailer description at YouTube says this is a digital restoration of a 1985 documentary. IMDB lists it as a 2022 release.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I guess when it comes to documentaries and biopics, we're just sheer out of luck for any Bowery Boys goodness!

Still, we do have all 48 Bowery Boys Features, which once upon a time, seemed highly unattainable, so I guess we should be happy with what we do have, and not dwell on the above regurgitatin' developments!

Thank you so much, Warner Archive, for making these fun to view titles available on DVD!

WOW! I had given up on this documentary ever seeing light of day!!

Better late than never!!!

CHEERS!

EDIT: Upon closer viewing, I see this documentary is originally from 1985 and in no way related to the more recent aborted documentary project. Still, it is great to see any Bowery Boys documentary get a physical media release!

THE BOWERY BOYS: Legends of Laughter-1985, Documentary, 83 minutes, DVD-R. Release date- July 17, 2023. Studio: Marshall Publishing. (I never heard of Marshall, either. They do DVD documentaries on trucks, trains, history, and movie related stuff.)

View attachment 190838

So far, the DVD is up for pre-order at the DeepDiscount owned sites Movies Unlimited, Importcds, etc. It's on Amazon Prime Video, also.

Bowery Boys Manufactured on Demand on DeepDiscount

Bowery Boys, DVD, Manufactured on Demand, Comedy Video, Special Interest-Documentary, 810134941908

www.deepdiscount.com

Trailer description at YouTube says this is a digital restoration of a 1985 documentary. IMDB lists it as a 2022 release.

 

[Capt D McMars]

These films and Warner has been discussed at another message board and one poster asked how long Warner was willing to wait since the die-hard fans of this series are getting older and (in his words) "dying off". It seems like the longer they wait that sales might go down.

Fox jumped around on their Chan releases and included two of the first two films (BEHIND THE CURTAIN & THE BLACK CAMEL) on Vol. 4. As Laurence said, no studio goes 100% in order. It would be nice to start with Bogart's small, supporting roles of the 1930's and see him progress as an actor up to his "Golden Age" but that's not how things work. Each box set jumps around by including great films and some less than classic works from different periods. It would be easy to release all of the Val Lewton titles in one set but we're talking about 48 films here.

I also see where Steve is coming from by seeing the boys "grow older" but as Ron pointed out, one film shouldn't prevent 47 from being released. Warner is the best studio out there for a reason but at the same time I think it's important for all studios to know that fans want certain films and most will take a 16mm transfer over nothing at all.

I seriously doubt those on quality control are going to be holding their fingers for The Bowery Boys to be released. I doubt the HD crowd are going to be buying these to show off their theaters. These films have a strong group of fans and I'm sure these fans want to own official copies no matter if one or two don't look as great as another title. Anyone with a limited amount of knowledge knows that not every film can look brand new so if someone does complain about one transfer being off then that problem is with that person and doesn't (or shouldn't) reflect on the studio in question.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate but there's a big difference between a quality junkie and a film buff/junkie. I'm only 27 and I buy every classic release out there and there are thousands of other films I want to see Warner release and I hope they wouldn't release a Chaney title just because the quality wasn't great. I'd much rather have a 16mm print over nothing at all. Fans will do what they have to to see a film they want so I'd rather give my money to Warner for their 16mm print instead of giving it to "someone else" for their 16mm print copy recorded off TV.

And as Bob said, the private collectors for this type of thing (or even horror movies) are pretty strong so I'm sure they could find someone with a decent print. Case in point, there's one collector who has several prints of rare Lon Chaney silents but no one seems interested. He has the only prints in the world and I for one would love to see Warner reach out to him and include these on an upcoming release.

Back to the films in question....

I'm not a die-hard BB fan but as a film buff I want to watch everyone of them so I'd certainly support their release (especially THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS (1954), which I've been dying to see for years now).

Edit to add: I'd also prefer double features for these releases no matter how they come out. Double feature single releases or perhaps a box set of five discs with two movies on each? Perhaps leave the troubled transfers for the last box?

Agreed, go for the films that are in better shape and able to be restored more easily, in either double bills or 4 packs with 2 films per disc. While reaching out to the collecting community as mentioned by Bob...makes sence!! I always enjoyed BB films along side of T3S or A&C...classic routines!!
I'd buy them!!

 

[RobertMG]

Agreed, go for the films that are in better shape and able to be restored more easily, in either double bills or 4 packs with 2 films per disc. While reaching out to the collecting community as mentioned by Bob...makes sence!! I always enjoyed BB films along side of T3S or A&C...classic routines!!
I'd buy them!!

BB have been done do not think they will be redone = I would love to know which ESK film they own and do they have negs or good prints????

 

[Tony Bensley]

Agreed, go for the films that are in better shape and able to be restored more easily, in either double bills or 4 packs with 2 films per disc. While reaching out to the collecting community as mentioned by Bob...makes sence!! I always enjoyed BB films along side of T3S or A&C...classic routines!!
I'd buy them!!

Hi Todd!

I have great news for you!

All 48 Bowery Boys Features are available on 4 Volumes of 12, as released on DVD-R by the Warner Archive between about 2012 and 2014!

The Bowery Boys Volumes 1 - 4 are all available through Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Bowery+Boys&i=movies-tv-intl-ship&crid=3R2QUWK07GN9A&sprefix=the+bowery+boys%2Cmovies-tv-intl-ship%2C199&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

CHEERS!

 

[Capt D McMars]

This is a problem, indeed. Since there's not much of any continuity from film to film beyond the characters themselves (at least so far as I know---I can't claim to have seen over half of them), it hardly seems important to get them in chronological order.

OTOH, if you release the Best Of, chances are good that there won't be a release of the Worst Of and at best there's a double-dip involved.

I would be OK with something like Fox is doing for the Chans---not a Best Of, but just release volumes of them (since they're only an hour long, a set of 8 on 4 discs should be easy enough, or even 16 if Warner's feeling generous) with the spine numbers as suggested above. That has worked pretty well for the Zatoichi movies, one of which still hasn't been released so far as I know, crossing multiple studios (though one obnoxiously didn't use the spine numbers) and letting us put them together as we please. I really, really don't like the "Best of" idea. Release them all, but not necessarily in chronological order if print issues on one volume are holding things up. The downside to the spine numbering is it commits Warner to releasing them all--downside that is, if sales are disappointing and they don't complete the set. I hate that hole in the Zatoichi set...

And it goes without saying, Warner should be very clear about offering an amnesty to collectors who make good prints available to them for use. No questions asked. Whether the Suits will go along with such as novel idea, who knows.

I had the same question when I bought the Criterion Zatoichi Boxset, but there is a bluray edition of the final Zatoichi Darkness is my Ally (1989) ~ filmed just a few years before his death in 1997 of cancer.
See on Amazon