DVD Review The Complete PRC Michael Shayne Mystery Collection DVD Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Matt Hough submitted a new blog post

The Complete PRC Michael Shayne Mystery Collection DVD Review

Continue reading the Original Blog Post.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Thanks for the review. I have preordered this set and look forward to seeing them. Cannot understand why the Nolan films still haven't been released on blu ray. The first five look HD ready to me.

 

[Bob Gu]

I'll be getting this. I like Hugh Beaumont, and it is nice to see him in something outside of "Beaver". He also has a running part on the "Public Defender" TV Series, also from Classic Filx.

The earlier picture, (now replaced), used to illustrate the review was not from a Michael Shayne movie.


But, it led to an interesting side-trip search. It's an actual 1941 true crime photo of a murder suspect about to have his mug shot taken. The photographer was a crime photographer, Arthur Fellig, known as 'Weegee'.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I guess that's where I picked it up. Replacement on the way!

 

[ClassicFlix]

Thanks for the review Matt. We've cut a custom trailer for the release as well which you can see here:

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- David

 

[borisfw]

Received mine in the mail today. Happy to have the films. Just wish CF had put the 5 films on two discs instead of one.

 

[rdimucci]

I don't see any link to that ClassicFlix trailer.

 

[Gary OS]

Received mine in the mail today. Happy to have the films. Just wish CF had put the 5 films on two discs instead of one.

I received my dvd today. Was also shocked to see that all 5 films were on a single disc. Thought for sure this would come as at least a 2 disc set.

Gary “nevertheless, I’m thrilled to have this” O.

 

[Matt Hough]

I received my dvd today. Was also shocked to see that all 5 films were on a single disc. Thought for sure this would come as at least a 2 disc set.

Gary “nevertheless, I’m thrilled to have this” O.

Somebody didn't read this sentence in my review very closely:

"While Classic Flix hasn’t been able to bring spiffy, flawless transfers to this single disc of five films, lovers of the genre probably won’t care and will snatch this up at its relatively low price."

 

[Gary OS]

Somebody didn't read this sentence in my review very closely:

"While Classic Flix hasn’t been able to bring spiffy, flawless transfers to this single disc of five films, lovers of the genre probably won’t care and will snatch this up at its relatively low price."

Sorry, I didn't read the review. I was speaking from the point of someone that pre-ordered the day it came up on Amazon and just assumed it would be a multi-disc set.

 

[MDS]

For the fun of it maybe I should get this release. And BTW I was not named after the character. My mother never heard of him.

 

[borisfw]

I also ordered in advance from Amazon and assumed that the 1 disc listing by Amazon was a mistake. I did not see the review till after i received my set. With that said i did a spot check and am quite satisfied with the disc. Love these films . They have a nice feel to them.

 

[Matt Hough]

For the fun of it maybe I should get this release. And BTW I was not named after the character. My mother never heard of him.

Don't spoil our illusions!

 

[ClassicFlix]

I also ordered in advance from Amazon and assumed that the 1 disc listing by Amazon was a mistake. I did not see the review till after i received my set. With that said i did a spot check and am quite satisfied with the disc. Love these films . They have a nice feel to them.

Thank you all for your support!

Price point was the main driving point behind keeping it on one disc as the price would have been higher if we went with two.

Do know that our top line releases won't sacrifice bit rate, but our budget Silver Series line may on occasion to keep the price affordable.

Also know that I personally compared several clips, one at the lower and one at the higher bit rate. We went with the lower and kept it on one disc because if there was any difference between the two, it was negligible. If the viewing experience had suffered, we would have went with two and charged a bit higher price.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

 

[Keith Cobby]

As a big fan of the Nolan films i was very keen to see these 5 with Hugh Beaumont. The good news is that Classic Flix have given us a nice restoration for what was a low budget 'Poverty Row' series. The bad is that they are not very good films and Beaumont is a poor Shayne. I can't help thinking that the budget would have been better spent on releasing a higher profile single film.

 

[JoeDoakes]

The Nolan films are great

 

[ClassicFlix]

As a big fan of the Nolan films i was very keen to see these 5 with Hugh Beaumont. The good news is that ClassicFlix have given us a nice restoration for what was a low budget 'Poverty Row' series. The bad is that they are not very good films and Beaumont is a poor Shayne. I can't help thinking that the budget would have been better spent on releasing a higher profile single film.

I'm sure you'd expect this to come from the label that produced the set, but they ARE good B entertainment.

And while Beaumont may not make a good Shayne in the mold of the books or the Fox films, he holds his own as the PRC crafted Shayne and is very fun to watch. I especially think his chemistry with Ralph Dunn and Paul Bryar are quite good.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

 

[Gary OS]

I'm sure you'd expect this to come from the label that produced the set, but they ARE good B entertainment.

And while Beaumont may not make a good Shayne in the mold of the books or the Fox films, he holds his own as the PRC crafted Shayne and is very fun to watch. I especially think his chemistry with Ralph Dunn and Paul Bryar are quite good.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

I completely agree, David. Thank you ClassicFlix for releasing these great little B films. Right up my alley and thoroughly enjoyable!

Gary “these Shayne films deserved a release” O.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

As a major Michael Shayne fan (I have a complete collection of the Brett Halliday novels and many of the old time radio shows on CD), I happily ordered this set. Thanks to ClassicFlix for putting it out.

That said, I suppose PRC moved Shayne from Miami to California to save money on exterior shots, but why did they change Lucy Hamilton's name to Phyllis Hamilton? In the early novels Phyllis Brighton became Shayne's wife. She was eventually killed off and Lucy Hamilton became his secretary.

More importantly, why is the last Fox/Lloyd Nolan film, Time to Kill, still locked up in the vaults? First Fox released a stand-alone DVD of Dressed to Kill, followed by four Shayne films ("Volume One") in a nice set with extras. After waiting and waiting for Volume Two which now obviously never will be, Fox finally got around to releasing Just Off Broadway as part of its Cinema Archives MOD program. As far as I can tell, Time to Kill has never even made it to the Fox Movie Channel.

And then there is the 1960-1961 TV series starring Richard Denning, who played the character more like the Shayne of the novels than either Lloyd Nolan or Hugh Beaumont. I'm not expecting to see that released on DVD during my lifetime! I have 21 of the 32 episodes that I picked up from several sources over the years.

 

[Matt Hough]

Very interesting, Richard. Thanks for sharing your expertise on all things Shayne.