The Quiet Man - BD Release 01-22-13 (1 Viewer)

[FoxyMulder]

I have been meaning to ask this for some time here but i lost my password and kept forgetting to get it re-sent, well that's sorted now so i will ask, basically i have watched this film a number of times over the years when it gets shown on television over here, it always looks faded and pretty poor quality, thats a surprise since Channel four are usually very good at transmitting quality versions of movies.

Is this film in the public domain and not owned by any studio. ?

60 years old this year, so what are the chances of a blu ray release and considering how faded it looks when broadcast on television, will it require a restoration, is there a pristine print or are the original negatives sitting in a vault somewhere waiting to be rescanned. ?

Sorry if there is already a thread devoted to this subject, the only thing which pulled up was a DVD thread and i wanted to find out about a possible blu ray release.

 

[Brandon Conway]

The film is owned by Paramount as part of the Republic Library, and it has been licensed out to Olive Films (see: announced releases of High Noon (1952), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Rio Grande, Bound, Thinner, The Boogens, and Johnny Guitar). They will most likely release a new DVD and Blu-ray before the end of the year.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Thats interesting, is Paramount doing new transfers for these films or using their older masters. ?

I would still love to know if The Quiet Man is in good shape or requires some form of restoration.

 

[Eric Peterson]

The DVD of this movie is an absolute embarassment and quite possibly the worst in my entire collection (including El Cheapo Public Domain titles). I'm very excited to see what Olive eventually releases as it almost certainly has to be better than what is currently available. I saw this projected a number of years ago before the DVD was released and it looked spectacular. I also recall somebody in this forum (perhaps Mr. Harris) stating the materials are in good condition. I'm very excited to hear some reviews on the first Olive/Republic titles. Hopefully those will prove that new transfers have been done.

 

[Alan Tully]

Yep, fingers crossed! The Paramount catalogue DVD's I had looked great, & then of course there's The Ten Commandments Blu-ray, & this is a famous John Wayne movie. So hoping for the best, but whatever happends it's bound to look tons better than what we already have.

 

[David Weicker]

I know when I saw this on WGN many years ago, there was an additional scene in the bar. The first meeting of Sean and Will. It is right after Michaleen says 'we pronounce it Cohan".
I don't think my mind is playing tricks, because its obviously referenced in the later scene when Sean and Will meet in the widow Tillane's house. (the way Victor MacLagen's hisses at John Wayne indicates they've met before, and already knows about Wayne's intention to buy the cottage)
Its never been on any home video version that I know of. I hope it is included.
David

 

[Joel Fontenot]

The film is owned by Paramount as part of the Republic Library, and it has been licensed out to Olive Films (see: announced releases of High Noon (1952), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Rio Grande, Bound, Thinner, The Boogens, and Johnny Guitar). They will most likely release a new DVD and Blu-ray before the end of the year.

Not quite.
It turned out that Paramount somehow did NOT get The Quiet Man in that Republic deal several years ago.
Olive films got 27 Paramount titles, but The Quiet Man was not one of them.
I remember when that Republic/Paramount deal went through and fans of this film (including me) were all excited that a proper restoration and DVD would finally be made (this was before Blu-ray) so that we can all trash that crap Artisan DVD (the one using the old '92 40th Anniversary VHS/LD transfer) that would get re-issued several times over.
Then we found out, for some reason, that The Quiet Man was not included as part of that deal. Nothing about it since.
We've heard at one point that the film elements were still in good shape (considering the age), but I'd like to know from Mr. Harris if that really is the case. I also remember hearing that the sound was being restored a few years ago, but nothing much more after that.
Unless Olive Films got it some other way. IMDd does list them as the distributer of the DVD/Blu-ray. We'll see.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by Joel Fontenot /t/320915/the-quiet-man-any-news-on-a-blu-ray-anniversary-release#post_3928602
Not quite.
It turned out that Paramount somehow did NOT get The Quiet Man in that Republic deal several years ago.
Olive films got 27 Paramount titles, but The Quiet Man was not one of them.
I remember when that Republic/Paramount deal went through and fans of this film (including me) were all excited that a proper resoration and DVD would finally be made (this was before Blu-ray) so that we can all trash that crap Artisan DVD (the one using the old '92 40th Anniversary VHS/LD transfer) that would get re-issued several times over.
Then we found out, for some reason, that The Quiet Man was not included as part of that deal. Nothing about it since.
We've heard at one point that the film elements were still in good shape (considering the age), but I'd like to know from Mr. Harris if that really is the case. I also remember hearing that the sound was being restored a few years ago, but nothing much more after that.

Upon reading this i have checked out IMDB and it does list Olive films as owning the DVD and Blu Ray rights for 2012.

Of course IMDB could be wrong and if that's the case then who actually owns the rights to release a Blu Ray edition. ?

 

[Brandon Conway]

The Republic Library deal between Paramount and Olive is for over 150 titles:

"The complete package is 150+ titles."

The Quiet Man is specifically mentioned as forthcoming here:

"HIGH NOON, RIO GRANDE, THE QUIET MAN and SANDS OF IWO JIMA will include the Leonard Maltin MAKING OF DOCS."

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway /t/320915/the-quiet-man-any-news-on-a-blu-ray-anniversary-release#post_3928609
The Republic Library deal between Paramount and Olive is for over 150 titles:

"The complete package is 150+ titles."

The Quiet Man is specifically mentioned as forthcoming here:

"HIGH NOON, RIO GRANDE, THE QUIET MAN and SANDS OF IWO JIMA will include the Leonard Maltin MAKING OF DOCS."

Great news that they also have The Sands Of Iwo Jima, i think that's a fabulous film and i'm looking forward to it, i just hope these are new transfers and they don't do a Universal on us when they do the encodes.

This has got me wondering, who owns Duel In The Sun. ? Still Anchor Bay. ?

 

[JoHud]

I think Joel is confusing the Paramount deal with the more recent Republic deal.
Unlike the Paramount deal, which Olive can only release select films, Olive Films seems to have access to the entire Republic catalog much like the old Lionsgate deal and The Quiet Man. The only difference being Olive is more dependent on revenue from this deal that Lionsgate was and (if not already) will be more actively releasing Republic content.
The Quiet Man has been restored by UCLA since those (really bad) Artisan DVDs were released, correct? So a quality transfer for a current/future release shouldn't even be an issue anymore.

The Quiet Man is specifically mentioned as forthcoming here:
"HIGH NOON, RIO GRANDE, THE QUIET MAN and SANDS OF IWO JIMA will include the Leonard Maltin MAKING OF DOCS."

Somehow missed The Quiet Man and The Sand of Iwo Jima being directly confirmed in that thread.
Though it reminds me that we were suppose to get Twilight's Last Gleaming w/ a new documentary, but it still hasn't gotten a date yet. I'm under the impression the Republic deal effectively put their other Paramount and Bavaria(?) titles on the backburner.

 

[Brandon Conway]

w/ a new documentary, but it still hasn't gotten a date yet. I'm under the impression the Republic deal effectively put their other Paramount and Bavaria(?) titles on the backburner.

Robert Harris stated the following back in 2005:

"The Quiet Man was properly restored by Robert Gitt of The UCLA Film & Television Archive several years ago. The problem with the film is not the elements."

Presumably, Olive will have access to these elements.

Twilight's Last Gleaming was slated for the summer even after the news about Olive acquiring the Republic titles was revealed. The do have some non-Republic titles announced for early August, so they are still releasing those. Perhaps September?

 

[oscar_merkx]

Very good news indeed

 

[John Morgan]

If anything, Olive's transfers have erred on the side of no apparant DNR.
Duel in the Sun should be MGM I believe (their 2004 DVD is still in print).
Robert Harris stated the following back in 2005:
"The Quiet Man was properly restored by Robert Gitt of The UCLA Film & Television Archive several years ago. The problem with the film is not the elements."
Presumably, Olive will have access to these elements.
Twilight's Last Gleaming was slated for the summer even after the news about Olive acquiring the Republic titles was revealed. The do have some non-Republic titles announced for early August, so they are still releasing those. Perhaps September?

DUEL IN THE SUN and many of the Selznicks are held by Disney through their ABC acquisition.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by John Morgan /t/320915/the-quiet-man-any-news-on-a-blu-ray-anniversary-release#post_3928773
DUEL IN THE SUN and many of the Selznicks are held by Disney through their ABC acquisition.

Ah. Very good to know. Well, as of now, that would still make MGM the one to bring it to Blu a la the original Straw Dogs and the recent Hitchcock releases.

 

[Alan Tully]

All sounding good, just need a release date now.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Good news, then.
Although, do we really need the Leonard Maltin making of doc yet again? That's also followed nearly every home video release since '92.
I suppose if you got the space on the blu-ray, why not. But, it would be nice to also see something a bit newer, or at least different.
I also liked Mr. Harris's comments on the DVD from that 2005 (that really was 7 years ago...) thread.

The DVD of The Quiet Man is a fine VHS quality transfer from a high contrast sub-par source.
Pure garbage and unworthy of discussion.
RAH

On. The. Money.

 

[Ruz-El]

I'm looking forward to many of these titles, but will be waiting for reviews before biting. Especially on "The Quiet Man". I've (to my shame" never seen it since I heard the DVD was so bunk.

 

[jim_falconer]

I've purchased this film on various sources so many times, I lost count. I even went so far as to buy the Japanese laserdisc back in the early 90s, thinking it might have a clearer image (but of course, it did not). Looking forward to the eventual blu release, and keeping my fingers crossed that I will finally be able to see this classic the way it was intended to be seen.

 

[jra166]

Any news on this? I'm itching to watch this, but I refuse to watch the DVD. I always get the urge to watch this after watching McClintock!...maybe I should just quit watching that one, problem solved. Speaking of which, any Maureen O'Hara on blu would make me a happy man. Rio Grande is nice, but I need to see that red hair! I noticed 'Against All Flags' was released in Europe, but have not seen any images or reviews. Anybody?