Twilight Time to release "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing". (1 Viewer)

[classicmovieguy]

Set for release in July. Jennifer Jones in Hi Def - glorious. I would have thought that Fox could get decent mileage out of this title on the mainstream market, though - it's been a big seller on VHS and DVD for them.

 

[Robin9]

I hope - and expect - this is up to Fox's and Twilight Times' usual high standards for 50s films on Blu-ray.

I've always liked this movie and it's about the only time I've ever warmed to Jennifer Jones. William Holden I've always liked. This is one of the two films - the other was Daddy Long Legs - which first alerted me to the quality of Leon Shamroy's work.

I also like the theme tune; the tune, not those awful lyrics. Whatever else love may be, it most certainly is not "the April rose that only grows in the early spring."

 

[Keith Cobby]

I wish they would do a deal with Warners.

 

[ahollis]

I wish they would do a deal with Warners.

Why?

 

[Keith Cobby]

Warners have many titles which I suspect they consider unprofitable to put out on blu-ray. I thought releasing through their Archive would speed things up but this doesn't seem to be happening. The Twilight Time model enables titles to be released which probably wouldn't be seen otherwise. Warners have all the MGM musicals, loads of top Paramount titles, film noir etc. Many of these would sell in fixed quantities at a premium price.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Warners have many titles which I suspect they consider unprofitable to put out on blu-ray. I thought releasing through their Archive would speed things up but this doesn't seem to be happening. The Twilight Time model enables titles to be released which probably wouldn't be seen otherwise. Warners have all the MGM musicals, loads of top Paramount titles, film noir etc. Many of these would sell in fixed quantities at a premium price.

The problem is TT can only release so many titles each month too so there is an output restriction no matter what direction you go in.

 

[ahollis]

Warners have many titles which I suspect they consider unprofitable to put out on blu-ray. I thought releasing through their Archive would speed things up but this doesn't seem to be happening. The Twilight Time model enables titles to be released which probably wouldn't be seen otherwise. Warners have all the MGM musicals, loads of top Paramount titles, film noir etc. Many of these would sell in fixed quantities at a premium price.

The problem is TT can only release so many titles each month too so there is an output restriction no matter what direction you go in.

That's my thought also. I still believe that WAC will get the ball rolling on their Blu-ray program.LOVE is a Fox CinemaScope film and I do wish for more CinemaScope films on Blu-ray so I will get this to support, but it is not one of my favorites. I am looking forward to THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN for this is one of the big budget Fox titles that flopped and brought down the Zanuck reign at Fox. And I always love Las Vegas stories that are filmed in Paris because the star insisted on it.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Yes, TT are a fairly small distributor but I use them as an example because I am unsure if it is the quality of elements which is holding back releases or sheer economics, when titles are being quickly discounted after release and are therefore unprofitable. We obviously don't know the profitability of TT or their individual titles, but it may be that their business model would work on a larger scale for other distributors, enabling more deep catalogue to be released at a premium price for a fixed number of copies.

 

[Lromero1396]

I agree with ahollis. WAC still has time to get their BD line going and when that happens, the WAC will become a true goldmine for BD collectors. I wish that Fox and the other studios would do a MOD BD program so we could see more catalog from them.
Oh, and regarding the marketability of Splendored-Thing: Fox struck its TT licensing agreement in 2010 or early 2011. The list of titles they opted to license has included high-profile material like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Demetrius and the Gladiators, The Song of Bernadette, and Leave Her to Heaven; all of which could have moved significant units in a wide release BD from Fox. At the time of the licensing, Fox probably wasn't interested in a Studio Classics BD line and the fallout from their licensing decision is now being felt by us. Splendored Thing could have been one of those licensed titles. TT probably fought hard to get this because of all of the music-related awards it won, like best score and best song. The isolated score track is essential on this one and we might not have gotten that from a Fox release. By the way, this BD should look quite impressive as Fox created a new transfer last year which I saw on TCM about 6 months ago. It looked gorgeous and should be leaps and bounds better than the DVD.

 

[Robin9]

Yes, TT are a fairly small distributor but I use them as an example because I am unsure if it is the quality of elements which is holding back releases or sheer economics, when titles are being quickly discounted after release and are therefore unprofitable. We obviously don't know the profitability of TT or their individual titles, but it may be that their business model would work on a larger scale for other distributors, enabling more deep catalogue to be released at a premium price for a fixed number of copies.

It may not be a question of elements OR economics. It may well be a question of the economics of restoring faded or damaged elements.

Clearly, both Fox and Sony believe that it makes commercial sense to restore old movies and then make HD transfers . . . and then lease the masters out to Twilight Time and European equivalents. Paramount, on the other hand, seem to feel that it does not make commercial sense to allocate resources to restoring films it intends to lease to Olive Films. Olive Films' BRDs are superbly mastered from scratched and sometimes dirty elements.

 

[Lromero1396]

It may not be a question of elements OR economics. It may well be a question of the economics of restoring faded or damaged elements.

Clearly, both Fox and Sony believe that it makes commercial sense to restore old movies and then make HD transfers . . . and then lease the masters out to Twilight Time and European equivalents. Paramount, on the other hand, seem to feel that it does not make commercial sense to allocate resources to restoring films it intends to lease to Olive Films. Olive Films' BRDs are superbly mastered from scratched and sometimes dirty elements.

Well, Fox seems to give DVD-era masters to TT quite a bit. But their more recent titles, for the most part, have been coming from masters which are above basic HD resolution.

 

[Garysb]

As mentioned on the Way We Were thread Sony is releasing in Europe many of the titles it leases to Twilight Time in the US. Current and future Twilight time releases being released by Sony in Germany and Italy include As Good As It Gets, The Way We Were, Sleepless In Seattle, and Philadelphia.

Other titles not announced in the US but perhaps future TT titles Sony is releasing in Germany and Italy include Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner, Oliver!, the China Syndrome, and Tootsie. So for whatever reason Sony feels these titles will sell in general release in Europe but only limited release in the US. Doesn't make much sense to me but apparently they know best based on prior sales what will sell.

 

[ROclockCK]

Well, Fox seems to give DVD-era masters to TT quite a bit. But their more recent titles, for the most part, have been coming from masters which are above basic HD resolution.

Which Fox "DVD-era masters" would those be Lromero1396?

Careful, this is potentially a trick question*.

* Off-the-top I can think of a handful which some initially dismissed as "DVD-era masters", but which actually turned out to be recent, or at least post-2010 HD remasters (e.g. Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Song of Bernadette).

 

[Lromero1396]

Which Fox "DVD-era masters" would those be Lromero1396?

Careful, this is potentially a trick question*.

* Off-the-top I can think of a handful which some initially dismissed as "DVD-era masters", but which actually turned out to be recent, or at least post-2010 HD remasters (e.g. Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Song of Bernadette).

I had no idea that those two titles you mentioned came from recent transfers. Those actually were two of the titles I was referring to. I also thought at that point that Demetrius and the Gladiators came from the DVD master, but when reading your comment I recalled that it was a 2k scan. Other than that, I would have surmised that The Sound and the Fury and The Rains of Ranchipur were a bit older masters because of color and grain structure seemed more like what I would have seen on an older Fox DVD. Either that or the source materials are just not very good.

 

[ROclockCK]

More often than not, it's attributable to the condition of the surviving film elements.

 

[JoHud]

I've noticed that Twilight Time has not been including any of the Biography Channel documentaries that were included on previous 20th Century Fox DVDs. The Song of Bernadette blu-ray, for example, was missing the Jennifer Jones documentary. This one might be missing the Willam Holden documentary that was included in the DVD release.

Just worth noting for those that are considering getting rid of their DVDs and still want that documentary.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I hope - and expect - this is up to Fox's and Twilight Times' usual high standards for 50s films on Blu-ray.

I've always liked this movie and it's about the only time I've ever warmed to Jennifer Jones. William Holden I've always liked. This is one of the two films - the other was Daddy Long Legs - which first alerted me to the quality of Leon Shamroy's work.

I also like the theme tune; the tune, not those awful lyrics. Whatever else love may be, it most certainly is not "the April rose that only grows in the early spring."

Oh, yeah--I can't stand it when people sing that whole song! But I loved what they did with it years later in "Grease."

 

[classicmovieguy]

I love the melody but the lyrics are... meh. Baring in mind this was when MOST movies (whether they were musicals or not) injected a Title Song of some description purely so the composer/lyricists could throw their hat into the ring for the Academy Awards...

 

[Lromero1396]

I love the melody but the lyrics are... meh. Baring in mind this was when MOST movies (whether they were musicals or not) injected a Title Song of some description purely so the composer/lyricists could throw their hat into the ring for the Academy Awards...

I concur. Newman contributed a beautiful score for Splendored Thing, even though I feel that it's decidedly on the repetitive side. I think that the studios did all of the songs mainly as promotional material. I mean look at Pat Boone's needless musical numbers in Journey to the Center of the Earth and one of the worst theme songs of all time IMO; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I highly doubt the lyricists were aiming for Oscars with their work for those two films, though.

More often than not, it's attributable to the condition of the surviving film elements.

You're right. *facepalm*
Having just viewed the disc of Leave Her to Heaven, I can see why they opted to hand it off to TT.
I've just been expected astounding work from Fox given what they've done with other films, but perhaps Fox is giving the popular titles that have element issues to TT just to preserve its reputation of producing a quality product, which to me is kind of sad given what the studio may end up licensing as a result. However, I've come to accept that studios' home entertainment divisions are businesses dedicated to profit and not specifically dedicated to making classics available to the masses.