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Universal Vault Series - Amazon.com exclusive DVD-Rs (1 Viewer)

greylocke5

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Meanwhile, in their Universal Backlot series, Universal is releasing a Barbara Stanwyck collection on April 27, to include the films listed below. I guess there is still some hope for pressed DVD collections after all.

All I Desire
The Bride Wore Boots
The Great Man's Lady
Internes Can't Take Money
The Lady Gambles
There's Always Tomorrow


Here's the UPC: 025192048647 It's a three-disc set retailing for $50
 

DeWilson

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Originally Posted by greylocke5 /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3659019
Meanwhile, in their Universal Backlot series, Universal is releasing a Barbara Stanwyck collection on April 27, to include the films listed below. I guess there is still some hope for pressed DVD collections after all....
Seems the only way to get pressed releases is to be an "A" star who is still conistered a superstar.
But then TCM got the Cary Grant films...but demand for those lead for them to be a pressed release!
Poor Deana Durbin. :)
 

ricktech12

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Just got "Pure Luck" a few days ago. The transfer is pretty good (Anamorphic WS) and so is the audio (crisp and clean), but there is no menu on the disc. It came with quality artwork, amaray case and the disc had a blue print on top with movie info. I'd say asking $19.99 is way to high for these kind of "on demand" pressings, these should be at least $12.00 or $10.99. While "Pure Luck" it's no masterpiece of cinema, just a fun silly comedy and I do appreciate them making these kind of titles available to consumers that would never see the light of day on DVD otherwise. I hope they continue making more and more titles available to buy.
 

Brandon Conway

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Originally Posted by DeWilson /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3659031
Seems the only way to get pressed releases is to be an "A" star who is still conistered a superstar.
But then TCM got the Cary Grant films...but demand for those lead for them to be a pressed release!
Poor Deana Durbin. :)
I'd be utterly shocked if 10% of the American population even had heard the name "Deane Durbin". She's a forgotten star in the eye of Joe Public.
 

LarryCar

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I would die for THE LONELY LADY with Pia Zadora! Her Academy Award speech at the end of the film is one of the greatest bad-cinema moments ever!
 

Jon Martin

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Originally Posted by Brandon Conway /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3659851
I'd be utterly shocked if 10% of the American population even had heard the name "Deane Durbin". She's a forgotten star in the eye of Joe Public.
Sadly, that is probably true.
In the 30's and 40's, she was the biggest female star on the planet, the highest paid actress in Hollywood. She was Winston Churchill's favorite actress, Anne Frank had a photo of her on her wall, Mussolini even published a letter to get her to intervene to stop World War 2.
Yet, she retired from acting at the end of the 40's and left the country.
She is still alive today, living in France. While 19 of her 21 films are available on DVD in the UK, only one set has been released in the US.
 

Brandon Conway

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it's fascinating to see how some stars are widely remembered while others slip from the public conscience. In the case of Deana Durbin vs., say, Shirley Temple, I wonder if TV had a big part of this? As a kid in the early 80s before cable took off I can recall my mom (a child of the 50s) recording Temple's films off of TV quite regularly. I didn't become aware of Durbin until I studied film in college. Were Durbin's films not on the TV circulation as much during the 50s-80s?
 

Robert Crawford

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Originally Posted by Brandon Conway /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3660547
it's fascinating to see how some stars are widely remembered while others slip from the public conscience. In the case of Deana Durbin vs., say, Shirley Temple, I wonder if TV had a big part of this? As a kid in the early 80s before cable took off I can recall my mom (a child of the 50s) recording Temple's films off of TV quite regularly. I didn't become aware of Durbin until I studied film in college. Were Durbin's films not on the TV circulation as much during the 50s-80s?
Television played a role, but Durbin leaving the public eye while living in Europe also contributed to her star slipping from the public conscience.
Crawdaddy
 

RafaelPires

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Well, if the enourmous request for the Cary Grant set made Universal/TCM change their original plan (to make the set available as pressed discs), maybe if the orders for the Durbin set reach similar heights, they can release it as pressed too.
 

Jon Martin

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Originally Posted by Brandon Conway /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3660547
Were Durbin's films not on the TV circulation as much during the 50s-80s?
I think that is one of the factors. Even TCM only shows a couple of her films on a regular basis.
At least one was remade so the original was taken out of circulation. There are rights issues with others.
 

Thomas T

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In the case of Durbin, her style of movies and her soprano just went out of fashion. Much the same way Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy movies hold no interest for modern audiences outside of the nostalgists. Not a comment on Ms. Durbin's or Ms. MacDonald's talents but THREE SMART GIRLS or MAYTIME don't resonate with contemporary audiences the way, say, Astaire and Rogers still do. As cinema, 100 MEN AND A GIRL and NAUGHTY MARIETTA simply cannot compare to SWING TIME or TOP HAT.
 

Robert Crawford

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I watched "Trapeze" tonight. It's watchable, but it's finally good to see an anamorphic presentation of it.





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RPMay

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I guess most of the public doesn't remember Deanna Durbin, but even those who do don't spell her name correctly.
We see Deana and Deane above, neither of which are correct.
Sorry to be pedantic, but I'm sort of a stickler with accuracy in such matters.

DM
 

montag

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Does anybody know if there's a release schedule for the UNIVERSAL VAULT SERIES? I'd like to see FLESH & FANTASY released and some of the PARAMOUNTS they own the rights to.
 

Van594

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Originally Posted by montag /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3661087
Does anybody know if there's a release schedule for the UNIVERSAL VAULT SERIES? I'd like to see FLESH & FANTASY released and some of the PARAMOUNTS they own the rights to.
I don't know of any...I guess were just supposed to find out about new releases on our own. I'm not surprised as for the most part(other than the big titles) Universal has shown very little respect for it's classic catalog titles.
As for Flesh and Fantasy, I caught this one recently and must say I really enjoyed it. It's the Twilight Zone before the Twilight Zone and with an amazing cast....Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, Thomas Mitchell(who is great in it as always), Charles Boyer etc.. The lead in to the three stories is a little weak(could have used Serling for that) but overall I would definitley buy this. I would buy Tales of Manhattan as well ,also by director Julien Duvivier. Not as Twilight Zonish(kind of) but does have multiple stories and a even better all-star cast.
 

John Morgan

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FLESH AND FANTASY would be a terrific release. Hopefully it would be on a pressed disc. They could include 1944's DESTINY, which took the former's cut sequence footage and reworked it to 65 minutes and changed the story quite a bit. But it has interest.
Frank Skiinner also reworked Tansman's music throughout.
 

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That's putting it nicely, 100 Men and a Girl and Naughty Marietta are simply awful, both of them, with almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Three Smart Girls is merely just bland.
Originally Posted by Thomas T /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3660647
In the case of Durbin, her style of movies and her soprano just went out of fashion. Much the same way Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy movies hold no interest for modern audiences outside of the nostalgists. Not a comment on Ms. Durbin's or Ms. MacDonald's talents but THREE SMART GIRLS or MAYTIME don't resonate with contemporary audiences the way, say, Astaire and Rogers still do. As cinema, 100 MEN AND A GIRL and NAUGHTY MARIETTA simply cannot compare to SWING TIME or TOP HAT.
 

ahollis

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Has anyone heard if there will be more titles available soon. It has been a little over a month since the the first ones were announced and placed on sale. I am much more interested in the Universal titles since, while they are DVD-r's, they seem to have better transfers than the ones MGM released in January also, that is except for THE CHALK GARDEN, which was not anamorphic. The other titles I purchased I was pleased with the transfers.

As an thought, how long does anyone think that the film companies will support the MOD program, I guess I mean how long do you think it will take for direct downloading to be the main access to these films. I remember reading an article several years ago (maybe 10 years) that a head of home entertainment for a major film studio predicted that their entire library would someday be available for home download. I can see that we are going in that direction. Especially since the studios are making HD transfers of their films, but are not releasing them on standard DVD or Blu-ray, but using them for HD broadcasts. While I am enjoying titles from Warner Bros, Universal and even MGM that I never thought I would own, let alone see, I am not sure that this will last another three years.
 

Robert Crawford

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Originally Posted by ahollis /forum/thread/296971/universal-vault-series-amazon-com-exclusive-dvd-rs/180#post_3662810
As an thought, how long does anyone think that the film companies will support the MOD program, I guess I mean how long do you think it will take for direct downloading to be the main access to these films. I remember reading an article several years ago (maybe 10 years) that a head of home entertainment for a major film studio predicted that their entire library would someday be available for home download. I can see that we are going in that direction. Especially since the studios are making HD transfers of their films, but are not releasing them on standard DVD or Blu-ray, but using them for HD broadcasts. While I am enjoying titles from Warner Bros, Universal and even MGM that I never thought I would own, let alone see, I am not sure that this will last another three years.
The problem is a good portion of the demographic group that will purchase many of these titles aren't exactly the most savvy individuals when it comes to technical situations like downloading movies and then playing them in their home theaters. I think the industry as a whole needs to make the process much more simple in which it takes nothing more than a click of a button to view your favorite film downloaded to the home theater area of your preference.
 

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