Update on African Queen and other CLASSICS (1 Viewer)

[Joel Vardy]

Just checking if anyone has heard of DVD releases of the following classics:
- African Queen
- Bringing up Baby
- Giant
- The Jazz Singer (1927)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy
Each of these titles is listed in the AFI top 100 but haven't heard a thing about any of these except on again, off again rumors regarding Giant. Any clues for 2002 or beyond?
- Joel

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

http://www.blackstar.co.uk/video/item/7000000063509
The african queen has been released in the UK. It was released by a company called Carlton. I have no idea who these guys are, if they are a presence in the US or if they own or have simply licenced the movie, but still, it's out somewhere in the world.
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[Rain]

Man, had I known that Giant was going to be discontinued, I would have stocked up while it was briefly available in Canada. I could have made a mint on ebay!

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[Thomas T]

I specifically asked the Warners rep at Dave's Studio Day about Bringing Up Baby and he replied that with the exception of King Kong coming out in 2003, there are no plans at this time to dip into their RKO library for DVD titles.
I guess it will be a long wait for titles like Bringing Up Baby, The Thing From Another World, film noirs like Out Of The Past and Murder By Sweet and all the Astaire & Rogers musicals. Generally, titles like those appeal to film buffs rather than home theatre enthusiasts because, let's face it, a film like Top Hat from 1935 isn't going to give your state of the art home theatre sound system a work out.

 

[Craig Beam]

Kong's not coming out till 2003?

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[Peter D]

Come on WB - Bringing up Baby is on the AFI top 100 list, features two of the greatest stars in Hollwyood history and was directed by one of the greatest directors. Give it a tiny bit of respect.
Oh wait - the exact same thing can be said about the African Queen. And so on.
If you don't want to produce these DVD's, license them to Criterion already. I'm sure they'd jump at the chance.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Kong's not coming out till 2003

I expect the "King Kong" dvd to be a special edition to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of it's theatrical release similar to "Citizen Kane" dvd.
Crawdaddy
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Peter Staddon: "I didn't say you can put 'Monkeybone' back!"

 

[Joel Vardy]

Interesting tidbit about African Queen availability in R2. What would keep it from R1 release? Lack of interest?...
Another title I have heard nothing about is "Mutiny on the Bounty". Otherwise we should have 94 or 95 of the AFI 100 out by the end of 2003 -- assuming we see Star Wars and Raiders by then.

- Joel

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

and while we're at it!
Where's "Sunset Blvd." and "Double Indemnity"? (okay, I know the latter was released but it's been discontinued and was by all accounts a pretty ropey transfer!)
Rich

 

[Joel Vardy]

I have Double Indemnity and it must be one of the worst transfers in my ~850 disk collection. It surely deserves better. Let's hope when it reappears that it will be at least 'average' in quality. As for Bringing Up Baby and one or two of the others I can understand the concern that studios might have (though misguided) about demand. What I don't understand is their misreading The African Queen demand and the lack of interest in getting this out...
- Joel

 

[Eric Peterson]

I second the motion for "Double Indemnity" and while they're at it, how about the original deleted ending. I'm pretty sure that it still exists.
It seems like there have "Sunset Blvd" rumours for about 2 years now. I'm anxiously looking forward to this as well as the remaining Billy Wilder catalog. I just wish somebody would release "Ace in the Hole" aka "The Big Carnival". This is widely regarded as a classic, yet has never made it's way to any home video format. I heard some time ago that Spike Lee was interested in re-making this movie, has anybody else heard this rumour.

 

[SteveGon]

You guys are makin' me depressed!
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-- Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

 

[Joel Vardy]

This thread was not intended to 'depress' anyone, just to raise the temperature with the studios that may or may not know of market demand for these titles. If there is more than casual interest we need to start a campaign of alerting the respective studios to pay some attention to certain titles before the door is shut to the opportunity.
- Joel

 

[Dave Hahn]

Picture this:
Cagney's ghost, "Hey, listen here see, you dirty rats better hurry up and put Angels with Dirty Faces out on dvd, see? It's one of me n' Pat's favorites, undastand"
Warner Rep., "Um, we don't have any plans to put . . .
Cagney, interrupting, "Did ya here what I had to say, huh, huh? You boys are smart, but don't get smart with Rocky. Youz boys don't know what kinda trouble you're gettin' youzselfs inta here. Now listen here you rats, either put the film out on dvd, or I'm gonna' air-condition those suits youz' is wearing wit what's in dis here violin case. You gettin' the message yet?
Warner Reps., "It'll be out ASAP sir, Rocky, uh, MR. Cagney, ASAP!"

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[Tom Rhea]

What's the deal with studios refusing to license titles they don't plan on releasing themselves? I'm not the brightest guy in the world, but it seems like a no-brainer that if you own the rights to a movie, but don't think there's enough of a demand to release it yourself but, say, Criterion does, sell them the rights for either a flat fee or per unit so you do end up making some money. Is there some little fact I'm missing here?

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

Have there been any other reviews of the R2 African Queen??
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[David Tallen]

What's the deal with studios refusing to license titles they don't plan on releasing themselves?

I don't know the answer to that one, but I'll happily offer my opinion, anyway.
My guess is that the studios are looking with some trepidation to the day when virtually all of their old movies have been released on DVD and the only thing they can offer the public in the way of new DVDs is the previous year's movies. Lets face it, it's easier to find a gem when you can look back 70 years than when you can only look back one year. Sales are going to drop off when that day arrives. Of course, they will still be putting out Special Editions, Extra Special Editions and Super-Duper Fantasmagoric Editions. But that's another matter.

 

[Craig S]

Re: The African Queen. Fox used to have this title (my old VHS of this is from Fox). Unfortunately, per Peter Staddon, they no longer have it. Somebody on HTF (Crawdaddy?) had figured that, through various catalog sales, MGM now had it. So I asked the MGM reps about it at Studio Day a couple of weeks ago. They do NOT have it - they thought Fox still did.
So, the big question is, who has the US rights to The African Queen??? Does anyone know??
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[george kaplan]

What's the deal with studios refusing to license titles they don't plan on releasing themselves? I'm not the brightest guy in the world, but it seems like a no-brainer that if you own the rights to a movie, but don't think there's enough of a demand to release it yourself but, say, Criterion does, sell them the rights for either a flat fee or per unit so you do end up making some money. Is there some little fact I'm missing here?

There's speculation that it may be to hold product back for video-on-demand release only. Sort of like divx, in that the only way to watch it would be to pay each time. Despite what happened to divx, and despite how much money dvd sales generate for studios (e.g., Snow White), they still drool at the thought of getting money each time you watch it.
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[Chris May]

The R2 release by Carlton is in a very nice presentation box (well a little better than a simple plastic snap case...matt coated card) and comes with a commentary by the director of photography, but this doesnt make up for the movie being put out in 4:3 format....i'm not 100% sure but i seem to remember it being in a wider format than this...someone prove me wrong