VistaVision--film by film chat and vote (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

I love the movie, one of my favorite Hitchcock films.

 

[benbess]

In the next groups we know we have one winner at least--the brilliant and spectacular Danny Kaye comedy The Court Jester. Who owns Danny Kaye's earlier films at this point? Warner? Anyway, here are the next few VistaVision productions:

• 
  You're Never Too Young (1955)
• 
  Anything Goes (1956)
• 
  The Birds and the Bees (1956)
• 
  The Court Jester (1956)
• 
  Hollywood or Bust (1956)

 

[Matt Hough]

Hollywood or Bust was the last Martin and Lewis picture and not very good as I recall.

Anything Goes wastes a really great cast on a bastardization of the original show and is a really lousy musical.

 

[benbess]

Aside from the great epic comedy The Court Jester, the rest of these look to be weak. You're Never Too Young and Hollywood or Bust are the last two of the Martin-Lewis comedies, and apparently they almost hated each other for a while at this point and it affected the films. The other two seem to be misfire musicals. So, let's move on...



[*]
The Leather Saint (1956)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Knew_Too_Much_(1956_film)

 

[Matt Hough]

If I'm remembering correctly, The Leather Saint is a film in which a priest continues with a boxing career to raise money for his parish. Seems like his manager's girl begins to develop feelings for him which causes problems (obviously) and jealousy from the manager. John Derek is the boxing priest and Paul Douglas his manager. It's a very predictable drama.

 

[Matt Hough]

Oops. meant to continue. Pardners was also a Martin and Lewis picture, famous because after THE END comes on the screen, the boys shoot it down and speak to filmgoers thanking them for their support. One wonders if this wasn't to stem rumors of friction between them.


The Rainmaker is a wonderful comedy-drama with Katharine Hepburn playing a spinster sister with three rowdy brothers whom she can rough and tumble with the best of them. Feeling plain and rahter unhappy, she's awakened to life by charlatan Burt Lancaster who enters the rain-starved territory with promises of making it rain for a fee. Hepburn may be a trifle old for the role, but she gives a very moving performance (another Oscar nomination for her).

 

[benbess]

Sounds pretty good...

 

[benbess]

Anyone ever see The Proud and the Profane? The title reminds me of some others of this era, like the quite good film with Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner called The Bad and the Beautiful...

 

[benbess]

Some of these we already know, of course...

• 
  The Scarlet Hour (1956)
• 
  The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956)
• 
  The Ten Commandments (1956)
• 
  That Certain Feeling (1956)
• 
  Three Violent People (1956)
• 
  The Vagabond King (1956)
• 
  War and Peace (1956)
• 
  Beau James (1957)

 

[David Coleman]

I've seen THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and NORTH BY NORTHWEST and can concur with the excitement!! Those are two stellar transfers. Now I'm excited to see the one's you mentioned. I've seen Hitchcock's TO CATCH A THIEF on Cinemax and it looked fabulous!! I'm anxious to see what the Bluray will look like!

 

[Cinescott]

I know Robert Harris has mentioned this needs some work before Blu-ray, but please oh please:

 

[David Coleman]

Yes... please!!

This and Rear Window would be my other Vista Vision films I'd love to see released!

Originally Posted by Cinescott
I know Robert Harris has mentioned this needs some work before Blu-ray, but please oh please:

 

[Matt Hough]

Well, Rear Window wasn't filmed in Vistavision, but I think most of us are panting in anticipation for ANY of Hitchcock's masterpieces.

 

[benbess]

 

[benbess]

I know nothing about The Scarlet Hour. It seems like it will never get to blu-ray or even HD streaming, but it looks like maybe it's a decent late film noir....Has a song by my favorite singer of this period, Nat King Cole...

 

[benbess]

How about this for an over-the-top Western. Good cast, but maybe it should stay in the vault. It might be an interesting title for hd streaming....Maybe if you don't really restore, just do little color correction and harvest the image as RAH says....maybe that would be an economically viable way for us to see a bit of the VistaVision glamour.

Spoiler alert--plot summary from wikipedia:


Three Violent People Plot
Confederate soldier Capt. Colt Saunders comes home to Texas from the war. Victorious supporters of the Union have taken control of his town, including a corrupt commissioner named Cable.
When he sees a Yankee insult a Southern belle named Lorna Hunter, the gallant Colt comes to her aid. He isn't aware of her past as a St. Louis dance-hall girl or her villainous true nature. Colt is knocked cold and Lorna steals $900 from him.
Her friend, saloon owner Ruby, lets her know that Colt is a wealthy rancher, so Lorna hatches a scheme. She returns his missing $900 and impresses him with her "honesty." Colt falls in love and marries her.
His ranch, the Bar S, has fallen on hard times. Loyal ranch foreman Innocencio, who looked out for the spread while Colt was off to war, says that Yankees have been rustling their horses with no intervention by the law.
Colt's brother, nicknamed Cinch, shows up. Cinch is not trustworthy, but Colt has felt obligated to him since a childhood accident. Cinch is allowed to help run the ranch. But as soon as Cable claims that $16,000 in back taxes must be paid, Cinch makes off not only with the rest of Colt's horses but with Lorna as well.
Lorna is pregnant. Colt tracks them down and offers to give them more money if she agrees to give birth first and leave the child with him. In a gunfight to determine who gains ultimate control of the ranch, Cinch and Cable are both killed. Lorna has a change of heart and persuades Colt to let her stay.

 

[benbess]

Another obscure and odd title that has no chance of making it to blu. Sounds interesting in its offbeat way, however....

 

[benbess]

Omg, as they say today....Another one to stay in the vault....The star of Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, in what was not her finest hour...But it is truly a hypnotic film...

 

[benbess]

Surely we'll have a winner in this next group...

• 
  The Buster Keaton Story (1957)
• 
  The Delicate Delinquent (1957)
• 
  The Devil's Hairpin (1957)
• 
  Fear Strikes Out (1957)
• 
  Funny Face (1957)
• 
  Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

 

[Matt Hough]

Funny Face should be numero uno for a Blu-ray transfer. The last DVD release (which I reviewed) looked really spectacular, and the colors are so vivid and the entire production design of the film is so striking and unusual that it clearly would benefit from a high definition treatment. Of the Hepburn films, of course, Breakfast at Tiffany's seems to get much more attention, but that last DVD release (which I also reviewed) had some problems which I hope Paramount will address for the Blu-ray release. I believe I read somewhere that Tiffany's is coming out this fall on Blu-ray.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a classic, of course, and with those big, big stars in the leads, it should be a no-brainer release on Blu-ray.

Fear Strikes Out was a box-office flop when initially released, but it's an interesting and sensitive treatment of the true story of baseball's Jim Piersall. Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden both should have gotten Oscar nominations but didn't.

The Delicate Delinquent was Jerry Lewis' first film without Dean Martin. I'm sure his fans would love to have it, but I'm not much for Lewis, so this leaves me indifferent. The movie was a big hit, however, so obviously lots of people liked it.