WAC Releasing Auntie Mame onto Blu-ray 12-05-17! (1 Viewer)

[RobertSiegel]

Collectors have repeatedly been belittled and their prints mistreated and even confiscated or at least there have been threats like now in your post. If I was a sceptic collector reading your post it would reinforce my resolve to not let any studio have it.

What the studios should do imo would be to treat the print properly and return it to the collector in as good shape or better than they received it if that is possible at all. I would even go so far as to offer them some kind of credit / visibility on all future home video versions of the movie that profit from having received that print and maybe also give them a studio tour or something like it. Make them feel important and appreciated because actually this is what they are as they took the prints that the studios mostly intended to be junked and preserved them.

Why would you not let any studio have it? If you notice, and since I have family in the classic film business so I do know a little, I did say that prints were returned to collectors in a very good and friendly way, but I can't conceal my personal anger to hearing there is a stereo print of Auntie Mame and and here we are getting mono because some collector would not step up and loan their print to Warner Brothers, who as I claimed, has returned them in the past in a friendly way to collectors, at least in a few cases I know of. I know of no instances where Warner Brothers confiscated a print from a collector, even though, lets face it, collectors are holding on to something illegally. Just because you love movies does that give you the right to selfishly hold on to something that belongs to someone else? Last time I checked the law, those were called stolen goods.

These prints are still the property of the studios, yet most of the studios, from what I am told, in order to get a better version of their film, do treat collectors very nicely and do return the print. Where my anger lies is a person who has something major (like a stereo track) that the studio no longer has, and won't even work with the studio so other fans have access to it. In my mind very selfish.

It is a sticky area. I am just stating my opinion here. I will not be viewing the stereo version of Auntie Mame when the first blu-ray disc comes out when it was possible. This is a sad commentary.

 

[OliverK]

Why would you not let any studio have it? If you notice, and since I have family in the classic film business so I do know a little, I did say that prints were returned to collectors in a very good and friendly way, but I can't conceal my personal anger to hearing there is a stereo print of Auntie Mame and and here we are getting mono because some collector would not step up and loan their print to Warner Brothers, who as I claimed, has returned them in the past in a friendly way to collectors, at least in a few cases I know of. I know of no instances where Warner Brothers confiscated a print from a collector, even though, lets face it, collectors are holding on to something illegally. Sorry, but I don't consider them collectors, I consider them thieves. I don't defend thieves. Just because you love movies does that give you the right to own something that belongs to someone else? Last time I checked the law, it is robbery of property.

These prints are still the property of the studios, yet most of the studios, from what I am told, in order to get a better version of their film, do treat collectors very nicely and do return the print. But these prints were still stolen and that's the fact. Where my anger lies is a person who has something major (like a stereo track) that the studio no longer has, and won't even work with the studio so other fans have access to it. In my mind very selfish.

It is a sticky area. I am just stating my opinion which is I will not be viewing the stereo version of Auntie Mame when the disc comes out when it was possible. This is a sad commentary.

Film collectors have not been collectors for only the last two or three years but much longer. Once they had a bad experience they are often inclined to not deal with studios anymore. I am not saying this is right but this is the way it often is. As for the prints most of them would now have been junked if somebody had not collected them back in the days so this changes things a little bit and does not make things so simple anymore.

Personally I am of the opinion that collectors have a moral right to own these prints that otherwise would have been destroyed but they also have a moral obligation to make them available when they are handled properly and the collectors are treated with respect. It it hard to stomach that a stereo track of Auntie Mame or the long version of Raintree County might be lost forever because collectors do not make their prints available before they fall apart for good. Maybe studios should make more of an effort to post ads asking to contact them or lists of what they are looking for in forums, newsgroups or if they still exist print magazines for collectors in order to get access to these rarities.

Back to Auntie Mame. Do you know that Warner reached out to specific collectors to ask for a stereo print of Auntie Mame or did they make it widely know that they are looking for them? Maybe with this release somebody will come forward and offer his print.

 

[RobertSiegel]

Basically I agree with you Oliver, except when you say that they have a moral right to own them because they would have been destroyed, but the reality is that they do own them, and I think you and several other posters have a great idea that the studios should reach out to the collectors world (magazines like Reels, ect) and tell them that they won't confiscate the films but are interested in preserving them in the studio archives, such as a stereo track for Auntie Mame or the stereo tracks to How to Succeed in Business. I'd be willing to bet there are alot of lost stereo versions out there, the sad thing is every day they are deteriorating. And yes, perhaps an incentive for the collectors, such as as a small percentage of the video sales, something to have them come forward.

 

[Robert Harris]

Basically I agree with you Oliver, except when you say that they have a moral right to own them because they would have been destroyed, but the reality is that they do own them, and I think you and several other posters have a great idea that the studios should reach out to the collectors world (magazines like Reels, ect) and tell them that they won't confiscate the films but are interested in preserving them in the studio archives, such as a stereo track for Auntie Mame or the stereo tracks to How to Succeed in Business. I'd be willing to bet there are alot of lost stereo versions out there, the sad thing is every day they are deteriorating. And yes, perhaps an incentive for the collectors, such as as a small percentage of the video sales, something to have them come forward.

With all of this discussion of stereo tracks on Auntie Mame, I've still seen no evidence of a print existing. And not having seen studio records, no proof that the film was recorded in stereo.

 

[battlebeast]

I asked Warner Archive if the film would be in Stereo or mono but they didn't respond.

 

[battlebeast]

Ok, I just retweeted Warner Archive and they said it will be in Stereo. So this ends the argument.

 

[warnerbro]

Does anyone know if this will be an improvement on the HD version now streaming on Amazon? It looks awesome. Also, are there any supplements? And if so, what are they?

 

[battlebeast]

There will only be bonus features if the DVD had some.

And it should be the same or a better transfer than on Amazon.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Does anyone know if this will be an improvement on the HD version now streaming on Amazon? It looks awesome. Also, are there any supplements? And if so, what are they?

Absolutely. The streaming master [as indicated earlier in the thread] is 1080i. It's merely a matter of if they scan 2K or 4K, but in all likelihood, it will be a pin-registered scan, getting rid of the bob-and-weave of the previous master and maximising resolution.

 

[Mark-P]

Ok, I just retweeted Warner Archive and they said it will be in Stereo. So this ends the argument.

This surprises me. Had it been any other studio I would doubt what they say, however, generally speaking, the folks at WAC know of what they speak. On the other hand, the guy who handles tweets may have just looked at the “DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English” spec and assumed...

 

[OliverK]

With all of this discussion of stereo tracks on Auntie Mame, I've still seen no evidence of a print existing. And not having seen studio records, no proof that the film was recorded in stereo.

Joe Caps has mentioned a print that is held by a private collector but until that collector comes forward there will be no evidence.

 

[OliverK]

On the other hand, the guy who handles tweets may have just looked at the “DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English” spec and assumed...

Seems more probable to me as coming from 4-track magnetic stereo one would most certainly not want to go with a 2.0 mix. So to me this looks like dual mono.

 

[battlebeast]

This surprises me. Had it been any other studio I would doubt what they say, however, generally speaking, the folks at WAC know of what they speak. On the other hand, the guy who handles tweets may have just looked at the “DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English” spec and assumed...

I don't think they'd lie.

 

[battlebeast]

Seems more probable to me as coming from 4-track magnetic stereo one would most certainly not want to go with a 2.0 mix. So to me this looks like dual mono.

They said Stereo.

 

[battlebeast]

So I just got this from warners:

:/

 

[allanfisch]

Russell is just fine, but that kid is stiff and annoying -- I can't watch this again because of that horrible performance.

He was in the original Broadway production.

 

[Dick]

He was in the original Broadway production.

As spoken by Katherine Hepburn in THE AFRICAN QUEEN: "Nevertheless."

The kid just didn't translate well to film, that's all. IMHO, of course.

 

[Robert Harris]

As spoken by Katherine Hepburn in THE AFRICAN QUEEN: "Nevertheless."

The kid just didn't translate well to film, that's all. IMHO, of course.

What or who is Katherine Hepburn, and what did she have to do with TAQ?

 

[B-ROLL]

What or who is Katherine Hepburn, and what did she have to do with TAQ?

KathArine Hepburn appeared in TAQ

I will always remember as she caused me to almost fail a final for Cinematography class as I didn't want to say what I thought was going on during a certain scene with the boat and Ms. Hepburn's reaction

... as did no one else in our class ...at least on paper

 

[David Weicker]

What or who is Katherine Hepburn, and what did she have to do with TAQ?

Well, if REH doesn’t know, no one does