Warner Archive Announcements Thread (7 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

Many old Warner titles, including WA titles, in iTunes sale today. Although HD, I’m not sure if they are the WA transfers. If I get time, I’ll rent one to compare.

They're not WA Blu-ray transfers! WAC doesn't allow that to happen. I have many of these sale titles already in my digital library when most of them were previously on sale for $4.99 back in the 2017-2019 time frame. For the most part, their video presentations are better than DVDs and are derived from elements used for previous WAC DVD releases which means they're not pristine like a WAC Blu-ray release nor a previously released Warner Blu-ray like Casablanca. With that said, I think all of the previously released Warner Blu-rays before WAC program that are HD digitals on iTunes are derived from the same elements used for those Blu-rays. Again, WAC didn't begin to release Blu-rays until I think 2012. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong about the year. Anyhow, Warner did released Blu-rays of some catalog titles before that year, therefore, some Warner titles on iTunes are derived from those same film elements.

 

[Matt Hough]

Crawdaddy is right: the iTunes digitals I have, while looking more than acceptable, pale in comparison to the quality of the Blu-ray transfers. I mostly have musicals like Summer Stock, Ziegfeld Follies, My Dream Is Yours. Holiday is also leagues inferior to the Criterion Blu-ray release.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Crawdaddy is right: the iTunes digitals I have, while looking more than acceptable, pale in comparison to the quality of the Blu-ray transfers. I mostly have musicals like Summer Stock, Ziegfeld Follies, My Dream Is Yours. Holiday is also leagues inferior to the Criterion Blu-ray release.

Mildred Pierce and The Asphalt Jungle are another two Criterion Blu-rays that are superior to the iTunes HD digitals. Of course, there are more such Warner titles that Criterion has released on Blu-ray.

 

[Gerani53]

Listened to THE EXTRAS podcasr with Tim Millard and George Feltenstein, and George said he is trying to get ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD released on 4K UHD. Wouldn't THAT be something?

...especially if it was remastered with the three-strip recombine process that replicates the look of dye-transfer prints (IVANHOE being the latest miracle along those lines). A Blu-ray equivalent included in that package would make the current BD, pretty as it is, completely obsolete. Do the original three Technicolor negatives still exist on this title?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Listened to THE EXTRAS podcasr with Tim Millard and George Feltenstein, and George said he is trying to get ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD released on 4K UHD. Wouldn't THAT be something?

Here is the link to that interview. Nothing has been approved, but George Feltenstein is trying his best to get this approved. The 4K talk about "The Adventures of Robin Hood" takes place at the end of the 49 minute segment. Again, nothing is approved yet, so more convincing of the Warner's "Powers to Be" needs to take place, before such 4K work can be approved and then work upon.

 

[David Weicker]

...especially if it was remastered with the three-strip recombine process that replicates the look of dye-transfer prints (IVANHOE being the latest miracle along those lines). A Blu-ray equivalent included in that package would make the current BD, pretty as it is, completely obsolete. Do the original three Technicolor negatives still exist on this title?

Adventures Of Robin Hood was remastered with the three-strip recombine process (formerly called Ultra-Resolution)

 

[JamesSmith]

Do any of you think WB Archives will be able to release any unreleased HB animated series this year? I've been hoping they would be able to, but with all the focus on classics being redone for Blue Ray, there hasn't been much news otherwise.

--jthree

 

[benbess]

Even way back in the 1970s I enjoyed Barbara Stanwyck in various roles. Since I read the novel The Thorn Birds as a teenager, after my Mom was finished with it, I also enjoyed her last role in The Thorn Birds miniseries that came out in the early 1980s. Looking it up it seems like Warner owns The Thorn Birds, and I wonder if that show might be good for a Warner Archive release. It's one of the highest-rated miniseries of all time.

Anyway, the Warner Archive blu-ray I watched a couple of days ago was the earliest movie starring Stanwyck that I've ever seen—Ladies They Talk About from 1933. Amazingly the original negative for this movie still exists, and the blu-ray has excellent pq, looking like it did on opening night nearly 90 years ago. Stanwyck plays a tough gal criminal who spends most of the picture in San Quentin, a prison I've driven by several times in my life. San Quentin has an interesting history stretching all the way back to the 1850s. Over the years this prison has been featured in several movies.

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'd say Ladies They Talk about is a solid B picture, with the charisma of Stanwyck pulling it through. Looking up Stanwyck in wikipedia it's clear she had some rough times in the early part of her life....

Barbara Stanwyck - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn....When Ruby was four, her mother died of complications from a miscarriage after she was knocked off a moving streetcar by a drunk. Two weeks after the funeral, her father joined a work crew digging the Panama Canal and was never seen again by his family. Ruby and her older brother, Malcolm Byron Stevens, were raised by their eldest sister Laura Mildred, who died of a heart attack at age 45. When Mildred got a job as a showgirl, Ruby and Byron were placed in a series of foster homes (as many as four in a year), from which young Ruby often ran away.

"I knew that after fourteen I'd have to earn my own living, but I was willing to do that ... I've always been a little sorry for pampered people, and of course, they're 'very' sorry for me."

Barbara Stanwyck, 1937

Ruby toured with Mildred during the summers of 1916 and 1917, and practiced her sister's routines backstage. Watching the movies of Pearl White, whom Ruby idolized, also influenced her drive to be a performer. At the age of 14, she dropped out of school, taking a package wrapping job at a Brooklyn department store. Ruby never attended high school....In 1923, a few months before her 16th birthday, Ruby auditioned for a place in the chorus at the Strand Roof, a nightclub over the Strand Theatre in Times Square. A few months later, she obtained a job as a dancer in the 1922 and 1923 seasons of the Ziegfeld Follies, dancing at the New Amsterdam Theater. "I just wanted to survive and eat and have a nice coat," Stanwyck said...At the suggestion of David Belasco, Ruby changed her name to Barbara Stanwyck by combining the first name from the play Barbara Frietchie with the last name of the actress in the play, Jane Stanwyck; both were found on a 1906 theater program."

 

[Randy Korstick]

Do any of you think WB Archives will be able to release any unreleased HB animated series this year? I've been hoping they would be able to, but with all the focus on classics being redone for Blue Ray, there hasn't been much news otherwise.

--jthree

Lippy the Lion was the last 1950-'s-early 80's HB title released on DVD and that was back in August 2019 so it appears they have moved on from DVD. They haven't released any new DVD titles of any kind since 2020. So I think the only hope of more unreleased HB titles will be on Blu Ray after they are done with the previously released on DVD titles they want to release on Blu.

 

[RobertMG]

Lippy the Lion was the last 1950-'s-early 80's HB title released on DVD and that was back in August 2019 so it appears they have moved on from DVD. They haven't released any new DVD titles of any kind since 2020. So I think the only hope of more unreleased HB titles will be on Blu Ray after they are done with the previously released on DVD titles they want to release on Blu.

Still wish they would give us more classic Yogi and Huck!

 

[RobertMG]

Here is the link to that interview. Nothing has been approved, but George Feltenstein is trying his best to get this approved. The 4K talk about "The Adventures of Robin Hood" takes place at the end of the 49 minute segment. Again, nothing is approved yet, so more convincing of the Warner's "Powers to Be" needs to take place, before such 4K work can be approved and then work upon.

Here is the link to that interview. Nothing has been approved, but George Feltenstein is trying his best to get this approved. The 4K talk about "The Adventures of Robin Hood" takes place at the end of the 49 minute segment. Again, nothing is approved yet, so more convincing of the Warner's "Powers to Be" needs to take place, before such 4K work can be approved and then work upon.

Great Curtiz and Flynn stories! Check this out outtakes from Robin Hood https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...F4488E04E5745A1E33E5F44&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

 

[usrunnr]

I remember when "The Thorn Birds" was on television. We looked forward to it each week and referred to the series as "The Screwing" .

 

[Randy Korstick]

Still wish they would give us more classic Yogi and Huck!

I can see them doing both of those shows on blu. Hopefully if they do Huck that can release the unreleased season 2 and 3 that never got a DVD release due to catalog music rights issues.

 

[RobertMG]

I can see them doing both of those shows on blu. Hopefully if they do Huck that can release the unreleased season 2 and 3 that never got a DVD release due to catalog music rights issues.

Warners took down any postings of them on youtube

 

[Gerani53]

Adventures Of Robin Hood was remastered with the three-strip recombine process (formerly called Ultra-Resolution)

I understood that significant technical advances were made since the earlier days of Ultra-Resolution, when first-tier classics like ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD were prepared. That's why the recent IVANHOE or ANNIE GET YOUR GUN or even FLYING LEATHERNECKS are getting jaw-dropping reactions. What I assumed were improvements in the process finally seemed to replicate the 'true black' flavor of IB prints (sans registration issues), whereas the old ROBIN HOOD or BAND WAGON Blu-rays, absolutely gorgeous though they are, do not, at least not to my eye. But hey, I'm no expert. I'm perfectly willing to believe I'm somehow fooling myself when I watch this stuff. That said, I do seem to remember one of the most significant names in film restoration noting this distinction, as well. My two cents.

 

[RobertMG]

I understood that significant technical advances were made since the earlier days of Ultra-Resolution, when first-tier classics like ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD were prepared. That's why the recent IVANHOE or ANNIE GET YOUR GUN or even FLYING LEATHERNECKS are getting jaw-dropping reactions. What I assumed were improvements in the process finally seemed to replicate the 'true black' flavor of IB prints (sans registration issues), whereas the old ROBIN HOOD or BAND WAGON Blu-rays, absolutely gorgeous though they are, do not, at least not to my eye. But hey, I'm no expert. I'm perfectly willing to believe I'm somehow fooling myself when I watch this stuff. That said, I do seem to remember one of the most significant names in film restoration noting this distinction, as well. My two cents.

The Blu Ray of Easter Parade actually pales in comparison to the
Technicolor Restoration" Laserdisc - check out that disc saturated and stunning color the Blu Ray and DVD have quite a few scenes blown-out

 

[John Hodson]

My importing of BDs has been severely curtailed of late but I did snaffle a copy of THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (following Robert Harris's enthusiastic recommendation) and socks were duly blown off. Watching it, my thoughts turned to the possibilities for THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD - and, hey presto, George Feltenstein reveals he's lobbying hard for a 4k UHD.

If it helps George, I'll buy two. At least.

 

[Dick]

Am I alone in this, or does it seem as though WAC announcements have been dormant for a longer than usual time period. 'Course, it could have much to do with Covid and its ancillary horrors and slowdowns/shutdowns/shipping issues. Or maybe it's just my increasingly weird perception of time. Just checking. Hope George et al are okay.

 

[Bernard McNair]

Agree Dick that it has been a long time between announcements. George did advise on a recent The Extras podcast that the start of 2022 would be slow. Like you I look forward to some new and exciting announcements.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Am I alone in this, or does it seem as though WAC announcements have been dormant for a longer than usual time period. 'Course, it could have much to do with Covid and its ancillary horrors and slowdowns/shutdowns/shipping issues. Or maybe it's just my increasingly weird perception of time. Just checking. Hope George et al are okay.

I don't think it has been dormant.

The problem right now is that the announcement dates are all over the place.

Last month, the announcements happened on December 23rd which was kind of crazy. Those announcements weren't due for another two weeks at least and they came awful early.

Not that I am complaining, but it really makes it difficult for us to put up an announcement as we never know when they are coming.

George Feltenstein did say it would be his priority to put the announcements on schedule so everyone would know when to expect them.

Right now, I have to sit here on a daily basis combing Facebook and looking for Amazon or other retailer leaks in order to bring the announcements to the forefront in a timely manner. These days, forum members discover the announcements before Warner even has the chance to post them. I am sure that is something the studio isn't happy about.

So, we aren't even a month between last month's announcements and the upcoming ones. That is why I don't feel things have been dormant. I would call it more of a mess.

I am really hoping for a more scheduled release policy moving forward. The Facebook announcements are fine, but I'd rather not have to be checking them several times a day, every day, each month hoping to get a jump on a press release.