Warner Archive Announcements Thread (6 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

Can we please get the remaining Val Lewton/RKO classics: I Walked With A Zombie and The 7th Victim on Blu?

Plus all the Astaire/Rogers classics, Vivacious Lady, The Age of Innocence, Alice Adams, Gunga Din, My Favorite Wife, Too Many Girls.

I’m thinking Criterion has at least one of those two Lewton films.

 

[Garysb]

I would like periodic updates of the "That's Entertainment" films when the source films get upgraded. Like every 5 years.

 

[RICK BOND]

Captain Blood must need a lot of restoration. I have been waiting for a Bluray release for years. ......Three Technicolor Errol Flynn movies I would Love to see on Bluray are ....San Antonio, Montana, and The Master of Ballantrae.

 

[RolandL]

Nice list @Nick*Z , I'd like many of those too.
If I had to absolutely limit my wants to just 2 releases though, I'd like Raintree County and Knights of the Round table, both films seen in my childhood, and made a huge impression to me!

Only Raintree County for me.

 

[roxy1927]

Yolanda and the Thief. Not a great musical by any means but Lucille Bremer and Fred Astaire and Minelli fantasies at his most baroque in Technicolor. A visual feast. And I watch Coffee Time often on youtube in not the greatest of prints so that alone would be worth it. No matter how many times I watch it I can't get a handle on it. The choreography and timing of the corps, the photography, that floor(Rio de Janeiro,) the lighting, the strange set, and the musical arrangements and again Sharaff puts Bremer in yellow. There is no way it can be described only seen.

 

[Beckford]

Totally agree about the "Coffee Time" segment in "Yolanda and the Thief". Its odd off-balance magic can't be conveyed in words. Lucille Bremer teamed with Fred Astaire in three of his greatest numbers, "This Heart of Mine" and "Limehouse Blues" (both from "Ziegfeld Follies") and this one. They all qualify as pinnacle moments in the history of the MGM musical. Whatever Bremer's limitations when it came to convincingly playing an innocent heroine, she was magnificent as a dancer - or more precisely as a dance partner. One of the best and most graceful Astaire ever had. Too bad the stars didn't align to give us one or two more golden moments from the pair. But the dances the duo has left us are imperishable.

 

[Alan Tully]

Captain Blood must need a lot of restoration. I have been waiting for a Bluray release for years. ......Three Technicolor Errol Flynn movies I would Love to see on Bluray are ....San Antonio, Montana, and The Master of Ballantrae.

Well if Captain Blood is with Criterion, then it’s definitely a waiting game

I’d also like The Master Of Ballantrae, Errol does look a bit rough in it (all that living caught up with him), but it’s very good & plays out like a pirate film, I think I still have the DVD somewhere.

 

[BRAD1963]

My guess is that Captain Blood is with Criterion, as is the 1924 silent version. They will most likely release them together, and probably UHD and BD releases.

 

[mskaye]

My guess is that Captain Blood is with Criterion, as is the 1924 silent version. They will most likely release them together, and probably UHD and BD releases.

I could be wrong and if you have inside info please forgive me but Captain Blood doesn’t check all the boxes for a Criterion title. No doubt it’s a popular star vehicle etc. but it is lacking that extra “something” - that would make it a certainty to be curated by Criterion. Again, if it happens, I’d be delighted for all its fans.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I could be wrong and if you have inside info please forgive me but Captain Blood doesn’t check all the boxes for a Criterion title. No doubt it’s a popular star vehicle etc. but it is lacking that extra “something” - that would make it a certainty to be curated by Criterion. Again, if it happens, I’d be delighted for all its fans.

Criterion has released some other titles that don't check all the boxes either.

 

[BRAD1963]

I could be wrong and if you have inside info please forgive me but Captain Blood doesn’t check all the boxes for a Criterion title. No doubt it’s a popular star vehicle etc. but it is lacking that extra “something” - that would make it a certainty to be curated by Criterion. Again, if it happens, I’d be delighted for all its fans.

I'm confused, what boxes need to be checked off?

 

[Joel Arndt]

Totally agree about the "Coffee Time" segment in "Yolanda and the Thief". Its odd off-balance magic can't be conveyed in words. Lucille Bremer teamed with Fred Astaire in three of his greatest numbers, "This Heart of Mine" and "Limehouse Blues" (both from "Ziegfeld Follies") and this one. They all qualify as pinnacle moments in the history of MGM musicals. Whatever Bremer's limitations when it came to convincingly playing an innocent heroine, she was magnificent as a dancer - or more precisely as a dance partner. One of the best
and most graceful Astaire ever had. Too bad the stars didn't align to give us one or two more golden
moments from the pair. But the dances the duo has left us are imperishable.

I'm in agreement regarding Coffee Time as it's mesmerizing and a definite highlight of the film.

I see Yolanda as a potential Archive Blu-ray release since they've released so many of Minnelli's films already. The PQ of the 2011 Archive DVD release was a marked improvement over the VHS and LaserDisc versions which I had owned previously, so the Technicolor would look amazing.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I could be wrong and if you have inside info please forgive me but Captain Blood doesn’t check all the boxes for a Criterion title. No doubt it’s a popular star vehicle etc. but it is lacking that extra “something” - that would make it a certainty to be curated by Criterion. Again, if it happens, I’d be delighted for all its fans.

Criterion released Scaramouche 1952 on Laserdisc back in 1988. So they have always made exceptions on what is usually a "Criterion" title.

 

[mskaye]

Criterion released Scaramouche 1952 on Laserdisc back in 1988. So they have always made exceptions on what is usually a "Criterion" title.

That is true but far fewer than you think. When they've dipped into the popular - like they did with the Bond titles way back when - there was still their high bar of the transfer and the extras. And the iconic. The same can be said about a recent title like Risky Business which with a little historical perspective, is actually quite adult and interesting. Even Wall E is regarded as a poetic visual masterpiece - and one of Pixar's supreme triumphs (that and Up are Pixar films that can stand on their own, deal with adult issues and are not overtly "kids films.") Michael Curtiz has two films avail on Criterion - Mildred Pierce and The Breaking Point and both have a ton of fascinating modern subtext with tons of layers are singular noirs. I'm not the same can be said about Captain Blood. Hey, maybe its a childhood fave of one of the owners.

 

[mskaye]

That is true but far fewer than you think. When they've dipped into the popular - like they did with the Bond titles way back when - there was still their high bar of the transfer and the extras. And the iconic. The same can be said about a recent title like Risky Business which with a little historical perspective, is actually quite adult and interesting. Even Wall E is regarded as a poetic visual masterpiece - and one of Pixar's supreme triumphs (that and Up are Pixar films that can stand on their own, deal with adult issues and are not overtly "kids films.") Michael Curtiz has two films avail on Criterion - Mildred Pierce and The Breaking Point and both have a ton of fascinating modern subtext with tons of layers are singular noirs. I'm not the same can be said about Captain Blood. Hey, maybe its a childhood fave of one of the owners. Maybe someone there is a Errol Flynn fan. I think you will sooner see a Raoul Walsh directed Flynn title than that one.

 

[TheSteig]

Criterion also has released The X from Outer Space, Equinox, Fiend without a Face, Genocide and other cult films - there is no reason why they shouldn't or couldn't do Blu-rays for any title they can get their hands on

 

[mskaye]

Criterion also has released The X from Outer Space, Equinox, Fiend without a Face, Genocide and other cult films - there is no reason why they shouldn't or couldn't do Blu-rays for any title they can get their hands on.

They released The Blob, Night of the Living Dead, The Great Escape etc. I know they don't exclusively release "art films" but I can make a case for many of those more than that particular Warner Bros. title. I would NOT be saying that if they close The Adventures of Robin Hood, or even Yankee Doodle Dandy.

 

[BRAD1963]

I'm still confused to why Captain Blood would not find a place in the Criterion library. Criterion loves to release films from the Golden Age Hollywood, they always have. In fact, regarding Flynn, they released The Adventures of Robin Hood on Laserdisc back in the day.

 

[mskaye]

I'm still confused to why Captain Blood would not find a place in the Criterion library. Criterion loves to release films from the golden age Hollywood, they always have. In fact, regarding Flynn, they released The Adventures of Robin Hood on Laserdisc back in the day.

It's not just the golden age of Hollywood. That's not the issue. I know all about their releases of Sturges, Leo McCarey, Lubitsch, Cukor, Sternberg. Those are all auteur driven and/or singular. It's just a feeling that C Blood is not the one. But I'm happy to be wrong. Maybe I need to view it again.

 

[Areyakiddin]

I could be wrong and if you have inside info please forgive me but Captain Blood doesn’t check all the boxes for a Criterion title. No doubt it’s a popular star vehicle etc. but it is lacking that extra “something” - that would make it a certainty to be curated by Criterion. Again, if it happens, I’d be delighted for all its fans.

What "extra something" does Swing Time have to make it into the Criterion collection, but not Captain Blood?