Warner Archive: Summer Stock on Blu-ray

It's really encouraging to see WAC release another Technicolor film (and more Judy Garland is always a great thing). It gives me hope that we still might see National Velvet at some point. It's celebrating its 75th anniversary this year!

 

A lot of people thought Show Boat would be the next Warners Archive Technicolor musical on blu ray but I had a sneaking suspicion it would be either Summer Stock, The Pirate or In The Good Old Summertime. Now bring on Good News, Warners!

 

All I have to say is FINALLY WE HAVE A NEW-TO-BLU PRE-1954 MGM MUSICAL FROM WAC!!! I'm certainly anxiously awaiting this one! Personally, I'm not surprised it's not the '51 Show Boat, as I can't help but wonder whether Criterion might have gotten that one along with the '36 (maybe even Till The Clouds Roll By and the '29 version, which might explain what might be holding the release up, seeing as how the '36 DVD has been OOP for half a year by now).

 

I love musicals and I'm buying this disc! Don't waste your time trying to talk me out of it, boys! This baby's going to be mine!

 

Yes to Good News.

 

Though I was hoping for THE PIRATE, I'll certainly buy this. In fact, I plan on pre-ordering through the Archive website, just to give it my support.

While for me this may be the weakest of Judy Garland's MGM musicals, it still has a number of amazing sequences in it, just more longueurs than usual in between. Anyway, as other posters have already stated, it's Judy. And Gene Kelly. And Charles Walters. And Technicolor. Reason enough to get it as soon as possible.

Anyway, I saw this with my Mom when I was 4, so it will bring back memories. As I've stated in other posts, these Blu-Rays are for me the equivalent of Marcel Proust's madeleines dipped in Chamomile tea.

No, I'm not old enough to have seen SUMMER STOCK when it came out, but in the mid 50's, the Loew's Strand in downtown Syracuse started showing MGM films oriented towards children at 11AM on Saturdays, and this was one of them. I remember what year it was as I was wearing my brand-new Davy Crocket hat. Other films in the series were THE WIZARD OF OZ, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN & THE THREE MUSKETEERS. The nice thing about this program of MGM classics was that when THE WIZARD OF OZ started showing annually on TV, unlike most of my friends, I was aware that most of the film was supposed to be in color.

 

Let me also say that the Loew;s Strand had an interior lobby next to the Men's and Women's Lounges (for that is what they called them in those days) that was an Italianate piazza with multi-colored tile and a balcony with wrought iron in the shape of clinging vines out of Romeo & Juliet, which was a great place to hang if the movie was a bit boring. I was inconsolable when the theater was razed in 1960 to make room for a parking garage.

 

I bought the HD version on iTunes several weeks ago and have enjoyed it a couple of times since I bought it. It looks beautiful. I'm sure the Blu-ray will look even more spectacular, and I'll see for myself when it's released. It's Judy, and I will buy every movie of hers on Blu-ray.

 

I wonder if the cover is in error and if it will be changed. Gene Kelly never got billing over Judy Garland. Usually the billing on blu rays maintains the original billing.

 

I hope they fix the goof made when refreshing the soundtrack for DVD. At 2:47 the "Charge!" is missing.

 

All the US advertising material does have Garland first and Kelly second. However, some foreign advertising had it reversed as in this Belgium one-sheet, which the Blu-Ray cover seems based on.

 

See this is the type of detail that people on this board and others spot but no one noticed the 20 seconds cut from "Psycho" almost 60 years ago until the German blu ray was released. Don't understand it.

As for the missing "Charge" in "Summer Stock", I am guessing that was not on the pre recording used in the remaster of the film audio. Whether they used the stems for the songs and it was missing instead of the soundtrack from the negative or however that works. Basically to get better sound quality they used a source missing that word. It might have been a conscious decision to use a source with better sound and lose the word rather than an error.

 

Other than the film itself, the most noteworthy announcement is a Tex Avery cartoon that is going to be presented in HD.

None of Tex' MGM cartoons have ever been given anything than antiquated videotape masters. If that press release isn't in error, this will be the first time any of them have been prepped for high definition. Hopefully this indicates that WAC is gearing up for a much-needed, much-delayed release of his cartoons.

 

What a great announcement and I have to admit, I was one of those who predicted the 3-strip title would be Show Boat. It makes total sense that all the Show Boats may be released by Criterion at some point. I'm just as pleased about this, if not more so. A delightful film that belies the enormous headaches that went into its filming. Much to enjoy here with a talented cast at the top of their form which includes two of the best solo music performances ever caught on film, Garland's Get Happy and Kelly's newspaper dance to You Wonderful You. It's always a cause for celebration anytime a 3-strip gem from the golden age is released on Blu-ray. And attached here is the one sheet poster art with which I'm most familiar. In the US, Garland was always billed over Kelly.

 

I'm excited to get this film, and even more excited because it maybe (hopefully, probably) means more 3-strip Technicolor movies controlled by Warners will be released on Blu. I had despaired of that, since most of the Warner Archive releases - even Seven Brides For Seven Brothers - were from already existing interpositives, and that won't work well for most 3-strip titles.

For me, the most-wanted musical title is The Pirate. Most of the other musicals look good or better on DVD, but The Pirate looks faded and flat. I haven't been able to watch the Laserdisc from the Judy Garland box set in some time, but I remember it as being much more colorful.

 

I surely hope you're right!

 

I thought they were concentrating on the Cinemascope MGM features for a while, in which case, "Jupiter's Darling" might have been next. I don't think they've touched any of Esther Williams' films on blu yet.

 

They have been focusing on the Scope Anscocolor/Eastmancolor/Metrocolor films. This came out of left field. The elements must have been in great shape. The DVD looked good back in the day. And count me in for Jupiter's Darling. Highly underrated film. The only Esther Williams film on Blu-ray (if you can call it that) is Deep in My Heart and her scene with George Murphy in Girlies of the Cabaret was cut before release. It's a bonus feature on the disc.