Warner Archive, Wave Your Wand and Bring Back 1935! (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

I restricted the titles in my initial post to films that were favorites of mine. Afraid I never cared for "Go Into Your Dance". Don't find much charm in Jolson - and Ruby Keeler, adorable as she can be, definitely needs a leading man that's not just talented but likeable too (like Dick Powell) to help her get her through the ins and outs of any given screenplay with some degree of dramatic plausibility.
But if this is a title you're after, I hope Warmer Archive eventually comes through for you.
Solid agreement, by the way, on the fact that the two songs you mentioned are standout pieces of classic 30's pop.

After Warners spent a lot of money restoring Jolson's Mammy (for DVD distribution), only to have it sink back into oblivion, I suspect we won't be seeing any other of his films on Blu-ray now that The Jazz Singer got its release.

 

[Thomas T]

Never saw it ------ one of the few Davis I never heard of Seems though Cagney would sell better --- Bet the film Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex sold well because of Flynn

While all three have their fans among film buffs, don't underestimate Davis. Unlike the other two, Davis is a gay icon which assures a fan base that Cagney and Flynn don't have. There's a reason there's a hit song called Bette Davis Eyes and not James Cagney's Hips or Errol Flynn's Nose.

 

[RobertMG]

After Warners spent a lot of money restoring Jolson's Mammy (for DVD distribution), only to have it sink back into oblivion, I suspect we won't be seeing any other of his films on Blu-ray now that The Jazz Singer got its release.

After his Jazz Singer down hill --- 1935 though is interesting hands down Captian Blood! Wasn't Mammy done for the Jolson Laserdisc set?

 

[mskaye]

That’s another 1935 title possibility

G Men - a great Cagney title directed by the always interesting William Keighley (later the director of one of Cagney's best "B" titles - EACH DAWN I DIE. Great casting in this one.

 

[cinefan]

All this talk about 1935 got me wondering how many '35 films I actually have on disc. I would have guessed 10 or 12. I have all my discs on DVDProfiler so it isn't too tough to filter by production year. All of this is subject to the crowdsourced database accuracy. For example I had to manually add Gold Diggers of 1935 to the list because it has the year, which is supposed to be the year of initial theatrical release, as 1934 -- I believe that's wrong.

There are 2 surprises to me. One is that it's a lot more than 12 -- though the '30s is among my favorite film decades so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

The other surprise is how few I have on blu-ray since I've been upgrading titles to blu, albeit somewhat haphazardly, for years. The only blus below are Bride of Frankenstein and Werewolf of London; the rest are DVD. Certainly several of these are available on blu (off-hand at least Night at The Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty, 39 Steps, Man on The Flying Trapeze -- probably more) I just personally haven't upgraded them. I've had the Kino Trapeze in a shopping cart more than once but haven't bit. I guess realistically if I haven't upgraded these I probably wouldn't jump to upgrade others; it's mostly about budget.

I would have said a few years ago that some of these would never get a blu upgrade, like the Wheeler and Woolsey titles -- but WA has put out Kentucky Kernels so who knows.

There are some shorts collections listed here; I think the way DVDProfiler filtering works this means the earliest production in a box/disc is 1935. So I definitely have other shorts from 1935 that aren't surfacing due to this limitation. Possibly missing some features too if they aren't properly broken out from their box set.

Gold Diggers of 1935
The Black Room
Werewolf of London
Les Misérables
The Rainmakers: Archive Collection: Remastered Edition
The Informer
Doubting Thomas: Cinema Classics Collection
In Old Kentucky: Cinema Classics Collection
Life Begins at 40: Cinema Classics Collection
Steamboat 'Round the Bend: Cinema Classics Collection
Mutiny on the Bounty
The 39 Steps: The Criterion Collection
Mickey Mouse in Living Color: A Collection of Color Adventures: Walt Disney Treasures
Assassin of Youth
Bonnie Scotland
The Bride of Frankenstein
The Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd Patsy Kelly Comedy Collection Disc 3: Silver Series
The Crusades
The Devil Is a Woman
Goin' to Town
Hands Across the Table
Here Comes Cookie
The Little Rascals: Disc 6 (I have been upgrading to the ClassicFlix blus but so far only through Vol 4, so do have a couple '35s there).
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
Love in Bloom
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Mississippi
A Night at the Opera
The Nitwits: Archive Collection
Top Hat
Roberta
Peter Ibbetson

EDIT: Added Roberta (DVD). I must have inadvertently deleted it when I copied and formatted my list.
EDIT 2: Also missed Peter Ibbetson (DVD) on the first go-round.

 

[Beckford]

Cinefan, enjoyed reading your post and perusing your list.

Here are the 1935 titles I have on Blu-ray (some of them Region 2)

THE 39 STEPS( Robert Donat, Madleleine Carroll)
THE BLACK ROOM( Boris Karloff, Marian Marsh)
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN( Boris Karloff ,Colin Clive)
THE CRUSADES( Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon)
THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN( Marlene Dietrich, Lionel Atwill)
GOIN’ TO TOWN( Mae West, Paul Cavanagh)
MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE( W.C. Fields,, Kathleen Howard)
THE RAVEN( Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi)
TONI( Charles Blavette, Celia Montalvan, Andrex)
THE WHOLE TOWN’S TALKING,( Edward G. Robinson, Jean Arthur)

As is the case, I suppose, with many others on the forum, it's lack of funds rather than carefully exercised self-control that keeps me from buying more. If I did have piles of money, I blush to think how much of it would head straight to the coffers of boutique video companies

 

[David Weicker]

The 1935 titles that I own

On Blu-Ray
Becky Sharp
The Bride Of Frankenstein
The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer
Man On The Flying Trapeze
Mutiny On The Bounty
A Night At The Opera
A Tale Of Two Cities
The 39 Steps

On DVD
Captain Blood
Charlie Chan In Egypt
Charlie Chan In Paris
Charlie Chan In Shanghai
China Seas
David Copperfield
Gold Diggers Of 1935
Mississippi
Murder On A Honeymoon
Roberta
Top Hat

My initial list was only feature films. Additionally I have
Disney shorts on DVD.
Looney Tunes on DVD.
Laurel & Hardy shorts on DVD.
Little Rascals shorts on Blu-Ray.

 

[RobertMG]

The 1935 titles that I own

On Blu-Ray
Becky Sharp
The Bride Of Frankenstein
The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer
Man On The Flying Trapeze
Mutiny On The Bounty
A Night At The Opera
A Tale Of Two Cities
The 39 Steps

On DVD
Captain Blood
Charlie Chan In Egypt
Charlie Chan In Paris
Charlie Chan In Shanghai
China Seas
David Copperfield
Gold Diggers Of 1935
Mississippi
Murder On A Honeymoon
Roberta
Top Hat

And they say 1939 was the best year for film! Proves they knew how to make movies then! The studio system worked!

 

[roxy1927]

I guess I have to see Golddiggers of 35 again. Though having a couple of Berkley's best numbers I found the film not very interesting. I had attributed it to the production code. (how did they get away with the shot of a woman hooking up her bra?) I still have no idea how all those guys bent over stayed in such perfect synchronization and smooth unerring movement while I assume they were pretty uncomfortable.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The 1935 films in my disc/digital library

On Blu-ray:

1. The 39 Steps (+HD Digital)
2. Becky Sharp
3. The Bride of Frankenstein (+ HD Digital)
4. Call of the Wild
5. Crime and Punishment
6. The Devil is a Woman
7. The Gilded Lily
8. The Girl from Marsh Croft
9. The Good Fairy
10. Hands Across the Table
11. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
12. Mad Love
13. Man on the Flying Trapeze
14. Mutiny on the Bounty (+HD Digital)
15. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
16. A Night at the Opera (+HD Digital)
17. Peter Ibbetson
18. The Raven
19. Ruggles of Red Gap
20. A Tale of Two Cities
21. Werewolf of London (+ HD Digital)
22. The Whole Town's Talking

On DVD:

1. After Office Hours
2. Alice Adams (+HD Digital)
3. Annie Oakley
4. Barbary Coast
5. Black Fury (+HD Digital)
6. Bordertown
7. Broadway Melody of 1936 (Released 09-20-35)
8. Captain Blood (+HD Digital)
9. Cardinal Richelieu
10. Charlie Chan in Egypt
11. Charlie Chan in Paris
12. Charlie Chan in Shanghai
13. China Seas (+HD Digital)
14. The Crusades
15. Curly Top (+HD Digital)
16. Dangerous
17. Dante's Inferno
18. David Copperfield (+HD Digital)
19. Devil Dogs of the Air (+HD Digital)
20. Doubting Thomas
21. The Farmer Takes a Wife
22. Frisco Kid
23. Front Page Woman
24. "G" Men (+HD Digital)
25. Goin' to Town
26. Gold Diggers of 1935
27. If You Can Only Cook
28. The Informer (+HD Digital)
29. In Old Kentucky
30. The Irish in Us
31. Kind Lady
32. Les Miserables (+HD Digital)
33. Life Begins at 40
34. The Little Colonel (+HD Digital)
35. The Little Rascals
36. The Littlest Rebel (+HD Digital)
37. Looney Tunes
38. Man of Iron
39. A Midsummer Night's Dream
40. The Murder Man
41. Murder on a Honeymoon
42. Oil for the Lamps of China
43. Public Hero Number 1
44. Rendezvous
45. Sylvia Scarlett
46. Star of Midnight
47. Steamboat 'Round the Bend
48. Too Many Husbands
49. Top Hat (+HD Digital)
50. The Wedding Night
51. Whipsaw

 

[RobertMG]

The 1935 films in my disc/digital library

On Blu-ray:

1. The 39 Steps (+HD Digital)
2. Becky Sharp
3. Call of the Wild
4. Crime and Punishment
5. The Gilded Lily
6. The Girl from Marsh Croft
7. The Good Fairy
8. Hands Across the Table
9. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
10. Mad Love
11. Man on the Flying Trapeze
12. Mutiny on the Bounty (+HD Digital)
13. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
14. A Night at the Opera (+HD Digital)
15. Peter Ibbetson
16. Ruggles of Red Gap
17. A Tale of Two Cities
18. Werewolf of London (+ HD Digital)
19. The Whole Town's Talking

On DVD:

1. After Office Hours
2. Alice Adams (+HD Digital)
3. Annie Oakley
4. Barbary Coast
5. Black Fury (+HD Digital)
6. Bordertown
7. Broadway Melody of 1936 (Released 09-20-35)
8. Captain Blood (+HD Digital)
9. Cardinal Richelieu
10. Curly Top (+HD Digital)
11. Dangerous
12. Dante's Inferno
13. Devil Dogs of the Air (+HD Digital)
14. Doubting Thomas
15. The Farmer Takes a Wife
16. Frisco Kid
17. Front Page Woman
18. "G" Men (+HD Digital)
19. Gold Diggers of 1935
20. If You Can Only Cook
21. In Old Kentucky
22. The Irish in Us
23. Kind Lady
24. Les Miserables (+HD Digital)
25. Life Begins at 40
26. The Little Colonel (+HD Digital)
27. The Little Rascals
28. The Littlest Rebel (+HD Digital)
29. Looney Tunes
30. Man of Iron
31. A Midsummer Night's Dream
32. The Murder Man
33. Oil for the Lamps of China
34. Public Hero Number 1
35. Rendezvous
36. Star of Midnight
37. Steamboat 'Round the Bend
38. Too Many Husbands
39. Top Hat (+HD Digital)
40. The Wedding Night
41. Whipsaw

The Little Colonel just for the dance with Shirley and Bojangles on the stairs!

 

[Beckford]

On Blu-ray:

1. The 39 Steps (+HD Digital)
2. Becky Sharp
3. Call of the Wild
4. Crime and Punishment
5. The Gilded Lily
6. The Girl from Marsh Croft
7. Gold Diggers of 1935
8. The Good Fairy
9. Hands Across the Table
10. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
11. Mad Love
12. Man on the Flying Trapeze
13. Mutiny on the Bounty (+HD Digital)
14. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
15. A Night at the Opera (+HD Digital)
16. Peter Ibbetson
17. Ruggles of Red Gap
18. A Tale of Two Cities
19. Werewolf of London (+ HD Digital)
20. The Whole Town's Talking

Wow! That's an impressive collection of 1935 Blu-rays. I only have ten - with just three titles showing up in both our collections (The 39 Steps, Man on the Flying Trapeze and The Whole Town's Talking). Just goes to show you that 1935 is already richly represented in the format. Although - as this thread illustrates - that doesn't stop us hoping for more and more.

 

[roxy1927]

Speaking of Top Hat when I worked at Radio City one of the old supervisors who had worked as an usher at the Roxy(there is a picture of all the ushers on the stage of the Roxy in The Best Remaining Seats and he's in it) and then moved over to the Music Hall said they were all very surprised when it was held over for a third week. It was very rare even for a hit film. I hadn't even asked him about that specific movie but we were talking about the Hall's most successful films.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wow! That's an impressive collection of 1935 Blu-rays. I only have nine - with just three titles showing up in both our collections (The 39 Steps, Man on the Flying Trapeze and The Whole Town's Talking). Just goes to show you that 1935 is already richly represented in the format. Although - as this thread illustrates - that doesn't stop us hoping for more and more.

I actually forgot a bunch of titles so now it's updated with those omitted films. There might even be some more films I'm missing as I'm trying to do this with DVD Profiler.

 

[cinefan]

I actually forgot a bunch of titles so now it's updated with those omitted films. There might even be some more films I'm missing as I'm trying to do this with DVD Profiler.

My experience was that it was easy to get a list within DVD Profiler (delta any date errors in the database), but awkward to export it to a format for posting. The filter I applied does show Roberta and Peter Ibbetson, but somehow I managed to drop them when I migrated the info to my post. I've since edited the post to add them. I do love DVD Profiler though and am dreading the day when the current tenuous support evaporates entirely.

These other lists have clued me into how many of my 1935 titles on DVD are actually on blu now; it's more than I thought.

 

[Beckford]

It's definitely the titles controlled by Warner (WB, MGM, RKO etc) that have the best chance of making an appearance on Blu-ray. And so much of that is down to the enthusiasm, determination and all-round awesomeness of Warner Archive's Mr. Feltenstein.
Unfortunately 1935 titles not under the Warner umbrella are a lot less likely to ever make the leap. Though, of course, Kino is doing excellent work with its continuing program of vintage Universal and Paramount releases.
Maybe we might see the British musical "First a Girl" with Jessie Matthews some day. It's the second and - to my mind - best version of the story that originated as "Viktor und Viktoria"(Germany 1934), then, years later, emerged as Julie Andrews' "Victor and Victoria". Much of the '35 version's charm, of course, comes from its leading lady, the irresistible Miss Matthews. But the entire production and cast surrounding her here are bright and engaging.
Would love to see a couple of Bob Steele indie westerns from '35 on Blu ("The Rider of the Law" and "Smokey Smith"). But I suppose the best reincarnations of these Poverty Row pearls we're ever likely to get are the so-so quality DVD's from Alpha.
And - of course - thanks to the corporate policies of the current rights-holder - we can probably forget about ever seeing Blus of some of Fox's great '35 titles like "Music is Magic"(Alice Faye, Bebe Daniels, Thomas Beck), "This is the Life"(Jane Withers and John McGuire) and the Will Rogers classics "Steamboat Round the Bend" and "Life Begins at 40".
Thank goodness for the continued efforts of WAC and Kino.

 

[roxy1927]

Not at all a Jolson fan but I can appreciate his charisma. Hallelujah I'm a Bum has a couple of terrific Rodgers and Hart songs that are little known today. And in Go Into Your Dance, About a Quarter to Nine is one of the great Warren/Dubin songs.

 

[Robin9]

Not at all a Jolson fan but I can appreciate his charisma. Hallelujah I'm a Bum has a couple of terrific Rodgers and Hart songs that are little known today. And in Go Into Your Dance, About a Quarter to Nine is one of the great Warren/Dubin songs.

When Susannah McCorkle did her album The Music Of Harry Warren, she included About A Quarter To Nine. I agree it's a good song. That album is good too, made in the days of vinyl, 1976.

 

[moviepas]

After his Jazz Singer down hill --- 1935 though is interesting hands down Captian Blood! Wasn't Mammy done for the Jolson Laserdisc set?

Mammy laserdisc was faulty with a long join down the middle. A Jolson fan had preciously seen the film in London and there was no line like the Laserdisc version. Also the color was found and in the DVD version