Warner Bros Archive Wish List 2022 and Beyond!! (1 Viewer)

[mskaye]

I was watching my old Warner Archive DVD of the Fred Astaire/Jane Powell musical “Royal Wedding”, specifically the terrific “I Left My Hat in Haiti” number – and it reminded me of what an eye-popping wonder old style Technicolor was in its heyday. When I was a child in the 50’s going to Saturday matinee double features this is the kind of saturated color experience I was able to revel in on a regular basis. Once the 70’s dawned, everything seemed to shift into color corrected greyness, with a palette fixated on duplicating reality at its most humdrum. And it seems to me that’s been the norm ever since.
Thank goodness Warner Archive has been giving us so many beautifully restored Technicolor gems on Blu-ray. Especially MGM musicals. All in all, it’s made me feel considerably less bereaved.

Here are some MGM musicals I think we might reasonably expect on Blu over the next year or two:

NEAR CERTAINTIES
HIGH SOCIETY(’56) Bing, Frank,Grace Kelly,Louis Armstrong,Cole Porter
THREE LITTLE WORDS(’50) Astaire, Skelton,Vera-Ellen,Arlene Dahl
Mr. Feltenstein’s already mentioned this as being in the pipeline
THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY(’49)
I don’t like it but it’s historically important as the only Astaire/Rogers film in color and I think that’ll be enough to give it the green light
ROYAL WEDDING(’51) Astaire,Jane Powell, great original score
EASY TO LOVE(’53) Esther Williams,Van Johnson,Tony Martin
Mr. F. already indicated there’s more Technicolor Esther coming and this one has
some splashy Busby Berkeley choreographed aqua numbers
TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY(’46)
all-star Jerome Kern biography
WORDS AND MUSIC(’48)
all-star Rodgers & Hart biography (Judy’s in both this and the Kern picture)
BABES IN ARMS(’39) Judy & Mickey
THE MERRY WIDOW(’34) Maurice Chevalier,Jeanette MacDonald
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, which gives it a snob appeal the Macdonald/Eddy musicals don’t seem to enjoy
A DATE WITH JUDY(’48) Jane Powell,Elizabeth Taylor
I have a hunch Feltenstein and his crew are fond of this one – and the presence of both Taylor and Carmen Miranda give it added commercial zip, at least among oldies fans.

DECENT CHANCE OF MAKING IT
LILI(’53) Leslie Caron
PRESENTING LILY MARS(’43) Judy Garland
BORN TO DANCE(’36) Eleanor Powell,James Stewart
BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938(’37) Eleanor Powell,Robert Taylor.Judy Garland
BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936(‘35) Eleanor Powell,Robert Taylor
THE STUDENT PRINCE(’54) Edmund Purdom,Ann Blyth,the voice of Mario Lanza
INVITATION TO THE DANCE(’56)
Gene Kelly -indigestibly arty but again something with snob appeal
JUPITER’S DARLING(’55) Esther Williams,Howard Keel, Marge & Gower Champion
The only widescreen musical Esther made - and it's uniquely set in Ancient Rome
THOUSANDS CHEER(’43)
A musical flag-waver from WW2; not a favorite of mine but the presence of Grayson,Kelly,Garland,Rooney etc makes it something of an event

UNLIKELY BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE
SWEETHEARTS(’38) MacDonald/Eddy
This one’s in color, which may give it an edge.
MAYTIME(’37) MacDonald/Eddy
ROSE MARIE(’36) MacDonald/Eddy

A DOZEN PERSONAL FAVORITES WITH NO CHANCE
THE KISSING BANDIT(’48) Frank Sinatra,Kathryn Grayson
A famous flop in its day – but I love it. A great original song score beautifully interpreted by Sinatra & Grayson turns this semi-swashbuckler into a kind of Technicolor crooneretta.
THE BELLE OF NEW YORK’(’52) Fred Astaire,Vera-Ellen
Another undeserved flop. A fantasy plot point that had characters literally dancing on air when they were in love seemed to be a deal-breaker for 50’s audiences. Personally, I don’t think Astaire ever had a more graceful or accomplished dancing partner than Vera-Ellen, Here they’re sublime.
I MARRIED AN ANGEL(’42) MacDonald/Eddy
THE FIREFLY(’37) Jeanette MacDonald,Allan Jones
GIVE A GIRL A BREAK(’53) Marge & Gower Champion,Debbie Reynolds,Bob Fosse
THE MERRY WIDOW(’52) Lana Turner,Fernando Lamas
I’m very fond of this one but I guess its only chance at Blu-ray release would be as a bonus feature on the Lubitsch version
TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE(’50) Jane Powell,Ricardo Montalban,Debbie Reynolds
THREE DARING DAUGHTERS(’48) Jeanette MacDonald,Jane Powell
RICH, YOUNG AND PRETTY(’51) Jane Powel,Danielle Darrieux,Vic Damone
I LOVE MELVIN(’53) Donald O’Connor,Debbie Reynolds
A nice spotlight showcase for the exuberantly talented Mr. O’Connor
EXCUSE MY DUST(’51) Red Skelton,Sally Forrest
I usually consider Red Skelton something of a gate-crasher in MGM musicals (though he’s
fine in “Three Little Words”). But this is a nicely crafted little song and dance piece about the
early days of the automobile. Likeable all round - with a nice sunny outdoorsy feel to it.

My wish list goes in a different direction than most here. I'd love blu rays of ... I AM A FUGITIVE...., G MEN, THE FIGHTING 69th, THE BLUE GARDENIA (though that one may be public domain.). 4k of THE WILD BUNCH (deserves a Criterion.) . Blu ray of PAT GARRET & BILLY THE KID (ditto.) 4k of WHITE HEAT (ditto.) I'd also like to see one or some of the better Buster Keaton sound films which are very rare and have their moments. And finally, GREED and THE CROWD.

 

[Broomy]

I’d previously listed some TV shows I’d love the archive to get to and completely forgot about The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (the original version obviously!). It still stands up today.

 

[JamesSmith]

Want more classic TV, and unreleased Hanna Barbara.

--jthree

 

[benbess]

 

[John Hermes]

 

[Capt D McMars]

When do we get a HD Blu ray?!!!

 

[Capt D McMars]

Or this one restored and updated to a Blu ray edition...