When are the Vintage Technicolor Movies Going To Be Released ? (1 Viewer)

[Chris55]

Been reminded again about the fact that "The Vagabond King", from 1930, exists in an archive in it's original 2-Strip Technicolor and wondering when this great movie is going to be restored and released in it's original colour. Surely there is a market for vintage enthusiasts to buy this on Blu Ray, or even DVD, restored. It seems quite strange considering the rarity of the vintage movies that still exist in their original Technicolor. The same with the Technicolor ending of "The Lottery Bride" also from 1930 and the full colour copy of "The Mysterious Island" from 1929. It's in comprehensible to me that they actually released "Mysterious Island" onto DVD in b/w and "The Lottery Bride" without the Technicolor ending to it. They should realise, with the massive sale of vintage movies now, that they would probably sell really well. What do others think ?.

 

[Robert Harris]

Massive sale of vintage movies?

Where?

 

[Dick]

WAC has been releasing beautiful OCN-sourced Technicolor titles for years. More are coming. Other studios...maybe not as dedicated.

 

[Thomas T]

I seriously doubt that there are enough enthusiasts of The Vagabond King and The Lottery Bride that would make a full scale restoration profitable.

 

[Chris55]

I seriously doubt that there are enough enthusiasts of The Vagabond King and The Lottery Bride that would make a full scale restoration profitable.

Yes, that's probably why they have released remastered Blu Ray copies of "King of Jazz" (30), "Glorifying the American Girl" (29), "The Dancing Pirate" (36) and recently "The Broadway Melody" (29) to name a few, to great success.

 

[Thomas T]

Yes, that's probably why they have released remastered Blu Ray copies of "King of Jazz" (30), "Glorifying the American Girl" (29), "The Dancing Pirate" (36) and recently "The Broadway Melody" (29) to name a few, to great success.

Are you privy to the profits those releases made? As a best picture Oscar winner, Broadway Melody's release was no surprise, King Of Jazz has the novelty of early Bing Crosby, Paul Whiteman's jazz band and early Walter Lantz. Clearly your definition of great success is different than mine. Both The Lottery Bride and The Vagabond King are operettas, not a popular genre for the physical media market which might account for why none of the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy musicals have seen a blu ray release to date.

You still haven't responded to Mr. Harris' inquiry of where this massive sale of vintage movies is occurring. As a collector of classic cinema, I'd like to know too. I wouldn't consider blu rays of King Of Jazz, Glorifying The American Girl, Dancing Pirate and Broadway Melody "massive". A drop in the ocean is more like it.

 

[Chris55]

Are you privy to the profits those releases made? As a best picture Oscar winner, Broadway Melody's release was no surprise, King Of Jazz has the novelty of early Bing Crosby, Paul Whiteman's jazz band and early Walter Lantz. Clearly your definition of great success is different than mine. Both The Lottery Bride and The Vagabond King are operettas, not a popular genre for the physical media market which might account for why none of the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy musicals have seen a blu ray release to date.

You still haven't responded to Mr. Harris' inquiry of where this massive sale of vintage movies is occurring. As a collector of classic cinema, I'd like to know too. I wouldn't consider blu rays of King Of Jazz, Glorifying The American Girl, Dancing Pirate and Broadway Melody "massive". A drop in the ocean is more like it.

Never heard of Amazon, eh ? Most of the pre-orders were sold out before people got to buy them regularly and, even though they would be limited stock, my guess is that a lot of people wanted to still buy them. One only has to read all the write-ups to realise just how many people bought them. Just because they only sold a limited amount, that profit must have shown that it was worth it, anyway. In any case I wasn't just only talking about Blu Rays, as the Jeanette and Nelson complete set of movies was a big seller on DVDs, as well.

 

[benbess]

I've read that most of the 2-strip Technicolor negatives from the 1920s and early 1930s were destroyed by Technicolor itself. Technicolor was storing these OCNs for the studios, but then, in the late 1940s, they told the studios to reclaim these OCNs or they would be destroyed. The studios did nothing—and so most of the 2-strip OCNs were trashed by 1950.

 

[Robert Harris]

Never heard of Amazon, eh ? Most of the pre-orders were sold out before people got to buy them regularly and, even though they would be limited stock, my guess is that a lot of people wanted to still buy them. One only has to read all the write-ups to realise just how many people bought them. Just because they only sold a limited amount, that profit must have shown that it was worth it, anyway. In any case I wasn't just only talking about Blu Rays, as the Jeanette and Nelson complete set of movies was a big seller on DVDs, as well.

Plenty of early Technicolor productions hitting the public domain. If you truly feel that accessing elements and making them pretty again is a worthwhile investment, that door seems wide open to you - and would be appreciated by fans.

I’ll be happy to support the projects by purchasing a copy (as long as it’s beautiful) and giving you kudos.

Simply select the correct project - one (or more) for which you have a personal passion.

That’s what the rest of us do.

I personally support quality silent productions. Mr. Furmanek supports 3-D. I expect to see him next at the Greenwich Concours, where we’ll be meeting up with our Ferraris. Haven’t seen his latest. Mine is fly yellow, which would have looked miraculous in three-strip.

Join us, and support film transmorgation!

 

[Thomas T]

Never heard of Amazon, eh ? Most of the pre-orders were sold out before people got to buy them regularly and, even though they would be limited stock, my guess is that a lot of people wanted to still buy them. One only has to read all the write-ups to realise just how many people bought them. Just because they only sold a limited amount, that profit must have shown that it was worth it, anyway. In any case I wasn't just only talking about Blu Rays, as the Jeanette and Nelson complete set of movies was a big seller on DVDs, as well.

Yes, which is why the Warner Archive is released blu rays of The Green Slime, The Cyclops, Queen Of Outer Space, Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman, The Golden Arrow etc. instead a proven "best seller" like the MacDonald and Eddy operettas! Just keeping it real. That's it! I'm outta here. I'll leave you to your fantasy wish fulfillments.

 

[timk1041]

Massive sale of vintage movies?

Where?

I wouldn't mind if it ever happened.

 

[Douglas R]

In discussing vintage Technicolor movies this might be an appropriate thread to mention the Technicolor three-strip drama documentary Western Approaches (1944) which has just been released on Blu-ray by the British Film Institute. The film was shot by Jack Cardiff, with detail and colour looking magnificent in this new presentation.

The lengthy booklet notes give extensive restorative detail, as in the short extract below from a longer article by David Walsh, head of film preservation at the Imperial War Museum. The IWM had access to all 27 reels of the original edited camera negatives (the film was made by the Government’s Crown Film Unit) along with a priceless original print – priceless because it showed exactly how the film looked to original audiences:

“The problem facing the restorer of any Technicolor three-strip production is that there is an inherent quality in these black-and-white negatives that far surpasses the limitations of the original printing process. A digital scan of the negative masters….removes all the intervening analogue steps of the original technology that would have led to a colour print destined for a film projector. The result, without any kind of “restoration” is far cleaner and crisper than a Technicolor print could achieve…it is more or less impossible not to end up with a superb result - yet a result that looks quite unlike a Technicolor print of the 1940s. While archivists may grapple intellectually with this ethical problem, the pragmatic solution is always to accept the inevitable improvement in technical quality for what it is; a tribute to this original technology and the filmmakers who deployed it.”

The disc has numerous extras including two Technicolor sponsored documentaries restored by the BFI, also filmed by Jack Cardiff; “This is Colour” (1942, 8 mins) made for Imperial Chemical Industries and “Steel” (1945, 34 mins) made for The British Council. The colour in both of these films is glorious.

 

[bujaki]

In discussing vintage Technicolor movies this might be an appropriate thread to mention the Technicolor three-strip drama documentary Western Approaches (1944) which has just been released on Blu-ray by the British Film Institute. The film was shot by Jack Cardiff, with detail and colour looking magnificent in this new presentation.

The lengthy booklet notes give extensive restorative detail, as in the short extract below from a longer article by David Walsh, head of film preservation at the Imperial War Museum. The IWM had access to all 27 reels of the original edited camera negatives (the film was made by the Government’s Crown Film Unit) along with a priceless original print – priceless because it showed exactly how the film looked to original audiences:

“The problem facing the restorer of any Technicolor three-strip production is that there is an inherent quality in these black-and-white negatives that far surpasses the limitations of the original printing process. A digital scan of the negative masters….removes all the intervening analogue steps of the original technology that would have led to a colour print destined for a film projector. The result, without any kind of “restoration” is far cleaner and crisper than a Technicolor print could achieve…it is more or less impossible not to end up with a superb result - yet a result that looks quite unlike a Technicolor print of the 1940s. While archivists may grapple intellectually with this ethical problem, the pragmatic solution is always to accept the inevitable improvement in technical quality for what it is; a tribute to this original technology and the filmmakers who deployed it.”

The disc has numerous extras including two Technicolor sponsored documentaries restored by the BFI, also filmed by Jack Cardiff; “This is Colour” (1942, 8 mins) made for Imperial Chemical Industries and “Steel” (1945, 34 mins) made for The British Council. The colour in both of these films is glorious.

This is a glorious release!

 

[Arthur Powell]

The Vagabond King was restored some years back by UCLA, but its one of those restorations that mostly sits on a shelf. That said, outside of some us Technicolor enthusiasts, I can't imagine that there would be much of a demand for it. There might also be some music rights issues with it that would be another "nail in the coffin." I think I'll stick to Ronald Colman in the non-musical version.

 

[Roger Grodsky]

According to the BFI website, Western Approaches is Blu-ray region A, B, C.

 

[Chris55]

In discussing vintage Technicolor movies this might be an appropriate thread to mention the Technicolor three-strip drama documentary Western Approaches (1944) which has just been released on Blu-ray by the British Film Institute. The film was shot by Jack Cardiff, with detail and colour looking magnificent in this new presentation.

The lengthy booklet notes give extensive restorative detail, as in the short extract below from a longer article by David Walsh, head of film preservation at the Imperial War Museum. The IWM had access to all 27 reels of the original edited camera negatives (the film was made by the Government’s Crown Film Unit) along with a priceless original print – priceless because it showed exactly how the film looked to original audiences:

“The problem facing the restorer of any Technicolor three-strip production is that there is an inherent quality in these black-and-white negatives that far surpasses the limitations of the original printing process. A digital scan of the negative masters….removes all the intervening analogue steps of the original technology that would have led to a colour print destined for a film projector. The result, without any kind of “restoration” is far cleaner and crisper than a Technicolor print could achieve…it is more or less impossible not to end up with a superb result - yet a result that looks quite unlike a Technicolor print of the 1940s. While archivists may grapple intellectually with this ethical problem, the pragmatic solution is always to accept the inevitable improvement in technical quality for what it is; a tribute to this original technology and the filmmakers who deployed it.”

The disc has numerous extras including two Technicolor sponsored documentaries restored by the BFI, also filmed by Jack Cardiff; “This is Colour” (1942, 8 mins) made for Imperial Chemical Industries and “Steel” (1945, 34 mins) made for The British Council. The colour in both of these films is glorious.

Thanks so much for that info Douglas. Just bought it off Amazon. Regards, Chris

 

[DarkVader]

Speaking of The Vagabond King, is the 1956 version starring Kathryn Grayson, Oreste Kirkop and Rita Moreno in true Technicolor?

 

[Chris55]

Speaking of The Vagabond King, is the 1956 version starring Kathryn Grayson, Oreste Kirkop and Rita Moreno in true Technicolor?

Yes , it was filmed in Technicolor.

 

[Will Krupp]

Yes , it was filmed in Technicolor.

I'm sorry, but I don't think that's actually the case, Chris. Vagabond King (1956) was shot in VistaVision and all of the VV productions were shot using a single Eastmancolor negative and then processed in Technicolor (for standard vertical prints) via the dye transfer method. No VV production ever used a three-strip Technicolor camera for filming.

 

[Will Krupp]

The Vagabond King was restored some years back by UCLA, but its one of those restorations that mostly sits on a shelf. That said, outside of some us Technicolor enthusiasts, I can't imagine that there would be much of a demand for it. There might also be some music rights issues with it that would be another "nail in the coffin." I think I'll stick to Ronald Colman in the non-musical version.

As a "Technicolor enthusiast" myself, I'd love to see another UCLA two-color restoration, Follow Thru, see the light of day but I doubt that's going to happen. Who knows though? We waited nearly 40 years for the UCLA restoration of Becky Sharp to get a commercial release, but it finally happened.