Your thoughts on Kino-Lorber Blu-rays (1 Viewer)

[RolandL]

Seems like when Hondo was released on 2D Blu-ray, it was mentioned that the movie was controlled by the John Wayne estate who have in its possession a fine 3D master of the movie and deliberately chose not to release it (maybe thinking the costs wouldn't be recouped by the release). It could have been put on the regular release as a bonus feature, but I guess no one considered that.

From Robert Furmanek in 2021:

Paramount had a backlash after they released HUGO on 3-D Blu-ray. The high parallax value wreaked havoc on ill-equipped 3-D displays at the time and many consumers thought the discs were defective.

HONDO, like all Golden Age titles, is a very deep 3-D movie and Paramount felt the same backlash would occur so passed on it. It would have been the first vintage 3-D release on Blu-ray.

I was actively trying to get our titles out at the time but everyone passed. Nick Redman at Twilight Time was totally dismissive; Criterion said the content of 3-D RARITIES was "not interesting" (it's our biggest seller) and thank goodness Frank Tarzi took a chance with DRAGONFLY SQUADRON while at Olive. That did well, made money and (finally) everyone knew that I was right: vintage 3-D on Blu-ray could do well - if costs were kept low and that's been our successful formula for the past 6 years.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

I don't likely see John Wayne's Paramount years being released by anyone else but them. John's too much of cash cow to let go.

Most of the John Wayne, if not all would not do the numbers some of the horror titles they've already licensed to Shout and others. They may want to keep their Wayne titles, but they're not bigger "cash cows" than the Friday the 13th films, Dead Zone, King Kong...

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Blue Hawaii
Girls! Girls! Girls!
Fun In Acapulco
Roustabout
Paradise Hawaiian Style
Easy Come Easy Go

We asked for Blue Hawaii, they said no. They'll most likely release them as a collection, I'm just guessing.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

I'd suspect Music clearances on those would be costly! Sure, they'd sell well 'cause they are Elvis, but still...

What music clearance, they've already released all their Elvis titles on DVD.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

There's one Paramount I'd love to see - Henry Winkler's "The One and Only" (1978) directed by Carl Reiner (Between "Oh, God" and "The Jerk") - I don't think it ever got a DVD release...and come to think of it, was it ever on VHS/Beta?

It's more of a DVD title.

Update: I noticed someone posted the DVD and Blu-ray release. I guess you should do a better job looking for movies "you love to see".

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Very excited about the Paramount deal. But I hope that most of the titles aren't just upgrades from previous DVD releases, you know, the usual suspects but instead movies making their R1 disc debuts:

About Mrs. Leslie (1954)
Alaska Seas (1954)
Amorous Adventures Of Moll Flanders (1965)
Beau James (1957)
Birds And The Bees (1956)
Black Spurs (1965)
Bliss Of Mrs. Blossom (1968)
Botany Bay (1953)
Buster Keaton Story (1957)
Five Branded Women (1960)
Girl Rush (1955)
Hell's Island (1955)
Here Come The Girls (1953)
Hostile Guns (1967)
Hot Spell (1958)
Joker Is Wild (1957)
Judith (1966)
Kid Rodelo (1966)
Let's Dance (1950)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
Mambo (1955)
Mating Season (1951)
My Six Loves (1963)
Oh Dad Poor Dad Mama's Hung You In The Closet (1967)
Omar Khayyam (1957)
Peking Express (1951)
Pleasure Of His Company (1961)
Proud And The Profane (1956)
Rat Race (1960)
Sad Sack (1957)
Sebastian (1968)
Secret Of The Incas (1954)
September Affair (1950)
St. Louis Blues (1958)
Sylvia (1965)
Tempest (1959)
That Certain Feeling (1956)
That Kind Of Woman (1959)
3 Ring Circus (1954)
Thunder In The Sun (1959)
Touch Of Larceny (1960)
Wild Is The Wind (1957)
Wives And Lovers (1963)

3 Ring Circus has a very large music clearance fee attached to it, I would not hold my breath.

We have three of the titles from the above list and asked for a fourth one that wasn't available.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Hey, thank you. I didn't know about that set. I want But Not For Me too. Is it a legitimate release?

I seem to remember this also having a music clearance tag attached to it, but a much smaller one than 3 Ring Circus.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Unlikely part of a Paramount deal since On The Beach was a United Artists film and under an MGM deal.

Yes, we renewed On the Beach with MGM last year.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

In terms of vintage 3D, Paramount has four titles left:

Money From Home
Hondo
Flight to Tangier
the Man Who Wasn't There

Money From Home seemed to have been ruled out when Kino said nothing licensed to Olive. Hondo would be major but I'm not sure if it's likely. That leaves the other two.

We know there were difficulties getting elements for Flight to Tangier. Maybe that got worked out? As for The Man Who Wasn't There, it's one of the last of the big ones from the 80s. For some reason I think it might be the most likely suspect.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'd be happy with any of them, of course, but super delighted with any of the three 50s titles. With the recent announcements of Bwana Devil and I, the Jury, that gives us 24 of the 50 films from the Golden Age. If one of the Golden Age titles is the one in the Paramount deal, that takes us to half. And there's always a possibility of the other two Wade Williams films as well as Southwest Passage.

By the way, did anyone notice they said at least one? Implying it could be more than?

Batjac titles cannot be licensed to third party labels, they have to be released by the studio themselves.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

John Wayne Films over all are a cash cows though. He along with Audrey Hepburn's Paramount films normally sell well or they're wouldn't be X amount releases of the their films on DVD and Blu as there are.

Cash Cows don't necessarily have to sell millions each time there re-released, as long as they sell well enough that's all the studio cares about.

And how do you know this? John Wayne films like every other movie star's films vary, some sell well, some don't. We released a few at KL (some from Paramount) and ended up only renewing one (Brannigan), and my boss released most of his Republic titles at Olive (licensed from Paramount) and only The Quiet Man, Rio Grand and Sands of Iwo Jima sold well, the others did not.

 

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Do you know if this is just because of the amount of music in the film, or is there a particular hold-out (whether or not you could say who that might be)? So many films have had music complicated rights issues cleared up for dvd release that I'm surprised when there is a title like this one and Little Darlings that, at this point, are going to be niche releases but have such high music clearance costs.

Soundtracks for both films are loaded with big name artists, they had cleared them for VHS and laserdisc, but most likely used incorrect language in the clearance documents, VHS/Laserdisc, instead of home entertainment, or adding "and all future home video formats." The soundtrack for film like COMING HOME features many big name artists had never had any clearance issues because the UA lawyers used proper legal terms when clearing the music.

 

[Justin Ray]

Very excited about the Paramount deal. But I hope that most of the titles aren't just upgrades from previous DVD releases, you know, the usual suspects but instead movies making their R1 disc debuts:

About Mrs. Leslie (1954)
Alaska Seas (1954)
Amorous Adventures Of Moll Flanders (1965)
Beau James (1957)
Birds And The Bees (1956)
Black Spurs (1965)
Bliss Of Mrs. Blossom (1968)
Botany Bay (1953)
Buster Keaton Story (1957)
Five Branded Women (1960)
Girl Rush (1955)
Hell's Island (1955)
Here Come The Girls (1953)
Hostile Guns (1967)
Hot Spell (1958)
Joker Is Wild (1957)
Judith (1966)
Kid Rodelo (1966)
Let's Dance (1950)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
Mambo (1955)
Mating Season (1951)
My Six Loves (1963)
Oh Dad Poor Dad Mama's Hung You In The Closet (1967)
Omar Khayyam (1957)
Peking Express (1951)
Pleasure Of His Company (1961)
Proud And The Profane (1956)
Rat Race (1960)
Sad Sack (1957)
Sebastian (1968)
Secret Of The Incas (1954)
September Affair (1950)
St. Louis Blues (1958)
Sylvia (1965)
Tempest (1959)
That Certain Feeling (1956)
That Kind Of Woman (1959)
3 Ring Circus (1954)
Thunder In The Sun (1959)
Touch Of Larceny (1960)
Wild Is The Wind (1957)
Wives And Lovers (1963)

It’s as if you read my mind… superb list! All quite deserving of home video release, and pleased we’ll see a few of them in all their glory

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Seems like when Hondo was released on 2D Blu-ray, it was mentioned that the movie was controlled by the John Wayne estate who have in its possession a fine 3D master of the movie and deliberately chose not to release it (maybe thinking the costs wouldn't be recouped by the release). It could have been put on the regular release as a bonus feature, but I guess no one considered that.

Correct. Gretchen Wayne commissioned a 3D DCP, but declined to allow Paramount to use it on the Blu-ray release because she thought it should be strictly theatrical experience.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

So Imprint is releasing the following titles on August 31st. I hope Kino is planning to do the same as many of them are Paramount titles as it would much cheaper for those of us in the States if they do so. I know that "On the Beach" was previously released by Kino so perhaps this is one of those three renewal titles. Anyhow, I prefer to give my monies to Kino.

The World of Suzie Wong (Paramount)
Golden Boy (1939) (Columbia)
Storm Center (Columbia)
Secret of the Incas (Paramount)
I am the Law (Columbia)
The Scarlet Hour (Paramount)
On the Beach (United Artists)
Film Noir Collection: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)/No Man of Her Own (1950)/The Turning Point (1952)/The Desperate Hours (1955) (Paramount)

The worst looking Blu-ray i purchased in the last few years was Imprint's release of The Day of the Locust. Not sure what happened but when i compared it to my Paramount dvd release the dvd had a cleaner image. If Kino gets the rights to The Day of the Locust i hope they can improve on the Imprint release.

 

[RBailey]

I really "hope" CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT is one of the titles. One of Bob Hope's best films. The Technicolor image on the Paramount DVD looks fantastic and a Blu-ray would look simply gorgeous. And the cast...besides Hope, there's Joan Fontaine, Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, Raymond Burr, Lon Chaney, Jr., Audrey Dalton and an uncredited Vincent Price as the real Casanova.

 

[Todd J Moore]

Batjac titles cannot be licensed to third party labels, they have to be released by the studio themselves.

So, based on information it sounds like it's either Flight to Tangier or The Man Who Wasn't There (I suppose it could be both). Okay then. Thank you for answering.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

OK, after news broke about the new Kino/Paramount deal, I gathered up some details posted by the Kino Insider across different message boards posting about this and I'd thought I'd like to summarize some of the details known so far:

Breakdown
71 titles are in this deal, with 3 renewed titles from the previous deal from both Paramount and CBS apiece
43 titles are making their US Blu-ray debut
8 titles are making their home video debut
16 titles are being released on UHD Blu-ray
At least one 3-D movie is part of the deal
Some of the titles were previously released by Imprint Films
A couple titles are from the Republic Pictures library
A few titles are in the film noir genre

Breakdown of the deal by decade
1940's - 2
1950's - 14
1960's - 12
1970's - 17
1980's - 9
1990's - 8
2000's - 3

Confirmed as NOT part of this deal
Any John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Miramax or TV movies
Any movies previously released on DVD or Blu-ray by Olive Films
Any movies previously released by Paramount on MOD Blu-ray
Any movie serials
Any Silent era movies (even renewals, as the breakdown makes clear)
Any movie currently entangled in some sort of legal rights quagmire (Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Little Darlings, Sunburn, etc.)
Beau James
Borsalino
Catch-22 (confirmed as licensed out to another label)
Compromising Positions (licensed to another label)
Fighting Back (licensed to another label)
Gunn
The Keep (the reason is pretty obvious)
When Worlds Collide (the only title the Insider would confirm as Kino asked for, but was denied)

Hope that helps. I can't wait to see what's coming from Kino in this deal!

 

[Robert Crawford]

OK, after news broke about the new Kino/Paramount deal, I gathered up some details posted by the Kino Insider across different message boards posting about this and I'd thought I'd like to summarize some of the details known so far:

Breakdown
71 titles are in this deal, with 3 renewed titles from the previous deal from both Paramount and CBS apiece
43 titles are making their US Blu-ray debut
8 titles are making their home video debut
16 titles are being released on UHD Blu-ray
At least one 3-D movie is part of the deal
Some of the titles were previously released by Imprint Films
A couple titles are from the Republic Pictures library
A few titles are in the film noir genre

Breakdown of the deal by decade
1940's - 2
1950's - 14
1960's - 12
1970's - 17
1980's - 9
1990's - 8
2000's - 3

Confirmed as NOT part of this deal
Any John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Miramax or TV movies
Any movies previously released on DVD or Blu-ray by Olive Films
Any movies previously released by Paramount on MOD Blu-ray
Any movie serials
Any Silent era movies (even renewals, as the breakdown makes clear)
Any movie currently entangled in some sort of legal rights quagmire (Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Little Darlings, Sunburn, etc.)
Beau James
Borsalino
Catch-22 (confirmed as licensed out to another label)
Compromising Positions (licensed to another label)
Fighting Back (licensed to another label)
Gunn
The Keep (the reason is pretty obvious)
When Worlds Collide (the only title the Insider would confirm as Kino asked for, but was denied)

Hope that helps. I can't wait to see what's coming from Kino in this deal!

Well, that's going to disappoint some people. With only two 1940's films I guess there is a little hope for "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946). However, I think there is more hope for "No Man of Her Own" (1950), "The Turning Point" (1952) and "The Desperate Hours" (1955). The same for "The World of Suzie Wong" (1962), "Secret of the Incas" (1954) and "The Scarlet Hour" (1956).

With those parameters, I hope "Lucy Gallant" (1955) makes the cut as it's another of my "holy grails" that I've been waiting on for many years to be released on any home video format. Many years ago, it was one of the first movies I ever streamed on Amazon and it looked awful as an SD digital with some buffering and 1.33 ratio. Perhaps some westerns like "The Tin Star" or "The Lonely Man". I'm afraid "Joker is Wild" won't make the cut due to some right's issues.

 

[Robin9]

I seem to remember this also having a music clearance tag attached to it, but a much smaller one than 3 Ring Circus.

That's possible. George and Ira Gershwin wrote a song called But Not For Me in 1930 for the Broadway show Girl Crazy. The Gershwin estate has history of being obstructive.

 

[Robert Crawford]

16 titles on UHD is interesting. Let the speculation begin. I would love to see "Sleepy Hollow" or "We Were Soldiers" on UHD. The same with "Chinatown", but perhaps Paramount is doing that one themselves. Anyhow, some other Blu-ray possibilities:

• The Naked Jungle
• Sorry, Wrong Number
• The Bridges at Toko-Ri
• Hell is for Heroes
• Nevada Smith
• Five Card Stud
• Will Penny
• The Carpetbaggers
• The Bad News Bears
• The Longest Yard
• Dragonslayer
• Hud
• The Counterfeit Traitor
• The Country Girl
• The Rose Tatoo
• Comeback, Little Sheba
• Detective Story