That 'news' is from 2009. I wouldn't hold your breath mate. I'd love to see The File on Thelma Jordan get a DVD release tho.
That 'news' is from 2009. I wouldn't hold your breath mate. I'd love to see The File on Thelma Jordan get a DVD release tho.
I wish that was present news. I remember hearing about that a few years ago and nothing ever materialized. Cry of the city has a nice R2 release in the UK and Germany. Picture quality is slightly better on the Germany R2.
If you need a Stanwyck fix while waiting for The File on Thelma Jordan, coming from Olive Films March 27th: No Man of Her Own (1950).
Great cover art on this one too.
Riding the High Country - My movie blog
Well, that is good news, I saw NO MAN OF HER OWN long ago and found it (then) quite good. And while we're on Stanwyck: how about WITNESS TO MURDER and GAMBLING LADY?
Latest restorations and presentations at next week's Noir City in SF. Can the DVDs of these be far behind? It was shortly after the The Prowler premiere at this fest that it came out on DVD. Fingers crossed for The Breaking Point.
"Among the rarities NOIR CITY is presenting this year: a brand new 35mm print from Universal Pictures of 1949's The Great Gatsby, starring Alan Ladd as F. Scott Fitzgerald's legendary lovelorn hero. Universal is also providing a brand new 35mm print of 1954's Naked Alibi, starring noir's favorite bad girl, Gloria Grahame. The FNF has also funded a new 35mm preservation of the "lost" 1946 classic Three Strangers. NOIR CITY will also premiere the Film Foundation's recently completed preservation of the superb 1950 Michael Curtiz film The Breaking Point, starring John Garfield."
The Breaking Point got a decent releasse through the Warner Archive in the middle of 2011 (see here: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_r...king_point.htm). DVDs of Naked Alibi and Three Strangers would be most welcome. I'm still waiting for more news on the FNF's work on Cry Danger. Anyone else hear anything?Originally Posted by trilobitten
I too hope for a DVD release of Naked Alibi this year. I would also welcom Blue Dhalia in Region I as well.
We should be so lucky as to get a real DVD of The Breaking Point. With the Warner Archive version already available don't hold your breath. And given that Warners basically doesn't license their films, Three Strangers will probably also only show up as a substandard, but overpriced, DVD-R.
I would recommend the DVD Savant for MOD DVD reviews. He does lots of them (and is a friend of BAN!)... He's usually spot on with his reviews.
His list of best of 2011 includes many MOD DVDs -- including The Breaking Point. I like that Island of Lost Souls and The Prowler are in the top 3 too! (I've never seen nor know much of the history of The Constant Nymph)
Agreed that DVD Savant is great for MOD DVD-R reviews. They are as much (if not moreso) reviews of the films themselves as they are about the discs, though. I find his views on the art of film very simpatico.
I want to make clear, however, that I have no beef with the quality of the prints or the transfers on offer from Warner Archive or with the specific release of The Breaking Point. In fact, it seems that the image quality of most on the MOD releases from the major studios is as good as on their actual DVD releases.
My beef is with DVD-R as a format and the prices they charge for them. If DVDs are the standard for home video releases (and I suspect they still are in spite of MOD and BR), then DVD-R is sub-standard for reasons of stability, longevity, and reliability. Of course Warner claims that their DVD-Rs will last just as long as pressed DVDs, but I wouldn't expect them to say anything different and at this point it's an unprovable claim. Premium prices for a sub-standard format is what irks me most about MOD, but even if priced the same a pressed DVD will attract my consumer dollars before a DVD-R release.
Interestingly, European have shown little or no enthusiasm for MOD releases and so far have resisted having them foisted on them.
I agree. In terms of reviewing the film, Savant wins hands down. The Beaver is useful for actually seeing what the image looks like, although his comments on the picture quality of MODs cuts them a lot of slack sometimes.
Riding the High Country - My movie blog
Speaking of the Warner Archive, here's some good news related to the 1946 John Garfield noir Nobody Lives Forever. On their Facebook page, they said that "We're completing a new master on NOBODY LIVES FOREVER at the present time" for DVD release. So we'll hopefully see this one soon.
Re: cost of Warner Archive MOD DVRs: they are frequently on sale for 10 bucks per title, and the website is currently running a $9 per title, which is less than the cost of a first-run movie ticket these days, and about half the cost of the videotapes in the "RKO Collection" 20 years ago. And the guy who runs the show says remastering some of the titles costs money he can't fully recoup.
Sony Classics' DVRs, on the other hand, aren't usually discounted, but are sold at WBshop.com for your convenience.
Yes, the Warner Archive discs are frequently on sale and $10 strikes me as a fair price, but those sales always seem to require a minimum purchase and I'm not inclined to spend $50 to $100 on DVD-Rs in one go. As for their comment about the remastering costs, the remastered films will be sold and sold again apart from the Archive: streaming, downloads, broadcast, etc. Assigning those costs strictly to the Archive doesn't begin to show the whole picture. Redistributing these long-ago-paid-for films is like found money for them but they have to remaster them if they want to exploit them; complaining about that cost is disingenuous.
Hey, I'm happy that the films are being made available even if I'm not happy with the format, and if others are content with how it's being done I'm happy for them.
Last edited by Arthur Bannister; 01-14-2012 at 04:28 PM.
I agree that the minimum purchase is sometimes a hindrance, but I've just taken to saving a certain amount of money for purchases like these, since it's basically my one indulgence. I definitely agree that $20 is too much for one film (the DVD-r format doesn't bother me; I'm much more concerned with the quality of the print and the transfer), which is why I wait for the $9 per film sales like the one they have going on now. That seems like a fair price to me.
As far as remastering costs go, sometimes they have to spend time doing restoration work as well, and I'm guessing that many of the the films that they're putting out won't be relicensed for broadcast or streaming due to the relatively small number of people who want to see them. Or even if they are licensed out to Netflix or Amazon for streaming purposes, I can't imagine that they would get very much for them. All that to say that there are outgoing costs (the staff at Warner Archive, the remastering and restoration work) that offset the income they get for the films that they have in their back catalog. For me, I'm just thankful to have a lot of these films in decent prints and transfers; Warner has found a business model that allows for us to own these films, and I'm glad they did.
Regarding the DVD-R longevity issue, note that Warner Archive has modified their non-playability guarantee to cover discs purchased at any time, not just within the past whatever-number-of-days it was previously. Applies only for purchases made from their store. From their FAQ:
Q: What do I do if my DVD doesn’t play?
A: We will exchange Warner Archive Collection discs purchased from WBshop.com that do not play due to manufacturing defect. Discs that were damaged from misuse, accident, or wear and tear are excluded from this policy. Regardless of when you purchased your Warner Archive Collection disc from the WBshop.com, if you discover that one of your discs does not play or suffers from some other manufacturing defect, please contact customer service at: 1-866-373-4389.
I deal with the minimum-purchase-sale-price issue by reviewing the new discs as they are issued and placing what I'd like on my Want List at the site, then wait for one of the 5-for-whatever deals to come along. By then I often have at least 5 discs on the list ready to transfer to my Cart.
Last edited by tterrace; 01-15-2012 at 02:23 AM.
Regarding the DVD-R longevity issue, I have had a problem with this especially if I'm plunking down $15 bucks or more for a release. I have had a couple get scratched, of course my fault. What I have done is back them up on an external HD. This seems to work great.
Not noir, but I think it might be of interest to some around these parts - Exposure Cinema in the UK (who have put out three fine Fritz Lang DVDs) is releasing The Uninvited (1944) in May. Details here.
From the press release:
"Previously available only on VHS and LaserDisc, the film has recently suffered poor-quality bootleg circulation. Exposure’s officially licensed release of this Universal Studios classic is vastly superior and has been remastered from original materials."
Features include:
•First official DVD release in the world
•Illustrated collector's booklet featuring exclusively commissioned articles and four lobby card reproductions.
•Original theatrical trailer.
•Gallery of production stills, posters and lobby cards.
•Remastered. 1.33:1 Full Frame | English DD2.0 Mono
•Dual-layer, progressive scan, high-bitrate encoding for optimum picture quality.
•Newly-written English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Riding the High Country - My movie blog
I had pre-ordered the Columbia Film Noir Classics III (DVD) last week through the TCM shop website. Now it says Backorder, just wanted to give a heads up for anyone else. I guess I didn't pre-order far enough back?
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