Warner Romantic Classics

[Gigi M.]

From DVDTimes:

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of 9 digitally remastered romantic classics and modern favourites on 27th January 2009. All titles are new-to-DVD (in North America) and are split in two groups:

The All-Star Romance group of titles features Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969), Far From the Madding Crowd, The Yellow Rolls Royce, Waterloo Bridge (1940) and Cannery Row, available as single titles and each selling for $19.97 SRP.

The Warner Bros. Romance Classics Collection features a quartet of ‘60s screen hits, featuring that decade’s teen heartthrob Troy Donahue, and his famous leading ladies including Connie Stevens and Suzanne Pleshette. The collection includes Palm Springs Weekend, Parrish, Rome Adventure and Susan Slade. These titles will be sold as a Collection only for $39.92 SRP.

There are no extras listed. Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969) is the original full-length roadshow version while Far From the Madding Crowd presents the film in its original uncut form, as seen in its international release.

[Dr Amicus]

Far From the Madding Crowd! I hope (and assume) this will be in its original 2.35:1 ratio. AFIK all the Region 2 discs are cropped to 1.77:1.

Still - a slightly odd collection. Not as disparate as Martini Movies, but...

[Jack Phillips]

Far From the Madding Crowd! I hope (and assume) this will be in its original 2.35:1 ratio. AFIK all the Region 2 discs are cropped to 1.77:1.

The real question is, Has any restoration work been done on the film itself? The current R2 looks just awful, presumably, because the source material was so bad to begin with. Re-transferring and re-cropping alone won't make much of a difference.

[domino harvey]

Well, I'm sure we were all clamoring for this to get released before that Natalie Wood set

[AfterTheRain]

Finally, Waterloo Bridge will come to DVD as well as the Peter O'Toole version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

Ain't it sweet?

[Tolmides]

I don't care how odd the collection is, I'm just glad that Waterloo Bridge is finally getting a release.

[Perkins Cobb]

So, if the first batch is the All-Star Romance Collection, then by implication the one with all the Troy Donahue movies is the No-Star Romance Collection? And would that refer to Mr. Donahue and Ms. Pleshette, or to the average Maltin Guide rating for the films included?

These holiday-themed releases are so silly and outdated anyway ... I mean, is anybody under the age of 60 going to run out and buy a DVD of Rome Adventure for his girlfriend?

[Matt]

These holiday-themed releases are so silly and outdated anyway ... I mean, is anybody under the age of 60 going to run out and buy a DVD of Rome Adventure for his girlfriend?

No, but I'm betting that Warners thinks that a lot of lonely, big-bottomed women who were in their teens in the early '60s and who have no plans for Valentine's Day that don't involve slippers and a pint of ice cream will run out and buy a DVD of Rome Adventure for themselves.

[domino harvey]

Pixx stolen from DVDTalk's forums:

[Perkins Cobb]

No, but I'm betting that Warners thinks that a lot of lonely, big-bottomed women who were in their teens in the early '60s and who have no plans for Valentine's Day that don't involve slippers and a pint of ice cream will run out and buy a DVD of Rome Adventure for themselves.

Well, my mother fits about 75% of that description and she certainly would ... if she had a DVD player.

[Belmondo]

The cover for "Madding" is, uh, maddening. Makes it look like a military movie. If the back cover shows the brief scene with Peter Finch holding a pistol, then the misinformation will be complete.
And, Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor don't have all that much to smile about in "Waterloo Bridge", either.
Maybe we should stick to "Rome Adventure". Kiss kiss - bland bland.

[HerrSchreck]

A great film slips quietly into the market for the first--legally at least-- time. I've yet to see this later version, and love the Mae Clarke original.

[Matt]

These holiday-themed releases are so silly and outdated anyway ... I mean, is anybody under the age of 60 going to run out and buy a DVD of Rome Adventure for his girlfriend?

No, but I'm betting that Warners thinks that a lot of lonely, big-bottomed women who were in their teens in the early '60s and who have no plans for Valentine's Day that don't involve slippers and a pint of ice cream will run out and buy a DVD of Rome Adventure for themselves.

Ha, I was once so dismissive of these Troy Donahue movies and now I love them all. I finally broke down and bought this DVD set after 16 years—the first DVDs I think I’ve bought since the Eclipse Duvivier set in 2015.

[domino harvey]

Make sure they still work, so many older Warner DVDs are a crapshoot, sadly

[therewillbeblus]

I think someone figured out there was a date range for manufacturing? Like, there are two versions of They All Laughed - the 2013 version plays great, but the 2006 one doesn't. It's entirely possible that other 2013-manufactured discs are rotten, but that could be a benchmark when purchasing, if you have the manufacturing info on Amazon et al

[starmanof51]

I think it was '06 to '08 that was the dicey time, I lost a few to rot but not many

[Matt]

Make sure they still work, so many older Warner DVDs are a crapshoot, sadly

They look fine on the surface, but I will give them a run-through. Thanks for the warning!