Warner Brothers Archive Collection (DVDs only)

[Jonathan S]

Suspense (not sure what this is...)

I should think it's the 1946 Monogram film, a weird mixture of noir and ice-skating that I found entirely suspenseless after the intriguing opening of a cat-stroking Albert Dekker telling Barry Sullivan, "I can always use a good man." (Much of it plays like a poor man's Gilda.) The ice-skating numbers freeze the plot development but it does have superb photography by Karl Struss, whose wonderfully atmospheric backlighting hides Monogram's cheap sets.

[Props55]

And aren't EARTH II, GENESIS II and THE MAN FROM ATLANTIS also telefilms? This is certainly a new twist in their "empty the vaults, everything must go" firesale mentality.

[drpauligari]

So I am finally biting the bullet and ordering a couple Archive titles from the WB site, and I noticed they are also charging tax (I'm in California) on the shipping fees. Is this standard practice? I've never encountered such a thing.

[domino harvey]

I'm pretty sure they're not allowed to charge tax on shipping, must be a glitch

[drpauligari]

Yeah, that's what I thought. I've asked WB to explain the procedure. Let's see what they say.

[knives]

If Warners is to be trusted typing in ARCHIVE10 gets you 10% off until the end of the year.

[domino harvey]

Three more

Speedway (1929)
A Lady of Chance (1928)
Hot Millions (1968)

[domino harvey]

Just got an email saying my Joe Doakes set has been delayed by 3-4 weeks, but I guess that means they're not going to cancel it so \:D/

[MoonlitKnight]

If Warners is to be trusted typing in ARCHIVE10 gets you 10% off until the end of the year.

Yeah, it worked for me.

[htdm]

No problems using it for me either.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

I've found two more placeholders that I don't think are available quite yet:

King Vidor's Lightning Strikes Twice
Anthony Mann's brilliant The Tall Target (I know this has some fans on the forum)

[drpauligari]

I'm pretty sure they're not allowed to charge tax on shipping, must be a glitch

After weeks of wrangling with them over the tax on shipping question, which included a bit of research on my part into California sales tax regulation, I finally got this response from Chanda at WB Shop service:

As per the State Board of Equalization Publication 100, under heading Delivery-Related Charge is Partially Taxable, please note the following statement:

You make one combined charge for “shipping and
handling” or “postage and handling”.

All of our invoices state that the charge is for Shipping and Handling and therefore taxable.

[sidehacker]

The Tall Target definitely deserves better, but at least more people can see it now. Then again, they probably won't.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

Franklin J. Schaffner's Lionheart is now available. Be interested to see if this has any fans here, considering how obscure it is.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

Some more added to the mix:

Airborne (1993)
Angus (1995)
Crossroads (1942)
Complete Dogville Shorts (1930-31)
Experiment Perilous (1944)
The Heavenly Body (1942)
Ice Palace (1960)
Killer McCoy (1947)
Men Don't Leave (1990)
Penn and Teller Get Killed (1989) Finally!
The Search (1948)
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)

[HarryLong]

Experiment Perilous (1944)

Now that I have to get.

NB: Why does Amazon list it for $39.95!?!?!?!?

[Buttery Jeb]

Penn and Teller Get Killed (1989) Finally!

Amen.

-BJ

[sidehacker]

Those Dogville shorts really are hilarious, but I'm not sure they needed a DVD release. Personally, I'll never buy them (unless they're dirt cheap) because they seem more suitable for YouTube viewings than regular movies.

[Props55]

Pretty shocking to note that five of these last titles are less than 20 years old. And if they can't generate revenue from a bare bones release of a recent title like WRESTLING ERNEST HEMINGWAY via a budget-line standee display at Wal-Mart then they sure as fuck ain't gonna make it at 19.95 via special on-line order. WB is pathetic! At this point I expect to see a "For Sale" sign on the billboards at Burbank!

[domino harvey]

Angus would have sold okay on nostalgia alone

[beamish13]

Angus would have sold okay on nostalgia alone

"Angus" deserves much more than the Archives. It's a major cult classic and a genuinely great coming-of-age film, with excellent performances all-around and a soundtrack that is every bit as epochal as the one that bestowed "Empire Records". What's infuriating is that WB always insinuated that the film had music rights issues that were preventing it from coming out on DVD (even booking it for a theatrical screening in L.A. recently was an arduous task). But also, it's very well-known that "Angus" had an entire subplot that was excised from the final cut, and it seems that its appearance on the Archive label will ensure that we'll never see it, sadly.

[so lightly here]

Anyone know anything about The Search. Never was one to get into movie stars, but Monty is in a whole other realm (dreamboat, tortured, and has a Clash song written just for him). I have seen most, including some that aren't on dvd like Lonelyhearts and Freud and he just never seems to disappoint. Is this worth another disappointing adventure in WB's new world of skipping and tripping burn-on-demand discs, just so I can ogle over Liz Taylor's one time (pre-Michael) best friend?

[domino harvey]

Two more:

Term of Trial (1962)
Return of the Frontiersman (1950)

[didi-5]

There's some good stuff here but they're still a bit pricey and it isn't always easy to locate them outside of the US. I'm surprised that Wrestling Ernest Hemingway hasn't been given a full DVD release but I suppose it is good to see in some format.

The Search incidentally isn't a bad film, with an adorable moppet co-starring with Monty. And Monty also looks pretty good, as he almost always did.

[tojoed]

DVD Times on Otto Preminger's The Moon is Blue.