Warner Brothers Archive Collection (DVDs only)

[agnamaracs]

I thought the whole point of the Archive shorts sets was so that you didn't have to buy the features just for the shorts... (I remember asking Netflix to get Passage to Marseille just so I could see Jammin' the Blues. And they STILL don't have it!)

Also, yeah, Rufus Jones is on disc 2 of Big Band/Jazz/Swing.

[Matt]

Oh, so this forthcoming "Classic Musical Shorts" is just going to be a compilation of shorts already available on other DVDs (which I mostly already bought just for the shorts)?

[domino harvey]

A la Joe McDoakes

[Matt]

It seems like there are far more shorts on the Big Band, Jazz, and Swing set than ever made it to DVD, so I'm hopeful that I won't already have everything. But where, pray tell, is my Pete Smith Specialties Collection already?

[domino harvey]

Keep in mind that musicals have on the whole the worst track record of the Warner Archives, too

[Gregory]

Matt, what are some of the unmissable short films? I have so many Warner DVDs that I was postponing watching most of the extra films until my retirement. And I've never bought one of their DVDs of an poor or uninteresting film with one of the bonus shorts in mind.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Can anyone comment on the quality of the various Garbo titles? They're all 30% off right now at WB shop.

EDIT: All silents are 30% off.

Any recommendations on these silents? I'd like to buy the Garbo ones, but a few others look tempting, too.

[Saturnome]

"Wild Oranges" is a minor but pleasing Vidor film. "White Shadows in the South Seas" is also worth it.

[myrnaloyisdope]

The Patsy is outstanding, La Boheme is worth it for Lillian Gish, I really dug Trail of '98.

Exit Smiling isn't very well known but is very funny. It stars Beatrice Lillie in one of her few film roles, and her silent persona can best be described as something like a female Buster Keaton. Definitely worth a look.

I would love to finally pick up some of these, but since I live in Canada, I'm not allowed. I'm glad Warners is looking out for bank account.

[Matt]

Matt, what are some of the unmissable short films? I have so many Warner DVDs that I was postponing watching most of the extra films until my retirement. And I've never bought one of their DVDs of an poor or uninteresting film with one of the bonus shorts in mind.

We started a thread to catalog and recommend these shorts several years ago, but the flood of releases from Warner Bros. just overwhelmed us (I feel almost wistful typing that now). For me, a brief rundown of the best musical shorts already available would include:
Jammin' the Blues (probably the greatest jazz film ever made)
Jimmie Lunceford and his Dance Orchestra
Pie Pie Blackbird
Rufus Jones for President (though the exuberant racial stereotypes might make you want to sink into your sofa)
The Devil's Cabaret (perhaps not so much great as truly weird)
The Gay Parisian (Léonide Massine's Ballets Russes)

and, as I noted above, I'm partial to the (non-musical) Pete Smith Specialties that are on a number of Warner Bros. releases, but they're not to everyone's taste (the humor is awfully corny).

There are also some really marvelous early Vitaphone shorts on disc 3 of The Jazz Singer.

This is all just off the top of my head, though. I'm sure I'm forgetting some obvious greats. I didn't include what feature DVD each of these are tied to. Some are noted in that thread I linked to above, but you can also just type the name of the short film into Amazon, IMDb, or even Wikipedia to find out what DVD it's on.

[Cash Flagg]

Is anyone aware of any working WB Shop codes? CABINWB and WELCOME09 have both expired.

[Matt]

Oh lord, how I loved The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh when I was about 10.

[Matt]

Here's the list of the shorts on the Classic Musical Shorts from the Dream Factory collection. I will update it with info on what shorts are already available on DVD as best I can. Someone on Nitrateville says there's going to be a Vitaphone set later this year.

Disc One - Metrotone Shorts and Two-Reel Specials (All B&W except where noted)
1. WALT ROESNER AND THE CAPITOLIANS (1928) [possibly Metro Movietone Revue #1, on The Broadway Melody]
2. THE LOCUST SISTERS (1928) [possibly Metro Movietone Revue #2, on The Broadway Melody]
3. LEO BEERS (1928)
4. JOSEPH REGAN (1928) [possibly Metro Movietone Revue #3 or #4, on The Broadway Melody]
5. FUZZY KNIGHT (1928)
6. THE PONCE SISTERS (1928) [possibly Metro Movietone Revue #3 or #4, on The Broadway Melody]
7. FRANCES WHITE (1928) [possibly Metro Movietone Revue #3, on The Broadway Melody]
8. MARION HARRIS (1929)
9. VAN AND SCHENCK (1/19/29 release date) [possibly "Musical: Van & Schenck on The Broadway Melody]
10. VAN AND SCHENCK (3/9/29 release date) [possibly "Musical: Van & Schenck on The Broadway Melody]
11. THE KIDDIE REVUE (1930) (Color)
12. THE SONGWRITER’S REVUE (1930)

Disc Two - Colortone Shorts, Novelties and more! (All shorts color except where noted)
1. CRAZY HOUSE (1930) [The Champ]
2. THE DEVIL’S CABARET (1931) [Cimarron]
3. OVER THE COUNTER (1932)
4. WILD PEOPLE (1932)
5. WHAT PRICE JAZZ (1934) (B&W)
6. MY GRANDFATHER'S CLOCK (1934)
7. THE SPECTACLE MAKER (1934) [Treasure Island]

Disc Three - All-Star Technicolor Shorts (Color)
1. STAR NIGHT AT THE COCOANUT GROVE (1934) [The Gay Divorcee]
2. STARLIT DAYS AT THE LIDO (1935) [Roberta]
3. PIRATE PARTY ON CATALINA ISLAND (1935) ["Pirate Party on Catalina Isle" on David Copperfield]
4. LA FIESTA DE SANTA BARBARA (1935) [For Me and My Gal]
5. SUNKIST STARS AT PALM SPRINGS (1937)[Broadway Melody of 1936/Broadway Melody of 1938]
6. CINEMA CIRCUS (1937)

Disc Four - All Star Shorts/Big Band Specials! (B&W except where noted)
1. HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1937) (Color) [The Good Earth]
2. SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE TROCADERO (1937) [A Night at the Opera]
3. BILLY ROSE'S CASA MANANA REVUE (1938)

MARTIN BLOCK’S MUSICAL MERRY-GO-ROUND SHORTS (1948)
Featured performers:
4. FREDDY MARTIN
5. TEX BENEKE
6. LES BROWN & VIRGINIA O’BRIEN
7. RAY NOBLE & BUDDY CLARK [A Date with Judy]
8. ART LUND-LES BROWN-TEX BENEKE
9. FRANKIE CARLE AND HIS ORCHESTRA

[MoonlitKnight]

Wow. The Bobcat Goldthwaite vehicle "Hot to Trot." =D>

[kneelzod]

Incidentally, when Film Forum was planning its Sidney Lumet retro a couple of years ago, I ran into Bruce Goldstein at a party and told him he must include Hot Shots. He sort of sneered and dismissed it; that, and other rarities like the underrated That Kind of Woman, were nowhere to be seen in the series. Glad he's not running a home video division.

I'm very intrigued by LAST OF THE MOBILE HOT SHOTS as well. Your Bruce Goldstein anecdote reminds me why I dig Film Forum, but at the same time, am infuriated by it. Great, that they did a (fairly comprehensive) Lumet retro, but then they (Mr. Goldstein) turn their nose up at an obscurity such as ...HOT SHOTS. I guarantee this would not happen at, say, the American Cinematheque in L.A. They would probably feature the film in one of their invaluable "NOT ON DVD" bills, if they haven't done so already. I'm a Film Forum member, but I'd sure like to see something other than another variation on a Noir, New York, Kurosawa, or Pre-Code series, or THE THIRD MAN, on one of their calendars. It is okay to step outside of the "canon" once in awhile.

[kneelzod]

Fast-Walking (1982)
Eager to see the James B. Harris, the Roger Donaldson, and the Carol Reed.

FAST-WALKING is a winner. Been on my want list since the advent of DVDs. Anyone know when the Archive is going to have another sale / coupon so I can pick it up along with a few others?

[beamish13]

Incidentally, when Film Forum was planning its Sidney Lumet retro a couple of years ago, I ran into Bruce Goldstein at a party and told him he must include Hot Shots. He sort of sneered and dismissed it; that, and other rarities like the underrated That Kind of Woman, were nowhere to be seen in the series. Glad he's not running a home video division.

I'm very intrigued by LAST OF THE MOBILE HOT SHOTS as well. Your Bruce Goldstein anecdote reminds me why I dig Film Forum, but at the same time, am infuriated by it. Great, that they did a (fairly comprehensive) Lumet retro, but then they (Mr. Goldstein) turn their nose up at an obscurity such as ...HOT SHOTS. I guarantee this would not happen at, say, the American Cinematheque in L.A. They would probably feature the film in one of their invaluable "NOT ON DVD" bills, if they haven't done so already. I'm a Film Forum member, but I'd sure like to see something other than another variation on a Noir, New York, Kurosawa, or Pre-Code series, or THE THIRD MAN, on one of their calendars. It is okay to step outside of the "canon" once in awhile.

I think it's a pretty great film that's been relegated to "minor" status simply because WB never put much promotion behind it, although the VHS has been quite easy to find for a number of years. It's a very prescient, dark comedy about the facade of domestic happiness and the illusions that television sells to us. Great performances from all three leads, an excellent Quincy Jones score, and sumptuous cinematography by James Howe that will be short-shifted on the DVD-R. Leonard Maltin's guide says that it was edited from an "X" to an "R" but I'm not sure if that's the case. The VHS edition features a sex scene shown in flashbacks that I could imagine warranting the "X" at the time but not an "NC-17" today.

[Ashirg]

For those who missed it, Class of '44 (1973) is now available for ordering.

June 1 titles has been announced:
Five Star Final (1931)
Verboten! (1958)
Red Skelton’s “Whistling” Trilogy - Three Disc Collection (Whistling in the Dark, Whistling in Dixie, Whistling in Brooklyn)
Going Wild (1930)
Sit Tight (1931)
Tenderfoot, The (1932)
Alibi Ike (1935)
The Fourth Protocol (1987)
Hide in Plain Sight (1980)
Love and Money (1982)
Love Child (1982)
The Saint of Fort Washington (1992)
Two on a Guillotine (1964)

[domino harvey]

Down for the Fuller at least

[Forrest Taft]

If you want it on a real DVD, it´s available from Warner France. Very good transfer.

[Finch]

In case anyone was still wondering what Fifth Avenue Girl looks like: I got my copy Wednesday and it's quite acceptable. There are occasional specks and cue marks but contrast and detail are solid. The film itself is most charming and doesn't deserve to be ignored in favour of My Man Godfrey and Stage Door (I think I actually prefer it to the latter).

[movielocke]

For those who missed it, Class of '44 (1973) is now available for ordering.

June 1 titles has been announced:
Five Star Final (1931)

This is a superb film that's shockingly overlooked and forgotten today, it features one of Edward G Robinson's best performances as an absolute asshole tabloid publisher and an excellently scheming Boris Karloff playing his yellow journalist digging up shit. (Karloff at one point poses as a reverend to 'counsel' a character in order to get their story). Great performances all around, especially Aline Macmahon.

[Roger Ryan]

Interestingly, Warners Home Video sent an email today to subscribers announcing that a number of their new Archive titles have been "remastered" for DVD-R release; FIVE STAR FINAL and VERBOTEN! fall into this category. They noted in the announcement that none of the previous Archive releases had undergone any restoration, so this marks a turning point for the collection.

I hate to be cynical, but I'm wondering if these remastered titles received some restoration efforts because Warners had originally planned to issue them as proper DVDs at one point.

[movielocke]

that's disingenous no titles have been restored, but many have been remastered.

Pretty much every title in widescreen has been remastered in order to create an anamorphic dvd.

Remastering means a new telecine to master tapestock, likely to HDCAMSR in 1080p 24fps The DVD is then derived from the new master.

Titles that were not remastered are those that used existing masters. Basically anything that was 4x3 was able to get away with the existing master, likely on 1", 3/4", Betacam SP or Digibeta.

Since 1" and 3/4" decks are getting more and more rare and are a hassle to integrate into an SDI deck world, in all likelyhood only Betacam and Digibeta masters were used for 4x3 titles.

Since Betacam has been around for a LONG time, some of these telecines were done in the 70s and 80s and definitely look it. Plus Betacam is resolution limited (and the resolution is further limited by older telecine technology these old masters were made with, so the resulting DVDs had many many knocks working against them.

Remastering in this context seems to mean they do for 4x3 titles what they've done all along for every widescreen title, a new telecine to HDCAMSR 1080p 24fps and deriving the DVD from this new master.

However, this is exciting news for TCM fans, with a TCMHD channel one could rarely expect to get actual HD on any 4x3 title not Casablanca or Robin Hood. These new masters should greatly increase the amount of films available on HD for TCM to choose from. If TCM avails themselves of the resource.

So the WB Archives may be useful afterall, it may lead to making pretty much the entire library TCM draws from available on TCM's HD channel.

[Steven H]

I hadn't been keeping up with the Archive stuff since first hearing about it and just read through this entire thread. It was a roller-coaster of excitement, joy and disappointment. Thanks!