Humphrey Bogart Collections

[Gigi M.]

The replacement I got from Amazon is exactly like the first set I got (both without the slip-case for Maltese Falcon). Is this a completely random phenomenon? Any suggestion on what I can do to get the correct version? Thanks in advance.

Wow. I really don't know. I guess I was lucky with Amazon the second time.

[Gigi M.]

I actually much prefer the 36 William Dieterle version. Perhaps because in the course of having to tone down the adultery and homosexuality the writers also decide to shift the tone to comedy. For other devotees (IM sure there are many) I have to point out Wini Shaw in a small role as Astrid. And the inspired substitution of "Aunt" Alison Skipworth and boyfriend Maynard Holmes for Guttman and Wilmer.

I also prefer the 36 version, but didn't like the change of the falcon to a trumpet.

[scotty]

Is Passage to Marseilles as bad as DVD Savant (who likes everything) says it is?

[Antoine Doinel]

I just watched Passage To Marseilles recently and while DVD Savant is right in that it's essentially a fairly standard propaganda piece, there is certainly much to enjoy particularly if you're a fan of the Bogart/Greenstreet/Lorre/Rains team.

The political tone of the film is certainly dated, the flashback within a flashback narrative clumsy, and the scene in which Bogie guns down unarmed German soldiers appalling, but the story is breezy enough that the film is a pleasant way to spend an evening. I found that the first half of the picture worked exceptionally well. There is a particularly fine sequence with Bogart/Lorre and their ragtag bunch recounting their tale of escape to Rains; and pretty much everything until the crew return to England is enjoyable. Afterwards, the focus shifts off the rag tag crew and to Bogie's love story which is tepid at best.

But the real reason to put this disc in the your player - which I think has already been mentioned elsewhere - is for the excellent Jammin The Blues. Great footage, great players - just a fine slice of jazz from the era. Also, the doc detailing the complicated political situation in France during WWII isn't bad either -- certainly not as bad as DVD Savant made it out to be.

[ByMarkClark.com]

>>I actually much prefer the 36 William Dieterle version. <<

Surely you mean to the 1931. Not over the 1941!

[Roger_Thornhill]

Is Passage to Marseilles as bad as DVD Savant (who likes everything) says it is?

The cast alone makes it worth seeing (Bogart, Greenstreet, Rains, Lorre) and I personally enjoyed the excessively convoluted narrative. I know much is made of Bogart mowing down the downed Luftwaffe airmen, but the reality is that both sides did that all the time. I thought it was rather courageous for the studio to leave that in to give American audiences a tiny taste of the brutality of war. I don't think it's the worst film in the set as many reviewers have argued, that honor goes to Action in the North Atlantic, which, despite having spectacular action sequences for the time, cannot make up for it's vapid narrative and characters.

[skuhn8]

But the real reason to put this disc in the your player - which I think has already been mentioned elsewhere - is for the excellent Jammin The Blues. Great footage, great players - just a fine slice of jazz from the era. Also, the doc detailing the complicated political situation in France during WWII isn't bad either -- certainly not as bad as DVD Savant made it out to be.

Holy %#@$%!! Jammin the Blues is on this??!?!?! Lester Young and the recently departed Illinois Jacquet (who I had the pleasure of meeting after one of the JATP revivals some ten years ago) et al. I was holding off on this set but now may have to bend and sway and ...well... purhase.

Passage to Mars. is pretty damn painful; don't know if I'll ever be able to sit through that again though.

[Scharphedin2]

I have not seen the extras on this set, but I think the films are a lot of fun. They are all fairly standard studio productions, but they all have their qualities, and it is interesting (I watched all the films except Falcon over the course of a week) to note the change in Hollywood's/USA's involvement in the war during these years. In All Through The Night and Across The Pacific, the war is still treated as something very distant. The Japs and Nazis in these films are portrayed to some extent as rather bumpling characters, and the sense is that brave Americans, whether they be in the numbers racket or employed by the state, will have these upstarts sewed up and delivered in no time at all.

Action In the North Atlantic released the following year shows a much more real image of the threat, with Nazi u-boats picking off supply ships en route from America to Europe. The war had clearly become a reality for Americans at this point, and we are shown how it affects the domestic lives of those involved in it (in this case the merchant marine).

Once we get to Passage to Marseilles (1944), which of course concerns French characters, rather than Americans, the war has clearly become something seemingly endless that affects everyone, and there is a bitterness in this film that is not present in the other three (one symptom of which is the gunning down of the German soldiers).

The film I enjoyed the most was the latter. The casting and set of colorful characters goes without saying, but I also really liked the flashback within flashback structure. For the first half of the film, the story again and again took a ninety degree turn, as a new character came on the scene and began to tell his story. So, at the end of it, we have four levels of narrative going on, and even if this use of flashback has been done more elegantly by other directors, I still think it is effective and quite brave of Curtiz in the context of what is clearly a film meant for the regular movie-going audience. Additionally, I like the way that the film travelled, and some of the more precious touches, like Bogart delivering letters to his wife while being on bombing missions over Germany, and the photography (James Wong Howe) is excellent (especially in the scenes taking place on Devil's Island -- real sweathy tar blacks in the close-ups of the men). Bogart's performance also seemed a notch above that of the other films -- more real and more tortured.

[domino harvey]

So... both of these are OOP and the second volume is going for $100+

[Antares]

and the second volume is going for $100+

Damn ](*,)

[manicsounds]

I got my copy years ago, but have only watched The Maltese Falcon so far... kevyip kevyip kevyip...

[Jeff]

It appears that the reason for the previous collections going out of print was so that Warner could release this upcoming 24-film collection along with the Blu-rays of Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon.

[Tom Hagen]

Wow, those Blu covers are terrible!

[domino harvey]

Wow, those Blu covers are terrible!

Maybe the worst covers I've ever seen from Warners.

[Antares]

Wow, those Blu covers are terrible!

Maybe the worst covers I've ever seen from Warners.

You've got that right.

[Napier]

From the penthouse to the outhouse. I'll probably only upgrade Treasure of the Sierra Madre to Blu. Eat yer' beans boys.

[agnamaracs]

"No further info," eh? These both have spectacular DVD versions. While Treasure's "Night at the Movies" extras might be completely ported (a la Robin Hood), I bet Falcon drops the earlier versions.

[domino harvey]

And if you have a bunch of Warner boxes, you probably already have all the Bogart titles in the box (ie nothing new there)

[Napier]

And if you have a bunch of Warner boxes, you probably already have all the Bogart titles in the box (ie nothing new there)

I literally, have a room full of Warner boxes. domino is psychic too.

[Cinephrenic]

They didn't stick with the original poster art as they did on the SE DVD for Sierra!!

[Jeff]

"No further info," eh? These both have spectacular DVD versions. While Treasure's "Night at the Movies" extras might be completely ported (a la Robin Hood), I bet Falcon drops the earlier versions.

The official announcement with specs is up. Falcon does drop the earlier versions, but the other supplements, including the fantastic John Huston doc on Treasure of the Sierra Madre appear to be intact.

[chrismagr]

Next year is the Maltese Falcon's 70th anniversary. I will not be surprised if Warners release a collector's edition that includes the DVD with the previous versions

[Finch]

Beaver on the Sierra Madre Blu

Looks lovely!

[skuhn8]

Next year is the Maltese Falcon's 70th anniversary. I will not be surprised if Warners release a collector's edition that includes the DVD with the previous versions

Anyone else as completely unimpressed by M Falcon blu caps as I?

[Napier]

Next year is the Maltese Falcon's 70th anniversary. I will not be surprised if Warners release a collector's edition that includes the DVD with the previous versions

Anyone else as completely unimpressed by M Falcon blu caps as I?

Well, the blacks seem better and the contrast does too. I'll probably pick it up somewhere for under $20. I'll reserve my judgement after I see it motion.