Warner Brothers Archive Collection (DVDs only)

[Perkins Cobb]

Good to hear about the new covers, because the ugly blue ones are going to be hard to resell now, and yet I bought some anyhow.

[Feego]

I really hope Urgh! A Music War gets an updated cover soon. The old blue one is truly ghastly.

[domino harvey]

Susan Slept Here has definitely not been restored, despite the claim, but thank God because those neon pinks and blues are as vibrant as they should be in a Tashlin film (ie not Plymouth'd to death). But, uh, the 1.66 ratio is peculiar-- it looked okay on my cursory perusal through all 30 chapters (!), but I've never heard of this being anything but academy ratio. It's from the right era for matting academy to slightly widescreen, but the credits are too tight for me to believe that was the intent upon release

Not that anyone but me and three other people care, but Cracking Up looks pretty great (similar qualms about its aspect ratio too, but Lewis as a director was often as sloppy as he was brilliant and it's hard to tell sometimes, haha)-- one noticeable instance of film breakage and the dialog's mixed low, but otherwise better than I expected, really

[Cold Bishop]

Doesn't TCM broadcast if full-frame? It's on tonight, so I'll take a look at it.

And I haven't took a plunge on the Archives discs (I luckily can rent most of them), but Cracking Up is a great Lewis! Very recommended for anyone outside of you four.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Cracking Up is also on Netflix Instant. Haven't yet watched, so not sure what the AOR is there... not that Netflix would actually get it right.

[Murdoch]

Doesn't TCM broadcast if full-frame? It's on tonight, so I'll take a look at it.

Yeah it was, so the Archive is cut off on top and bottom? (haven't yet got my shipment)

[domino harvey]

Okay, so thanks for posting that clip in the Perfect Scenes thread. I compared it to the Warners Disc and yes, the top and bottom lose a little, but you gain even more information on the sides-- it does look right on the disc, as I said. So the TCM broadcast of Susan Slept Here wasn't strictly open-matte, they did some cropping on the sides too!

[Murdoch]

Ok, that sounds alright then. There was one scene where Reynolds was reflected in a mirror in Powell's apartment on the side of the frame and she was slightly cut off in the broadcast so I was thinking it might have been cropped.

[agnamaracs]

I really hope Urgh! A Music War gets an updated cover soon. The old blue one is truly ghastly.

Keep it. Archive's hack job deserves a hack cover.

[Feego]

I really hope Urgh! A Music War gets an updated cover soon. The old blue one is truly ghastly.

Keep it. Archive's hack job deserves a hack cover.

Aside from the fact that its a barebones DVD-R, how is Warner's Urgh! in particular a hack job as opposed to the other Archive films? From what I understand it's a nearly complete edition of the film. It's only missing one of the original musical numbers, and only because Warner does not own the rights to it, so even if Warner had released the film on a real DVD, they likely wouldn't have been able to include that song.

[Faux Hulot]

Aside from the fact that its a barebones DVD-R, how is Warner's Urgh! in particular a hack job as opposed to the other Archive films?

No chapter stops for individual songs. Grr.

[ccfixx]

Aside from the fact that its a barebones DVD-R, how is Warner's Urgh! in particular a hack job as opposed to the other Archive films?

No chapter stops for individual songs. Grr.

Yes, that is unfortunate for this release. The chapter stops are about every ten minutes, right? I created a song list of the video, along with the start times for each song, in a Word document that I taped to the inside of the case. If anyone cares for it, just PM me and I'll e-mail it to you.

CC

[Roger Ryan]

...It's only missing one of the original musical numbers, and only because Warner does not own the rights to it, so even if Warner had released the film on a real DVD, they likely wouldn't have been able to include that song.

Is it still missing Gary Numan's "Down In The Park"? Despite there being better songs/performers presented, Numan performing this song driving around the stage in his little futuristic car was always the film's highlight for me.

By the way, Lewis' CRACKING UP is presented in anamorphic widescreen (correctly) on Netflix streaming. When I say "correctly", I don't mean it's the exact theatrical aspect ratio of the film, but rather the image is not stretched or squashed beyond repair! When I first saw this film, I thought is was the worst piece of crap Lewis had ever made; the second time through I was more forgiving and even laughed a few times.

[Feego]

Is it still missing Gary Numan's "Down In The Park"? Despite there being better songs/performers presented, Numan performing this song driving around the stage in his little futuristic car was always the film's highlight for me.

Numan's "Down in the Park" is definitely included. I had never seen the film before buying the Archive edition, and I have to say that number was a highlight for me too. I've never cared for Numan's voice and hate the song "Cars," but I found this song and his performance of it quite strange and haunting. And yes, that little car was fantastic and totally unexpected.

According to the IMDb, the only song not present on this edition is "Two Little Boys" by Splodgenessabounds.

[domino harvey]

By the way, Lewis' CRACKING UP is presented in anamorphic widescreen (correctly) on Netflix streaming. When I say "correctly", I don't mean it's the exact theatrical aspect ratio of the film, but rather the image is not stretched or squashed beyond repair! When I first saw this film, I thought is was the worst piece of crap Lewis had ever made; the second time through I was more forgiving and even laughed a few times.

Oh, I think it's pretty great, and certainly better than you'd expect for a last gasp. There's some ingenious visual gags, like the Ben Hur rowing oars on the plane or the whole extended business with the slippery office fixtures, and the parts that don't work go by easily enough. As far as a collection of loosely connected skits goes, it's if nothing else funnier than the Bellboy.

[Roger Ryan]

Is it still missing Gary Numan's "Down In The Park"? Despite there being better songs/performers presented, Numan performing this song driving around the stage in his little futuristic car was always the film's highlight for me.

Numan's "Down in the Park" is definitely included. I had never seen the film before buying the Archive edition, and I have to say that number was a highlight for me too. I've never cared for Numan's voice and hate the song "Cars," but I found this song and his performance of it quite strange and haunting. And yes, that little car was fantastic and totally unexpected.

According to the IMDb, the only song not present on this edition is "Two Little Boys" by Splodgenessabounds.

No great loss if Splodgenessabounds is the only thing missing! URGH! used to play on cable in the U.S. throughout the 80s and early 90s, but when I last saw it, the Numan number was cut which alarmed me. I'm glad it's included in the Warner Archive edition.

[Jeff]

From the Warner Archive Facebook page:

The Wait is Over!! IT'S VITAPHONE TIME!!

Fans of the incomparable Vitaphone short subjects can rejoice as Tuesday brings the long-awaited release of our new 6-DVD Vitaphone Musical Comedy collection.
53 classic shorts have been assembled for this impressive new set, which spans over 13 years of vintage Vitaphonia (1926-1939). Among the highlights are star turns by legendary vaudevillians (The Howard Bros., Lew Fields), early appearances of future stars ( 21 year-old Patsy Kelly's film debut, 8 year-old Judy Garland along with her 2 siblings billed as 'The Gumm Sisters), and Two-Hours worth of 3-Strip Technicolor rarities.

More details will be posted here shorly!

[domino harvey]

Again, the "remastered" status of some of these titles seems a little sketch, but the Swan looks about like any other single-layered 'Scope Warner title. A little soft but not detrimentally, with good color representation and a mess of chapter stops (it's like they've overcompensated to give added "value" for the extra five bucks). It's a decent enough costume drama, but the movie itself is a curiosity more interesting for its parallels to Grace Kelly's real-life royal wedding, but the film is pretty negative towards her character and I was surprised at the unhappy ending. For all those who tire of Louis Jordan, here he really snobs it up as the nth character to reject Grace Kelly on film-- seriously, what was with this cinematic trope of men denying that the world's most beautiful woman? Not much else to report here, save the brief comic relief of Leo G Carroll in his nearly unrecognizable role as the butler and Agnes Moorehead as the forceful Queen.

[Murdoch]

If anybody is on the fringe about buying The Locket I'd hold off, Odeon is releasing a pressed DVD

[Jonathan S]

It's certainly worth waiting for reports of the quality but I'm not hopeful based on The Digital Fix's reviews of previous releases in Odeon's RKO series, Berlin Express and Rachel and the Stranger.

Even though I hate Warner Archive, I suspect their edition will be superior, except for being on burned media. Incidentally, the Odeon release is already available (at a higher price than Amazon's pre-order) as a Moviemail exclusive.

[domino harvey]

Wait, the Window came out on the Archives and no one noticed?!

[Perkins Cobb]

Forget The Window, nobody mentioned Just Tell Me What You Want!

On the whole, we have not kept up with the WA output as obsessively as I would have expected. If I fall behind in logging the new ones into my want list, I end up having to back-track through one of those million-page Home Theater Forum threads to sift out what I missed.

[Cold Bishop]

James Toback's Love and Money, too (the only film of his I haven't seen)!

As for The Window: I already own the Editions Montparnasse, so I never paid attention. Although it certainly looks better.

[Foam]

Anybody who can report on the video quality for the Girlfriends DVDR? Caps?

Edit: Never mind, just now saw that you can preview on their site.

[Frankinho007]

New titles 01/11/11:

Torrent (1926)
Susan Lenox <Her Fall and Rise> (1931)
Romance: Remastered (1930)
Two-Faced Woman (1941)
The White Sister Double Feature (The White Sister (1923) / The White Sister (1933))

TV/Animation:

Speed Buggy: The Complete Series