Warner Brothers Archive Collection (DVDs only)

[Roger Ryan]

Right, with Blu-ray you're always watching an anamorphic 16:9 image regardless of the film's aspect ratio. The black bars on the side for 1.37:1 fare is simply part of the image. This is not true of DVDs which (almost always?) present 1.37:1 images as non-anamorphic 4:3 full frame.

My HD television is old enough that I always have to manually switch between 16:9 standard and 4:3 on the television itself. That DVD and Blu-ray players, in concert with newer TVs, do this automatically is nice, but I've been astounded at how many times people end up watching something stretched, squashed or what-have-you in the 21st century due to technical ignorance or disinterest.

[TMDaines]

(Some if not all of the) Sky HD boxes in the UK are the worst for this. There's no way to set them so that they output 4:3 channels in their correct ratio through an HDMI cable. 4:3 is automatically stretched to 16:9 so you have to manually squish it back using your TV settings if you want to watch stuff properly, which of course means the menus are squished too. There's hundreds of threads about this online but Sky seemingly can't or won't do anything about it.

[vsski]

Received my Forbidden Hollywood Sets 4 & 5 today, and they are pressed discs (I ordered about 4 days after they started shipping).

My Oppo didn't have any problems with playing the discs automatically in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio, so what is reported here is definitely player dependent.

So far I have watched Jewel Robbery and Lawyer Man and since I have no previous experience with Warner Archive titles, all I can say is that the quality is definitely not on par with the previous Forbidden Hollywood sets. Lots of dirt, scratches and other blemishes show that no clean-up or restoration was done on these titles. Picture also doesn't show the same contrast and is softer than the previous sets. On Lawyer Man is also a clearly noticeable sound glitch (actors lips moving but no sound at all). Although none of this is so distracting that it prevents enjoyment of the actual movies (at least not for me). As reported no subtitles and I agree that for some non-native English speakers this at times will pose a challenge. From what I'm reading elsewhere about Archive titles all of this seems consistent with this line.

While it's nice to finally have pressed discs from Warner Archives, unless you are a real fan of the pre-code films the price/value is more than questionable (and boy I'm glad I've never bought one of the DVD-Rs, as I would really be kicking myself then).

[swo17]

Born to Be Archived

[JakeB]

Born to Be Archived

It is out on pressed disc in the UK. Not sure what the quality is like though.

[swo17]

Yes. I haven't seen the UK disc but have heard it could be improved upon. Though Warner is advertising this as being "newly remastered." I watched the film recently on TCM (the same transfer you'll get here?) and it looked fine to me.

[knives]

It exists in R2 for anyone searching.

[Gregory]

That's what was just being discussed.

I haven't seen the UK disc but have the Editions Montparnasse "La Femme aux maléfices," which is about as good as could be expected from them. I've never regretted that purchase (and would not "upgrade" to a burned DVD unless I find it dirt cheep).

[Ashirg]

Warner Archive disc of Born to Be Bad "contains alternate ending with never-before-seen footage"

[Fred Holywell]

Warner Archive disc of Born to Be Bad "contains alternate ending with never-before-seen footage"

I believe this scene played on TCM last time they ran the film. It's a brief, light, scene with Mel Ferrer -- no dialogue, just Ferrer's character outside his art gallery, as I recall. Robert Osborne discussed it after the film, explaining why it was cut, and how the film originally ended with Joan Fontaine's character driving off alone.

[Fred Holywell]

Warner Archive disc of Born to Be Bad "contains alternate ending with never-before-seen footage"

I believe this scene played on TCM last time they ran the film. It's a brief, light, scene with Mel Ferrer -- no dialogue, just Ferrer's character outside his art gallery, as I recall. Robert Osborne discussed it after the film, explaining why it was cut, and how the film originally ended with Joan Fontaine's character driving off alone.

Apparently, the alternate ending situation is more complicated than I had realized.

According to "Nicholas Ray, An American Journey" by Bernard Eisenschitz, three versions of "Born to Be Bad" survive. The shortest, for U.S. consumption, ends with Christabel's departure from the house in the company of Ferrer, and a brief scene with Ferrer alone.

A second, intermediate version ends with a scene in which Christabel has time to steal a lawyer from his wife, and a repeat of the brief scene with Ferrer alone (in the first, he changes the price tag on his painting of Christabel from $250 to $500; in the second, to $1000).

Finally, there was a complete version for export, comprising the departure from the house, Christabel's car accident, a hospital scene, a scene at an airfield, Christabel's seduction of a doctor, and the two scenes with Ferrer framing the one in the lawyer's office.

Whew! Got all that? BTW, I believe it was the 'intermediate' version I recently saw on TCM.

[peerpee]

Sorry if this has been touched upon in this thread, but has anyone bought this and can they report on the quality, aspect ratio, etc?

GIRLFRIENDS (Claudia Weill, 1978)
http://www.wbshop.com/product/girlfriends+1000180004.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[domino harvey]

It's ~1.78. Untouched screen-grab from the DVD:

[peerpee]

Thanks for that. It looks like they've used an old BetaSP TV master for their source? Does anyone know the OAR? There's nothing on imdb.

Here's the VHS copy I'm watching. More frame information, and it doesn't half look bad in 1.37:1:

[peerpee]

^^BUMP for edited post above ^^

[starmanof51]

Hey Domino - Lili is up for pre-order!

Hey me - Confessions of an Opium Eater is available!

[domino harvey]

I'm mentioning this is my suicide note

[Ashirg]

Thanks to HTF.

The following Archive titles have been confimed to be released on pressed DVD -
Crime Does Not Pay: The Complete Shorts Collection (1935-1947)
Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 4
Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 5
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan: The Complete Series
Alice: The Complete First Season
Night Court: The Complete Sixth Season
Harry O: The Complete First Season
The Lieutenant: The Complete Series - Volume One
The Lieutenant: The Complete Series - Volume Two
The FBI: The Complete Third Season - Volume One
The FBI: The Complete Third Season - Volume Two


And here's a look at their October / November5 slate -
The three Gable/Harlow titles - Hold Your Man, Red Dust and Secret Six
a Philo Vance collection
a Perry Mason collection
a BOWERY BOYS collection - Volume 1
2 Leslie Caron musicals - Lili and Glass Slipper (available for pre-order)
2 Susan Hayward titles - Ada and I Thank a Fool (already available)
a 3-title Seven Keys to Baldpate
a 9-title Wheeler & Woolsey RKO comedy collection
a 9-title Monogram Cowboy Collection, Volume 4

[knives]

As in the discs from the archive are pressed?

[domino harvey]

I think the Nightbreed "SE" he's talking about is the director's cut that Barker's been wanting to do for about two decades now.

Morgan Creek has given the go-ahead for Blu fundraising for the 155 minute composite

[stroszeck]

As in the discs from the archive are pressed?

Ya I don't get this either....why these particular titles being pressed now? Not that I'm complaining!

[Matt]

They obviously think they'll sell enough copies of these titles in a short enough period of time that the cost of pressing a run of discs is less than the cost of storing them in a warehouse or burning them on-demand. It's a business decision, not that hard to figure out.

[stroszeck]

There are quite a few other titles I would have bought had they been pressed discs, so maybe they can go back and get started on those. (Highly unlikely, I know, but a man can dream.)

[Ashirg]

It seems they tend to get these for big boxed sets. Please note, that once the release run out, they will be switched to DVD-Rs and it's very hard to say which one you will be getting til you have the discs in your hands. Also, I think these pressed discs are exclusive to Warner Archive web site, as places like Amazon or other retailers likely will have DVD-R. They also confirmed that the upcoming first volume of Bowery Boys films will be pressed as well.

[Tommaso]

Also, I think these pressed discs are exclusive to Warner Archive web site, as places like Amazon or other retailers likely will have DVD-R.

Is this confirmed? If so, very bad news for international customers. I was thinking of ordering Forbidden Hollywood 4&5, but as Warners don't sell internationally, I would have to go through a third-party seller. But shelling out funds for DVD-R remains out of the question for me.