Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

[ford]

A really beautiful looking restoration of Howard Hawks's underrated AIR FORCE is now streaming on Criterion Channel. Hope that means a Warner Archive blu-ray is around the corner.

[yoloswegmaster]

George Feltenstein was interviewed by the HTF crew, and a user on the BR forum was nice enough to compile a list of highlights:

3D films – Warner released “the three really best ones” a while ago. Monstrous projects to do, most of the remainder are not of too much commercial value unfortunately, with the exception of “1-2 ones that have some street cred”. George does not want to give up on releasing more, yet the rest really have little financial viability to be able to do them. George mentions one eye for Lumber-Jack Rabbit (3D Bugs Bunny cartoon) has negative damage from water damage, but if Grimm was any indication, never say never for a 3D release.

Silent films – George says we have a problem for silent films, that being recording a new score, making it a difficult proposition. George mentions 3-4 silent films are coming to WAC around next year-ish on Blu-ray from meticulous restorations, with one film being a “very famous film” that George says he’s never seen look so good. George says hold tight and be patient, and there may be more.

100 Anniversary of Warners - George says many titles are coming out from both WHV in 4K and WAC in Blu-ray, with both contemporary and classics being represented. George says he's more of a purist, and he feels M-G-M/RKO films shouldn't be included, but some of the releases will be probably including other films from the non-Warner studio. WAC will mostly focus on Warner's own movies, but George says "don't expect a Warner 100 label on a M-G-M movie". The other studios will see some releases from WAC, as George does not wish to neglect any part of the library.

Unexpected Discoveries/Mata Hari footage rediscovered - No, no footage was rediscovered from Mata Hari and Mata Hari is not in the works. George says that there are two Warner Bros. movies that were released in longer versions for servicemen in WWII which also had shorter theatrical versions recently rediscovered, with one being in the works for maybe next year, but most likely the following year, and the other one isn't "as marketable" that wasn't a short film to begin with but there's an extra 20 min for it that was just found. That other film will also come out at some point too, with both discoveries being from 35mm nitrate elements. Many early 30s films that were cut for code restrictions are "painful" to try to find the cut footage, but they never stop looking.

Best Picture Winners - We have more than one in the pipeline, and there aren't many more that haven't been released already on Blu-ray.

Releases per month - George says to expect 4-5 per month, and it will get better over time.

Horror/Sci-Fi/Hammer - very popular genre, there is another yet to be announced sci-fi horror film coming before the end of 2022. George wishes to release the other WB owned Hammer films in special editions like Frankenstein.

A Summer Place - George would love to see it come out, but it isn't happening now, but eventually it will, maybe the year after.

Babylon 5 - George knows there is demand, and it should have happened a long time ago. Thank HBO Max for paying for the work, as it would have been too expensive otherwise. George makes it clear it's not what he wants, but fan demand and financials determine releases, not his personal like of something.

Animation and WAC - Lots of it was delayed, much of what George planned for 2022 will be released in 2023. George's project he had planned is delayed as they don't have the nitrate negative materials in house at the moment. Most will be on Blu-ray, some DVD only, but theatrical especially will be on Blu-ray. George says he doesn't forget about other animation studios (Hanna-Barbera) so it will be a mix of genres, George also mentions that they can only keep 90 min worth of nitrate film on the lot at each time, so things get necessarily slow on the lot. George says being able to use the negatives help a lot if parts of the negatives are missing, so much of the film doesn't have to be from low gen materials. George says that now we are not siloed, he is talking to Cartoon Networks' home entertainment executive, and she and George are supportive for future releases.

Criterion and Warner - We have partnered with Criterion for 11 years now, they are like family to Warners. We have licensed particular movies to Criterion on their request or we think it fits better with them. If you liked Citizen Kane 4K from Criterion, thank George as he was the one who really helped them get to do it. Lots more surprises with contemporary and classics to come.

Silent Version (1924) of Captain Blood - nothing for the silent version, but something is happening for the 1935 one, and George will say no more than that. There are silents in the works, with some of the most requested favorites.

Ryan's Daughter - George says he sees your forum posts and knows your pain. George says there was recently an equipment upgrade at MPI that could mean good things, so stay tuned.

Three Little Words - still in the works, no date yet.

4K - George really wants to do it, but the costs make it really hard to do it. Certain films work well on 4K, and some don't. He mentions Universal was really successful with their Hitchcock 4K releases, but he doesn't have direct input on WHV's 4K schedule.

Perspecta Tracks for films - many were recorded in stereo to begin with, so those stereo tracks are preferable, but we would only use Perspecta if there was no stereo tracks available. They are testing usage of some tracks, but we'll see.

Gone With The Wind 4K - despite what you may think, there's many cost issues - cost of 6 movies to do. George feels it should happen and it would be profitable.

Classic TV - Lucy fans will be happy in the not too distant future. George really wants to do the George Reeves Superman series on Blu-ray, but 1 episode is only surviving in 16mm. Gilligan's Island on Blu-ray hasn't been brought up, but it doesn't mean a release won't happen. Some highly requested classic TV series with music issues have now have "had headway made", so watch out for DVD releases of some of those series.

Second Sight and The Hitcher - George says he talked to his boss to about releasing The Hitcher first thing the HBO library went to WAC's control. George says he hasn't been privy to conversations, so he's not sure of what's to come.

Fred and Ginger - not going to find a bigger fan than George, but they are in tattered condition, as they were reissued whenever RKO needed money (which was often). Only 1 has a negative still extant, nothing in the works at the moment, they will likely trickle out slowly. Classic movie fans will be in for a "lollapalooza" next year, with some major surprises.

Marx Brothers - maybe more to come, A Night At The Opera was a huge hit for WAC.

The Prisoner Of Zenda (1937) - elements are horrible, we're still searching, 1952 version is not in works yet, but it never say never. George wishes to do both together.

Northwest Passage and Raintree Country:

Northwest Passage: no issues with elements, negative is fine. Work just hasn't been done yet.

Raintree Country: a "nightmare of complexity", George says if you want to know the details, look at The Extras mailbag podast.

EDIT:

The Opposite Sex and The Ghost Ship replacement discs - they will be forthcoming, the replacement program is taking time to set up. Announcements will sent and the program will be released when they are ready to go.

[Fiery Angel]

Ha, I read "Fred and Ginger" as "Ginger and Fred." Oh well.

[Matt]

I feel like I have been hearing some variation on "hold tight, the silents are coming soon!" for 15-20 years now.

[swo17]

What's being fixed on Ghost Ship? Is it this?

It appears that this superb encoding of The Ghost Ship does have a slight mistake: online watchdogs report that a tiny animated moth in one shot has been eliminated, perhaps by an automatic dirt-removal tool. I checked the old DVD and confirmed that it was indeed there before.

[ryannichols7]

Ha, I read "Fred and Ginger" as "Ginger and Fred." Oh well.

seriously, this is the most bizarre obscurity that I'm convinced WB and Criterion both totally forgot existed. should've been a no brainer for the Fellini box, and given that even stuff like Fellini: A Director's Notebook is on BD but not his final collaboration with his two biggest actors (and well, y'know, his wife) is ridiculous to me

I love Astaire and Rogers obviously but we all know those will come in due time, they're still popular

I feel like I have been hearing some variation on "hold tight, the silents are coming soon!" for 15-20 years now.

they are the endless running joke to me. I'm surprised (but also not) that WB doesn't try and go for outside parties like Criterion and/or Cineteca Bologna to partner with them on these, much like they already did for The Cameraman. but considering that was Criterion's most recent silent release...not gonna get too excited there. for anyone reading who's curious, The Cameraman was 16 June 2020, but Criterion's last silent release before that which wasn't by Chaplin or Harold Lloyd would be The Lodger on 27 June 2017. it's ridiculous to think they wouldn't go for King Vidor, Victor Sjöström (who has one of the only non-comedic silents in the collection), or Von Stroheim - but considering we're waiting on The Wedding March for the latter..they can shut me up if they put that out (or upgrade Pandora's Box, but that's for another thread)

what other silents does WB control that would be of interest? He Who Gets Slapped is one, and The Big Parade of course got a release already

[bottlesofsmoke]

A lot… The Crowd, Show People, The Wind, Greed, The Scarlet Letter, A Woman of Paris, Ben-Hur, The Marriage Circle, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, Flesh and the Devil, and I think the Harry Langdon films, because they were First National, though I’m not sure, not that there is much hope for those being released…

[ryannichols7]

A lot… The Crowd, Show People, The Wind, Greed, The Scarlet Letter, A Woman of Paris, Ben-Hur, The Marriage Circle, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, Flesh and the Devil, and I think the Harry Langdon films, because they were First National, though I’m not sure, not that there is much hope for those being released…

thank you, the Wikipedia page was pretty daunting and admittedly my knowledge is limited (I've only gotten to The Crowd and The Wind within the last year, and dustybooks gave me his VHS-ripped bootleg DVD of Greed for my birthday). going to watchlist the rest that I wasn't aware of already

A Woman of Paris should be with Criterion already, no? we'll see it in 2027

[Gregory]

George says he sees your forum posts and knows your pain

George sees my posts. [-o< And he knows my pain.

[What A Disgrace]

If I had to take a guess on the 3-4 silent films, I would wager the following are the most obvious choices, with no real explanation needed, I should hope...

The Unknown
Greed
The Crowd

And for the possible fourth title.

He Who Gets Slapped - Less popular than The Unknown, but still quite widely beloved. It's main claim to fame is that it was MGM's very first film, and they both turn 100...the year after next. I fully expect it will manifest in 2024, rather than 2023.
Ben Hur - A bit of a wild card, since it would make a lot of sense for the movie to be included as an extra in the inevitable 4K Blu-ray of the more famous version.
The Magician - It's getting a 4K restoration and limited edition Blu-ray in France. It seems like it would be easy to acquire that restoration and release it.
Laugh Clown Laugh
Various other King Vidor fims
The Wind or The Scarlet Letter

[Calvin]

I'd guess that one of the silents will be Lubitsch's So This Is Paris, which has already been restored and put on HBO Max

[Jonathan S]

It's good to hear that "3-4 silent films are coming to WAC around next year-ish" though it's now reached the stage where I'll only believe it when I actually see it.

I'm baffled by the "problem" that new scores need to be recorded for silents, unless Carl Davis is asking too much for his scores for the most requested titles, or forty-year-old stereo recordings are now deemed technically inadequate for century-old movies. (Perhaps an unmentioned disincentive for releasing Warner-owned silents is that, having delayed their release so long, they're already or soon will be in public domain?) Even in cases where a new score and/or recording really is needed, there are numerous very talented accompanists who've done excellent work - presumably for a low fee - for boutique labels and even crowdfunded projects.

[dustybooks]

I feel like I have been hearing some variation on "hold tight, the silents are coming soon!" for 15-20 years now.

I asked about The Crowd and The Wind at an HTF chat in 2005 so we're definitely getting to the 20-year mark.

[Drucker]

I feel like I have been hearing some variation on "hold tight, the silents are coming soon!" for 15-20 years now.

I have been posting on DVD message boards for nearly 20 years.

Damn dude.

[senseabove]

Psssssst:

Drucker
Your Future our Drucker

Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 6:37 am

[Drucker]

Lol you got me.

[FlickeringWindow]

A lot… The Crowd, Show People, The Wind, Greed, The Scarlet Letter, A Woman of Paris, Ben-Hur, The Marriage Circle, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, Flesh and the Devil, and I think the Harry Langdon films, because they were First National, though I’m not sure, not that there is much hope for those being released…

Cohen has The Strong Man, Long Pants, Tramp Tramp Tramp, and Three’s a Crowd via Rohauer. I think only The Strong Man has a newer master from Cohen.

[Drucker]

A lot… The Crowd, Show People, The Wind, Greed, The Scarlet Letter, A Woman of Paris, Ben-Hur, The Marriage Circle, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, Flesh and the Devil, and I think the Harry Langdon films, because they were First National, though I’m not sure, not that there is much hope for those being released…

Cohen has The Strong Man, Long Pants, Tramp Tramp Tramp, and Three’s a Crowd via Rohauer. I think only The Strong Man has a newer master from Cohen.

Of course we also saw a PD-style(?) release of A Star is Born be bested significantly by WAC. Wouldn't anything 'owned' by Roheauer be limited by the materials owned?

[captveg]

I'm baffled by the "problem" that new scores need to be recorded for silents, unless Carl Davis is asking too much for his scores for the most requested titles, or forty-year-old stereo recordings are now deemed technically inadequate for century-old movies. (Perhaps an unmentioned disincentive for releasing Warner-owned silents is that, having delayed their release so long, they're already or soon will be in public domain?) Even in cases where a new score and/or recording really is needed, there are numerous very talented accompanists who've done excellent work - presumably for a low fee - for boutique labels and even crowdfunded projects.

Frame rate and restoration work are often a contributing factor to needing a new score. If the old video release was done at an incorrect frame rate (24 fps instead of 20 fps, for example), or if new snippets of shots/scenes have been restored, the existing score's timing would now be out of sync and no longer usable.

Now, why WB doesn't seem to have a straightforward working relationship with those who create silent film scores for silent films on video is a bit baffling to me, too. Perhaps the assumption in their budgets just doesn't factor it in as a possible expense? It's a bit weird, especially with all the 3rd party labels seemingly having no such issues.

[hearthesilence]

I don't know if this is ideal, but has any label ever tried recording an entire score with one pianist in one pass? It's not uncommon to see a silent film screened this way, and if money's tight, that's one way to get something down. (Is it perhaps a rights issue where the pianist may be using copyrighted music?)

[ryannichols7]

I don't know if this is ideal, but has any label ever tried recording an entire score with one pianist in one pass? It's not uncommon to see a silent film screened this way, and if money's tight, that's one way to get something down. (Is it perhaps a rights issue where the pianist may be using copyrighted music?)

and quite literally, these are the often best scores. I'm not sure who did Mie Yanashita's piano score for The Passion of Joan of Arc but it's on both MOC and Criterion and the only way I watch the movie now (total silence is a little too I tense for me!). ditto the harp score on Faust, which is really unique and suits the film well, though I think all the options we got there are really good

there have been many scores (Von Sternberg box, The Wind) where I find the primary option to all be a bit too busy and too flashy. but this is all personal taste of course - the best way to go is have multiple options if possible. this is easy for Joan of Arc or Häxän but not so for any of the MGM ones..since they were neglected and held in the archives so long

[Jonathan S]

Frame rate and restoration work are often a contributing factor to needing a new score. If the old video release was done at an incorrect frame rate (24 fps instead of 20 fps, for example), or if new snippets of shots/scenes have been restored, the existing score's timing would now be out of sync and no longer usable...

I agree that can be an issue if the difference is huge, but I believe music tracks can be digitally tweaked fairly easily; a friend re-synched an entire 90-minute silent feature for me on his home PC so that the superior score from a VHS/PAL European TV copy was stretched to fit the same print from a US commercial DVD that was running slower and so several minutes longer. He even managed to keep the sound effects in sync!

Even on the Image DVDs, issued around 2000, of Chaplin's later shorts and certain silent features, the existing scores were re-edited quite effectively to fit the longer running times created partly by the reinstatement of footage later deleted by Chaplin (and since then banned on disc presentations, except as extras). I imagine the results would be even better with the technology available now.

[swo17]

One example where the difference is huge: Kino's DVD for Sjöström's The Outlaw and His Wife, where the film has been sped up by something like 40% to accommodate the score being so short!

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Cohen has The Strong Man, Long Pants, Tramp Tramp Tramp, and Three’s a Crowd via Rohauer. I think only The Strong Man has a newer master from Cohen.

Of course we also saw a PD-style(?) release of A Star is Born be bested significantly by WAC. Wouldn't anything 'owned' by Roheauer be limited by the materials owned?

According to this, Rohauer purchased WB's rights to the Langdons in the late '60s-early '70s and received all of their elements for those films, which included the camera negatives for Tramp, The Strong Man, Three’s a Crowd, and The Chaser.

[Fiery Angel]

Ha, I read "Fred and Ginger" as "Ginger and Fred." Oh well.

seriously, this is the most bizarre obscurity that I'm convinced WB and Criterion both totally forgot existed. should've been a no brainer for the Fellini box, and given that even stuff like Fellini: A Director's Notebook is on BD but not his final collaboration with his two biggest actors (and well, y'know, his wife) is ridiculous to me

As part of MOMA's Fellini retro last December, a 4K restoration of "Ginger and Fred" was shown. So I wonder if it's still in Warner's plans?