Warner Brothers Archive Collection (DVDs only)

[repeat]

Any further info on the ones you bought much appreciated. I'm willing to gamble on some of these but I might buy more if most seem to be genuine PAL transfers (with removable subs).

Well, I've checked the FNAC discs of Brewster McCloud, Legs Diamond, The Tall Target, Beyond the Forest, Today We Live and Bhowani Junction and they all have PAL speedup and normal removable (not forced) subs, and Bhowani Junction is indeed in the correct Scope AR. I think it's pretty safe to assume that these are basically identical to the Archive discs, except for the speedup. The Tiger Shark disc is a weird anomaly though - it does have an early catalogue number (#5), maybe they just got off to a bad start. (The others with definitely removable subs are Manpower, Colorado Territory, Strawberry Blonde, Safe In Hell and Stars In My Crown, but can't check the runtimes for those right now - all the discs say PAL so I'm quite confident they're in line with the rest.)

If it wasn't for FNAC's outrageous postage costs (they send everything by courier), I would've easily hoarded another dozen of these - still, even with shipping they ended up around GBP 8 apiece, which is a fiver less than the US discs...

[Jonathan S]

Many thanks - that's all very useful to know. I'm pleasantly surprised that Warner should go to the trouble of creating proper PAL masters for such a limited market, though a few of the titles are available in other PAL countries - I was delighted with the Spanish DVD (pressed) of Strawberry Blonde I bought last year.

I couldn't find the UK shipping rate on FNAC's site without making an order. I'd be inclined to order more if it were flat (as with say Amazon.es) but £8 apiece is still a pretty good deal.

[TMDaines]

Yeh, it's a pity that FNAC's shipping doesn't cap out at a certain level. To the UK shipped, you're essentially looking at €34.95 for your first three and then €26.93 for every three after that.

[domino harvey]

The Warner Archive Collection is already taking pre-orders for the release of Volume 7 of "Forbidden Hollywood'' on April 30. This one includes two long-awaited Warren William vehicles, Edgar Selwyn's "Skyscraper Souls'' with Maureen O'Sullivan and Roy Del Ruth's "Employees' Entrance'' co-starring Loretta Young. The other titles are William Wellman's "The Hatchet Man'' (1932) starring Edward G. Robinson and Young and Robert Florey's "Ex-Lady'' (1933) with Bette Davis and Gene Raymond.

Confirmed via today's email to also be pressed

[swo17]

Meanwhile, do you guys think I should get the new DVD-R of Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, or the dual format release from the BFI?

[domino harvey]

No, the real dilemma is whether to buy the DVDR of Command Decision or spend five dollars more for the entire pressed WWII boxed set it came from

[vsski]

Meanwhile, do you guys think I should get the new DVD-R of Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, or the dual format release from the BFI?

Considering that both releases basically cost the same, I absolutely recommend the BFI. I know you don't care that the BFI actually has the movie on BD, or a commentary, a documentary and a video essay of the cinematographer, not to mention the superb booklet, but the real reason should be that the BFI gives you 2 shiny coasters whereas the DVD-R from WB is only one, what a bargain !

[Jonathan S]

Returning to the FNAC Warner releases, a few of the titles I bought are different from repeat's and I can confirm these additional titles are all pressed discs with optional French subs: Five Star Final, The Two Mrs Carrolls, Conflict.

As I happen to preview DVDs on a 4:3 TV, I did notice that the first two of these (also Safe in Hell) are encoded for widescreen, with sidebars of course, as with blu-ray releases. As discussed previously (in relation to the AE Mizoguchi set on DVD) this is not the best way to present 4:3 material on DVD, and anyone watching these films on a 4:3 TV would see huge borders on all four sides, unless able to expand the image.

[Aunt Peg]

I purchased six titles from FNAC and received them today. They are:

The Valley of Decision
Dark of the Sun
Tea and Sympathy
Brewster McCloud
The Cobweb
The Boyfriend

All the discs are pressed with removable French subtitles.

Of course The Valley of Decision is 4x3.

Dark of the Sun, Brewster McCloud & Tea and Sympathy are all 16x9 and in their correct ration. They look like the same prints from Warner Archives. I only compared my Dark of the Sun but the other two looked very good, particularly Brewster McCloud (ditto the archive print).

Sadly The Boyfriend and The Cobweb whilst in their correct ratio are 4x3 and need to be zoomed. I compared my archives copy of The Cobweb and it is superior to the FNAC one. Whilst I didn't compare the FNAC Boyfriend with my archives one it looked as weak as FNAC's The Cobweb.

Funnily enough some of the back of the boxes of of the DVDs have incorrect information on the aspect ratios.

They state as follows:

The Cobweb 4.3 (2.35) - this is correct
Dark of the Sun 16:9 (2.35) - this is correct
Tea and Sympathy 16:9 (2.35) - this is correct
The Boyfriend 4.3 (1.33) - this is not correct as it is 4.3 (2.35)
Brewster McCloud 4.3 (2.35) - this is not correct as it is 16:9 (2.35)

I hate it when they don't get that information correct.

[Tim]

I have just obtained Human Desire (Wild Side) from Amazon.fr. The aspect ratio is 1.85 and the print, though perhaps a little bright, is really quite good and a great improvement on both the Suevia (which furthermore was 4:3, though I'm not sure just what is right for this film) and the UK Cornerstone edition (which was inferior to the Suevia--now you know that I'm on my third try). The subtitles are forced but I was able to remove them (on my system by starting the movie then changing the default sub-title language on my TV to Icelandic or Romanian or whatever, at which point the subtitle selection on the DVD menu (which can't be changed directly) reads 'off' and the French subtitles disappear).

[TMDaines]

Good to know you can get rid of them without using an HTPC! I wonder if you can do the same trick with House by the River from Wild Side. It's probably best to move this discussion to the Wild Side thread though.

[Tim]

Thanks David, for the reliably authoritative answer. I noticed on a subsequent viewing that there's at least one scene in which Grahame and Ford appear at opposite sides of the wide screen.

[BillWatkins]

Another 5 for $50 sale with free shipping on the WAC website running until Monday. The sale includes everything released on or before 3/19/2013.

[rockysds]

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and other OOP Paramounts coming to Warner Archive.

[domino harvey]

This is really obscene-- they take titles that would have actual sales value like Brain Candy or the Sturges, and take a handful of titles that are going for a median of $50 used, and then bury 'em all in the Archives, but then they still rerelease most of the other OOP Paramount discs for $5.97 retail? There is no God

[Grisbi]

Well I for one am happy that I'll finally be able to snag a copy of Lifeguard for something resembling a reasonable price. Though DVD-R obviously not ideal.

[captveg]

On the one hand I'm bummed that the long time Criterion rumor of Miracle is now officially debunked, but on the other I'm glad I'll be able to finally pick it up for far less than the current OOP prices.

[felipe]

I don't get it either. I thought we were almost sure Miracle was coming to Criterion...

[Feego]

I don't know that there was ever any indication that we were getting "Miracle," but rather there was chatter that another Sturges film was in the works. It was only assumed to be "Miracle" because the Paramount DVD had gone out of print. There's still a possibility that it could be one of the Universal Sturges titles, which are only available in barebones editions.

[andyli]

No worries. They will announce The Magnificent Seven next month, just to make everyone happy.

[knives]

I bet it will be his movie with Harold Lloyd paired with The Freshman. TCM is showing it next month.

[Props55]

That could be possible. Doesn't MAD WEDNESDAY (aka THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK) begin with a clip of the football game from THE FRESHMAN? It's been at least three decades since I last saw it so I'm really not sure which Lloyd the clip is from.

[knives]

It's definitely The Freshman.

[RyanGallagher]

It's definitely The Freshman.

We reported on this here

[Matt]

Big sale on Warner Archive "Americana" titles (which I guess mostly means Westerns but also The Strawberry Blonde) at Amazon.