Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

[Finch]

3 Godfathers makes WAC's announcement one of the better of all the labels' lineups for March 2024 for me. Very pleased!

[knives]

The Boob is very good as well.

[Matt]

I’m excited about 3 Godfathers allowing me to add another 3-strip restoration to my collection. Speaking of which:

National Velvet: Surely the platonic idea of a film the whole family can enjoy. I had never seen it, and I was totally invested in the story and anxious about the outcome. Will they get the entrance fee for the race? Will they find a jockey? Why doesn’t Mi just ride the horse? Why doesn’t Velvet? All questions thrillingly answered!

If there were Oscars for Best Portrayal of a Mother/Father, surely Donald Crisp and Anna Revere would each have had a shelf full of them. Such pleasant presences across decades of cinema. Elizabeth Taylor proves herself a natural star, and Mickey Rooney is shockingly tolerable.

As a Technicolor film, this relies surprisingly on natural light and outdoor photography—as noted above not typically a strength of three-strip Technicolor. But it’s all seamlessly integrated with the studio photography, and very beautifully so. I don’t think I’ve yet seen another three-strip film with such lush outdoor photography, though I have yet to revisit the Lassie films and the WAC Blu-ray of The Yearling (which also feature the work of cinematographer Leonard Smith, who perhaps unexpectedly became MGM’s specialist in outdoor Technicolor photography).

[Matt]

Show Boat (1951): Now here’s a properly gaudy Technicolor musical, at least in the first half before everything gets serious. Being show people, I guess, gives license to dress in satins and velvets in fantastic candy colors—hot pink, yellow, green, violet—and they are used unsparingly here. In the second half, you get some lovely chocolate browns, golds, grays, and rich blacks until some hope starts to appear again when the Schultz dance team suddenly pop up in blazing pink and blue in Chicago. Everything looks great here, except for some slight weird green highlights on hair in a couple of scenes, which I can’t really figure out. It may just have to do with a mixture of studio lighting with natural light, different color temperatures.

I had previously not thought much of this film, but I found it moving this time around. Ava Gardner is perfect, even though we might have gotten Lena Horne had times been different (or possibly Dinah Shore, good gracious). It’s a shame Gardner’s singing was dubbed. The original takes with her voice (extras on the WAC disc) are excellent but, no, not quite convincing as the headline singer her character is expected to be. I often find Kathryn Grayson irritating and her voice overly nasal, but she is also perfect here. Wide-eyed and hopeful in contrast to Gardner’s ruined romantic.

The Kern/Hammerstein songs are matchless, of course. “Make Believe” might be one of my favorite songs from the classic era of stage musicals, later turned into a pop standard (with a favorite rendition by Jo Stafford). “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” is nicely rendered with Gardner’s Julie giving it an air of resignation and fatalism and Grayson’s Magnolia giving it a more innocent, forgiving sweetness. I appreciate Marge and Gower Champion reliably injecting some levity with “Life Upon the Wicked Stage.” And of course the power of William Warfield’s “Ol’ Man River” despite the role of Joe being cut down in this version into a walk-on character (and poor Queenie, so marvelously played with great dignity by Hattie McDaniel in the 1936 film, cut out entirely).

Though it’s not a perfect movie, as an adaptation of a popular and beloved book and Broadway musical and as one of the most popular films of its era, this is a key work of the peak 1951-1952 MGM musical era.

[Finch]

I really enjoyed revisiting Gentleman Jim via the new WAC Blu-Ray. If I had to mention a teeny tiny flaw in the film, it's Jack Carson who, unfortunately for me, is one of Warner Brothers' regulars and who Walsh inexplicably asked to really ham it up for the camera in the movie's closing shot, repeating a running gag about the Corbett family's penchant for infighting among the brothers (actually, one of the actors playing Jim's siblings does a lot of mugging too in his reaction shots). Maybe Walsh wanted to make sure things weren't getting too solemn but the supporting cast sure does play it a bit too broad.

[FrauBlucher]

HTF review for Looney Tunes CC Vol 3

[JakeStewart]

April announcements:

You’re A Big Boy Now
The Rain People
The Mask of Fu Manchu
Friendly Persuasion
The Nun’s Story
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island &
Scooby-Doo Return to Monster Island

[ryannichols7]

that's a very solid month of some seriously in need upgrades, and a pretty good mix of titles. I'm surprised it took them this long to get to the Coppolas or A Nun's Story. very pleased with Friendly Persuasion, which I've never seen but I like almost every Wyler I've seen so far

[Ribs]

Now that they got through (except for one, though I’m sure it’s imminent) their BP winners, maybe they’re checking off their nominees now too? Nun’s Story is essential and I’m very happy to finally have it.

[gcgiles1dollarbin]

The Mask of Fu Manchu

That only leaves The Return of Dr. X to be released on blu from the 2006 Hollywood Legends of Horror DVD set (re-released by Warner Archive in 2016). And given Bogart's general appeal, there's a good chance they'll complete the transition at some point in the future. Never thought I'd see the day...

very pleased with Friendly Persuasion, which I've never seen but I like almost every Wyler I've seen so far

I think Friendly Persuasion is great. Interesting exploration of pacifism through the experience of Quakers during the Civil War, told with nostalgic, sweet delicacy--the (somewhat saccharine) title song sung by Pat Boone really sets the tone.

[domino harvey]

April announcements:

You’re A Big Boy Now

OMG! This was the best discovery I made in my film viewings last year, so excited to see it come to Blu!! Here was what I said in the Coppola thread

I caught up with You’re a Big Boy Now and thought it was incredible and better than every film it was clearly influenced by or a contemporary of— if THIS was the voice of youth touchstone film and not the Graduate, the world would make so much more sense. Wild invention at every turn, incredible footage of New York City, off the wall acting choices by slumming big names that somehow all work (and I’ve seen sooooo many bad variations of this kind of element alone that I can appreciate how big of an accomplishment that is), and an authentically youthful outlook all contribute to a product of pure entertainment.

Two additional notes:
01 This film might be responsible for the worst, most clueless collection of Letterboxd reviews I have ever witnessed. Now I know where Yahoo News commenters went
02 Rip Torn in “Daddy” makeup looks like Bruce McCulloch

This is a great month, glad to see the Nun's Story (hopefully they tackle the other two titles in the Films of Faith collection too) and Friendly Persuasion finally

[beamish14]

Really curious to see if Rain People will include George Lucas’ Filmmaker

[Finch]

The MovieZyng WAC 4 for $49 sale will kick off tomorrow (in case you were, like me, not paying attention to the dates and going, why isn't the coupon not working?).

[therewillbeblus]

Thanks for the head's up, haven't participated in any of the post-site sales because I never know when they are - but successfully canceled the order I placed for Night of the Iguana like ten minutes before I saw this (not that it probably saves much, but I also don't know if there are even four WA titles on sale I want!)

[Finch]

On the other forum they said on top of the $49 there's a $6 shipping fee but some WAC titles like The Sea Hawk never drop below $17.99 on Amazon. I'm considering Sea Hawk, Westward the Women, Libeled Lady (though I'd really should rewatch it first because I didn't exactly love it when I saw it previously) and To Have And Have Not (which I find much superior to Casablanca).

[swo17]

There have been sales in the past where you could only order like 3 titles at a time with each order getting hit with a separate shipping fee, which kind of defeated the purpose. At least for this sale it looks like you'll be able to include as many titles as you want in a single order

[starmanof51]

Probably a Kino quarterly sale kicking in the next week or so too, for those minding their budget

[therewillbeblus]

There have been sales in the past where you could only order like 3 titles at a time with each order getting hit with a separate shipping fee, which kind of defeated the purpose. At least for this sale it looks like you'll be able to include as many titles as you want in a single order

That's happening in a weird way here too - four titles comes out to well-above Amazon prices, but when I add a fifth title, it adds an extra 50% off of what I've saved on four titles and brings them all down a few bucks. Does just adding more and more titles bring the price down? The ARCHIVE15 code isn't working for me at checkout - it's just doing an automatic algorithm that doesn't make sense to me

[swo17]

If you choose the most basic shipping option I believe the shipping is supposed to come to roughly $2 per order + $1 per title

[therewillbeblus]

It seems like it's only worth it for pre-orders which are most expensive elsewhere, other titles come out to about the same as elsewhere

[swo17]

I don't think the discount applies to preorders

[therewillbeblus]

That makes sense, and in checking that's the problem - Thanks. Still, it's confusing that it auto-applies the discount when four titles are in your cart, even if 2-3 are pre-orders, but then doesn't discount those discs

Oh well! It's possible they'll become eligible during the sale later anyways, since they'll be 'released' in a few days

[swo17]

Looney Tunes Vol. 3 supposedly came out last week but still appears as a preorder

[jazzo]

Looney Tunes Vol. 3 supposedly came out last week but still appears as a preorder

That is weird. I have my copy from my local Toronto video store

[swo17]

Looney Tunes Vol. 2 is $10.79 on Amazon right now with a coupon