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Matt wrote: Sat Jun 07, 2025 3:52 amI do want to recommend Bright Leaf. It's a solid, well-cast, well-crafted studio melodrama in the mold of King's Row or The Little Foxes, with good performances by Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall, and especially Patricia Neal (antagonizing Cooper again a year after The Fountainhead). Plus, it's a key basis of Ross McElwee's fantastic documentary Bright Leaves. I've only ever seen it in the fairly rotten transfer shown on TCM, so this 4K scan from the original negative should really do justice to Karl Freund's cinematography.

Unfortunately I thought this was impressively awful, a total misfire from start to finish. It’s obvious what it’s trying to do (and it does seem a few years early to the From the Terrace school of “What if success, but too much”) but so many moments deflate and fold back on themselves— my favorite being Carson’s big climactic speech against Cooper where Copper disregards him once again and Carson’s response is a weak “Okay I’ll stay, but just to watch it unfold” that completely undermines anything he did. The film is just scene after scene of trite choices (it’s not enough that one character commits a clearly telegraphed suicide, they have to drag it out with extra humiliation beforehand, then have the character end up splayed out on the lawn of their loved ones after it) and there’s not even fun to be had with the meanness of certain characters because they’re so schematic and not as playful as they should be. Also, I like him in appropriate doses but Jeff Corey should probably not be in a movie as much as he is in this one

I should have been more tempered in my praise or at least more extensive in my assessment. There is indeed a surfeit of Wendell Corey. I think I just really enjoy Patricia Neal being mean to Gary Cooper.

A Friedkin commentary is great if you suffer from insomnia. I sampled Vertigo and his own Exorcist and he always ended up recounting what's on the screen. I'd be very surprised if this turned out to be worthwhile at all.

Finch wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:59 am A Friedkin commentary is great if you suffer from insomnia. I sampled Vertigo and his own Exorcist and he always ended up recounting what's on the screen. I'd be very surprised if this turned out to be worthwhile at all.

His commentary on the original cut of The Exorcist is stellar. It’s the one he recorded for the 1998 version which is an embarrassment

That's what makes him a genius. He puts in zero effort for the movies he knows everyone will see regardless but gives it his all when he knows a film or its presentation will be a tough sell. Brilliance.

Finch wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:59 am A Friedkin commentary is great if you suffer from insomnia. I sampled Vertigo and his own Exorcist and he always ended up recounting what's on the screen. I'd be very surprised if this turned out to be worthwhile at all.

Same with Bogdanovich on Bringing Up Baby, although him laughing at pratfalls and so on is endearing.

FrauBlucher wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:18 am The Narrow Margin review bluray.com... There is a William Friedkin commentary track. That should be an interesting listen

It’s the same unilluminating one that was on the DVD.

Maltic wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 7:26 am

Finch wrote: Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:59 am A Friedkin commentary is great if you suffer from insomnia. I sampled Vertigo and his own Exorcist and he always ended up recounting what's on the screen. I'd be very surprised if this turned out to be worthwhile at all.

Same with Bogdanovich on Bringing Up Baby, although him laughing at pratfalls and so on is endearing.

Bogdanovich is definitely a YMMV situation cause I enjoy hanging out with him and watching whatever movie, but I abhor Friedkin and hearing him talk, so basically any commentary with him (especially Vertigo) is torturous to me. others may enjoy, but while I get some enjoyment out of Bogdanovich's enjoyment, Friedkin is just nails on a chalkboard for this viewer

I don’t think I’ve heard a Friedkin commentary track other than The French Connection. But I always think back to watching him interview Fritz Lang and how pompous he sounded. I will still like to hear what he has to say about The Narrow Margin

Interesting info:

"Concerning the multi film sets, they are based on whatever the latest existing transfers are. The majority are from archive releases but as was announced, the archive also has access to put non archive releases on the multi disc sets. Also be aware that many WHV releases were later released by the archive as single discs without upgrade. So the same transfer used by WHV was used by the archive. These include "Meet Me In St Louis " and "A Star is Born." "How The West Was Won," included in the James Stewart set, is an example of a WHV release made available in an archive release. It is also in need of upgrade to 4K and the Smilebox version needs to be included in any future release. Bottom line is if you are aware of how the movies included in a set look currently, this is how they will look in the multi disc sets.

I have no idea what version of "Mildred Pierce" is included in the Joan Crawford set . Hopefully the archive had access to the blu ray Criterion released."

Post 12,075:
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... 2/page-604

March titles (so far):
Honky Tonk
The Man Who Came to Dinner
It All Came True
Tea and Sympathy
The Gay Divorcee

Wow, those are actually all films people might want! I’ve seen them all save It All Came True. The Gay Divorcee is def a top ten most wanted upgrade for me

domino harvey wrote: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:07 pm Honky Tonk (Jack Clayton 1941) Casting Clark Gable as a smooth-talking confidence man is so obviously a good idea that the film benefits best when it just lets him showboat his oratory maneuvering. Less successful is his romantic pining toward Lana Turner, who is still something of cinematic deadwood at this stage of her career. Frank Morgan too plays to his strengths as a blustery idiot. There's some fun scenes, like Gable bluffing his way through a game of Russian Roulette, and pretty much any screen time Gable shares with the flirty Claire Trevor is a riot, but while this is grand entertainment and well-crafted studio product, there's not much else going on.

Don’t know how you missed Scooby Doo’s All Star Laff-A-Lympics, done to ensure too much praise is not received for this month

And Looney Tunes Collector's Vault Vol. 2, which surely presages an entirely new line with Platinum Choice Vol. 1 a few months from now.

I believe George Feltenstein said they had only one OCN for an Astaire Rogers' film. I guess The Gay Divorcee is it

Domino, any write ups on It All Came True?

That’s the only one I haven’t seen. It’s interesting how many Ann Sheridan pics we’ve been getting recently. She was the preeminent pre-WWII Hollywood sex symbol (known as “the Oomph Girl”) but WB were smart enough to put her in a variety of films that didn’t just revolve around ogling her (and she indeed seems quite demure when you watch her in films now) - hope we get the excellent City for Conquest soon

That would be great! I'm a fan of Ann Sheridan. Keep'em coming

domino harvey wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 9:05 pm Frank Morgan too plays to his strengths as a blustery idiot.

a wonderful sentence

domino harvey wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 9:13 pm Don’t know how you missed Scooby Doo’s All Star Laff-A-Lympics, done to ensure too much praise is not received for this month

Gen X nostalgia seems to be the primary driver of the American economy at this point. I have good memories of watching this at my dad's house on Sunday mornings, and I would be almost tempted to buy this if I didn't already know I'd never watch it. I've still never watched the complete Yogi Bear series DVDs I bought 21 years ago.

That’s how I feel about all the cartoons that have been released. Great nostalgia but wouldn’t watch them. I was excited for the Bugs Bunny on a TCM. But when it came time, I watched a few then decided that I probably won’t plan around them. If I’m watching TCM and they are on. Then I’ll watch.

senseabove wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 9:03 pm March titles (so far):
Honky Tonk
The Man Who Came to Dinner
It All Came True
Tea and Sympathy
The Gay Divorcee

Honkytonk Man can't be far off.

I just watched Blues in the Night. This little gem of a musical psychodrama noir deserves a WAC release. This is filled with no stars of the time but filled with actors that went on to have great careers as character actors and they are all exceptional in this. Betty Field and Lloyd Nolan are outstanding as the femme fatale and the heal respectively. And how in the world did Richard Worf not get more work in films. I'm surprised there is not more praise for Anatole Litvak who IMHO is a very underrated director from that era. Fingers crossed that Feltenstein has this in the pipeline

Whorf, like Richard Quine and Irving Pichel, transitioned from young character actors to directors. I quite like his It Happened in Brooklyn, and he did MGM a favor by agreeing to be the thankless credited director on the revue Till the Clouds Roll By

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 10:05 pm I believe George Feltenstein said they had only one OCN for an Astaire Rogers' film. I guess The Gay Divorcee is it

Despite that I hope a few other Astaire/Rogers films are planned (or licensed). 2/10 on BD isn't ideal, especially with Top Hat not being one of them.