criterionforum.org

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:59 pm**

I don't know how this got overlooked, but apparently Universal's the latest company to have a 'vault series'. Here are the titles available via Amazon as of today:

Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995)
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
40 Pounds of Trouble (1963)
Gambit (1966)
Resurrection (1980)
The House of Seven Gables (1940)
The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)
Pure Luck (1991)
A Bronx Tale (1993)
Stick (1985)
Dragnet (1954)
The List of Adrian Messinger (1963)
The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
The Perfect Furlough (1958)
A Good Man in Africa (1994)
Kitten With a Whip (1964)
Spawn of the North (1938)
Shout (1991)
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
Shoot Out (1971)
Tell Them Willie Boy is Here (1969)
The Brass Bottle (1964)
Death Takes a Holiday (1934)
The Chalk Garden (1964)
Blue Collar (1978)

Now I don't know if these are pressed discs or DVD-R's, but either way, it's great to see some of these movies finally getting a release.

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:18 pm**

From the page for The List of Adrian Messenger:

"This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply."

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:08 pm**

Looking at that list, I really don't know whether to laugh or cry. ](*,)

And what a random selection - Gold Diggers, Gambit, A Bronx Tale, Blue Collar, RUGGLES OF RED GAP?

WTF? Genuinely, WTF?

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:15 pm**

So I guess a Criterion "Blue Collar" is off the table now.

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:30 pm**

I looked on amazon.com and could not find a new release for Ruggles of Red Gap (only the Asian DVD). Anyone have the direct link for amazon or another retailer?

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:57 pm**

Mr Finch wrote:I looked on amazon.com and could not find a new release for Ruggles of Red Gap (only the Asian DVD). Anyone have the direct link for amazon or another retailer?

Amazon link

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:55 pm**

That's incredible that Universal chooses to reissue Death Takes a Holiday in an inferior format! As most people know it was included as a bonus feature on the Meet Joe Black 2-disc edition. Amazon.com sellers demand hefty sums for this OOP issue, but US residents may purchase brand new copies at eBay right now for a mere $12 - here.

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:58 pm**

Buttery Jeb wrote:So I guess a Criterion "Blue Collar" is off the table now.

-BJ

Didn't know it was even briefly on the Criterion table. I still have my Anchor Bay disc (which has the rescored soundtrack that also appeared on previous Uni home video editions). I'll be curious to see if this version of BLUE COLLAR restores the theatrical soundtrack.

I love TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE, but these programs are so distasteful to me in myriad ways that I may just stick with my DVD-R from a TCM broadcast.

Re: DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY...can the MEET JOE BLACK disc, with DTAH as a bonus feature, still be found at an affordable price? [Thanks for the update on my query, strangerinparadise]. RESURRECTION and RUGGLES OF RED GAP are also of interest, but I've heard that the former has played on HBO in HD and RUGGLES can be found on TCM, if I'm not mistaken.

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:18 pm**

The good thing is, Universal does license movies to other companies and many of these DVD-Rs are available as pressed DVDs outside the States, e.g.:
RUGGLES OF RED GAP > There's a legit French DVD release.
GAMBIT > There's a legit British DVD release from Second Sight.
THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER > There's a legit German DVD release from Koch Media.
The Black Shield of Falworth > There's even a legit Blu-ray release in the UK from Eureka!

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:48 pm**

There's also a(n incredibly cheap) version of The List Of Adrian Messenger at amazon/uk. (Had it in my basket a while, but never quite pulled the trigger.)

Edit: surprisingly, there's also a UK Blue Collar.

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:20 pm**

I mourn this news as it certainly seems to be the official death of The Universal Backlot Series. I just watched Lonely Are the Brave last night and was blown away - both in regard to the stunning cinematography and as to how the SD disc rendered it supremely. It astounds me that Douglas wasn't even nominated for an Oscar for his stupendous performance. He should have won the Academy Award for this and/or Ace in the Hole, IMHO. It's shameful that the much inferior actor that is his son somehow managed to walk away with top honors for his lead in Wall Street. Oh, well.

Posted: **Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:16 pm**

Frankinho007 wrote:The good thing is, Universal does license movies to other companies and many of these DVD-Rs are available as pressed DVDs outside the States

There's a French disc of Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, courtesy of Gaumont, in the correct aspect ratio.

On the UK front Optimum re-released A Bronx Tale a while back, though I seem to recall this had the same 1.33:1 ratio as the earlier Universal release.

Oh, and Shout is easily available in the UK too (Universal themselves releasing the disc), but god forbid anyone would actually want to own a copy...

Posted: **Wed Jan 13, 2010 10:15 pm**

fdm wrote:There's also a(n incredibly cheap) version of The List Of Adrian Messenger at amazon/uk. (Had it in my basket a while, but never quite pulled the trigger.)

I've got it. The transfer is fine (anamorphic, etc) but the film is still a piece of shit. Worth it if you're a fan though

Posted: **Wed Jan 13, 2010 11:38 pm**

You've got to admire the sheer ballsy wrongheadedness though of casting so many famous stars only to then make them unrecognisable under various diguises, so much so that you need a celebratory final unmasking of each in the end credit sequence!

Posted: **Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:02 pm**

The List of Adrian Messinger? Blue Collar? A Bronx Tale? Sure doesn't make sense.

Posted: **Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:19 pm**

But THE BRASS BOTTLE! Surely the collective forum has been holding its collective breath for that!

Posted: **Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:16 pm**

I can understand something as lacklustre as A Good Man In Africa (seemingly based entirely around Sean Connery's golfing schedule and looking back it seems to act as a good early indication of his eventual retirement from the cinema to pursue other interests) but it is a real shame that truly important films that don't deserve to be treated as addendums - Blue Collar and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here especially stand out to me (plus the Chazz Palminteri written A Bronx Tale which unfortunately I always used to get confused with This Boy's Life that came out the same year also starring De Niro and which had a similar historically set father/son conflict theme making them interesting companion pieces) - are being thrown away.

Posted: **Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:04 pm**

I think A Bronx Tale has already been released on DVD? In a way that's even more insulting

Posted: **Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:25 pm**

domino harvey wrote:I think A Bronx Tale has already been released on DVD? In a way that's even more insulting

Yes, in the same way as BLUE COLLAR was released on a now-OOP Anchor Bay disc, which included a Paul Schrader commentary. The only problem with that disc was that it had the same changes to its soundtrack that previous home video editions did. I wonder if the new disc will correct this.

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:14 am**

If they're not going to bother putting it on a real DVD, what makes you think they'd spring for music rights?

Also, if this series results in Paul Whiteman's King of Jazz, my bowels will evacuate.

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:25 pm**

From an early review over at the HomeTheaterForum: The Chalk Garden is presented in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen and the transfer is interlaced.

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:34 pm**

domino harvey wrote:
fdm wrote:There's also a(n incredibly cheap) version of The List Of Adrian Messenger at amazon/uk. (Had it in my basket a while, but never quite pulled the trigger.)
I've got it. The transfer is fine (anamorphic, etc) but the film is still a piece of shit. Worth it if you're a fan though

Worth it so the shit can hit the fan?

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:58 pm**

agnamaracs wrote:Also, if this series results in Paul Whiteman's King of Jazz, my bowels will evacuate.

I'll hold onto my DVDR of the VHS release...

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:06 pm**

I'm guessing this will be the way that we see some of Frank Perry's long unavailable catalog--DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE and PLAY IT AS IT LAYS. Unless these were ever under Criterion consideration.

Posted: **Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:00 am**

So I haven't seen Resurrection since I was a child, but I remember it vividly and looking at some reviews it seems to be somewhat well-regarded. Who knows what I'd think of it now... much as I love Shepard and Burstyn, I can't help but imagine I'd be disappointed. Any recent thoughts on the film?

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