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Due 15 Jan 2007 Universal Pictures Video R2 Seven Disc Box Set

All I Desire
All That Heaven Allows
Has Anyone Seen My Gal?
Imitation Of Life
Magnificent Obsession
The Tarnished Angels
Written On The Wind

The Tarnished Angels is new to DVD as far as I can tell...

Minimal info at MovieMail

Amazon have it listed, as do Play.com.

If Universal are planning to offer us a collection of a similar standard to the R2 Dietrich Screen Goddess boxset, I am going to be very pleased with them.

I'll be glad to finally have The Tarnished Angels on DVD, but these Universal box sets are maddening. I end up with multiple copies of so many films. For example, instead of All I Desire, which is already available in R2 in another one of their box sets, they could have included There's Always Tomorow.

... these Universal box sets are maddening. I end up with multiple copies of so many films.

So true. Say. Charulata's post seems to suggest there's a separate Magnificent Obsession disc out there. Tell me it's so.

... they could have included There's Always Tomorow.

One of my favorites. I'm sure though that when it's finally released I'll have to by a 14 disc box set to own it.

yoshimori wrote:Charulata's post seems to suggest there's a separate Magnificent Obsession disc out there. Tell me it's so.

There was a R6 release, but I have know idea what the quality of it is like, or where to buy it.

One of my favorites. I'm sure though that when it's finally released I'll have to by a 14 disc box set to own it.

What I don't understand is why Criterion didn't license more Sirk a long time ago. Universal let them license two of his best-known films so I'm not sure why they couldn't have done something like The Tarnished Angels or There's Always Tomorrow years ago. Then around about now Universal could still come out with their own releases like they've done with other titles. Maybe there's still reason to hope these will be announced in R1 in the Universal Cinema Classics line.

The Tarnished Angels has been long overdue from Universal. But why no individual release? This is becoming a bad habit with studios of late.

A Time to Love and a Time to Die is also a Universal title and has been very hard to see over the years.

DVDTimes announcement.

No mention of extras, though. Or if new transfers are being offered. I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

THE TARNISHED ANGELS and MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION are DVD premiers, right? I hope they will be available seperately too because I already own the Sirk Criterions (which are gorgeous!).

Thanks goodness. Magnificent Obsession is being released separately.

Carsten Czarnecki wrote:THE TARNISHED ANGELS and MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION are DVD premiers, right?

Yep, this is a DVD premiere for these titles, which are total masterpieces btw.

Does anyone have any further info on this set, extras wise? Oh, and that price is way too high. I'm waiting a couple months before I get hold of this baby.

Lino wrote:DVDTimes announcement.

Saw this in HMV today - no extras listed on the packaging (which seems to be another foldout 7-disc digipak disaster), but the aspect ratios break down as follows:

HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GAL? / ALL I DESIRE - 1.33:1
WRITTEN ON THE WIND / IMITATION OF LIFE - 1.85:1 anamorphic
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION / ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS - 2.00:1 anamorphic
THE TARNISHED ANGELS - 2.35:1 anamorphic

I've no idea what they're playing at by listing the Wyman/Hudson films at 2.00:1, and if they've actually matted them to this ratio on the discs then that's ludicrous. WRITTEN ON THE WIND was also listed as 2.0 surround, whereas all the rest are mono.

Maybe the OAR in the package are wrong ???

And subs ? any mention of it ?

According to DVDclassik, Carlotta are bringing out a Sirk box set on 21 November featuring:

Magnificent Obsession (2 versions)
All That Heaven Allows
A Time to Love and a Time to Die
Imitation of Life (2 versions)

Each film get 2 discs, so where there isn't an earlier John Stahl version, there should be a bunch of extras. They'll also be available to buy separately. No word on aspect ratios. David, why don't you email Carlotta to inquire?

PMed you the Carlotta link.

I think the R1 Sirk Imitation could be improved (though it's perfectly acceptable as is), but I second your praise for the Stahl version. And what a great film! Claudette is magnificent, and the whole thing is an example of 1930s Hollywood at its absolute best. And that's saying something!

I'm presuming (and hoping) they'll release both the Stahl and Sirk versions of Magnificent Obsession, but this has been announced as a Sirk set, so perhaps I'm jumping the gun. Fingers crossed...

Anyone care to comment on transfer quality? Do all the films have their problems or is it isolated to Magnificent Obsession? How does it compare to the Criterion releases?

None of the other films are cropped, I think. But they are all noticeably a little dull in their colour compared to the two Criterion discs. It's noticeable but it isn't a death knell as far as I'm concerned. Would post screen caps but I'm away & haven't got discs with me.

At full price this was ridiculous - but as a budget set very acceptable, even if you considered it as 4 films, excluding the two Criterion duplications and MO.

davidhare wrote:I am still holding out for the Carlotta/Gaumont box from France. They never replied to my email questioning "formats d'ecran" but I note the release date was put back to November. And I am frankly tantalized by the voluminous extras discs which suggest "alternate" versions, if not the Stahl originals of Imitation (this a certainly) and Magnificent Obsession (this a real rarity) - these could indeed include full frame, plus masked widescreen.

Well, according to this link, you might just get your wishes granted.

Good news, David! From the caps at dvdrama.com, it looks like the Carlotta coffret has Magnificent Obsession at 1.33:

And they've included the Stahl version:

Marvelous news. Still, I will probably wait a little longer to see if Universal will give us some new Sirk titles in R1. It's a shame they haven't done so already and instead are sending Imitation of Life around the track a third time.

German quality label Koch Media will release a "Douglas Sirk Collection" on 02/08/08.

- "All I Desire [USA 1953, Douglas Sirk]
- "There's Always Tomorrow" [USA 1956, Douglas Sirk]
- "Interlude" [USA 1957, Douglas Sirk]

- German + English DD 2.0
- 1.33:1 + 1.33:1 + 2.35:1 anamorphic
- Photo gallery
- Two titles available for the first time on DVD.

Regarding the French set: Robert Fischer, who delivered four of the documentaries, confirms that it has optional French subtitles, no forced one.

David, what are the extras on All That Heaven Allows and Imitation of Life? Is there anything on the latter apart from the Stahl film? As I own these in R1, is there anything that would recommend the box over cherry-picking the other two titles? I'm inclined to think not, but want to be sure before I go ahead and order.

David, could you post some comparison screenshots of Heaven Allows (Criterion vs. Carlotta), just for the sake of it?

David, your screen caps raise an interesting question. I have both the UK Universal Sirk set and the Criterions, and, aspect ratios aside, I cannot decide which colour scheme is truer to Sirk's intentions. In the Halliday interview book Sirk states that he designed the WRITTEN ON THE WIND palette to be bright, violent. This the Criterion certainly is - compare the deep blue night scenes of the opening with the mere dusk of the Universal - but I can't help wondering if the Criterions are too garish. In places the colour is positively thick, and seems excessively red, particularly the skin tones. At the opening of ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, poor Agnes Moorhead is the colour of a satsuma ! A warm but more muted colour scheme would also seem to be more appropriate to ATHA's less operatic mode (the Carlotta caps actually look a lot more like the Universal than the Criterion). It might be something of a cliche to think Sirk=melodrama=florid Technicolor; he is clearly a more subtle artist than that. ATHA is not TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER.

There is also the fact that Criterion have occasionally in the past gone a bit heavy on the red - I'm thinking of the colour Melvilles, in contrast with the BFI and Rene Chateau editions.

I'd appreciate people's thoughts on this question.

They really are two different beasts. And I can't make up my mind to which one looks the more accurate (I'm not that old to have seen them theatrically, either!).

Still, neither looks satisfying enough: the Criterion looks too phony in parts, as if someone's been fiddling with the palette too much and the Carlotta, on the other hand, looks too drab in places, uninspiring even.

I wonder if Universal in the US will re-release this title. That would also prove to be interesting to see. Although, I admit it would only raise even more confusion if the transfer'd turn out to be drastically different.