Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

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#2401 Post by **Matt** » Sat Jan 20, 2024 12:56 am

Maybe “Colt .45” was David Zaslav’s favorite childhood show and WAC is trying to curry favor.

I know from reading other forums that these kinds of releases are holy grails for some collectors. They probably couldn’t care less about my beloved early Technicolor restorations like Doctor X, so it’s a fair trade.

#2402 Post by **Matt** » Sat Jan 20, 2024 10:42 pm

Dangerous When Wet: Plugging away dutifully at my recent WAC purchases with somewhat diminishing returns. This is the film with Esther Williams’ famous underwater swim with Tom & Jerry, which still looks so technically accomplished and visually seamless 70 years on. Seriously more convincing than a lot of today’s CGI slop. Other than that—and a startling scene of Williams and a marvelously attractive Fernando Lamas conversing while undressing in adjoining cabanas with the wall between them in the center of the frame (sort of a Pillow Talk-style cheat to suggest something racier than what is actually taking place)—there’s not really much here to recommend it. It’s a very modest production, no big musical numbers or lavish settings. You can almost see the wind going out of the sails of MGM and their musical spectacles. Dory Schary, who notoriously hated musicals and frivolity but who was a great fan of belt-tightening, had taken over at MGM in 1951. The legendary Arthur Freed unit would have its last big production in 1953 with The Band Wagon, and both Esther Williams and three-strip Technicolor were on their way out the doors at MGM. But it’s still an enjoyable film, if a little rote and boring. Ironically, the climactic scene of Williams’ character finishing a swim across the English Channel is, beat for beat, the climax of Nyad, last year’s Oscar-bait inspirational sports drama.

The transfer on this looks very good, but again the costumes and sets are so sedately colored as to make Technicolor seem like a waste. Indeed there are a couple of scenes, longer than you might expect, that take place in thick fog. It’s like, “why is this happening in a three-strip Technicolor film?” Just throwing money away on a gray screen!

Overall, I couldn’t really recommend this to anyone but an Esther Williams completist. Or someone who wants to see William Demerest tap dance for about 5 seconds.

FrauBlucher · #2403 Post by **FrauBlucher** » Sun Jan 21, 2024 11:40 am

The Extras Podcast with George F will be dropping soon. My guess is tomorrow. He will talk about the February and early March announcements, with a special bonus announcement

#2404 Post by **Matt** » Sun Jan 21, 2024 6:31 pm

March marks the 15th anniversary of WAC, and Feltenstein (in the last podcast) said to expect something special.

Anyway, A Star is Born (1937): You all know the story. As a William Wellman film, this is briskly moving and unsentimental, and in that way I prefer it over the 1954 Cukor. Both Frederic March and James Mason play Norman Maine a bit broadly, but March (with his everyman looks) is maybe more believable as a forgotten has-been. There’s no beating Judy Garland’s musical performances, but Gaynor probably has the edge in acting ability and is very affecting here. It also has the good taste not to drag itself out to 3 hours.

The disc: Interesting case here, as the film was apparently with Warner Bros., who bought the rights (and I assume the negatives) in 1953. It is in the public domain due to WB neglecting to renew the copyright. (Any work made from 1929 through 1963 had to have its copyright renewed after 28 years. If it wasn’t renewed, the work became public domain.)

I’ve never seen this film all the way through because every available home video or TV version taken from an old print has looked absolutely rotten. Unwatchable. This Warner Archive Blu-ray might be the first edition from the original three-strip negatives, so of course it’s the best available edition and beats the pants off the 2011 Kino Lorber “authorized” edition. Finally, rich colors (the greens here are gorgeous) and no registration errors or halos. Surprisingly, the lighting is unlike the bright soundstage illumination characteristic of later Technicolor productions but is generally motivated lighting (through windows and other diegetic light sources). This makes the film and its colors look more naturalistic and it works well for this story.

If you’re looking to watch this movie, this is by far the best possible option.

#2405 Post by **Finch** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:22 pm

COMING TO BLU-RAY FROM THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION ON MARCH 12th:
LOONEY TUNES COLLECTOR'S CHOICE VOL. 3!

They say the third time's the charm, to which we'll add THREE times the fun and 300 times the laughs! Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 3 provides 25 classic Warner Bros. cartoons, here for the first time on Blu-ray and spanning 30 years (1934-1964), the Golden Age of animation! And with rarities featuring Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, and Tweety & Sylvester - directed by Warner Bros. cartoon geniuses Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery and Robert McKimson-this collection is one for the ages. Highlights include some of the first and last original Bugs Bunny shorts; landmark early appearances by Egghead and Elmer, hilarious rarities with Bobo the Elephant and Quentin Quail; and the first color Merrie Melodies short "Honeymoon Hotel".

THE PRESENTATION CONTAINS:
1. A Feud There Was (1938) Elmer Fudd/Egghead-Directed by Tex Avery
2. A Hop, Skip and a Chump (1942)-Directed by Friz Freleng
3. China Jones(1959) Daffy Duck & Porky Pig-Directed by Chuck Jones
4. Cinderella Meets Fella (1938) Egghead-Directed by Tex Avery
5. Dumb Patrol (1964) Bugs Bunny-Directed by Gerry Chiniquy
6. Egghead Rides Again (1937) Egghead-Directed by Tex Avery
7. Elmer’s Pet Rabbit (1941)Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd-Directed by Chuck Jones
8. Hobo Bobo (1947) Bobo the Elephant-Directed by Robert McKimson
9. Honeymoon Hotel (1934)-Directed by Earl Duvall
10.I Only Have Eyes For You (1937)-Directed by Tex Avery
11.Mexican Joyride (1947) Daffy Duck-Directed by Arthur Davis
12.Mr.and Mrs. Is The Name (1935) Directed by Friz Freleng
13.Of Rice and Hen (1953) Foghorn Lenghorn-Directed by Robert McKimson
14.Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958) Bugs Bunny-Directed by Robert McKimson
15.Punch Trunk (1953)-Directed by Chuck Jones
16.Quentin Quail (1946) Quentin Quail-Directed by Chuck Jones
17.Riff Raffy Daffy (1948) Daffy Duck & Porky Pig-Directed by Arthur Davis
18.Saddle Silly (1941)-Directed by Chuck Jones
19.Sheep Ahoy (1954) Ralph Wolf & Sam Sheepdog-Directed by Chuck Jones
20.The Mouse on 57th Street, The (1961)-Directed by Chuck Jones
21.The Sheepish Wolf (1942)-Directed by Friz Freleng
22.There Auto Be a Law (1953)-Directed by Robert McKimson
23.Tugboat Granny (1956) Tweety & Sylvester-Directed by Friz Freleng
24.War And Pieces (1964) Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner-Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
25.Wet Hare (1962) Bugs Bunny-Directed by Robert McKimson

and San Carolina's helpful podcast summary is here. End of March will see the usual classic film slate announced.

#2406 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:23 pm

Is this the bonus announcement?

#2407 Post by **Finch** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:26 pm

It would appear to be. No other announcements in the podcast as far as I can tell. I just linked to san carolina's summary in my previous post.

#2408 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:44 pm

Hopefully the recent TV show previously released on DVD is Veronica Mars, esp since they released the revival

therewillbeblus · #2409 Post by **therewillbeblus** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 3:56 pm

Second that - I just signed up for a month of Hulu in order to binge it in better quality than my DVDs this year

#2410 Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 24, 2024 11:56 pm

The Three Musketeers (1948): I never understand the plots of these Musketeers movies, but I suppose they’re really just hooks on which to hang romance, intrigue, and swashbuckling. This one provides and is quite a lot of fun. Gene Kelly is about as annoying in this as he is in The Pirate (“big theater kid energy” as the youth say), but his athleticism is also equivalent here and more than makes up for it. Van Heflin as Athos gets to do some fine acting, Lana Turner is glamorous as always, and Vincent Price does a good amount of mustache-twirling. There are more outdoor scenes than usual here, and they are often quite thrilling. A seaside sword battle with crashing surf and daring leaps from rocks is a highlight.

Three-strip Technicolor is not usually great for exteriors. Nature’s greenery just can’t rise to the level of studio fakery and so trees and grass generally look like so much scrubland. That’s true here, but it provides a nice neutral backdrop for the action. Your eyes will always be drawn to the guys jumping around in red capes and big hats with orange marabou feathers, and that’s just fine.

The color reproduction here is as good as in Elizabeth and Essex and Adventures of Don Juan, but it looks like MGM was generally slightly more restrained in the use of color in their adventure films of this period than Warner Bros. There are jewel tones and pastels and golden yellows throughout, and all are bright without being garish.

Fabrics here look richly textured. There’s a scene where Angela Lansbury (as the Queen of France) has a line of little pink velvet bows on the bodice of her dress, and you can almost feel their soft nap. Metallic accents (like the trim on garments) sparkle but do not dazzle, and linen actually looks like linen because you can see the weave and stiffness.

One of the neat things about watching so many of these three-strip features in quick succession is seeing the range of what was possible with Technicolor. It really is the most beautiful color process for cinema ever (maybe tied with 16mm Kodachrome reversal), and capable of so much more than what the unsubtlety of home video reproduction has previously led us to believe. It’s actually very good at rendering a variety of skin tones (or makeup shades, I guess), and—though you regrettably don’t get much of a chance to witness it—this includes Black and brown skin tones. Eastmancolor, at least in its first decade of widespread use, had a tendency to flatten skin tones out and make everyone look roughly the same shade of tan or so dark as to lose all definition in their features.

Anyway, I’ve only got a couple more discs to look at until the next Warner Archive sale, random Amazon price drop, or wealthy benefactor allows me to scoop up some more: two Cagney films, Captains of the Clouds and A Lion Is in the Streets. I don’t expect to be as wowed by these dramas as I’ve been by the adventure films and musicals, but I’m sure they will have their own pleasures.

FrauBlucher · #2411 Post by **FrauBlucher** » Thu Jan 25, 2024 5:43 pm

My favorite Marx Bros...A Day at the Races... review... it looks amazing

#2412 Post by **Matt** » Fri Jan 26, 2024 10:54 pm

Captains of the Clouds: Corny, jingoistic, pro-interventionist WWII propaganda, but enjoyable nonetheless. It sits somewhere between Ford’s folksiness, Hawks’s tales of male camaraderie/rivalry, and Powell & Pressburger’s agreeable wartime propagand-ish films. Cagney plays a real asshole whose cockiness and brashness and bucking of the rules proves in the end to be the right approach to fighting a war. Brenda Marshall plays the daughter of a backwater shopkeeper who goes wild for every man she sees, disastrously choosing to run off and marry grabby-hands Cagney instead of stalwart fiancé Dennis Morgan. (There are a couple of gorgeous “glamour” shots of her in closeup where the camera pushes in on her face. It’s a surprising stylistic flourish from the usually staid Michael Curtis and very effective, and maybe they were done by someone else as inserts.) The aerial footage, including several daring stunts, is nicely done; there are some very cool special effects involving miniatures, rear projection, matte paintings, and so forth; and most of the Royal Canadian Air Force men play themselves.

The aerial footage (and maybe some of the effects and action shots) were filmed with monopack color film, but it’s pretty seamlessly integrated here with the three-strip Technicolor work. The Technicolor photography, despite what I said previously, does impress. It’s in a more natural idiom here than in the musicals and adventure films, but it’s still pretty lush. In earlier scenes, Brenda Marshall wears a rust-colored corduroy skirt that renders beautifully on the screen. She later shows up in a red velvet gown with rhinestone clips on the front that is dazzling (even though it doesn’t fit her very well). You can clearly see the texture of both of these garments. Men are mostly in cotton flannel or linen shirts or military uniforms, so there’s not much else that dazzles here. This might be the first time, however, that I’ve noticed how heavily freckled Cagney was, so obviously the clarity and detail here is excellent. I can’t imagine this is the kind of thing anyone but Cagney superfans or WWII film completists would want, but it’s pretty fun and looks really good.

One of the bonus cartoons is a restored “What’s Cookin’ Doc,” which is the one where Bugs Bunny is at the Oscars and loses to Cagney. Bugs does many impressions of the popular actors of the time, which are always funny, even when you don’t know who he’s imitating. I wonder how many decades passed between my laughing at Bugs doing Jerry Colonna and actually seeing Colonna in a movie.

videozor · #2413 Post by **videozor** » Wed Jan 31, 2024 3:12 pm

Warner Archive Newsletter Subscriber Sale:
Buy up to 3 single disc Blu-rays for $12.99 each.
Thru Feb 19tth, 2024.
https://www.moviezyng.com/sale-items

#2414 Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:11 pm

FYI: Check Amazon prices before you buy from this sale, they might actually be cheaper there. For example, A Lion Is in the Streets is currently $7.99. Safe in Hell is $10.50.

#2415 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:15 pm

And Merrill’s Marauders isn’t included for some reason. That one has never gone below $17ish on Amazon

TechnicolorAcid · #2416 Post by **TechnicolorAcid** » Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:50 pm

Wait for the record, this is only for Newsletter subscribers correct? Just want to make sure before actually using the coupon.

#2417 Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 31, 2024 8:46 pm

It’s for everybody

tolbs1010 · #2418 Post by **tolbs1010** » Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:26 pm

domino harvey wrote: ↑
Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:15 pm
And Merrill’s Marauders isn’t included for some reason. That one has never gone below $17ish on Amazon

Two Weeks In Another Town has been $17.99 on Amazon ever since I added it to my cart over a year ago. It has been so long that if they dropped it a buck I'd probably snap it up immediately and feel grateful.

#2419 Post by **Matt** » Sat Feb 03, 2024 3:04 am

The Boy with Green Hair: Typical Dore Schary vague and muddled "message" film, further hamstrung by meddling from RKO's new owner Howard Hughes. Originally intended as an anti-racism allegory, it becomes something about how it's sad that war orphans exist and how there really ought to be no more war.

I remember watching this as a teenager (on American Movie Classics—the channel that eventually devolved into AMC) in black and white. I thought it was pretty stupid overall, but especially that they would make a black and white movie about a boy with green hair. Well, it was actually filmed in 3-strip Technicolor and apparently done so on the cheap because uncredited (and soon to be blacklisted) producer Adrian Scott was an investor in Technicolor and could get a discount. This WAC Blu-ray is a 4K scan of the original 3-strip negatives. It looks a little soft and somewhat rough around the edges in spots (almost certainly due to RKO's cost-cutting and indifference to film preservation, not to WAC's transfer) but is overall fine, nothing to get too worked up over.

It's a bad movie, but Dean Stockwell (already a veteran actor at the age of 12) gives a heartfelt performance that would be touching if the movie around him wasn't so eye-rollingly cornball. Fellow child-actors-with-long-careers William Smith, Dwayne Hickman, and Russ Tamblyn appear as well. I'm glad I paid less than $10 for it.

Blip Martindale · #2420 Post by **Blip Martindale** » Sun Feb 04, 2024 1:54 am

Matt wrote: ↑
Sat Feb 03, 2024 3:04 am
The Boy with Green Hair: Typical Dore Schary vague and muddled "message" film, further hamstrung by meddling from RKO's new owner Howard Hughes. Originally intended as an anti-racism allegory, it becomes something about how it's sad that war orphans exist and how there really ought to be no more war.

I remember watching this as a teenager (on American Movie Classics—the channel that eventually devolved into AMC) in black and white. I thought it was pretty stupid overall, but especially that they would make a black and white movie about a boy with green hair. Well, it was actually filmed in 3-strip Technicolor and apparently done so on the cheap because uncredited (and soon to be blacklisted) producer Adrian Scott was an investor in Technicolor and could get a discount. This WAC Blu-ray is a 4K scan of the original 3-strip negatives. It looks a little soft and somewhat rough around the edges in spots (almost certainly due to RKO's cost-cutting and indifference to film preservation, not to WAC's transfer) but is overall fine, nothing to get too worked up over.

It's a bad movie, but Dean Stockwell (already a veteran actor at the age of 12) gives a heartfelt performance that would be touching if the movie around him wasn't so eye-rollingly cornball. Fellow child-actors-with-long-careers William Smith, Dwayne Hickman, and Russ Tamblyn appear as well. I'm glad I paid less than $10 for it.

I've still never seen this but it looms large in my personal filmatist education. Circa 2005 I was working in a video store in Seattle, and a regular, dreaded, customer was a university film professor who was hilariously flamboyant and bitchy and ALWAYS blatantly chickenhawking all of the male clerks, most of us students. He rented this film literally once a week, and would go on for unnecessary minutes at a time about how much he loved Dean Stockwell, every time he took it out. I don't think ANY of our staff ever watched the thing, the prof's sales pitch could have used a bit less targeted finesse.

What A Disgrace · #2421 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:24 pm

My favorite Bogie and Raft truck driving movie.

FrauBlucher · #2422 Post by **FrauBlucher** » Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:51 pm

March Announcements...
Money Talks (1997)
The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
Stand and Deliver (1988)
The Boob (1926) and Why Be Good (1929)
They Drive By Night (1940)
The 3 Godfathers (1948) and Three Godfathers (1936)

#2423 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:53 pm

Saved by the last two (three?) titles

ryannichols7 · #2424 Post by **ryannichols7** » Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:53 pm

3 Godfathers and They Drive By Night are terrific picks

FrauBlucher · #2425 Post by **FrauBlucher** » Wed Feb 21, 2024 3:00 pm

The 2 highlights...

Coming from the Warner Archive Collection on Blu-ray this March 26th!
New 2024 HD master from a new 4K Scan of the Original Nitrate Camera Negative
THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940)
BD50
Running Time-95 Minutes
Aspect Ratio 16x9 1.37:1 with side mattes
Audio Format: DTS HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
SPECIAL FEATURES: Featurette: DIVIDED HIGHWAY-THE STORY OF ‘THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT’, Classic WB Short ‘SWINGTIME IN THE MOVIES. LUX RADIO THEATER BROADCAST (6/2/1941) with George Raft and Lana Turner, Original Theatrical Trailer

Coming from the Warner Archive Collection on Blu-ray this March 26th!
New 2024 HD master from a new 4K Scan of the Original Nitrate Technicolor Camera Negatives
3 GODFATHERS (1948)
BD 50
Running Time 106 Minutes
Aspect Ratio 16x9 1.37:1 with side mattes
Audio Format: DTS HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
SPECIAL FEATURES: Fully remastered and restored 1080p HD presentation of M-G-M’s 1936 feature THREE GODFATHERS with Chester Morris and Lewis Stone, from a 4K scan of best preservation elements (TRT: 81 Minutes), Original Theatrical Trailers for “3 GODFATHERS” (1948) and “THREE GODFATHERS” (1936)