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Anyone see a review for Safe in Hell yet? It's my personal favorite pre-code. Sad to see it turn up here, but would love to ditch my TCM cap for an upgrade.

Whew -- the handful of other sales this fall gave me this sneaking suspicion that the Black Friday 5/$50 might me a thing of the past.

I assume the discount won't work on the Sony titles though?

I logged out, closed the browser, reopened it and logged in again and had no problem bringing up the original (better) discount.

Ah, that did it, thanks.

Any precode suggestions? I already have The Merry Widow and The Last Flight. Safe in Hell is a definite, but I need to fill up these other spots.

Beast of the City for certain, if you don't have it yet. Kongo, perhaps, depending on how you feel about the idea of a remake. I'm assuming you've already gotten The Last Flight. I know Beauty and the Boss and Heat Lightning has it's fans, though I've yet to see them.

Much obliged, precode gangster flicks are always my cuppa and Beast of the City sounds like fun.

It doesn't fit what you're suggesting for, but Castle's Macabre is a good start up to the upcoming horror list.

Already own it.

Can anyone comment of the Rex Ingram films?

The three silents?

Well, I'd argue that The Magician, at the very least, is an essential. And it's a key film in the development of the American horror film (supposedly, James Whale studied it before tackling Frankenstein)

I'm a big fan of Ingram's silent films. I love his 1922 "The Prisoner of Zenda" with Lewis Stone and his 1923 "Scaramouche" with Ramon Navarro as the revolutionary hero (and Lewis Stone as a terrific villain). Both Warner Archive Editions feature original scores composed for the films: "The Prisoner of Zenda" is a piano score and "Scaramouche" features a small orchestra score that gives it an added touch of grandeur. I highly recommend both.

Just got my hands on a tattered copy of Kongo. What a powerhouse performance by Walter Huston. The banging of the drums throughout gave it a surreal feel. A dark, dark, dark fable and now one of the best "horror" films (if you can really call it that) I've seen come out of that era. Powerful stuff. Highly recommended.

Can someone clear up for me.

Night Watch (Liz Taylor) which is being released on Amazon today, it says DVD, is it DVD or DVD-R?

I'm still not sure if I prefer it to the Browning, but it has lots of it's own charm. Walter Huston (who actually originated the role onstage) is a meaner, more sadistic Deadlegs than Lon Chaney (although Chaney's proto-method immersion makes for one of his best performances), and that sums up the film's appeal: it, believe it or not, manages to be a much more cruel and perverse film than it's predecessor, and the talkie "creakiness" (as opposed to late silent fluditity) actually helps the claustrophobic, sweltering jungle atmosphere. In many ways, it reminds me of a non-fantastic Island of Lost Souls, right down to the "one-hit wonder" director.

I recommend catching the Browning first (which I why I didn't recommend it unconditionally to Murdoch), but both films are definitely essential.

DVD-R

Got an interesting response when I asked about Sidney Lumet's THE SEA GULL coming to DVD-R (it's currently only available as a download):


I wonder if they're going to release a box set with his other films in the archive.

I see that Warners has opened a European On-Demand DVD site, French to be specific.

http://www.warnerbros.fr/achat/tresors-warner.html

Haven't read about this previously, so don't know how long it's been available. Euro customers should be pleased they've finally got more direct access to the Warner Archive.

I think they're actually real DVDs, no?

They are pressed DVDs not DVD-R unless something major changed since announcement time.

Yes, I stand corrected and have fixed that, they are DVDs and pressed on demand. Interesting that Europeans get DVDs, while U.S. customers have to settle for DVD-Rs.

Trésors Warner - La collection TCM : des titres inoubliables jamais édités en DVD et pressés à la demande.

All the selections appear to be from the WA, but at a higher price: 19.99 euros (about $26.00) each.

Since the price of WA titles from third-party etailers like Amazon are often pushed up to around that price, I can't say I mind the higher price tag. Esecially if I'm able to finally get a pressed copy of The Tall Target and maybe even Safe in Hell down the line

As far as I know this service is limited to French customers only.

I still think that, out of all the initial complaints about the Warner Archive, this has turned out to be a non-issue ... but, it does indeed beg the question of why they can press DVDs on demand in France but not in the US.