Is it just me, or do have improved their covers? (well, at least some of them)

Yep. They've gone a long way since Knock on Wood and those Bob Hope films.

Wow! I'm going to have to have every one of those. The fact that the company is run by assholes is sorely disappointing, but you can't argue with their library and their commitment to Blu-ray.

Ha. I actually just bought that and the German disc of The Dark Mirror. Oh well, welcome upgrades all the same.

Definitely buying the two noirs, will consider buying a couple more if I can afford them.

They really keep gobsmacking you don't they!

I remember buying the superb French Wild Side DVD of Secret Beyond the Door god knows how many years ago, seven or eight? and absolutely swooning at the beauty of the transfer even then. The sublime Stanley Cortez photog has always screamed out BluRay long before the format was even invented. Can't wait, ditto the Siodmak Domino.

As I said two pages ago this label is the new MoC (Certainly in its approach to hands off best available master and scan/encode. No unnecessary manipulation or grain reduction. One only hopes the new VP Archive who replaced Ron Smith at Paramount has not gone mad with the degraining on their three strip resto of Quiet Man. She turned what should have been a gorgeous new 4k scan of Funny Face from 8 perf vista to wrinkle free Plastic. (A totally wasted opportunity.) I hope Olive is alert to these things, including Mr Tarzi who I am sure is carefully, very carefully watching where every dollar has to go. It has to be said these things dont come cheap and we all know what bastards Paramount can be, were, are. Remember the Criterion Sternberg box? I have no doubt Olive is balancing ever dollar of investment in this amazing label, on cost, to sales on a razor sharp wire. At the moment there seem to be a roomfull of us who are basically buying every fucking things they put out. I hope they can keep it going. Like MoC.

I look forward soon to their Republic Borzage double of Moonrise and I've Always Loved You, with the UCLA color three strip resto of the latter corrected and re color graded for BD.

I was struck by this when I saw it last year, too, how much more seamless the effects were than I would have expected. Wouldn't have expected to see it on Blu, but I agree that it's a good choice.

I only wish that MoC could manage the volume that Olive has!

I asked them about Moonrise, along with Siodmak's The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry and de Toth's Pitfall, and they said that all 3 films are no longer part of the Republic library so they can't release them. I'm not sure if the rights reverted to another company or perhaps to a producer, but whomever has them I wish Olive would license from them. Especially Moonrise.

Goddamn, I am SO excited for Secret Beyond the Door, one of my top noirs. The Dark Mirror is great too, and I'm looking forward to checking out Man-Trap and A New Leaf.

I watched THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY on netflix around two or so years ago and seem to recall it had an unfamiliar logo header before the film proper. It was kind of generic like those old NTA (National Television Associates) headers back in the days of local affiliate syndication prints threaded through slide/film chains but was definately a new entity from the digital age. The encode was pretty dire and the print didn't look much better than the one I originally saw on WTBS way back in the '70's. Anyone here recall how this Universal title ended up out of the fold. And is CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY (which I've never seen) similarly affected?

I've been waiting what feels like at least a year for A New Leaf after Olive was announced having the rights, PRAYING it'd be a bluray. Hallelujah. It's too bad it can't be May's original cut (She disowned the theatrical after heavy studio cuts), but I doubt that version exists in salvageable material. Pity.

I really hope Caught and Macbeth are in the next batch of titles, can't wait to watch both in HD!

Bugger! Is it with Caidin? All three need releasing I agree.

Olive is definitely kicking into overdrive - the slate they have is incredible. I vaguely remember something about their subscription service when they launched but their initial announcements didn't interest me much. Is that still available? If not, what's the best place to buy Olive in BULK?

I believe Christmas Holiday is still owned by Universal. In the UK it's available separately but is part of the Durbin series licensed from Universal. What a misleading cover image! According to the top Amazon customer review, Gene Kelly's estate "has attempted to suppress" the film.

The UK rights issues for Uncle Harry and the Republic (or ex-Republic) library differ, but the fine copy shown on UK TV in recent years begins with the original 1940s Universal logo and fanfare. The main title states "Charles K Feldman presents... a Universal Release" so maybe the rights reverted to Feldman? (Is there a similar problem with the Feldman-produced The Glass Menagerie, or is that one a literary rights issue?)

Is it true we'll get Fassbinder's Bollwieser from these fellas soon?

The DVD is horrible, and apparently it's one of his better films.

^It's true.

Jonathan: Thanks for reminding me of the Charles K. Feldman credit on UNCLE HARRY. And yes, that may well be why it and GLASS MENANGERIE are in some kind of rights limbo. With the exception of RED RIVER, which I believe was his maiden production effort and may well have been superceded by Hawks' Winchester Productions, I can't immediatly recall any Feldman Productions that are available until his long running association with Columbia beginning around 1960 and WALK ON THE WILD SIDE. I'm riffing on pure memory now so I could be way off base.

Anyway I'm curious about any "non-criminal" or "period" Siodmak noirs as they're so rarely seen. Not surprised about Kelly (and heirs) attitude regarding CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY but I guess I should pick up a bio and find out how he was coerced into it. I'd love to see THE SUSPECT again.

To get back on topic there seem to be a lot of "mini-libraries" that have accrued to Republic over the years (mainly the shortlived Enterprise titles and Warner son-in-law Milton Sperling's United States Pictures) and I'm glad they're all getting attention from Olive.

Numero Deux Beaver Review

Another of Beaver's infamous screenshot taking.

Gonna wait until my boss is standing behind me to open it.

I really wish they'd ditch the non-removable subs.

Yeah, that's a letdown. Are they burned in or just forced? Because the copy of the film in the Intermedio 'Ensayos' box didn't have burned-in subs.

It seems to be a company thing as their english language titles never have subs. The only exception to this is 1900 which has multiple language options.