Columbia Classics

[atcolomb]

...I hope "Lawrence of Arabia" is not too far behind....and to see "Ryan's Daughter" on blu-ray even if it's not his best film would be a treat.....

[souvenir]

Ryan's Daughter isn't Sony/Columbia. Warner Bros. released the DVD.

Regardless, a good review for the second film noir set is up at the former DVD Times.

[Finch]

Amazon US has preliminary specs for the Kwai BD

35 page book with stories and photos from the production
Replications of the original lobby cards
Bonus DVD version of the movie
William Holden and Alec Guinness on The Steve Allen Show
Newly Discovered archival audio of William Holden Narrating The Bridge on the River Kwai Premiere
Crossing the Bridge: Picture-in-Graphics track and more

They've also set up the preorder: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017O ... ray-000-20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's hoping that this fares better than Taxi Driver has to date..

[atcolomb]

I hope they have made a better print of the film. I thought the colors on the laserdisc and the dvd release were weak to me and also the image not as sharp. But maybe that's the condition of the original camera negative so i hope they did do some more restoration on it for the blu-ray release.

[jaredsap]

I hope they have made a better print of the film. I thought the colors on the laserdisc and the dvd release were weak to me and also the image not as sharp. But maybe that's the condition of the original camera negative so i hope they did do some more restoration on it for the blu-ray release.

It's a major new 4K restoration.

[Killerinstinct]

Sony promises 3 Stanwyck titles in upcoming Capra box set:

Q: Hi there, I love your Columbia Classics website. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many updates/hints on upcoming products as I would like. Nonetheless I visit this site regularly. To my question: What happened to the Capra set that was mentioned at the press release of the Film Foundation when the Collector’s Choice series was born? I’m dying to see the early Stanwyck/Capra titles and I do hope it’s still getting released.

A: The next volume of Frank Capra titles is still planned as one of the future Collector's Choice releases for next year. We have already shot some introductions, are working on other added value, and are continuing to restore and remaster the films. Forbidden, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, The Miracle Woman are three of the titles planned for the set, so Barbara Stanwyck is well-represented, we think. She's one of our favorites, too!

[perkizitore]

I've already own 2 of the 3 Stanwyck titles, so unless these DVDs are a major improvement over their R2 counterparts, it's a pass!

[hudakj]

That reply seems to imply that those 3 Stanwyck titles aren't the only movies released on the set. It's merely answering the question the person emailed regarding Stanwyck. There will likely be more Capras in the set from the same period (Pre-It Happened One Night), such as Dirigible and Ladies of Leisure

[perkizitore]

Yes, but if it's a 5 film boxset it would make sense only buying it during a sale and that given it has strong transfers.

[souvenir]

I don't know if anyone else has picked up the Kim Novak set yet but Sony went for two thin pak cases instead of using a digipak and divided the films among just three discs. One of the cases has a disc with Pal Joey while the other has two single-sided discs. So Picnic (113 mins.) shares a disc with Jeanne Eagels (109 mins.) and Bell, Book and Candle (102 mins.) is on the same disc as Middle of the Night (117 mins.).

[Jonathan S]

Bell, Book and Candle (102 mins.)

Is that definitely the timing on the new set? If so, it appears to be the same length as my UK DVD which (after PAL speed-up) is 98 minutes. However, I've read that is a cut version and that the previous R1 edition is 106 minutes - the length also given by Amazon and imdb.

[HarryLong]

I don't know if anyone else has picked up the Kim Novak set yet but Sony went for two thin pak cases instead of using a digipak and divided the films among just three discs. One of the cases has a disc with Pal Joey while the other has two single-sided discs. So Picnic (113 mins.) shares a disc with Jeanne Eagels (109 mins.) and Bell, Book and Candle (102 mins.) is on the same disc as Middle of the Night (117 mins.).

I'm trying to decide if that's as cheesy as or cheesier than the packaging for their most recent Hammer & the Toho sets with their mini-cakeboxes.
(I know that realistically the audiences for these kinds of collections are relatively small compared to, say, the number of people who will pick up JACKASS 3 when it comes out, and the studios need to economize, but ...)

[Ashirg]

The Films of Rita Hayworth set now has a release date - November 2. The same day Sony will also release the individual discs of films from Jack Lemmon Film Collection for 14.94 list price each.

[atcolomb]

I wonder if Columbia will re-release Rita's "Lady From Shanghai" and in blu-ray?....that would be nice......

[Ashirg]

Maybe later, but the only Blu-ray also scheduled for November 2 is The Bridge on the River Kwai.

[Cash Flagg]

Extras on the Hayworth set, from Classic Flix:

* Baz Luhrmann on Cover Girl
* Introducing Miss Sadie Thompson with Patricia Clarkson
* Patricia Clarkson on Tonight and Every Night
* Commentary with Author/Filmmaker Richard Shickel

The link doesn't specify which film(s) Schickel does the commentary for. I didn't know Patricia Clarkson was such a Hayworth buff!

[andyli]

The commentary is for Gilda.

[Cash Flagg]

The commentary is for Gilda.

Incidentally, a BFI monograph on Gilda by Melvyn Stokes was released last month.

[Perkins Cobb]

Wow, Schickel AND Luhrmann in the same set. They should retitle it Enemies of Cinema Present Rita Hayworth.

[Jameson281]

Looks like Sony is going the Warner Archives/MGM-Amazon DVD-R route: a bunch of Sony titles have been announced for DVD-R release on the Critic's Choice website. Only titles I've heard mentioned so far have been horror and sci-fi, but that's probably because I heard the news on a horror movie website. Titles coming out on September 21 and 28, $24.95 each:

Soul of A Monster (1944)
The 27th Day (1957)
The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957)
The Spiritualist (already out on various PD labels as The Amazing Mr. X) (1948)
A Study in Terror (1965)
The Mad Room (1969)
The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970)
The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959)
Nightwing (1979)
A Reflection of Fear (1973)
The Night the World Exploded (1957)
Twelve to the Moon (1960)
Valley of the Dragons (1961)

[Frankinho007]

About 100 titles are listed at Deep Discount and Critic's Choice as DVD-Rs. Over at the HomeTheaterForum I posted a - probably not - complete list of titles I found but Sony wasn't that happy and therefore the list got deleted.
Someone close to Sony wrote:

an announcement will be forthcoming but that nothing has been finalized yet, so take what you may have seen with a grain of salt.

Most of the titles are B or C movies and there are only a couple of "higher" profile titles listed.

[souvenir]

A quick browse through the Critic's Choice site shows Nicholas Ray's Hot Blood is also included. Among the other titles that I'd consider prominent are 10 Rillington Place, 711 Ocean Drive, I Never Sang for My Father, Mickey One, The Juggler, The Pumpkin Eater, and Footsteps in the Fog.

[Matt]

Head gets a Criterion Blu-ray but Mickey One ends up as a DVD-R. What a world.

[tojoed]

They must take an odd view of "The Pumpkin Eater" since they recently released it on DVD proper in the UK. It doesn't make any sense to me, but what's new.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

Here's the full list of titles I could find (all being released on 9/21):

Address Unknown (William Cameron Menzies!)
Apache Territory
Arizona Raiders
Battle of the Coral Sea
Birds Do It
The Black Arrow
Blame It on the Night
A Bullet Is Waiting
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Robert Altman TV-Movie)
The Canterville Ghost
The Case Against Brooklyn (Excellent little thriller)
Cell 2455, Death Row
Charge of the Lancers
City Streets
Conquest of Cochise (William Castle)
The Contract on Cherry Street
Counter-Attack
Crash Landing
Criminal Lawyer
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Detour to Terror
Doctors’ Wives
Duffy
The Executioner
Family Reunion
Father Is a Bachelor
Fire on the Mountain
Five Finger Exercise
Flight of the Doves
Footsteps in the Fog
Forbidden Trail
Fragment of Fear
Fury of the Congo
Genghis Khan
The Guilt of Janet Ames
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Heart
Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is
Hart to Hart Returns
Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart
Hoedown
Hot Blood
Hot Stuff
I Never Sang for My Father
The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel
The Interns
Johnny Allegro
The Juggler (Underrated drama with Kirk Douglas)
Jungle Manhunt
Jungle Moon Men
The Long Haul
The Love-Ins
The Love Machine
The Mad Room
Man on a String
The Man Who Turned to Stone
A Memory in My Heart
Mickey One
The Mind of Mr. Soames
Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story
The National Health
New Orleans Uncensored
The Night the World Exploded
Nightwing
No Greater Glory (I love this film... maybe it deserved better?)
No Time to be Young
Nobody’s Perfekt
Otley
Over 21
Pickup Alley
The Pumpkin Eater
Pygmy Island
A Reflection of Fear
Saddles and Sagebrush
Sahara (1995 TV-Movie remake of Bogart movie... with Jim Belushi in the role!)
711 Ocean Drive
A Severed Head
The Shadow on the Window
A Song to Remember
Song Without End
The Soul of a Monster
The Spiritualist
Storm Center
A Study in Terror (Another excellent little thriller)
Surprise Package
Swing Vote (1999 Andy Garcia TV-Movie)
Synanon
The Take
Tarawa Beachhead
10 Rillington Place
Terror Among Us
Thieves (Andre Techine!)
30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock
Three Stripes in the Sun
To Sir, With Love II
Twelve to the Moon (Hilariously bad cheapie with Francis X. Bushman... I first saw it on MST3K)
The 27th Day (Creepy Sci-Fi thriller with Rod Serling overtones)
Undercover With the KKK
Valley of the Dragons
Violets Are Blue
Winter a Go-Go