Criterion Newsletter (Part 2)

[Brevity]

Given the wording of the clue (and their Fox links), would they go through the trouble of including the Crosby remake as an extra? Is it abysmal?

[Titus]

I don't really get the supposed drawback of a potential release of Stagecoach. It's one of the two or three most canonical films of arguably the most canonical filmmaker America has ever produced, and the extant copy of it has an extremely mediocre transfer -- the original release from 1997(!) is actually superior to it. I understand the desire for films that are completely unavailable (on the subject of Ford, I'd prefer The Sun Shines Bright -- the only available version of this is a Spanish DVD that might be the worst quality disc in my collection, and it's one of Ford's great films), but I don't see why room can't be made for both ends of the spectrum. A good transfer of a new restoration on Blu Ray has the potential to positively dwarf the previous DVD in image quality, and it also allows for the possibility of new extras related not just to Stagecoach, but to Ford in general (such as the second part of the Anderson doc, even if Stagecoach doesn't fit the timeline for it). Begrudging them for this doesn't seem much different than complaining about them re-doing The Seventh Seal or Playtime or Seven Samurai, all of which have met with much acclaim, unless one just has reservations about the film's quality (I don't).

[HerrSchreck]

Criterion recently rescued two American films from obscurity. The Friends of Eddie Coyle and White Dog had never been released on home video, and had been nearly impossible to see for decades. Despite the fact that these were very accessible, English-language films (seemingly sure bets for Criterion), many people were disappointed when they finally saw them, and I imagine that they are not selling very well. Criterion can't afford to take those chances all the time.

Did you ever hear any positive confirmation anywhere along those lines? I'd be hugely curious-- I never got the sense that this was a consensus opinion for either of these films... I know I personally thought WHITE DOG was just a flat out capital B-BAD Film... as far as COYLE is concerned, I thought it a good film.. I just didn't see any of the claims of "Great" as valid. But in both cases, though I found some substantial agreement, I also met stiff resistance to these opinions. (I'm just talking in terms of here on the forum)

So I'd be super-interested to know if you're hip to any of the sales figures or an inside line from the co viz their general marketing assessment.

It's also interesting because the pedigree of these two films is very representative of the species of film they've been going for more and more as of late.

[Jeff]

For what it's worth, neither Tag Gallagher or Scott Eyman are aware of anything going on with Stagecoach.

Did you ever hear any positive confirmation anywhere along those lines? I'd be hugely curious

Pure speculation on my part, Schreck. I was just going by what I saw as the overwhelming consensus here and at a few other forums I peek at that both films were "meh." Criterion won't share their sales data with me or anybody else. They may have had high blind-buy rates on both titles upon release, because they had both been highly anticipated, but I just guessed that probably tapered off after reviews started coming out.

[souvenir]

I think The Friends of Eddie Coyle might've actually been a fairly strong seller thus far. My reasoning is based mostly on sales rankings for sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If you compare Criterion's other May releases right now at Amazon there's no competition. Wise Blood is ranked in the 13,000s, the Imamura set is in the 12,000s and The Friends of Eddie Coyle is 1,872. Last month when B&N had the Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale, Coyle was frequently hovering around the top 100 sellers. This is obviously only a segment of sales, but it's a reminder that the demographic of this forum isn't necessarily all that instructive here.

[Jeff]

This is obviously only a segment of sales, but it's a reminder that the demographic of this forum isn't necessarily all that instructive here.

A good reminder. I shouldn't have even included that speculation in my post, and you're absolutely right about the demo of this forum versus the real world. Coyle may be have got some impulse buys based on Mitchum's mug on the cover, and Jeff Wells has been pimping the film at his site for years.

[videozor]

I could live with the current WB SE Stagecoach, but Fort Apache (and whole trilogy) needs better edition (even in France there is a 2-disk SE of Fort... - not English-friendly though)

[movielocke]

Stagecoach makes sense, 70th Anniversary edition, WB has its plate full of high profile anniversary films this fall with Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind and North By Northwest, even if WB isn't licensing it to criterion, I can see why they wouldn't renew the license, th

[swo17]

If I'm right, The Long Voyage Home (possibly as a sequential spine with Stagecoach), Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be, and Kazan's A Face in the Crowd may not be far behind. Castle Hill also has the rights to Welles' Othello.

Warner had the bulk of the classics, but Castle Hill's library is licensed out all over the place. Criterion previously licensed all of the Cassavetes films from them.

I just noticed To Be or Not to Be is showing up as OOP on Amazon... [-o<

[justeleblanc]

These might be going OOP, but I wouldn't assume Criterion will gobble them up. Chances are Warner is slow with renewing the licenses. This has happened to Criterion before (Port of Shadows... hopefully Contempt as well).

[Jeff]

These might be going OOP, but I wouldn't assume Criterion will gobble them up. Chances are Warner is slow with renewing the licenses. This has happened to Criterion before (Port of Shadows... hopefully Contempt as well).

Normally, I wouldn't assume so either, but with the newsletter clue making Stagecoach seem like at least a possibility, it seems reasonable to think that if Criterion picked up one title from the Castle Hill library, they may have picked a couple more.

[Tribe]

Here are some other Castle Hill titles that I think Criterion should look into:

America, America (1963, Elia Kazan)
Baby Doll (1956, Elia Kazan)
Breaker Morant (1980, Bruce Beresford) - previously released on LD by CC
David and Lisa (1962, Frank Perry)
History is Made at Night (1937, Frank Borzage)
I Married a Witch (1942, Rene Clair)
Intervista (1987, Federico Fellini)

I've always hoped for a Breaker Morant from them. Also the Kazan's would be nice. A Criterion Baby Doll and/or A Face in the Crowd (which Jeff mentions is also a Castle Hill title) would make my day.

I just watched Breaker Morant, and while it does have an Image and Castle Hill logo on the box, after the FBI warning the disc opens with the HVE opening logo. The menu is a bit "busy," what with moving scenes from the film and all...very unlike an typical Image release. It looks like this had some actual work done on it by the HVE staff before the absorption by Image.

[domino harvey]

A Criterion of I Married a Witch would just about make up for everything wrong they've ever done

[domino harvey]

[bamwc2]

Are there any classic horse-themed silents turning a hundred next year?

[domino harvey]

Tom Mix boxed set is all I can come up with

[Tommaso]

Kurosawa was born in 1910. Can we finally get the missing early films, then?

[swo17]

Someone seriously needs to rein in these horse clues.

[Jameson281]

Joseph Losey would have turned 100 this year, so it's obviously his rarely-seen sequel to THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR called THE HORSE WITH RED HAIR (ON ITS NOSE).

[cdnchris]

It could be an Andrei Rublev reissue. Though I don't think the horse in that one made it to 100...

[Tom Hagen]

Actors and directors born in 1910.

[ianungstad]

I'm not familiar with Losey as a director but that might be a step in the right direction. Wasn't there a big centuary celebration for him at Cannes this year with a few films showing in restored prints? I don't know if a horse figures prominently in any of his films.

[Jameson281]

Actors and directors born in 1910.

But is the clue for a 2010 release, or a December 2009 release?

[bamwc2]

Actors and directors born in 1910.

Thank God that we're finally getting the unreleased Westerns of Scatman Cruthers and "Grampa" Al Lewis!

[fiddlesticks]

There is a 1910 British silent of Black Beauty...
so perhaps an Eclipse set of Hepworth Silents?
Although they might be tough to restore:

On 17 June 1924 a receiver was appointed who sold off Hepworth's company for a fraction of its worth. All of his original negatives were melted down to reclaim the silver.