criterionforum.org

Personally, I'd like to see more Mitchell Leisen on the way: Midnight especially, but also Easy Living (I know the latter is available via "TBLITW" but I'd prefer Indicator's design, more extras and a booklet).

Many years ago, I was walking with a friend down the sidewalk of a large strip mall, and as this car passes us (heading in the same direction), we can hear Tom Petty's "American Girl" blasting through the window. Then seconds later, this guy on a bicycle (dressed like he just got off work at Best Buy) passes us going in the opposite direction, and it's obvious he heard the song too because he's singing the next verse. My friend catches this and picks up the next lyric which happens to be the chorus. I see this and tell him on the spot - "holy shit, this would be an AWESOME musical, and it's happening in real life." It was the kind of idea that made you wish you were a director on a big budget musical so you could implement it the next day, but then a few years later, I finally see Love Me Tonight and find out that Mamoulian already had the same idea about 80 years ago.

But yeah, really great musical, and one of the very best in my book.

More Liesen always and forever. My dream, impossible release is his first film, Cradle Song, which has never had a home video release in any form at all, but which exists in at least one film print, as it was shown at the Stanford Theater a few years ago. I'd also love No Man of Her Own and The Mating Season (post-1949, so still Paramount, and the former was an Olive title, so hopefully TBLITW will pick it up now that Olive is defunct), as well as Swing High Swing Low (which only exists in an awful VHS rip, afaik), To Each His Own, and Four Hours to Kill (pre-1949, so presumably with Universal).

reaky wrote:Mamoulian’s LOVE ME TONIGHT.

Despite having bought the Kino, this will be an immediate pre-order purchase for me. I felt the Kino BD to actually be a downgrade in image quality from the DVD, and I trust Indicator to do a much better job grading and encoding even if the original elements are not in ideal shape.

TBLITW

I feel like I’m thumbing through Games magazine here trying to figure this out

Spoiler

Don’t worry, I eventually figured out that TBLITW = the Best Label in the World (AKA Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

senseabove wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:48 pm More Liesen always and forever. My dream, impossible release is his first film, Cradle Song, which has never had a home video release in any form at all, but which exists in at least one film print, as it was shown at the Stanford Theater a few years ago. I'd also love No Man of Her Own and The Mating Season (post-1949, so still Paramount, and the former was an Olive title, so hopefully TBLITW will pick it up now that Olive is defunct), as well as Swing High Swing Low (which only exists in an awful VHS rip, afaik), To Each His Own, and Four Hours to Kill (pre-1949, so presumably with Universal).

In addition to many of those masterpieces, Kitty (1945) and Song of Surrender (1949) are both also languishing, the latter being virtually unwatchable.

Finch wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:21 pm Personally, I'd like to see more Mitchell Leisen on the way: Midnight especially, but also Easy Living (I know the latter is available via "TBLITW" but I'd prefer Indicator's design, more extras and a booklet).

senseabove wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:48 pm More Liesen always and forever. My dream, impossible release is his first film, Cradle Song, which has never had a home video release in any form at all, but which exists in at least one film print, as it was shown at the Stanford Theater a few years ago. I'd also love No Man of Her Own and The Mating Season (post-1949, so still Paramount, and the former was an Olive title, so hopefully TBLITW will pick it up now that Olive is defunct), as well as Swing High Swing Low (which only exists in an awful VHS rip, afaik), To Each His Own, and Four Hours to Kill (pre-1949, so presumably with Universal).

HinkyDinkyTruesmith wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 12:15 am

senseabove wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:48 pm More Liesen always and forever. My dream, impossible release is his first film, Cradle Song, which has never had a home video release in any form at all, but which exists in at least one film print, as it was shown at the Stanford Theater a few years ago. I'd also love No Man of Her Own and The Mating Season (post-1949, so still Paramount, and the former was an Olive title, so hopefully TBLITW will pick it up now that Olive is defunct), as well as Swing High Swing Low (which only exists in an awful VHS rip, afaik), To Each His Own, and Four Hours to Kill (pre-1949, so presumably with Universal).

In addition to many of those masterpieces, Kitty (1945) and Song of Surrender (1949) are both also languishing, the latter being virtually unwatchable.

Several Leisen titles are able to license from Universal from Hollywood Classics and Park Circus: Death Takes a Holiday, Hands Across the Table, Easy Living, Midnight, Arise My Love, No Time for Love, Frenchman's Creek, To Each His Own, and Golden Earrings. Worth noting that UK rights for both Easy Living and Midnight aren't available on Hollywood Classics it seems, so maybe Indicator have licensed those (or perhaps Criterion in the case of Easy Living).

Lady in the Dark, No Man of Her Own and Captain Carey, U.S.A. are also available from Paramount, but the likelihood of Paramount actually responding to license requests is minimal (maybe eventually when they realise their streaming platform isn't as lucrative as they thought it was).

I suggested ages ago that a Preston Sturges set would still be worth doing, and could include both a Leisen title (Easy Living) and a Wyler one (The Good Fairy), if they were to do it similar to their Fuller set, and perhaps a couple of other titles too (e.g. Thirty-Day Princess, Diamond Jim). Of course the Sturges-directed titles left to release in the UK that are realistically available are The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Great Moment (and perhaps Sullivan's Travels would be worth including in a box set; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is still with Paramount, so bit of a long shot).

hearthesilence wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:34 pm Many years ago, I was walking with a friend down the sidewalk of a large strip mall, and as this car passes us (heading in the same direction), we can hear Tom Petty's "American Girl" blasting through the window. Then seconds later, this guy on a bicycle (dressed like he just got off work at Best Buy) passes us going in the opposite direction, and it's obvious he heard the song too because he's singing the next verse. My friend catches this and picks up the next lyric which happens to be the chorus. I see this and tell him on the spot - "holy shit, this would be an AWESOME musical, and it's happening in real life." It was the kind of idea that made you wish you were a director on a big budget musical so you could implement it the next day, but then a few years later, I finally see Love Me Tonight and find out that Mamoulian already had the same idea about 80 years ago.

And these guys picked up that baton some 50 years later.

Great story, though!

rapta wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 5:06 pm
I suggested ages ago that a Preston Sturges set would still be worth doing, and could include both a Leisen title (Easy Living) and a Wyler one (The Good Fairy), if they were to do it similar to their Fuller set, and perhaps a couple of other titles too (e.g. Thirty-Day Princess, Diamond Jim). Of course the Sturges-directed titles left to release in the UK that are realistically available are The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Great Moment (and perhaps Sullivan's Travels would be worth including in a box set; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is still with Paramount, so bit of a long shot).

If I Were King, The Power and the Glory, and maybe Strictly Dishonorable (Sturges wrote the original stage play) would also fit nicely in a Sturges set.

Stefan Andersson wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:26 pm

rapta wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 5:06 pm
I suggested ages ago that a Preston Sturges set would still be worth doing, and could include both a Leisen title (Easy Living) and a Wyler one (The Good Fairy), if they were to do it similar to their Fuller set, and perhaps a couple of other titles too (e.g. Thirty-Day Princess, Diamond Jim). Of course the Sturges-directed titles left to release in the UK that are realistically available are The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Great Moment (and perhaps Sullivan's Travels would be worth including in a box set; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is still with Paramount, so bit of a long shot).

If I Were King, The Power and the Glory, and maybe Strictly Dishonorable (Sturges wrote the original stage play) would also fit nicely in a Sturges set.

The Power and the Glory is a Fox title so very unlikely to be licensable, but the other two could be possible (assuming you mean the Stahl version of Strictly Dishonorable). Not sure whether If I Were King is with Universal or Paramount but Kino Lorber recently released it.

rapta wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:46 pm

Stefan Andersson wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 8:26 pm

rapta wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2023 5:06 pm
I suggested ages ago that a Preston Sturges set would still be worth doing, and could include both a Leisen title (Easy Living) and a Wyler one (The Good Fairy), if they were to do it similar to their Fuller set, and perhaps a couple of other titles too (e.g. Thirty-Day Princess, Diamond Jim). Of course the Sturges-directed titles left to release in the UK that are realistically available are The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, Hail the Conquering Hero and The Great Moment (and perhaps Sullivan's Travels would be worth including in a box set; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is still with Paramount, so bit of a long shot).

If I Were King, The Power and the Glory, and maybe Strictly Dishonorable (Sturges wrote the original stage play) would also fit nicely in a Sturges set.

The Power and the Glory is a Fox title so very unlikely to be licensable, but the other two could be possible (assuming you mean the Stahl version of Strictly Dishonorable). Not sure whether If I Were King is with Universal or Paramount but Kino Lorber recently released it.

Thank you very much for the update!

I wonder if we could see a W.C. Fields boxset in the near future. I believe all, if not most, of his films are with Universal and we haven't seen any U.K. releases yet.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Sun Jul 23, 2023 12:18 am I wonder if we could see a W.C. Fields boxset in the near future. I believe all, if not most, of his films are with Universal and we haven't seen any U.K. releases yet.

Whenever I pick up a Kino release these days, an Indicator one seems around the corner, so that’d figure

Furstemberg wrote: Thu Jul 20, 2023 3:55 pm Wow. The 30s Paramounts keep coming and I couldn't be happier. Indicator's recent releases of those titles prompted me to go region-free recently, and with more Mamoulian and at least one Sylvia Sidney on the way I don't think I've ever regretted anything less. I received Song Of Songs and Thunderbolt yesterday - sumptuous, stacked, loving editions that put the amateurish region A editions to shame.

and the best part is Indicator will almost always port the region A extras too, making it very worthwhile. some exceptions apply, but the addition of the Nick Pinkerton commentary on Thunderbolt saved me from having two discs on the shelf

it's cool to see directors like Mamoulian, James Whale, and Mitchell Leisen are having their moments in the spotlight big time, love it. I really want to see Easy Living, Midnight, and By Candlelight come from Indicator, all three very much seem like titles they'd go for.

The latest newsletter clue was identified on the other forum to be for Guest House Paradiso.

so uh, awesome announcements today:

An American Tragedy (1931, Josef Von Sternberg)
Honor Among Lovers (1931, Dorothy Arzner)
Love Me Tonight (1932, Rouben Mamoulian)
Desire (1936, Frank Borzage)

I almost bought the last one in the Kino sale, glad I didn't!

Finch wrote:The latest newsletter clue was identified on the other forum to be for Guest House Paradiso.

What, the Rik Mayall film? Doesn't seem particularly Indicatory, and the clue looks like a 40s picture.

My post was from August.

the new hint is from

Spoiler

The Thirteenth Hour (1947), part of the Whistler series from Columbia. seems that Indicator have more coming from Sony, and likely this would be a boxset, especially since William Castle directed multiple entries

Glad to see so much Dorothy Arzner coming to disc. I've been wanting to see all of these films for years, and now I...well, get to do so.

mistakaninja wrote: Fri Sep 22, 2023 2:06 pm

Finch wrote:The latest newsletter clue was identified on the other forum to be for Guest House Paradiso.

What, the Rik Mayall film? Doesn't seem particularly Indicatory, and the clue looks like a 40s picture.

It does mark Vincent Cassel's second Indicator appearance though! Guest House Paradiso is the feature film spin-off of the great BBC series Bottom, which is both a more uncouth 90s version of The Young Ones and a profane live action Looney Tunes cartoon!. The feature length version, as is usually the case with these kind of things, is not quite as good as the series, but still worthy of an Indicator spine number.

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Sep 22, 2023 1:48 pm so uh, awesome announcements today:

An American Tragedy (1931, Josef Von Sternberg)
Honor Among Lovers (1931, Dorothy Arzner)
Love Me Tonight (1932, Rouben Mamoulian)
Desire (1936, Frank Borzage)

I almost bought the last one in the Kino sale, glad I didn't!

I did get the Kino disc when it was released, which had two commentaries.

The first from Samm Deighan. I can see why this wasn't ported over. The usual myriad of actor/crew bios and some vague/superficial stuff about the European setting, "the war", "the code". When it comes to BORsaash (as she calls him), it doesn't go beyond Wikipedia either, even though a quick google will give you two thorough/perceptive articles on the director: Kent Jones (Film Comment) and Joe McElhaney (Senses of Cinema). She didn't even need to go to the library! She then wonders why Borzage hasn't been reclaimed "like Hitchcock and Orson Welles", seemingly unaware that he's been an auteurist favourite (though not necessarily with Cahiers) since... the 1960s? Of course, the wiki entry doesn't say that, so...

The other (ported over by Indicator) is a conversation between David Del Valle and Nathaniel Bell. This one is sort of a missed opportunity, imo, because Del Valle tends to get excited and go off on tangents. His knowledge goes well beyond Wikipedia, which makes it worthwhile, but you can sense Bell itching to go a bit deeper at certain points, mentions both Herve Dumont's book on Borzage and John Belton's Souls Made Great by Love and Adversity, but each time Del Valle will interrupt him with another anecdote.

The Kino presentation, from a "brand new 2K master," was quite good, but the Indicator posting says 4K, so it might be worth a double dip anyway? If we were to get something like the Twentieth Century Indicator release.

Guest House Paradiso was released in the UK by Universal, I think, which might account for the Indicator interest. I can't remember a thing about it now other than a long tracking shot of Ade on a motorbike at the start.

Bottom was one of the most influential of UK sitcoms, not least in school playgrounds of the early 90s! The slapstick violence was imitable but the Waiting for Godot-style set-up was what really stood out. "How much meat can you get off a Womble?"

ryannichols7 wrote: Fri Sep 22, 2023 1:48 pm so uh, awesome announcements today:

An American Tragedy (1931, Josef Von Sternberg)
Honor Among Lovers (1931, Dorothy Arzner)
Love Me Tonight (1932, Rouben Mamoulian)
Desire (1936, Frank Borzage)

I almost bought the last one in the Kino sale, glad I didn't!

Well if this is what happens right after I say they seem to be on the long slow road to Vinegar Syndromedom, I'll say it again.

I thought Kino’s Blu-ray of Love Me Tonight was actually a step down from their original DVD, so I hope (and expect) that Indicator’s presentation will be much better.