The Iron Horse (1924), directed by John Ford - POSTPONED

[oildude]

Silent movie fans rejoice! John Ford's classic The Iron Horse (1924) is coming to Blu-ray on November 20, 2018, from Twilight Time. This will be a limited edition of 3000 copies. EDIT September 20, 2018: Postponed per Twilight Time - see second post below.

From IMDb....After witnessing the murder of his father by a renegade as a boy, the grown-up Brandon helps to realize his father's dream of a transcontinental railway.

Start Here:
Outstanding article from Turner Classic Movies on the epic silent film and the story of its production:
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/articl...ron-Horse.html


Directed by John Ford

Starring George O'Brien, Madge Bellamy, and Charles Edward Bull

More details to follow as they are announced.

[oildude]

News from Twilight Time:

Just a heads-up we have decided to postpone for the time being our upcoming blu-ray release of John Ford's classic, THE IRON HORSE (1924). We face an uncertain future with the pending sale of Fox to Disney, regarding whether or not restoration work will continue or cease on the Fox catalogue, but we figured that just on the off-chance more work might be done on this title, we'll put our decision off for a while.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by oildude

News from Twilight Time:

This will be really disappointing if this ends up getting the ax because of the Disney acquisition of Fox. I've been wanting this film forever.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

This will be really disappointing if this ends up getting the ax because of the Disney acquisition of Fox. I've been wanting this film forever.

It would really be quite infuriating given all the money Disney has.

I'm a bit confused by Twilight Time's statement though, are they saying a restoration was definitely "in progress" and now it's been put on hold? Or are they saying the elements they were set to use were a bit dodgy, and now they are seeing if Disney will do better? Because that sure as hell aint' likely. The latter interpretation doesn't really make sense, so I am going with the 1st one. That this is actually held up by the aquisition, and if so that can portend some really bad things from what we'll get out of Fox's catalog going forward.

Hopefully my interpretation is wrong, and it's just unique to this title. Given the release was going to be Nov, one would think they should have already known what type of shape this film would be in. Or do they announce titles that are being restored before even seeing the results of restorations?

[monwobbbo]

sounds like they are concerned about who is paying for the work to be done to me

[StarDestroyer52]

My intuition from that statement is that it's uncertain what the status of Fox restorations is with the Disney acquisition.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

My intuition from that statement is that it's uncertain what the status of Fox restorations is with the Disney acquisition.

I guess, but I would have thought that would have to do more with the future - with unannounced titles. Not so much titles just 2 months away.

If Disney is going to pull back on archival/restoration work, that is just another devastating blow for film lovers.

It's a grave future, with ATT taking Warner, and now Disney taking Fox. Those were two of the more decent studios, as far as their continued archiving/restoration work of obscure films (Warner Archive, Twilight Time, etc). Don't want to see any more studios go the way of Paramount and MGM, where the bulk of their licensed releases are unremastered garbage. At least those studios have an excuse, with financial issues (even BK in the case of MGM). Disney seems mighty cheap/neglectful.

[justwannaboogie]

I've just bought the MoC DVD for this. Sounds like a blu-ray release is unlikely?

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by justwannaboogie

I've just bought the MoC DVD for this. Sounds like a blu-ray release is unlikely?

I wouldn't count on it. Unlikely this is going to released in the English speaking countries

[Gunsnroses092789]

There's an official French BD release - probably from the same master as the MOC DVD though:

[HuggyBear73]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

There's an official French BD release - probably from the same master as the MOC DVD though:

Does this blu have burnt in subs? If not, I'm getting it.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

Does this blu have burnt in subs? If not, I'm getting it.

I don't have it, so I can't say for sure.

However, this review (in French) suggests that it has forced subtitles:

https://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/c160336-cheval-de-fer.html

Le sous-titrage des cartons est imposé.

-> The subtitling is imposed.

[CouncilSpectre]

Sidonis use forced subs.

[HuggyBear73]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

Sidonis use forced subs.

Thanks!

I just grabbed the US dvd (sealed) on Ebay.

[John_Drake]

I have the disc and the French subtitles appear well below the original English intertitles throughout. They aren't invasive.

[cinemania]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

Does this blu have burnt in subs? If not, I'm getting it.

I can confirm that I was able to disable the French subs with my player. I'm very pleased with this release: excellent transfer with the original intertitles!!