Meet John Doe and The Green Hornet Serial coming to Blu-ray in 2023

[milojthatch]

So I recently reached out to VCI about the possibility of either The Green Hornet serial or the film Meet John Doe coming to Blu-ray anytime soon. Both titles are in the public domain as far as I know, but VCI probably has the best DVD versions of both, so they seemed like the best place to look into. This was the e-mail I got back:

You will be happy to know that THE GREEN HORNET Serial will be our next 2K Restored chapter play and will be available in early 2023. We have begun a search for good 35mm materials on MEET JOHN DOE and hope to be able to release a new 4K restoration also in 2023.

Thank you for your interest!

Best regards,
Bob


Robert Blair
President at VCI Entertainment

I welcome anyone else here interested in either to also reach out to VCI. In fact, that might be a good thing to show interest in the titles. I understand there will be some that will complain, but I for one am excited about this news!

[50strat54]

Great news!

[MifuneFan]

VCI

Also, probably best to make two seaprate threads for these since they're completely different things.

[milojthatch]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

VCI

Also, probably best to make two seaprate threads for these since they're completely different things.

Be my guest.

[Dave Bannion]

Can’t speak to all VCI’s Blu-ray serials, but Gang Busters looked fantastic and I’ve read good things about the others. Guessing Green Hornet will be equally impressive.

[Abdrewes]

I love Meet John Doe. Maybe my favorite Capra.

[Deadend45]

Where does VCI look for film prints? In fast food dumpsters?

[filmlover22]

I still haven't forgotten how horrible their Topper films looked. Angel on my shoulder, which supposedly came from a 4k transfer, got few
reviews.

Consider me jaded about this company. But I wait for reviews before purchasing.

[Dave Bannion]

The serials like Green Hornet are restorations done by Universal, I think. At least I believe VCI licenses those titles from Universal. So those have every reason to look good.

[Vixen of the Night]

I haven't seen Meet John Doe in years. I remember enjoying it a lot. I've been waiting to see it again, hoping a decent release comes out someday. So. This is great news!

[milojthatch]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

I still haven't forgotten how horrible their Topper films looked. Angel on my shoulder, which supposedly came from a 4k transfer, got few
reviews.

Consider me jaded about this company. But I wait for reviews before purchasing.

Playing devil's advocate and let's assume VCI releases look like crap, I'd still take that over no release at all, but that's just me. I've got a few VCI releases. I don't see an issue when the full context is considered.

Originally Posted by Dave Bannion

The serials like Green Hornet are restorations done by Universal, I think. At least I believe VCI licenses those titles from Universal. So those have every reason to look good.

Yeah, I couldn't remember about that title, but I knew Meet Joe Black was public domain. Still, very exciting!

[filmlover22]

Originally Posted by milojthatch

Playing devil's advocate and let's assume VCI releases look like crap, I'd still take that over no release at all, but that's just me. I've got a few VCI releases. I don't see an issue when the full context is considered.!

Fair enough, but Doe seems a pretty major title, imho. Just hoping VCI does it justice.

Does anybody know what ever happened to the 4k restoration of Rain (1932)? Amazon has it being released on Sept 13, 2022, but we known that Amazon has been wrong on future order release dates before. Is this still happening?

[drush9999]

Last major Frank Capra for me, great news. My current DVD is atrocious.

[filmlover22]

btw- the reviews for the 1932 Rain 4k restoration have been very favorable. Maybe they have turned the corner on PQ!

[50strat54]

Has anyone here seen Ball Of Fire with Stanwyck and Cooper, I love this movie!

Would be great for a bluray release.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by 50strat54

Has anyone here seen Ball Of Fire with Stanwyck and Cooper, I love this movie!

Would be great for a bluray release.

Yes, but it would have to come from Warner Archive. It's a Samuel Goldwyn title, and Warner has the home video license for all their classic titles.

[captainsolo]

A great upgrade on the Green hornet and a dream title in a 4K scan of Meet John Doe.

[Egbert Souse]

Puzzled to why they're "searching" for materials on Meet John Doe when UCLA preserved it years ago and holds the original elements, including the camera negative.

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Puzzled to why they're "searching" for materials on Meet John Doe when UCLA preserved it years ago and holds the original elements, including the camera negative.

If that's the case, it still doesn't guarantee that UCLA would be willing to share them.

[Robert Furmanek]

I found the original 35mm nitrate camera negatives at a storage facility in Fort Lee, New Jersey circa 1990. They were acquired by the Packard Humanities Institute and restored by Grover Crisp at Sony.