Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[theater dreamer]

You guys are going to cost me a chunk of change, haha.

I wish they were still releasing Blus.

[BenOswald]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

People can say what they want about Twilight Time, but they put out a good chunk of Fox catalog titles that weren't getting released at that point (the 2010's), and definitely aren't getting released now that Disney owns Fox stuff.

I 10000% agree with this, there's so many TT I wish I coulda grabbed when they were falling apart. Although there's some that have been re-released, there's so many titles I struggle to find that I wish I woulda splurged on:

Experiment in Terror

Cat Ballou

Violent Saturday

Whirlpool

The Snake Pit

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

You guys are going to cost me a chunk of change, haha.

I wish they were still releasing Blus.

I forgot about The Gangs All Here until Dailyan mentioned it. I love musicals but I'm not really a big Busby Berkeley guy. I blind bought it during a TT sale figuring I probably wouldn't like it and ended up loving it. Carmen Miranda steals the film and The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat number which features "dozens of scantily clad women handling very large bananas" has to be seen to be believed. According to wikipedia, "in the US, the censors dictated that the chorus girls must hold the bananas at the waist and not at the hip" .

I enjoyed the film so much I even contemplated importing the region 2 Eureka release for the better transfer (the TT transfer looks faded) but I procrastinated too long.

[Taylor3978]

Originally Posted by Bradsdadg

I could go on Singing is a must if you are a Judy Garland fan. Wow she could bring it!

This is a nice double-bill, one dramatizing what you can see happening IRL in the other (Judy died months after making ICGOS):

[Taylor3978]

This is a little-known TT release I was surprised to see:



Irish neo-noir, Neil Jordan's first film, starring Stephen Rae (They would work together again in The Crying Game) and the late great Ray MacAnally.

[RandCanuck]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

I enjoyed the film so much I even contemplated importing the region 2 Eureka release for the better transfer (the TT transfer looks faded) but I procrastinated too long.

I had both, and after comparing the two, I actually sold the Eureka. They are so different, that it was a tough call as to which I preferred. I toggled between them with my teenage son, and we both ended up preferring the TT disc. However, I wouldn't argue the point. It depends on what you like. I found the Eureka to be a bit jaundiced and anemic, while the TT is more contrast-y. Neither is perfect.

[Kenneth M]

Stumbled upon these two excellent interviews with Twilight Time's former creator Nick Redman and wanted to post them. It's surprising how many aspects ten years ago are still relevant today.

Nick Redman of Twilight Time Interview - 10/03/2014

Interview begins at 0:40:32

Nick Redman of Twilight Time Interview - 10/02/2015

Interview begins at 0:27:25

[repulsed]

Originally Posted by BenOswald

I 10000% agree with this, there's so many TT I wish I coulda grabbed when they were falling apart. Although there's some that have been re-released, there's so many titles I struggle to find that I wish I woulda splurged on:

Experiment in Terror

Cat Ballou

Violent Saturday

Whirlpool

The Snake Pit

Sony recently announced Cat Ballou is coming out on Blu-ray June 18th.

[Shane Rollins]

My number one TT disc I want (either to get a TT disc at a reasonable price or for someone to reissue it properly) is Hawaii. Right when there were a few cheap(er) ones on eBay is when my finances got wrecked.

Such great luck I have.

I know Sandpiper put it out, but the superior roadshow version was missing.

[mack_the_black]

Originally Posted by Taylor3978

This is a nice double-bill, one dramatizing what you can see happening IRL in the other (Judy died months after making ICGOS):

Not quite right, I Could Go On Singing wrapped production on 13 July 1962. Judy died on 22 June 1969 (almost 7 years later).

This was Judy's final "completed" film though (She worked on Harlow and Valley of the Dolls but never completed her work on either production).

[SuperApe]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

My number one TT disc I want (either to get a TT disc at a reasonable price or for someone to reissue it properly) is Hawaii. Right when there were a few cheap(er) ones on eBay is when my finances got wrecked.

Such great luck I have.

I know Sandpiper put it out, but the superior roadshow version was missing.

Doesn't sound like you're missing much. From the TT review:

Original Roadshow Version (480i; 3:08:56). Oh, the horror. Did my old 2 VHS set really look this horrible? One has to assume so, for this has the look of having been taken directly off of an old video master. It's window boxed (i.e., it's not anamorphically enhanced) and there are recurrent video anomalies like aliasing and pixellation in abundance. Still, for completists (like yours truly), it's nice to be able to at least see some of the excised material, as well as to hear even more of Elmer Bernstein's gorgeous score.

[HarryAlbright89]

Just acquired From the Terrace, In the French Style, The Revolt of Mamie Stover, and Bob & Carol from the Screen Archive sale. Beyond happy that there are still titles floating about all these years later.

[jstxanothrxstory]

I looked through the last few pages, so I'm sorry if this has been discussed already. I know plenty of title that TT released have since either gotten domestic or international releases (seems like a lot have come out through Indicator), but are there any releases where TT is either its only release or the better release? (Such as The Egyptian and Hawaii, where the Twilight Time releases are the definitive versions of what's available).

I haven't really followed much of what happened with them in a while, so just trying to see if there's anything worth tracking down.

[Danespina]

Love my Snake in the Eagle's Shadow/Drunken Master double pack.

Both movies are on the same disc but both are great quality. I watch them all the time.

[Areyakiddin]

Originally Posted by jstxanothrxstory

I looked through the last few pages, so I'm sorry if this has been discussed already. I know plenty of title that TT released have since either gotten domestic or international releases (seems like a lot have come out through Indicator), but are there any releases where TT is either its only release or the better release? (Such as The Egyptian and Hawaii, where the Twilight Time releases are the definitive versions of what's available).

I haven't really followed much of what happened with them in a while, so just trying to see if there's anything worth tracking down.

Any release licensed from Fox is a good place to start.

[Mose Harper]

Originally Posted by Areyakiddin

Any release licensed from Fox is a good place to start.

Yeah, very few, if any, of those have been released elsewhere.

[klauswhereareyou]

If this label would've kept going I wonder if they would've ever put out any 4K UHDs?

[Cecil B. DeMille]

Originally Posted by jstxanothrxstory

I looked through the last few pages, so I'm sorry if this has been discussed already. I know plenty of title that TT released have since either gotten domestic or international releases (seems like a lot have come out through Indicator), but are there any releases where TT is either its only release or the better release? (Such as The Egyptian and Hawaii, where the Twilight Time releases are the definitive versions of what's available).

In short: A lot of their Fox releases (e.g. blu-rays of classic Cinemascope films) were only released by the label. And they might remain the only blu-rays of these films for years to come, considering Fox has not really been doing deals with boutique labels since the Disney takeover. Quite a few of their Columbia films have a so far only been released by Twilight Time as well, though Sony (in the US) and Indicator (in the UK) have been re-releasing a selection of these titles at a slow pace over the last couple of years. A few prominent Columbia films are still only available on Twilight Time blu-rays however, e.g. most of their 3D titles.
The third studio Twilight Time did a lot of business with is MGM. MGM has been working with a lot of boutiques, both in the US and the UK. As a result, the majority of the MGM films have since been re-released on blu-ray. Oftentimes they have also been bested through superior transfers. Recently, Sandpiper has been putting out a lot of the older Twilight Time MGM titles, albeit without offering new transfers let alone supplements.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

If this label would've kept going I wonder if they would've ever put out any 4K UHDs?

I've wondered the same. I know Nick didn't think optical media would last as long as it did, but had Nick not passed and if TT continued it's very possible they may have gotten into 4K.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by jstxanothrxstory

but are there any releases where TT is either its only release or the better release? (Such as The Egyptian and Hawaii, where the Twilight Time releases are the definitive versions of what's available).

TT releases were almost always bested by their European counterparts (or in certain US cases like The Mechanic.)

But their release of The Seven-Ups is damned definitive.