Douglas Sirk on Blu-ray

[James Luckard]

US releases





Note that the US KL release of All I Desire has a technical error - badly crushed blacks. Caps are later in the thread. This disc is not recommended. The French and Spanish discs are superior.

Only available overseas


The UK set "Sirk in Germany" contains his first three features: "April April!", "The Girl from the Marsh Croft" and "Pillars of Society". It also has three shorts he directed.


This 2023 French set contains all 7 of his German films, but only has French subtitles. The 1934/1935 Eureka set will cover the first half, and if we get a 1936/1937 Eureka set, it'll cover everything in this French set.

Only available on DVD

[James Luckard]

The following titles are only available on DVD, but are not in the database here:

Only on DVD overseas:

TAKE ME TO TOWN

https://www.amazon.fr/S%C3%A9ductric.../dp/B082PQMKPW

MEET ME AT THE FAIR

https://www.amazon.fr/Joyeux-Charlat...dp/B07NRHGJLM/

Only on DVD overseas, with no subtitles:

BOEFJE

http://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/boefje/1002004005043734/

Not directed by Sirk, but overseen by him and considered among his films. Only on DVD overseas, with no subtitles:

ACCORD FINAL

https://www.amazon.fr/Accord-final-J...dp/B07FSN4YJG/

Portions directed by Sirk during reshoots:

AGAINST ALL FLAGS


The following films by Sirk have never had a release anywhere in the world, on any home video format:
- Mystery Submarine (1950)
- The First Legion (1951) - there is a UCLA restoration, but it has not been released on home video
- The Lady Pays Off (1951)
- Week-End with Father (1951)

[karsten]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

The following films by Sirk have never had a release anywhere in the world, on any home video format:
- April, April! (1935)

I don't know if these sources count, but April, April is available via a couple of DVD-R providers. Here's one, which even features switchable English subtitles. A video sample is on offer.

https://www.rarefilmsandmore.com/apr...s#.YcZ11VlOmUk


Here's another. No subtitles in this instance, but the picture quality might be a bit better.

https://filmhauer.net/april-april-1935-p-15532.html

Again, judge by the sample.

I've sourced videos from both sites in the past. They do fulfill orders, but shipping can sometimes take a while.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by karsten

I don't know if these sources count, but April, April is available via a couple of DVD-R providers. Here's one, which even features switchable English subtitles. A video sample is on offer.

https://www.rarefilmsandmore.com/apr...s#.YcZ11VlOmUk


Here's another. No subtitles in this instance, but the picture quality might be a bit better.

https://filmhauer.net/april-april-1935-p-15532.html

Again, judge by the sample.

I've sourced videos from both sites in the past. They do fulfill orders, but shipping can sometimes take a while.

I actually ordered April, April! from them in summer 2020, but at that point, they hadn't completed subtitles for it. Good to know they have now.

Sirk's early films were all done for UFA, the major German studio. It was dissolved after WWII. A new company exists in Germany, under the same name, but the classic UFA films don't belong to it, they all belong to the Murnau Stiftung, a foundation. I don't know if these films were ever copyrighted in the US, but if they were, it would be by the defunct version of UFA. I don't know if the Murnau Stiftung has any copyright on the films currently established in the US, but companies like rarefilmsandmore certainly exist in a gray area.

This version of April, April! seems to be sourced from a German TV airing, it has never had any form of official home video release, in Germany or anywhere else, as far as I know.

I hope someone (maybe the wonderful KL? ) licenses a restored version of April, April! from the Murnau Stiftung, along with Sirk's other remaining German films. I hope their upcoming set sells well, in order to make that happen.

[James Luckard]

I've recently gotten addicted to Sirk, and have been watching all his films that I can find, starting with his early German films.

Many of his films are not available in the US, but a lot are available from France.

He truly was a genius. His early films, before the big Universal melodramas, are really begging for rediscovery.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I've recently gotten addicted to Sirk, and have been watching all his films that I can find, starting with his early German films.

Many of his films are not available in the US, but a lot are available from France.

He truly was a genius. His early films, before the big Universal melodramas, are really begging for rediscovery.

A couple years ago I caught a 35mm screening of Girl at the Marsh Croft and it was also a great film. One of his first, I believe. Lincoln Society of Cinema in NYC I think played every one of his films over the course of a month.

[silverlakephil]

Eureka/MOC released The Tarnished Angels and A Time to Love and A Time To Die in the UK and I believe both are out of print. I have their release of The Tarnished Angels and it has some good extras and a booklet.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

Eureka/MOC released The Tarnished Angels and A Time to Love and A Time To Die in the UK and I believe both are out of print. I have their release of The Tarnished Angels and it has some good extras and a booklet.

Yep, I have both of those, but I left off any OOP discs if there are versions in print.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

A couple years ago I caught a 35mm screening of Girl at the Marsh Croft and it was also a great film. One of his first, I believe. Lincoln Society of Cinema in NYC I think played every one of his films over the course of a month.

I saw it! Great film! Even from his first film, April, April!, he was a major talent.

[Aunt Peg]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I've recently gotten addicted to Sirk, and have been watching all his films that I can find, starting with his early German films.

Many of his films are not available in the US, but a lot are available from France.

He truly was a genius. His early films, before the big Universal melodramas, are really begging for rediscovery.

I discovered Sirk back in the early 1990s which was probably about 10 years after his films were reassessed by then contemporary film critics. This resulted in lots of repertory screenings including a lot of his German films too.

I'm partial to his melodramas myself and really can't get enough of All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind & Imitation of Life in particular.

There is also some great books written on Sirk which are worth seeking out one that includes an interview with him.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

I discovered Sirk back in the early 1990s which was probably about 10 years after his films were reassessed by then contemporary film critics. This resulted in lots of repertory screenings including a lot of his German films too.

I'm partial to his melodramas myself and really can't get enough of All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind & Imitation of Life in particular.

There is also some great books written on Sirk which are worth seeking out one that includes an interview with him.

I just bought this book and am reading it:

https://www.amazon.com/Films-Douglas...dp/1496822374/

It appears to be the first history and analysis that covers each film in his career.

I want to get this book, which is apparently the definitive interview book with him, but used copies go for around $70, so I'm looking for a copy at a reasonable price:

https://www.amazon.com/Sirk-Cinema-o...dp/0670647152/

There are only 6 of his films I still have to see, and I think I've found sources for them.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I just bought this book and am reading it:

https://www.amazon.com/Films-Douglas...dp/1496822374/

It appears to be the first history and analysis that covers each film in his career.

I want to get this book, which is apparently the definitive interview book with him, but used copies go for around $70, so I'm looking for a copy at a reasonable price:

https://www.amazon.com/Sirk-Cinema-o...dp/0670647152/

There are only 6 of his films I still have to see, and I think I've found sources for them.

The Sirk on Sirk book can be had for $41 on Abe Books, if that's a more fair price for you

[Aunt Peg]

There was also a box set of a number of Sirk films including Has Anybody Seen My Gal released in the UK years ago now on DVD.

No Room For the Groom was released in France on DVD with removable subtitles.

Written on the Wind has also been released on Blu Ray in Australia.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

There was also a box set of a number of Sirk films including Has Anybody Seen My Gal released in the UK years ago now on DVD.

No Room For the Groom was released in France on DVD with removable subtitles.

Written on the Wind has also been released on Blu Ray in Australia.

I tried to leave off any European DVDs where there are US alternatives without PAL speedup. But it's true, a few of these titles have been released in other markets too.

I made this list focused for US buyers and those buyers who (like me) have an aversion to PAL speedup and want to avoid it at all costs.

Some of his titles have only had PAL DVD releases though, which is why I included them.

[Aunt Peg]

There was also a box set of a number of Sirk films including Has Anybody Seen My Gal released in the UK years ago now on DVD.

No Room For the Groom was released in France on DVD with removable subtitles.

Written on the Wind has also been released on Blu Ray in Australia.

[ex-beldvd man]

There is a BIG boxset of Sirk movies to be released in France (18 movies, 14 blurays and 4 DVD as some material isn’t good enough for a HD release):
https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/vie...29765#p2829765

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by ex-beldvd man

There is a BIG boxset of Sirk movies to be released in France (18 movies, 14 blurays and 4 DVD as some material isn’t good enough for a HD release):
https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/vie...29765#p2829765

It appears to be a boxset of all the individual titles that Elephant has released over the last few years. I don't see any new titles in it.

Any Elephant titles that don't have US alternatives are in the list above.

Depressingly, I assume this means Elephant is done with Sirk and won't be releasing the 3 final Universal titles that remain, and have never had video releases anywhere:

Mystery Submarine
The Lady Pays Off
Week-End With Father

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

It appears to be a boxset of all the individual titles that Elephant has released over the last few years. I don't see any new titles in it.

Any Elephant titles that don't have US alternatives are in the list above.

Depressingly, I assume this means Elephant is done with Sirk and won't be releasing the 3 final Universal titles that remain, and have never had video releases anywhere:

Mystery Submarine
The Lady Pays Off
Week-End With Father

Perhaps they have clearance issues, or there are source/element issues.



In other news, just got Kino's Blu-ray of All I Desire courtesy of Bullmoose who is giving it for $15.97

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

Perhaps they have clearance issues, or there are source/element issues.

I believe those three are fully owned by Universal, like the others.

They can't look any worse than Meet Me at the Fair did, the Elephant DVD of that appeared to be sourced from an old VHS, and they apologized for this in a card at the beginning. Still it was the first release of that film anywhere, ever.

I suppose it sold poorly, and put them off releasing the final three if they were in equally poor shape.

[HaroldnMaude]

I have the dvd version of Eureka's Region 2 release of A Time to Love & A Time to Die. It also has a nice booklet. I think perhaps when I got it, the blu-ray was already OOP. I see big $$$ are being asked for it. There is a much cheaper Spanish blu-ray which is listed as region free, and is likely a bootleg of the Eureka disc.
Edit: decided to put this on, the dvd is in Pal and the speedup is quite annoying, like everyone is on methamphetamines (of course they are all supposed to be Nazis, so maybe it's fitting, since they all were fed speed). DVDbeaver says this problem was resolved with the later blu-ray release.