39 Steps (1935) Criterion Blu having trouble playing disc

[glennstl]

Hi,

I apologize that I had to create a thread for this, but I wasn't sure what else to do. I can't currently find a thread of it's own for Criterion's release of The 39 Steps from 1935.

I've owned this great movie for about 6 or 7 years. I've probably watched the disc about 3-4 times over the years.

I put it in today and for some reason it won't play on either of my two different brand Blu-ray players.

The Criterion "C" logo appears in the top left corner on screen when I put the disc in my players... but then the screen goes black on both players and the disc does nothing.

I checked the disc and physically, it doesn't look like anything is wrong. There are absolutely no scratches or anything I can tell that is wrong with the disc.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I've heard of "disc rot" ... but I don't really know what that is. Could this be a case... even though physically the disc appears in perfect condition?

Thanks for any help!

[James Luckard]

Hold the disc next to another disc, a brand new one that you know works.

Has the back side (the data side) of the Criterion disc bronzed? Does it have a yellowish or brownish tint compared to the other good disc, which should be silver?

If so, you'll need to contact Criterion about a replacement. They had a bunch of titles that bronzed and they're good about replacing them.

[a priori]

Exact same experience, except it was The Lady Vanishes. Purchased it when it was first released back in 2011 (I think), and played it few times, but then not for a few years until sometime in 2019. As in your case, disk looked pristine but just gets stuck on the wacky C on the upper left corner of the screen when inserted into a player.

I e-mailed Jon Mulvaney at Criterion and he told me to send it in for replacement. Received the replacement disk within 2 weeks of dropping the defective one in the mail.

If you look at the inner circle on the playing side where all the codes are, do you see "BVDL"? The re-stamped disks should have that code.

There's also a thread called "Early Blu-rays that may have playback issues (Criterion, ....)" that may interest you. https://forum.blu-ray.com/newreply.p...reply&t=328808

[lilboyblu]

A few years back, I had a The Lady Vanishes from around that same manufacturing era that did the same thing. No bronzing either; disc appeared to have just gone bad.

Edit: I see a priori did too.

[James Luckard]

Good point, my advice about bronzing may not fit everyone, not all discs that refuse to play exhibit visible bronzing.

Either way, Criterion is very good about replacing defective discs.

They will make you send in your original disc, which very few other places do, so it takes twice as long, because you have to ship your disc to them, and then wait for them to ship the replacement, but I've never had a problem and have replaced at least 5-6 discs with them for various reasons (bronzing, defects that caused recalls).

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by a priori

Exact same experience, except it was The Lady Vanishes. Purchased it when it was first released back in 2011 (I think), and played it few times, but then not for a few years until sometime in 2019. As in your case, disk looked pristine but just gets stuck on the wacky C on the upper left corner of the screen when inserted into a player.

I e-mailed Jon Mulvaney at Criterion and he told me to send it in for replacement. Received the replacement disk within 2 weeks of dropping the defective one in the mail.

If you look at the inner circle on the playing side where all the codes are, do you see "BVDL"? The re-stamped disks should have that code.

There's also a thread called "Early Blu-rays that may have playback issues (Criterion, ....)" that may interest you. https://forum.blu-ray.com/newreply.p...reply&t=328808

Hi,
Thanks so much for your reply! Do you happen to have Jon Mulvaney's email from Criterion? I'm not sure how else to find it. Thanks!

[a priori]

Originally Posted by glennstl

Hi,
Thanks so much for your reply! Do you happen to have Jon Mulvaney's email from Criterion? I'm not sure how else to find it. Thanks!

mulvaney@criterion.com

My understanding is that turnaround time for many customer service issues at Criterion will be much longer than usual because of the current situation.

[glennstl]

Originally Posted by a priori

mulvaney@criterion.com

My understanding is that turnaround time for many customer service issues at Criterion will be much longer than usual because of the current situation.

Hi a priori,

Thank you so much for the help and the email address! It's worth a shot trying to get a replacement copy. I really appreciate your help!

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by a priori

mulvaney@criterion.com

My understanding is that turnaround time for many customer service issues at Criterion will be much longer than usual because of the current situation.

Good point, their offices are in Manhattan, near Union Square I believe.

[GeoffOliver]

I bought the Criterion Hitchcock set last year (new from Amazon). Would those copies be more recent pressings done after Criterion’s defective early discs?

[Desi]

Originally Posted by lilboyblu

A few years back, I had a The Lady Vanishes from around that same manufacturing era that did the same thing. No bronzing either; disc appeared to have just gone bad.

Edit: I see a priori did too.

I too had The Lady Vanishes go bad about 5 years ago. No discoloration. The surface of the disc looked perfect. I contacted Jon Mulvaney and he had me send disc only back and a replacement came fairly quickly.

[originalHDphantom]

I'm curious; does Criterion reimburse the cost of you shipping them the nonworking disc?

[eddyw78]

Yikes I have both of these Hitchcock titles. I haven’t watched either since maybe 2018 so I may give them a spin later and see if I can get passed the Criterion logo. Some also say Walkabout was another likely candidate for issues but mine played perfectly last week.

[Desi]

Originally Posted by originalHDphantom

I'm curious; does Criterion reimburse the cost of you shipping them the nonworking disc?

No. They pay to ship you the replacement disc. Shipping charge is minimal if you use a small stiff sleeve. You aren't shipping the plastic enclosure and pamphlet - disc only (Criterion only ships a new disc to you, nothing else). You don't need a box or bubble wrap. Look at how Netflix ships discs - just a thin paper envelope (I think a cardboard sleeve is preferable).

[koberulz]

The one time I've had to return something to Criterion (I bought Asphalt Jungle in the B&N sale and it turned out to have the WB DVD disc in the Criterion packaging), there was no reimbursement but it cost less than five bucks Australian to send in, and that's international postage.

Given that I also got a refund from B&N, I figured that was more than fair.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by a priori

There's also a thread called "Early Blu-rays that may have playback issues (Criterion, ....)" that may interest you. https://forum.blu-ray.com/newreply.p...reply&t=328808

Back when the above thread first started (under another name), I wound up sending seven affected Criterion titles to them for replacement. Each one was replaced very quickly and courteously.

In my experience, Criterion is by far the most professional of all the labels when it comes to returns/replacements. KINO is also excellent. Warner’s is a bit of a mess with very long wait times for every single facet of the process. I guarantee that Warners will necessitate lots of email reminders and inquiries before you receive the replacement disc.

The absolute worst for any kind of customer service in the slightest is Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Not only are they extremely difficult to reach, but they will bounce you all over the vast corporate enterprise with baffling, near surreal responses. And in the end after six weeks of navigating the maze, they wrote and said there was nothing they could do. No replacements would be offered. Pray that none of your Sony discs ever fail.