Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by JasonMichael

I have been waiting for "A-Lad-In His Lamp" to come out on disc. One of my favorite Looney Tunes, Jim Backus gave an excellent performance in it! A restored version would be one of my favorite things ever.

I love Carl Stalling's music for this, too!

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

I love Carl Stalling's music for this, too!

An under appreciated genius for sure. His musical scores and Mel Blanc's voicing were easily half the entertainment of Looney Tunes and made Warner Bros cartoons true comedy classics.

[Areyakiddin]

Originally Posted by Justin2000

Oh wait, they can't do The Bugs Bunny Show cause Pepe Lew Pew is on the show.

I'd bet on "Which is Witch" being the thing that stops this from ever coming out, just like "Mouse Cleaning" and "Casanova Cat" were for the second volume of T&J GC.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by Areyakiddin

I'd bet on "Which is Witch" being the thing that stops this from ever coming out, just like "Mouse Cleaning" and "Casanova Cat" were for the second volume of T&J GC.

I don't think "Which is Witch" was ever shown on "The Bugs Bunny Show"; it was part of the syndicated package.

[Areyakiddin]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

I don't think "Which is Witch" was ever shown on "The Bugs Bunny Show"; it was part of the syndicated package.

At the very least, Wikipedia lists it as being in the tenth episode of the first season.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by Areyakiddin

At the very least, Wikipedia lists it as being in the tenth episode of the first season.

Interesting to know. However, it must have been part of a later syndicated package of cartoons, because I distinctly remember watching it on my local UHF station back in 1980. It certainly was never shown on "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show."

[Strumm]

I have a list of which cartoons were on each episodes. Which is Witch is in Episode 10. Other episodes include A Lad in his Lamp, Beanstalk Bunny, and Pappy's Puppy. I imagine if it is next, these cartoons would be restored as well

[EVOLVIST]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Speaking of Hitchcock, nobody ever talks very much about FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT. Perhaps if Cary Grant had played the lead role, it would be more widely discussed today. At any rate, I think it's a crackerjack thriller with a fine cast, and the Criterion Blu-ray is highly recommended. And now back to WAC....

I know that we are digressing, but that's the internet for ya.

How does Foreign Correspondent look anyway? I've been eyeballing it, but I've been afraid to take the leap with its paltry 24mbps encode. That's pretty low. I simply always question that now that I've made the jump to a 4K screen.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by EVOLVIST

I know that we are digressing, but that's the internet for ya.

How does Foreign Correspondent look anyway? I've been eyeballing it, but I've been afraid to take the leap with its paltry 24mbps encode. That's pretty low. I simply always question that now that I've made the jump to a 4K screen.

To my eyes, it looks very nice indeed, and I heartily recommend it!

[EVOLVIST]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

To my eyes, it looks very nice indeed, and I heartily recommend it!

Well, staying on target, I think I'll hold off for a bit. My list of WAC titles that I want is still massive, and I went ahead and preordered For Me and My Gal.

Now I'm just deciding what to order next from WAC. I'm going to go through the horror/sci-fi titles in more depth tonight.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by EVOLVIST

Well, staying on target, I think I'll hold off for a bit. My list of WAC titles that I want is still massive, and I went ahead and preordered For Me and My Gal.

Now I'm just deciding what to order next from WAC. I'm going to go through the horror/sci-fi titles in more depth tonight.

Plenty of good possibilities there. I, of course, prefer vintage horror and Hammer films.

[Matt89]

Finally picked up Gaslight today, it's been on my wishlist for some time. WAC is quickly becoming one of my favourite labels, their restoration work is just fantastic.

That being said, my WAC wish list is also huge. I sorta like that they only put out a handful of titles each month, it makes it a lot easier to keep up (even though I'm still behind lol).

~Matt

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Finally picked up Gaslight today, it's been on my wishlist for some time. WAC is quickly becoming one of my favourite labels, their restoration work is just fantastic.

That being said, my WAC wish list is also huge. I sorta like that they only put out a handful of titles each month, it makes it a lot easier to keep up (even though I'm still behind lol).

~Matt

Yeah, WAC's Blu of GASLIGHT just blows the old DVD out of the water - a superlative restoration. By the way, if you want a good-looking HD copy of the 1940 original, be sure to check out the BD/DVD combo from BFI.

[ponderingtheuniverse]

Ziegfeld Girl dropped down to $17.99 on Amazon. Is there a chance the other two Garland titles will have a drop in price as well, before the release date?

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

Just FYI - Kino got The Paradine Case from Disney/ABC

That's true. I meant that MGM only focused on the biggest three titles from the Premiere DVD set for BD releases before abandoning the rest.

Originally Posted by CineClassics

Does Warner own the rights to the RKO library of films? Just watched 1937's Stage Door and immediately went on the hunt for a blu-ray, to of course discover that it hasn't been released.

I keep hoping it gets done soon. The film is an underrated gem that brings so many legendary actresses together under one roof. It's worth the price of admission just for the sparks that fly between Ginger Rogers and Hepburn. And it is the lone film of the Comedy Classics DVD set without a BD upgrade.

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

They do but the RKO archive is in very bad shape so they don't dip into it for Bluray very often. I believe we're getting The Gay Divorcee soon so that'll be a good opportunity to see what can be done with current tools. In the majority of cases for that RKO material, the Blurays are more a fresh opportunity to retransfer from best sources, repair faults and clean up rather than anything you would honestly call HD. If the new remasters were released as DVD editions there wouldn't be that much in it - it's a preservationist endeavour more than a home theatre experience. Still absolutely worth doing wherever possible but it's not going to be night and day.
During the early part of the pandemic, the BBC acquired long term broadcast and streaming rights for a big wodge of the RKO library in the UK, and some of the masters seriously stink. And there are no better in most cases. I think realistically a lot of the films are lost causes unless they start selling extraordinarily well.

The RKO library is still mostly stuck in older video masters done waaaay back. These were released on VHS and a good number on LD via Image and the RKO Classic Collection line. These video masters get run on TCM and are almost always the source of WAC MOD DVDs since that's all there is. I pick up any of the LDs when I can because you're usually getting the same master as the DVD-r but with PCM audio. The image quality is what it is and to be honest you get used to it. On the Image LDs its on par with their older no effort classics releases and I usually have to bring down the contrast to balance the image back out.
Most studios still have the bulk of their library only in old video masters dating back decades which is why you see masters like these as the bulk of MOD releases.

Originally Posted by gudemameshiba

What about Murder, My Sweet? Apparently one of the prints deposited at the Library of Congress is a master positive, so maybe that explains it, but the difference between the 2004 DVD and 2015 Blu-ray is significant.

WB started restoration efforts for each Film Noir DVD volume. You'd have to go back to Image's LD release in the RKO collection or Turner VHS releases to see the film pre-cleanup.

[gudemameshiba]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

The RKO library is still mostly stuck in older video masters done waaaay back. These were released on VHS and a good number on LD via Image and the RKO Classic Collection line. These video masters get run on TCM and are almost always the source of WAC MOD DVDs since that's all there is. I pick up any of the LDs when I can because you're usually getting the same master as the DVD-r but with PCM audio.

That's a great idea, and I had no idea so many RKO features were released on laserdisc!

[captainsolo]

They did quite a number before and after the primary series with RKO branding which has 119 releases: https://www.lddb.com/search.php?adv_...tion=6&max=250
Some of these have never had another release. The one I have that I'm positive won't see another release is the film based on Amos and Andy, Check and Double Check. And oh boy is it so unbelievably insensitive that it makes Song of the South complaints look like nothing.

Like WB and other studios there's also a good number that were only released on VHS. If there's no MOD version you have to go back to tapes sadly.

[darrellmaclaine]

That reminds me, I was trying to get hold of 1953's 'Remains To Be Seen' (June Allyson and Van Johnson in a comedy noir with songs!), and it's never had ANY commercial release, not even a WAC DVD! Could be one of the most obscure MGM musicals of all, as it isn't on any of the (inaccurate but widespread and seemingly taken as gospel now) online masterlists of them. Wonder why it's never the bride.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by ponderingtheuniverse

Ziegfeld Girl dropped down to $17.99 on Amazon. Is there a chance the other two Garland titles will have a drop in price as well, before the release date?

Yes, $17.99 is a common Amazon price point for WAC blu rays. If you’re patient they’ll likely have even lower drops. The trick is determining when to pull the trigger. It’s kind of like playing the stock market.

[Ned Brainard]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

That reminds me, I was trying to get hold of 1953's 'Remains To Be Seen' (June Allyson and Van Johnson in a comedy noir with songs!), and it's never had ANY commercial release, not even a WAC DVD! Could be one of the most obscure MGM musicals of all, as it isn't on any of the (inaccurate but widespread and seemingly taken as gospel now) online masterlists of them. Wonder why it's never the bride.

It's probably a matter of a rights situation with either the source material or music. There are a number of films in the Warner library out of official circulation due to such problems (Perfect Specimen, Letty Lynton, Escapade, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?, Ceiling Zero, The Trial of Mary Dugan, etc.). Sometimes the rights can be sorted as was seen a few months ago with Angels with Dirty Faces, but I wouldn't necessarily count on that happening with all of these "rights hell" titles.