Public Domain films on Blu thread!

[Crimson King]

The company VCI does great transfers of public domain films, sadly only one (Scrooge/A Christmas Carol 1951) has gotten a blu release. I just bought a two DVD set of Popeye cartoons for a measly $5 at Sears brand new, and it's the best I've ever seen those classic animations, much better than the Winstar version...

[Bluyoda]

Add "Charade" to that list, which recently got a pretty nice Criterion treatment on BD.

[bboisvert]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

The company VCI does great transfers of public domain films

Mostly, yes.

I'd love to see them put some of their stuff out on BD... it's amazing to me that we're approaching the 5-year mark for BD and there isn't a SINGLE serial released yet.

I realize that the source for many of these must be in terrible shape, but some of the biggies must have adequate source for a decent HD transfer.

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Add "Charade" to that list, which recently got a pretty nice Criterion treatment on BD.

Ture dat! I love the Criterion blu!, the transfer on the "Truth About Charlie" DVD (Charade was on side 2 of a "flipper disc", in anamorphic) was darn good as well!

[Crimson King]

Don't forget "Reefer Madness"!

[Crimson King]

Many of the older Sherlock Holmes films are in the public domain. I especially like the ones w/ Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

Don't forget "Reefer Madness"!

[Show spoiler]

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by ArmyOfDarknessAW

I thought Night Of The Living Dead was on Blu.

I betcha George Romero regrets it to this day that he did'nt properly Copyright NOTLD! I'm pretty sure Elite gave him some "grocery money" to do the audio commnetary on the Millenium Edition.

[The Dark Uniter]

I wouldn't mind having Night of the Living Dead, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu on Blu-Ray if though they have decent transfers.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

I betcha George Romero regrets it to this day that he did'nt properly Copyright NOTLD! I'm pretty sure Elite gave him some "grocery money" to do the audio commentary on the Millenium Edition.

He did properly copyright it, but as "Night of the Flesh Eaters"--
The studio changed the title to Living Dead, and they owned the title for...as long as they were around.
(Romero did own Dawn of the Dead, though, so he's not on food stamps. Does also explain why he gave us that cheesy 80's-color version of Night.)

As for Blu PD, we've had Scrooge, Charade and March mentioned, so there's not much further to go except for the Fleischer Gulliver's Travels, which's a mess , and Kino's Buster Keaton The General and Sherlock Jr., which are anything but.

Originally Posted by BillyJack

I just bought a two DVD set of Popeye cartoons for a measly $5 at Sears brand new, and it's the best I've ever seen those classic animations, much better than the Winstar version...

(And not the Warner-restored versions, which include the PD Technicolors? )

[WorkShed]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

I betcha George Romero regrets it to this day that he did'nt properly Copyright NOTLD

That mistake from the studio bankrupted Romero and sent him into a deep depression. I think he wanted to become a director of more than just zombie films, but he had to do Dawn of the Dead in order to achieve success.

Too bad he didn't quit at Land of the Dead (which I actually like). Diary and Survival are not even worth renting. It would be interesting to see him direct an episode of The Walking Dead, though.

[bboisvert]

Here come some more:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?studioid=699

Dementia 13, The Terror... really curious to see the quality on these.

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by bboisvert

Here come some more:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?studioid=699

Dementia 13, The Terror... really curious to see the quality on these.

I've seen a pretty good print of Dementia 13 on DVD, also have seen The Terror but the print was in pretty sad shape.

[Crimson King]

Watching Little Shop Of Horrors on THIS 4-DVD collectionhttp://www.amazon.com/Roger-Corman-Drive-Collection-4pc/dp/B003SEWMEM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1294374622&sr=8-2 of 10 Roger Corman films, this is the best transfer i've seen of it. Got it for a measly $4.99 at Borders last week! The embossed tin is uber cool!

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by The Dark Uniter

I wouldn't mind having Night of the Living Dead, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu on Blu-Ray if though they have decent transfers.

That shouldn't be a problem. Nosferatu's previous HD scan and restoration for the dvd version was extremely well done. They could put that same remaster on blu-ray and it would look stunning.

Battleship Potempkin which is on blu-ray is in public domain, though like nosferatu, the pd version is a shorter incomplete version.

[The Driver]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

I'm a big fan of the classics, and some of these classics are now in the "Public Domain"

"Five Corners"

That's due out http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ALIG56

I don't think "public domain" is true of all if many of those films you think are genuinely PD.

I wouldn't want to argue it in court either. Just because a film ends up in the 100 Greatest Sci-FI Fims 4 DVD set or some scumbag is selling a 10th generation low-quality dupe on eBay as PD doesn't mean it is.

Some of the true public domain movies are on YouTube Movies and places like that and the copyright status is usually well tested -and even then there maybe owners who license 100s of titles for pennies. They may still own the film though.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by The Driver

Some of the true public domain movies are on YouTube Movies and places like that and the copyright status is usually well tested -and even then there maybe owners who license 100s of titles for pennies. They may still own the film though.

Like Republic with "It's a Wonderful Life" or Kino with "Metropolis", a studio can own a restoration, and assert legal original copyright on ownership of the entire movie through that.
Problem is, in order to do that, they must first DO a restoration. Most don't bother, as it eats into the profits.

[bigshot]

That isn't true, Eric. It's A Wonderful Life was determined to not be PD because of stock music that still carried copyright. A restoration cannot be copyrighted. By definition, it's returning a film to its original state. There has to be added creative work, and even then, only the added material would be under copyright. Prints without the added material would still be PD.

[KrugStillo]

Originally Posted by bboisvert

Here come some more:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?studioid=699

Dementia 13, The Terror... really curious to see the quality on these.

It also lists a great 70's white trash flick with Shelley Winters called Poor Pretty Eddie. I hope they are using the new HD transfer that a friend of mine sold to Turner Classics. This guy collects prints, gets them transfers and sells them. My other buddy told me all about his deal with Poor Pretty Eddie supposedly it's completely uncut and a nice looking HD transfer. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[The Blu Knight]

Originally Posted by The Dark Uniter

I wouldn't mind having Night of the Living Dead, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu on Blu-Ray if though they have decent transfers.

The Japanese release is worth every inflated penny. It's looks on par with The Day the Earth Stood Still if not better if that's a point of reference. It's the most I've ever paid for a single film, but it sorta makes me understand how people could actually pay $50 for a VHS back in the day. Definitely the one worth owning and meant to own.