Bedlam / The Ghost Ship (1943-1946) from WAC

[ZODIAC-BLU]

My copy of 'The Seventh Victim' from the Lewton set started to act up around the 35 minute mark and same in another of my players. Not a mark on the disc--this title had better be coming from WAC...

[happydood]

Anybody think there'll be extras on these? I haven't looked at the dvd's in a minute and can't remember if there were commentaries before...

[SMOOT]

Originally Posted by thisis2

...i wish Warner had released The Leopard Man because as already mentioned in an above post the Shout release has that annoying hum during most of the dialogue..it was mentioned by others on the relevant thread at the time of its release..

I'm glad that you and one other on this forum mentioned this issue.

No review that I read gave any notice to this issue, and they often complemented the sound — As a result, I doubt the reliability of many of the reviewers.

I've had the disc since it was released, but just got around to watching it 3 weeks or so ago.
I kept hearing a hum when people would speak. I don't think one will hear it as much through a TV speakers, but it really is annoying if you have a good sound system. I went through my speaker connections and everything after watching The Leopard Man, and everything was fine. Yes, I thought it might be a problem with my system (especially after checking the reviews for the sound on many sites).

Well, it is not my system that is the problem, and I have yet to read a review that did not give high marks for the sound quality. So much for reviewer reliability.

[Big-D]

Originally Posted by happydood

Anybody think there'll be extras on these? I haven't looked at the dvd's in a minute and can't remember if there were commentaries before...

The Ghost Ship was the only one in the Val Lewton boxset that didn't have a commentary. Bedlam had one with Tom Weaver but hopefully we'll know soon whether we get anything on the Blu-rays.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by Big-D

The Ghost Ship was the only one in the Val Lewton boxset that didn't have a commentary. Bedlam had one with Tom Weaver but hopefully we'll know soon whether we get anything on the Blu-rays.

Pretty sure Isle of the Dead didn't have a commentary, and the one was newly recorded (either by WAC or perhaps Shout before they dropped it).

[Big-D]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

Pretty sure Isle of the Dead didn't have a commentary, and the one was newly recorded (either by WAC or perhaps Shout before they dropped it).

You're absolutely right, Isle of the Dead didn't have a commentary on the Val Lewton dvd boxset, but Steve Haberman recorded a new one for the WB Archives disc.

[Gunsnroses092789]

The new master of Bedlam is also streaming on Watch TCM, and is on par with The Ghost Ship and the other Lewton blu upgrades

[happydood]

Originally Posted by Big-D

You're absolutely right, Isle of the Dead didn't have a commentary on the Val Lewton dvd boxset, but Steve Haberman recorded a new one for the WB Archives disc.

Haberman is one of Shout's regulars, so I'm betting that was already done when they decided to pull it due to The Body Snatcher's sales. I know these Lewtons probably don't have quite the popularity to justify Curse of Frankenstein level extras, but new commentaries are always welcome...

[captainsolo]

The hum on The Leopard Man wasn't mentioned as far as I know until I brought it up in the thread on the Shout disc release. No one has acknowledged it officially. I think it was inherent to the source used as it is there on the DVD but much, much more faintly.

The WB DVD rot issue is I think much more massive than they want to let on. I find more and more discs that are shot and many in expensive OOP will never get another release most likely DVD sets from the DVD boom years. Then others I thought were unaffected suddenly go. I just had more give up the ghost like the director's cut Lethal Weapon in the 4 film favorites set.
At the start of the pandemic I was emailing back and forth with Sherri Bogard who I don't think is there anymore. She had said I would be able to get replacements for only the titles being made as WAC MOD DVDs once the lockdown ended but that I would have to send entire boxsets back and I was like um...no...I haven't gotten another response and have no idea if there's a customer service department any longer.
The one true hope is WAC BD releases of everything affected. I'm now leery about finding rare classic WB film DVD boxsets because there's a large possibility they're rotted.

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

The hum on The Leopard Man wasn't mentioned as far as I know until I brought it up in the thread on the Shout disc release. No one has acknowledged it officially. I think it was inherent to the source used as it is there on the DVD but much, much more faintly.

The WB DVD rot issue is I think much more massive than they want to let on. I find more and more discs that are shot and many in expensive OOP will never get another release most likely DVD sets from the DVD boom years. Then others I thought were unaffected suddenly go. I just had more give up the ghost like the director's cut Lethal Weapon in the 4 film favorites set.
At the start of the pandemic I was emailing back and forth with Sherri Bogard who I don't think is there anymore. She had said I would be able to get replacements for only the titles being made as WAC MOD DVDs once the lockdown ended but that I would have to send entire boxsets back and I was like um...no...I haven't gotten another response and have no idea if there's a customer service department any longer.
The one true hope is WAC BD releases of everything affected. I'm now leery about finding rare classic WB film DVD boxsets because there's a large possibility they're rotted.

Plus, all the $$$ we spent on all of those DVDs back in the day, thinking we would have these films forever, or at least more than 10 years. I guess the motto "nothing lasts forever" is key here, it was just an expensive 'nothing'.

[MifuneFan]

From the latest podcast with George Feltenstein: The films were scanned from original negative from Library of Congress. Bedlam will have the commentary from Tom Weaver.

[u2popmofo]

My copy arrived earlier, will be watching one of the films tonight!

[jfearnside]

Originally Posted by u2popmofo

My copy arrived earlier, will be watching one of the films tonight!

Awesome! So is it 2 discs or 1?

[happydood]

Anybody gotten a look yet? Mine's out for delivery apparently. Pretty excited for these titles.

[u2popmofo]

Originally Posted by jfearnside

Awesome! So is it 2 discs or 1?

1 disc.

Includes a Bedlam commentary and theatrical trailers as special features.

[happydood]

Originally Posted by u2popmofo

1 disc.

Includes a Bedlam commentary and theatrical trailers as special features.

You just beat me. It just arrived for me, too.

[u2popmofo]

Originally Posted by u2popmofo

1 disc.

Includes a Bedlam commentary and theatrical trailers as special features.

Update: The case mentions the trailers, but the disc seems to only have the commentary as a special feature.

I watched both movies. Both looked and sounded great (aside from some rough looking moments towards the beginning of Ghost Ship when they're walking around the deck, though this section appeared to be the movie showing its age rather than the source). My first time watching both, pretty happy with the disc.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Apparently a moth has been erased in The Ghost Ship during the digital clean-up of the film. The moth was originally created by rotoscoping the effect in. It is visible on the old DVD release and is mentioned in the dialogue.

According to Robert Harris, WAC are aware of the issue and a replacement program can be expected, though it make take some time due to Covid and the upcoming holidays.

[jfearnside]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Apparently a moth has been erased in The Ghost Ship during the digital clean-up of the film. The moth was originally created by rotoscoping the effect in. It is visible on the old DVD release and is mentioned in the dialogue.

According to Robert Harris, WAC are aware of the issue and a replacement program can be expected, though it make take some time due to Covid and the upcoming holidays.

Thanks for mentioning that, Mr. Thomsen! I knew something was off about that scene but couldn't put my finger on it at the time. Yes, the rotoscoped moth is now completely gone--the actors wave their hands at nothing in that scene. It's good to hear that a replacement disc is likely. This is more than a small goof.

[jfearnside]

Has anyone here heard yet if there's going to be a replacement program for this disc due to the rotoscoped moth in Ghost Ship being accidentally digitally eradicated?