Ziegfeld Follies (1945)

[BijouMan]

Warner Archive has revealed that it will add six new titles to its Blu-ray catalog this June. They are: There Was a Crooked Man (1970), Guns for San Sebastian (1968), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Chain Lightning (1950), It Happened at the World's Fair (1963), and Madame Curie (1943).

[Matt89]

Yup, this is literally posted at the top of the main page.

We're well aware.

~Matt

[turner6]

Any idea if this new release will include the stereo tracks (they are available on the DVD and the laserdiscs released a long time ago) ?

[DrBabylon]

I actually rented this on Prime not too long ago because my girlfriend wanted to watch it, and of course it was in SD and looked like hot, blurry garbage on a projector. I am pretty interested to revisit this in proper HD actually. I didn't care much for the comedic segments, we ended up just skipping through them after a while, but the musical sequences I think hold up very well. Gorgeous technicolor, lavish and exquisite sets and costumes, and impressively choreographed for its time. It's not a release I would normally go for, but I'm glad Warner Archive is putting it out.

[The80s]

Do these Warner Archive Collections usually come with any special features? Or are they usually just bare-bones releases?

[Mikeyos]

Originally Posted by The80s

Do these Warner Archive Collections usually come with any special features? Or are they usually just bare-bones releases?

It really depends on the movie. A lot of special features on Warner Archive discs are carried over from the DVD version's special features. Sometimes, that means that you'll only get a trailer but not always. Generally, when I buy WA movies, I assume that I'll be getting a fantastic restoration and maybe some special features carried over if I'm lucky.

[bigshot]

I remember watching this is HD when it was on the Warner Archive streaming channel. The Technicolor was amazing. The film is pretty much hit and miss though.

[The80s]

Originally Posted by Mikeyos

It really depends on the movie. A lot of special features on Warner Archive discs are carried over from the DVD version's special features. Sometimes, that means that you'll only get a trailer but not always. Generally, when I buy WA movies, I assume that I'll be getting a fantastic restoration and maybe some special features carried over if I'm lucky.

Do you have any guesses about what 'It Happened At The World's Fair' might have? (I brought it up in that thread but no one really goes in there)

Sounds like WA does good restoration work. I'm happy about that.

[BlueCotton]

Happy to report that the new Ziegfeld Follies blu-ray has the stereo track and picture quality is gorgeous!
A very satisfying upgrade.
Contains the Overture and Exit Music too!

[Randy Miller III]

Originally Posted by BlueCotton

Happy to report that the new Ziegfeld Follies blu-ray has the stereo track and picture quality is gorgeous!
A very satisfying upgrade.
Contains the Overture and Exit Music too!

I second that! Site review (with 20 screenshots) is live if you're interested.




Ziegfeld Follies Blu-ray Review

[dukiejosh54]

Originally Posted by The80s

Do you have any guesses about what 'It Happened At The World's Fair' might have? (I brought it up in that thread but no one really goes in there)

Sounds like WA does good restoration work. I'm happy about that.

Just got The Word's Fair in the mail and the only special feature it has is the trailer. The picture quality is amazing though as Usual with WAC.

[OneWayFilms]

I know movies like this are a bit different and un-traditional, but this is a Hollywood Classic that deserves it's own spot in my collection. Just ordered it and can't wait to watch it when it arrives.

[Greycomm]

Originally Posted by BlueCotton

Happy to report that the new Ziegfeld Follies blu-ray has the stereo track and picture quality is gorgeous!
A very satisfying upgrade.
Contains the Overture and Exit Music too!

One item which belies the reviewer's age is when he said the Overture and Exit Music are presented "with their original title cards." Most folks here know that title cards for overtures, etc. are a contrivance of the home video era, because that music played through closed curtains in theatres. Homevid first cut them off, then put up title cards because some people won't understand why their screen is blank and complain about it. Amazon cut those parts off the digital Funny Girl and other roadshows because of complaints like that. I consider it brave that Sony chose not to create such cards and left the screen blank. Are the overture and exit music on the digital version of Ziegfeld Follies?

[Greycomm]

Originally Posted by The80s

Do these Warner Archive Collections usually come with any special features? Or are they usually just bare-bones releases?

In the infancy of home video, Warner's used their deep catalog to build "A Night At The Movies" tapes that added cartoons, shorts, and trailers to the feature. Only a few of those show up on DVD and BluRay, but they're not programmed to play in sequence. I miss that, and even more, hate that some discs don't even bother with menus, (Music Man, Fiddler, etc.) forcing the viewer to dive for the remote if they're used to having a choice of viewing the extras first. It seems like people who author these things view them as software more than entertainment.

[keithvg]

I read in The Digital Bits that the movie originally ran 3 hours in preview and that several numbers were cut to reduce the running time. Any idea what happened with them? We're talking about 2 Fred Astaire sequences, a Lena Horne song amongst others.