Peter Pan with Mary Martin OOP?!!!

Went to find a copy of this for my granddaughter and was surprised to find it out of print. Then shocked to see what a copy of the Goodtimes DVD is going for...120 used and 370 dollars new!!!!!!!!
What the hell is the deal? I wish now I had bought it when I saw it at Wal Mart for 15 bucks a couple years ago.

 

my creed..always buy it while it's in print! especially these days...

yes the second hand dealers are most brutal!

 

I was under the impression that this has been out of print for quite some time. I remember checking for a used copy several years back and encountering the ridiculous prices you've mentioned, Jamie.

I used to love this one as a kid and had it recorded on VHS off of network TV. The tape, wherever it is, is probably unplayable at this point!

 

Yeah, the versions I've seen out (even legitimately) on home video were a little "thin" looking, soft, and needed a lot more saturation. This show could definitely be tweaked to look a lot better.

 

Its being released on BluRay Sept 4th. Included will be the original 1955 broadcast as a bonus.

 

OOPS. No its not. I misread the release info. this release will contain both the 55 and 56 live broadcasts in B&W.
From Amazon
Available for the first time on home video the historic live 1956 telecast of Mary Martin as PETER PAN, generally considered the definitive performance of this beloved musical. Only nine days after the initial Broadway run had ended, the cast and crew (under the supervision of Director Jerome Robbins) assembled in the large Brooklyn studios of NBC to perform the show live for television. Describing the enormous success of that telecast, Cyril Ritchard (Captain Hook) noted "...it was not just a TV performance, it was a stage production brought to the cameras." A year later, in preparation for the second PETER PAN live telecast, essentially the same cast reunited for several performances at the Ambassador Theater in New York City for invited audiences of children. This gave the 1956 telecast the same fresh theatrical quality as the first. The New York Times hailed the second telecast as Thrilling!... The production had that electrifying excitement of theatre at its most finished and, above all, that contagious espirit that joins player and audience in a sublime escape from reality. The stellar cast also includes Kathy Nolan as Wendy, Sondra Lee as Tiger Lily, and Heller Halliday (Mary Martin s daughter) as Liza. The unforgettable songs including Never Never Land, I ve Gotta Crow, and I Won t Grow Up were written by Mark Moose Charlap and Carolyn Leigh, and Jule Styne and Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-Sta...pebp=1440858538373&perid=03XAYJVQBSZFJEZRF4RZ

 

I saw both the '55 and '56 telecasts live back then and even on our 17" B&W TV, (for this kid) it was nothing short of magical. I bought the Goodtimes Laserdisc version of the '60 telecast, of which the color is somewhat washed out. But I always thought it would be available.

They need to do these right and release them. The above named Blu-Ray would be fantastic.

 

I'm glad I have mine, but the quality is low enough that it is for huge fans only. It was my Peter Pan growing up as a kid. The Disney one is a pure classic.

 

What Jim said! I've never been one for musicals, but this one blew me away when I saw Mary Martin on tv. There must have been some re-runs of it because I wouldn't have remembered it from the 50s broadcasts. Don't get me started on the Disney movie, I just watched the blu-ray this week and it is so great---Second Star To The Right and You Can Fly are among the best in the Disney canon.

 

From crap 16mm kinescopes, no doubt. I'll betcha these are not processed to remove the extra field, and I'll bet they're soft and ugly, like-a ma-head. And I bet they think these are public domain. Technically, they are... but the music is still extremely copyrighted and they'll have to pay the Comden-Green-Styne estates all kindsa dough for the sync rights.

Taking a 1956 kine and scanning it for HD does absolutely no good. Doing HD from material like this is such a crock. (And never smile at a croc.)

BTW: I predict, 60 years in the future, nobody will remember let alone want to see the 2013 NBC version of Peter Pan.

 

I noted some video roll

 

The performances on that look better to me than the later color version as I recall.

 

Looks dark and soft and mushy to me. I suspect this was a telecine job to tape and they got the tape and did the best they could with it. If it was re-scanned in HD and then processed to take all the misplaced fields out (which would be tricky and time-consuming), it could probably look quite a bit better. Just adding some contrast would greatly reduce the muddiness.

Looks like a B&W print to me. If they shot a color monitor, I would bet there would be more obvious moire and herringbone issues, particularly on sharp edges.