Film restoration specialist Robert A. Harris' luncheon with Warner Home Video execs...

I have news to pass on thanks to my membership at HomeTheaterForum.com...the esteemed film restoration specialist/historian Robert A. Harris had a private meeting at lunch with Warner Home Video executives in the past week and revealed that they are planning to step up their catalog releases in the coming months...he's sworn to secrecy as to WHICH titles are being released, but he did reveal SOME specifics: catalog releases in 3-strip Technicolor, plus releases involving the catalogs of Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Vincente Minelli, Fred Astaire, Greta Garbo & Frank Sinatra...and the opening of the floodgates for the Hammer horror film vaults...

I, for one, can hardly wait...

 

Excellent news! Thank you

 

The plans also involve a significant expansion of the blu-ray releases coming from the Warner Archives Collection, which entails direct on-line marketing via TCM, Amazon and their own websites, bypassing brick & mortar retail stores for the more obscure and less in-demand titles they plan to remaster and release...

 

Well other than the horror, those other artist titles should sell in the dozens...

 

Wicked.

 

Actually, WICKED, WICKED would be cool to finally get on legit disc...

 

About bloody (pardon the pun) time for the Hammer titles. I hope they license some of the material from the UK releases.

 

Apologies as this is a relatively opportunistic, selfish question: I'm not that familiar with Hammer films, so does anyone know if Warner would have the rights to "The Abominable Snowman" and "The Lost Continent?" I have my Anchor Bay DVDs from the late 90's. I'm considering selling them if I'm able to upgrade to BD on those titles at some point, but I don't want to get rid of them if it could be another ten years before they go back in print.

 

What Bogart or Astaire could it be?

 

On a (related) tangent, color musicals are among the films most affected by presentation and were among the most adversely affected by the limitations of older TV and older video. They can benefit immensely from HD / Blu-Ray presentation, so it's unfortunate so few have enjoyed a quality Blu-Ray release.

But then, I feel the difference a quality HD / Blu-Ray presentation makes for a vintage B&W film is probably also under-rated. There seems to be a widely held impression that low quality is appropriate for anything old (especially B&W) and that's a perception the owners of such content could and IMH should be doing more to correct.

Unfortunately there's no further clue for the Bogart. Perhaps the mentions of "3-strip Technicolor" and/or Vincente Minnelli may suggest the Astaire titles. If so, those titles could be Yolanda and the Thief, Ziegfeld Follies and The Band Wagon.

 

Wait until the Blu rays are in hand. The DVDs aren't asking for food.

 

Have just learned from a reliable source at Home Theater Forum that one of the projects being worked on is a restoration of the 1957 MGM classic "Raintree County", starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin & Rod Taylor. Originally shot on 65mm anamorphic widescreen like "Ben-Hur"(1959), the blu-ray is expected to be available via Warner Archives Collection in 2015...this is just ONE of the projects Mr. Harris was hinting about for the coming year!!!

 

Any mention of Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes rejoining the restoration parade?

 

The Band Wagon'yummy.

 

Good point though....that is what holds up a lot of neat stuff that some of us really want. Bypassing retailers will allow them to now do this, even in small quantities.

 

This is why many of the lower-demand titles will be coming out through their Warner Archives Collection direct-marketing outlet rather than bricks & mortar retail...by skipping the middle man, it makes it economically viable to release these titles in smaller quantities. Not every catalog title is going to sell like "The Wizard Of Oz", "Gone With The Wind" or "Ben-Hur"...if you're an Amazon customer, it's still relatively easy to buy these less in-demand movies!!!

 

Received some new info at Home Theater Forum regarding upcoming 2015 releases of the Warner classic catalog...the Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall collection will be one of the premiere blu-ray reissues, including "The Big Sleep", "Key Largo", "Dark Passage" & "To Have And To Have Not"...

 

Fixed !

 

Warner do a much better job than some other studios, like Paramount. Warners really seem to get a lot out of their catalog - buying their old DVD's is pretty much almost always worth it, especially those FILM NOIR box sets. Good special features are appreciated by us film fans - they may not be CRITERION, but then they don't charge those high prices. There's a lot of films still to come and the only way to make money out of them is to release them in some form or other.

 

Have yet another update for this thread, this time from Robert Harris himself at Home Theater Forum...a VERY SPECIFIC title has been remastered for imminent blu-ray release from the MGM musicals library...Cole Porter's "Kiss Me Kate"(1953)starring Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson & Ann Miller in both 2D & 3D, which will be available in the next few months...don't know yet if it will be through Warner Archives or brick & mortar retail, but the remastering is in 1.75 OAR and should be up to their usual stellar restoration standards...

 

I prefer Kiss Me Deadly. All these musicals would've made my mother happy, since was born in 1931.

 

Doh. It's got to be 1000 times better than the version I mastered for Sony in the 1990s. I did my best, but god, those film elements were horrifically bad. Nowadays, if you worked with 4K pin-registered scans from the negatives, it could look fantastic. Not a great movie, but some really good songs in it. It has some great moments.

 

I don't claim to know anything about title release protocal, but it would seem to me as we're nearing the end of 2014, that we would know by now if Warner's had Hammer's Dracula (1958) on schedule for 2015. Mr. Harris' post shed little light on this world wide classic and I tire of the "sit tight", "be patient" and "on our radar" slogans ...(nothing against him or his fine restoration talent)...hope Im wrong!!

 

Be patient, Bill..Warner Home Video's catalog division & Warner Archives usually announce releases about 6-8 weeks before their titles actually come out...it's only October!!!

 

Tender Mercies, Tender Mercies, Tender Mercies...

Is anyone listening ?