A few older movies continue to be released on commercial DVD by the major studios, but most of the slack is taken up by niche companies (Synapse), three or four studios' DVD-R burn-on-demand lines (Warners' seems to be the most prolific), and the gray market or B-word entrepreneurs Randy mentioned. I recently found a nice copy of THE GLASS KEY, the 1935 original, from a "collectors' only" dealer. Disney has a ton of stuff in their vaults, including features like MOONCUSSERS that ran on World of Disney in the '60s. I doubt they'll ever be released on DVD because today's eight-year-olds couldnt' care less. I think fans are hoping that streaming-video will create a new market demand and outlet for the stuff that hasn't come out on DVD or Blu-Ray and probably never will.
To add to what Fred said about the Disney vault, the movies TONKA, and THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST may never be released. I have a VHS of TONKA and I've seen it on a dealer's list for $600.
Here's one that was technically released on DVD...somewhere. The somewhere is Australia and the movie is "Abel Gance's Napoleon." I'm not sure of the whole story, but Francis Ford Coppolla had the rights to a version of the movie that was reassembled by British film archivist Kevin Brownlow. Coppolla insists that he owns the rights to all versions of the film and refuses to have it released without the score that his father, Carmine Coppolla wrote for it. Since the Coppolla version was released however Brownlow has continued to piece together more and more of Gance's original film. Chances are we won't be seeing any version of this for a long, long time. Unless you're Australian.
A New Leaf was a very funny movie, and of course Song of the South - those are the two I would like. Leaf may eventually come out, but Song is considered racist and Disney will probably never release it. It is the most requested title from Disney by far.
Here are some greats that I wish were on DVD: "Forever Amber" (1947)- Linda Darnell, George Sanders "If I Were King" (1938) - Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone "The Hucksters" (1947) - Sidney Greenstreet, Clark Gable, Deborah Kerr "Holy Matrimony" (1943)- Monty Wooley
Did anyone else notice that the writer said 1953's "So Big" was the oldest film on the list; then, just a couple of entries later, 1946's "Song of the South" appeared. Hello, Editor!
Having just spent a fun morning at a Friends of the Library VHS sale (where tapes were going for 50 cents apiece and we spend $16.50--do the math), I don't have any problem with outdated technology, but pretty soon NO movies will be available on DVD, everything will just be streamed to the viewing device of your choice.
But I'll still have my VHS copy of "The Shakiest Gun in the West."
8 comments:
I happen t have one of the movies mentioned on DVD. If a bootleg, it's awfully well packaged compared to most I've seen.
A few older movies continue to be released on commercial DVD by the major studios, but most of the slack is taken up by niche companies (Synapse), three or four studios' DVD-R burn-on-demand lines (Warners' seems to be the most prolific), and the gray market or B-word entrepreneurs Randy mentioned. I recently found a nice copy of THE GLASS KEY, the 1935 original, from a "collectors' only" dealer. Disney has a ton of stuff in their vaults, including features like MOONCUSSERS that ran on World of Disney in the '60s. I doubt they'll ever be released on DVD because today's eight-year-olds couldnt' care less. I think fans are hoping that streaming-video will create a new market demand and outlet for the stuff that hasn't come out on DVD or Blu-Ray and probably never will.
To add to what Fred said about the Disney vault, the movies TONKA, and THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST may never be released. I have a VHS of TONKA and I've seen it on a dealer's list for $600.
Here's one that was technically released on DVD...somewhere. The somewhere is Australia and the movie is "Abel Gance's Napoleon." I'm not sure of the whole story, but Francis Ford Coppolla had the rights to a version of the movie that was reassembled by British film archivist Kevin Brownlow. Coppolla insists that he owns the rights to all versions of the film and refuses to have it released without the score that his father, Carmine Coppolla wrote for it. Since the Coppolla version was released however Brownlow has continued to piece together more and more of Gance's original film. Chances are we won't be seeing any version of this for a long, long time. Unless you're Australian.
A New Leaf was a very funny movie, and of course Song of the South - those are the two I would like. Leaf may eventually come out, but Song is considered racist and Disney will probably never release it. It is the most requested title from Disney by far.
Stan
I have a bootleg VHS of SONG that Hal Rice gave me long ago.
Here are some greats that I wish were on DVD:
"Forever Amber" (1947)- Linda Darnell, George
Sanders
"If I Were King" (1938) - Ronald Colman, Basil
Rathbone
"The Hucksters" (1947) - Sidney Greenstreet,
Clark Gable, Deborah
Kerr
"Holy Matrimony" (1943)- Monty Wooley
Did anyone else notice that the writer said 1953's "So Big" was the oldest film on the list; then, just a couple of entries later, 1946's "Song of the South" appeared. Hello, Editor!
Having just spent a fun morning at a Friends of the Library VHS sale (where tapes were going for 50 cents apiece and we spend $16.50--do the math), I don't have any problem with outdated technology, but pretty soon NO movies will be available on DVD, everything will just be streamed to the viewing device of your choice.
But I'll still have my VHS copy of "The Shakiest Gun in the West."
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