Fox Cinema Archives

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Fred Holywell
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:45 pm

Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#26 Post by Fred Holywell » Thu Jun 28, 2012 5:05 am

Kidnapped (Otto Preminger 1938)
That can't be Preminger, but off the top of my head, I can't remember who did direct the thing. It's one of the titles I haven't seen, so might check it out (assuming it's for rent somewhere). Trouble with most of these flicks, and Fox films in general (ie, "Wilson"), is that they're rather dull. Of course, there are exceptions (film noir, Mankiewicz, Preminger, Ford), but most of those seem to be out already on DVD. Of all the titles listed, "Suez" is the one I'm most surprised didn't make it onto pressed DVD... unless they were holding it for another Tyrone Power box set that fell by the wayside. It's not a 'great' film, but certainly was a 'big' one for the studio, and could well have been included in their now discontinued Studio Classics collection.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#27 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:42 am

Fred Holywell wrote:
Kidnapped (Otto Preminger 1938)
That can't be Preminger, but off the top of my head, I can't remember who did direct the thing. It's one of the titles I haven't seen, so might check it out (assuming it's for rent somewhere)...
While Alfred L. Werker is the officially credited director (he directed Basil Rathbone in ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES the next year), apparently Preminger did some uncredited direction of KIDNAPPED. If IMDb trivia can be trusted, Preminger was replaced by Werker after a spat with Darryl Zanuck over script deviations. I actually saw this film in grade school back in the early 70s and it wasn't bad (at least my 8-year-old self preferred it to schoolwork!).

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Fred Holywell
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#28 Post by Fred Holywell » Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:56 pm

Fred Holywell wrote:
Of all the titles listed, "Suez" is the one I'm most surprised didn't make it onto pressed DVD... unless they were holding it for another Tyrone Power box set that fell by the wayside. It's not a 'great' film, but certainly was a 'big' one for the studio, and could well have been included in their now discontinued Studio Classics collection.
The Fox covers are a mix of one-sheet style artwork and promotional photographs, both color and black & white. For some reason, "Suez" didn't rate color art, though it was certainly available:

Image

Image
Last edited by Fred Holywell on Sun May 27, 2018 10:58 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#29 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:44 am


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movielocke
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#30 Post by movielocke » Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:17 pm

I figured as much, it was one of the enormous surprises and delights of the WB archives that the widescreen films were anamorphic OAR.

I expect Fox will remedy this by finding letterboxed masters, I doubt they'll be making new anamorphic masters.

videofilms99
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#31 Post by videofilms99 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:17 am

Titus wrote:Warner assures us that the lifespan of DVD-Rs is just as long as pressed discs, and they’re now offering to replace any disc that dies.
Warner can't make that claim because it's a blatant lie! Warner don't even care about their customers. I tried to contact them (politely) three times regarding several films I bought of theirs on DVD and I was totally ignored. First via their official website and twice by writing to them at their head offices in London! I wouldn't trust Warner any further than I could throw them: even if you are able to get a replacement for a duff DVD-R try taking it back in 10 years and I guarantee they won't want to know - and who keeps receipts that long?

All we do know is, this service is blatantly cheap and tacky. $19.99 for recordable media? You pay less for factory pressed discs! I wouldn't complain if they were charging $5 either but nearly $20, no way. It's insulting and I will never pay what they are asking. I can get DVD-R bootlegs on ioffer of all these movies for a fraction of their prices and the quality for the most part will be equal to what Warner is offering. It's a lazy attitude where they probably think "just stick it online and if anyone buys it then great. Let's not put any effort in for our customers though, they're morons who'll be any old sh*t"

Another thing, there are films on the Archive "label" that should'nt even be on there, and are too popular to be there. A good example would be 'Don't be afraid of the dark', which is one of the most popular TV movies of all time. Yet it's gone straight to DVD-R hell. It even had a remake last year, if that wasn't a good enough opportunity to get it out there, then I don't know what is. I know for a fact that they won't lose money on some of this title either, because I have ordered factory pressed discs from the pressing plant and I can tell you that the minimun order is a measly 500 copies! Some of their movies would easily surpass that. It makes me wonder who's making these decisions. They seriously need to think about licensing to a company like Code Red and Shout Factory, who are doing a wonderful job restoring old films that don't have a huge audience, but have a very devoted following.

This is proof that Warner are only interested in the big money and nothing more. If they can't make millions from something then why bother. That attitude sucks and they don't deserve to make money with it.

Perkins Cobb
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#32 Post by Perkins Cobb » Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:58 pm

movielocke wrote:I expect Fox will remedy this by finding letterboxed masters, I doubt they'll be making new anamorphic masters.
I wouldn't count on it. Many 'Scope films (including Three Brave Men) have run on FMC for over a decade in pan & scan, which suggests that Fox doesn't have even a 4:3 letterboxed tape master.

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Fred Holywell
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#33 Post by Fred Holywell » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:01 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:
movielocke wrote:I expect Fox will remedy this by finding letterboxed masters, I doubt they'll be making new anamorphic masters.
I wouldn't count on it. Many 'Scope films (including Three Brave Men) have run on FMC for over a decade in pan & scan, which suggests that Fox doesn't have even a 4:3 letterboxed tape master.
Another bad sign: even Turner Classic Movies has been forced to show pan & scan prints of Fox films. They just ran one of Fred Zinnemann's "A Hatful of Rain". Sad.

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domino harvey
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#34 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:04 pm

Though it at least previously aired on FMC in 'Scope, since my copy is thankfully intact. One of the most beautiful of the B+W 'Scope pix, what a travesty!

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Cold Bishop
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#35 Post by Cold Bishop » Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:09 am

Hell, TCM still shows a dubbed, pan-and-scan version of Contempt!.

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Fred Holywell
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#36 Post by Fred Holywell » Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:34 am

domino harvey wrote:Though it at least previously aired on FMC in 'Scope, since my copy is thankfully intact. One of the most beautiful of the B+W 'Scope pix, what a travesty!
I thought so! I kept thinking I'd seen some of it in 'Scope, but couldn't remember exactly where. Thanks for the information -- looks like TCM slipped up here!

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Dylan
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#37 Post by Dylan » Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:33 pm

Any more news on this label? There's such an enormous amount of unreleased 1950's 20th Century Fox dramas & soaps that I would really, really love to see (in ther OAR of course), like Blue Denim, The View From Pompey's Head, and A Certain Smile. This label seems like a great opportunity for the company to distribute titles like the aforementioned with next-to-no commercial value (I mean, I would love a blu of A Certain Smile but I'm certainly dreaming!). That said, it's a bit shocking that they merely ported cropped 1.33:1 broadcast masters from 1990's FMC airings for some of the previous releases.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#38 Post by HitchcockLang » Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:25 pm

Does anyone know how often they release new titles to the Fox Cinema Archives? Or if there is a good contact to suggest future titles?

I'm trying to get Region 1 discs of all of Fritz Lang's directed output and thanks to FCA MOD, I can now add Western Union and Confirm or Deny (begun by Lang but finished by Archie Mayo) to my collection.

The Fox titles Return of Frank James and Moontide (another Lang/Mayo oddity) already have pressed Region 1 DVDs, but there is one Fox owned Lang film still missing from North American home media:

American Guerrilla in the Philippines

This title IS available however as a digital on demand title from Amazon and (I think) VUDU. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that (a) an unreleased Fritz Lang film would be one of the better sellers in the collection and (b) if there's already a digital master circulating as on Amazon and VUDU, it should take Fox zero effort to slap that master onto a disc whenever someone orders one. Any chance this title might get released soon? Then I'll only have to wait for a legitimate copy of You and Me (but that's in Universal's ballpark)

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domino harvey
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#39 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:00 pm

It's my understanding that this ended up being a huge fiasco for Fox sales-wise once word got out they were unbelievably releasing P+S copies of 'Scope films and even their pre-53 stuff wasn't up to snuff transfer-wise, so the studio is contemplating suspending the line altogether. And good riddance-- they released the only non-circulating 'Scope Tashlin in a P+S print for chrissakes

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HitchcockLang
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#40 Post by HitchcockLang » Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:51 pm

domino harvey wrote:It's my understanding that this ended up being a huge fiasco for Fox sales-wise once word got out they were unbelievably releasing P+S copies of 'Scope films and even their pre-53 stuff wasn't up to snuff transfer-wise, so the studio is contemplating suspending the line altogether. And good riddance-- they released the only non-circulating 'Scope Tashlin in a P+S print for chrissakes
That's interesting and I have heard the mixed reviews of their releases (though luckily the films I am after were all Academy 1.33:1 when released theatrically), but there have definitely been new releases as recently as last month.

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rockysds
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#41 Post by rockysds » Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:23 am

Lou Lumenick wrote:The latest Fox Cinema Archives releases include Herb Leeds' "Romance of the Rio Grande'' (1941) a Cisco Kid western with Cesar Romero and the still-extant, at 99, Patricia Morison; Philip Dunne's "Hilda Crane'' (1955) starring Jean Simmons and Guy Madison; Edmund Goulding's swan song, "Mardi Gras'' (1958) with Pat Boone and Christine Carere and John Huston's "A Walk With Love and Death'' (1969) with daughter Angelica. Other titles promised soon include Henry Hathaway's "No Highway in the Sky'' (1951) with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich; "Ramona'' (1936) with Loretta Young and Don Ameche; "An American Guerillla in the Phillipines'' (1950) with Tyrone Power, Harry Lachmann's wonderful "Dante's Inferno'' (1935) with Spencer Tracy and Claire Trevor, "White Fang'' (1936) with Michael Whalen; Archie Mayo's "Four Sons'' (1940) starring Don Ameche; "Private Number'' (1936) with Robert Taylor, Loretta Young and Basil Rathbone; Raoul Walsh's "Me and My Gal'' (1932) with Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett and H. Bruce Humberstone's "Three Little Girls in Blue'' (1946), a Technicolored musical with June Haver and Vivian Blaine.

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Minkin
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#42 Post by Minkin » Wed Jul 24, 2013 4:15 am

rockysds wrote: Harry Lachmann's wonderful "Dante's Inferno'' (1935) with Spencer Tracy
Ah fuck. I knew this would happen, but still, I held some microscopic hope in my heart that Criterion might have picked it up..

Its an absolutely amazing film, and this appears to be the first time its ever been on disc (unless theres a region 2-22 that I missed). Deals with Spencer Tracy as a crooked Carnival ride owner, trying to make it big. He makes this gigantic Dante's Inferno attraction that is completely stunning. There's a wonderful 10 minute sequence where the father-in-law narrates over scenes of hell (taken from a 1924 film version of Dante's Inferno). I'd mildly compare it to Fury, just for the relentlessly wicked character that the film creates out of Tracy.

Shame on Fox for dumping it in their DVD-R hole and not ever realizing its potential. I'd say its an absolute must buy for everyone, but that would be seen as promoting the DVD-R business (which I will never support). Glad its no longer languishing in the vaults, but the film deserves much better.

I have this saved from TCMHD (yes, I know its not real HD), so they can keep their $20 disc.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#43 Post by What A Disgrace » Wed Jul 24, 2013 6:34 am

rockysds wrote:
Lou Lumenick wrote:Me and My Gal
NO.

NO.

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kingofthejungle
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#44 Post by kingofthejungle » Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:02 am

There's quite a bit of interest in that batch of releases, it's a shame that they're being tossed into Fox's abysmal archive program. I'd love to see Walsh's Me and My Gal get better treatment. And even Lang's most minor film, American Guerrilla In The Philippines, deserves better. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's a shame TT didn't pick these up.

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Dylan
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#45 Post by Dylan » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:37 pm

Philip Dunne's "Hilda Crane'' (1955) starring Jean Simmons and Guy Madison
This is exactly the kind of soapy, glossy, melodramatic Fox title I want to see come out, but if it's not in 2.35:1 (and we don't know yet) I have no idea why they bother. If it is, then it's great that stuff like this comes out at all, even though if I had it my way there'd be a "Glossy Melodramas" blu ray box set released every month until they're all out there [-o<

Image

And on the other end...

Image

If this is restored, and looks as gorgeous as Fox's official release of the 1945 State Fair (an amazing film, in my opinion), then good. If it's unrestored, and looks like Apartment for Peggy (i.e. a late 1980's VHS/LD/TV master that's watchable but looks nothing like Technicolor), I don't know why they bother.

On a related note, I rented two Fox Archive titles from Scarecrow Video earlier this year, In the Meantime, Darling, which looked fine, and You Were Meant for Me, which looked pretty good. I'm guessing both of these stem from broadcast masters that were prepared for airing on the Fox Movie Channel sometime in the nineties. Regarding the films themselves, the former is cute (notable as an early Otto Preminger film), the latter is a mixed bag but has an amazing opening sequence where the bandleader of an orchestra sweeps a small town girl off her feet.

So the rule here seems to be that if a Fox film was b&w, shot in 1.33:1, and was prepared for broadcast fifteen years ago (or VHS/LD release twenty years ago), it looks decent enough. But also coming from these same sources (broadcast or tape/LD masters) are these muddy Technicolor transfers and pan/scan.

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whaleallright
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#46 Post by whaleallright » Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:31 pm

Me and My Gal would have made a great Criterion with Sailor's Luck as an "extra." There are several rhyming motifs (and jokes) between the two and they share the same irreverent, cheerful spirit as several of Walsh's early '30s films. Ever since Dave Kehr paired the two films in a series he curated at the Museum of the Moving Image, new prints of both have been making the rounds as a double bill. One would hope that, at the very least, Fox will use this print--or the elements used to strike it--for the Archives DVD, but given their track record I don't think we can count on that.

Also, where is the 1933 State Fair-- with Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor, directed by Henry King, who specialized in this sort of Americana?

The folks who oversee Fox's actual film archive are good people who are responsible for bring us the Ford and Murnau/Borzage boxes, and kept up the quality control. Somewhere along the line they must have lost control (or never had control) over this Archives project. Or the home video department just isn't giving them project budgets they can work with.

AfterTheRain
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#47 Post by AfterTheRain » Sat Aug 03, 2013 11:15 pm

jonah.77 wrote:The folks who oversee Fox's actual film archive are good people who are responsible for bring us the Ford and Murnau/Borzage boxes, and kept up the quality control. Somewhere along the line they must have lost control (or never had control) over this Archives project. Or the home video department just isn't giving them project budgets they can work with.
I think that the latter is the more likely culprit of the varying quality of the Archive releases.

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HitchcockLang
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#48 Post by HitchcockLang » Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:58 pm

If it interests anyone as much as myself, they did finally issue Fritz Lang's American Guerrilla in the Philippines on MOD. Now my region 1 Fritz Lang collection is complete aside from You and Me.

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domino harvey
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#49 Post by domino harvey » Mon Nov 07, 2016 7:07 pm

Heaven help us. Even with Kino and TT snatchingup titles, Fox has decided to Burn on Demand Blu-rays. Fuck studios. Here's the first round:

Coney Island (1943)
Sentimental Journey (1946)
Sitting Pretty (1948)
Woman's World (1954)

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domino harvey
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Re: Fox Cinema Archives

#50 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 11, 2016 12:52 pm

...and it gets even more WTF: They're also selling a BD-R of Western Union, which Kino just put out on Blu-ray

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