lzcutter
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Posts posted by lzcutter
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So in a way you answered the question I asked, yes, Bette Davis must have more fans than Norma.>>
I guess what I meant to say is that more of the general public (consumers) is familar with Bette Davis (her name and her movies) than they are with Shearer.
Does that mean that Bette has more fans? Not necessarily, but her name can move more product.
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Cat,
Not sure if you are aware, but it's TCM's annual 31 Days of Oscar salute all this month and the first three days of March.
Films from all eras are highlighted if they were nominated or winners.
Starting March 4th, TCM returns to its regular format.
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Do Bette Davis fans really outnumber Norma Shearer fans that many times over?>>
I don't know if Shearer's fans outnumber Davis' fans. But the majority of consumers know who Bette Davis is and are more likely to buy her box set than Shearers.
It's no reflection on Shearer as an actress or on her fans.
It's economics.
<.
Yes, but in budget meetings, the folks in television are selling more box sets than the folks in classic films.
The guys in classic films want to keep trying to get as much of their library as possible on DVD. This means trotting out the "golden oldies" , the brand names that consumers will recognize and buy, every so often so that they can keep the money coming in for the rest of the library. Every quarter is a mixture of new, rare stuff and some golden oldies.
We, the dedicated film fan, are a small, niche market. However, Warners seems to be having success as other studios such as Sony, and to a lesser degree, Fox are now trying to follow in Warners footsteps.
Now if we could only get Universal and Paramount to do the same....
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There were so many MGM and WB movies already available on LD back before the days of DVD, which to this date haven't been released on DVD.>>
Cinemascope,
It was easier back in the mid to late 1980s to release the films on LaserDisc back in the day because the majority of those film had already been transferred to 3/4" or Betacam SP videotape. High-end (for its day) videotape wasn't that expensive and most labs and post companies had Betacam SP decks so the cost wasn't extreme to do a film to tape transfer for LaserDisc and VHS markets.
Today, with the digital revolution, all those film have to be remastered on D-2 (or higher). Digital Tape and Digital Betacam machines are expensive. The machines alone are almost 8x more in price than the SP machines (which weren't cheap in their day but the price was amortized over many years). Some of the studios (not thinking ahead)just take the Betacam SP master and transfer it to digital tape and then author the DVD.
Warners, however, was one of the first studios that understood where high definition was going to go and that it would become the industry standard. They knew it would take more than just converting their tape library to digital.
Thus, they have undertaken the huge job of converting their library to digital and at the same time trying to make it the best picture and sound experience possible. This often requires going back to fine grains and/or original elements.
It's a big job and, as you know, it cost dollars.
In the mid-1980s, the WBros library consisted of only the post-1949 films. MGM and Turner owned the pre-1949 WBros library. When Turner merged with Time-Warner in the mid-1990s, the Turner Film library came under the care of Warner Bros.
The Warners film library expanded to include all RKO films, all WBros films and pre-1986 MGM films.
Any way you slice it, that's a large number of films that have to be converted to digital.
The bad news is that it will take time. The crew at Warners spends the time to track down the missing footage and to look for the best elements possible. Given all the vault fires over the years, some of the original elements no longer exist. The RKO library was badly damaged when it was sold in the mid-1950s to TV. Warners is trying to restore that library as best they can.
But, it takes time and it takes money. Luckily, the upper management at Warners understands this. Lord help us all if George Feltenstein and others retire before the job is completed. Hopefully, those who take his place will be as committed as he and Roger Mayer have always been.
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If Warner says that none of Shearer's films are "dvd ready," maybe they should focus more on getting them ready, then to add another Davis box set.>>
One of the reasons they are probably doing another Davis box set is that it sells.
We are in an age when studios can make more money selling box sets of old tv shows than classic films.
Warners realizes by putting out another Davis set or another release of award-winning classic films from their library, that folks will buy them. This will, in turn, help them to convince upper management that next year they need an increase in the budget so that more films can be made DVD ready and be sold.
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I certainly wish he would do more than Drew Casper who populates a good many of Warner's DVDs with "I hold the chair of the Alfred and Alma Hitchcock society..." even if we're not watching a Hitchcock movie. Why is that relevant except for Casper to toot his own horn. Also, no disrespect to Drew, but his voice sort of freaks me out!>>
I prefer Prof. Rick Jewell who does the commentary on many of the Warner Bros. classic era films.
Rick is a great professor and good film historian who makes film accessible to everyone with his easy going manner. Listening to his commentaries, you get a sense of time and place and he also puts the film into perspective. He doesn't get in the way of the movie you are watching. He has some great stories to boot.
Drew's style is different. He was and is much more cerebral, aloof and guarded. (Unless he was talking about Hitchcock or Doris Day).
As for Drew's voice, it hasn't changed in almost thirty years.
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Look at the number of people who post on this board about the dearth of good movies and how modern films are crap.
This in a year that brought us The Queen, The Last King of Scotland, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, Casino Royale, The Pursuit of Happyness, Babel, Notes on a Scandal, Freedom Writers, Flags of our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Hollywoodland, Venus, Deja Vu and more
Those of us who love films know how to find the information about the films we are interested in.
The average movie goer doesn't necessarily care. They will base their decision upon their local reviewer, Gene Shalit, Ebert and Roeper, or Entertainment Tonight or their reaction to the movie trailer they saw on television.
Not everyone is as wrapped up in film as you and I. Not everyone lives in a city where film and Hollywood get covered the way they do in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Yes, there are a number of tools and websites handy at the point of mouse to open this world up to them.
But some people just want movies for escapism and fun and some of us want much more.
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I think it is important to stand up and point out when misinformation is posted about a movie. Cinemascope and Klondike did just that.
Case in point: the original poster and This Film Is Not Yet Rated.
I am not sure what film the original poster saw that they drew the conclusions they did but it wasn't the documentary the rest of us saw.
To let the post stand with no stepping up and calling them on it, then allows others to make a decision to see the film based on wrong, inflammatory information.
Not every newcomer is a troll. But there are newcomers who drive by, hurl inflammatory remarks and then never return.
Is this poster a true newcomer or not? Given the inflammatory rhetoric used in the original post one has to wonder.
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Who is the most memorable character for me?
Boo Radley (Robert Duvall in his screen debut) in To Kill a Mockingbird.
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you".
"Hey Boo"
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The bulk of her early sound films were released by Paramount (are they owned by Paramount or Universal now? Probably Universal? But this is might be murky given that it is the transition from silent to sound era).
Craig's Wife, probably her most well-known post Paramount film was released by Columbia. Given the recent spate of Columbia films on TCM, I would say keep an eye peeled on the schedule for this one to turn up.
Christopher Strong, starring Kate Hepburn, is the film known for getting Hepburn declared box office poison. However, it is a RKO film so it does show up on the schedule from time to time.
The Last of Mrs Cheyney was either just on or is coming up very soon. It is an MGM release so keep an eye open as it does make the schedule from time to time.
The Bride Wore Red is MGM but I don't know if it has appeared on TCM but timelessjoancrawford or mongo could probably tell you.
Dance Girl Dance is a RKO release as well so it may show up on the schedule soon. Ken123 who has a penchant for Irish actresses, especially Maureen O'Hara can probably tell you if it has been on TCM lately.
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Well these days it's relatively easy to find out what's going to be showing, both in TV and in theaters, thanks to the web>>
Is it?
If you live in a large metropolitan city like NYC, Los Angeles, SF, Chicago (cities often considered the top tier) you are more likely to hear about upcoming films and films currently in theaters plus a great deal of buzz mainly because the newspapers and the alternative weeklies cover that sort of thing.
In second and third tier cities, I think the focus is less on films in general and more geared toward what is happening in your town right now.
I know from being in two cities: Los Angeles and Las Vegas on a monthly basis that the film coverage in Los Angeles is leaps and bounds above anything in Las Vegas.
Having traveled to Austin and other cities last year on business, I found this to be true in those cities as well.
Unless you are a modern film lover and/or constantly have your ear to the ground and have the time to ferret out the good films from the hype, it is much more difficult to do that in cities that don't have the coverage of a LA, SF, NYC and that upper tier.
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Mike,
I agree with you about "Yellow Sky".
As for the critics, it always fascinates me that Raoul Walsh and Bill Wellman are rarely written about. Yet, their contributions to the art of filmmaking helped get us through that rough silent to sound transition and then some.
They deserve to be as well-known and thought of as the other directors of their generation.
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Kyle,
If memory serves (not that I was there in the audience or anything) from my days of devouring film biographies and books, Paul Muni played Henry Drummond and Ed Begley (!) played William Harrison Brady.
I would have bet good silver that it would have been the other way around but as you often say, google is my friend:
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Kyle,
I agree, it is a moot point but one that pops up from time because of the release that says Paramount and mentions Butch.
I am almost 99.5% sure (owning the DVD, soundtrack album and it being the film that pushed me towards a career in film) that it is a Fox film. Though the one Fox film they seem to show the most on TCM.
Perhaps TCMProgrammr can help me out here!
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The problem with all of this is, as always, who decides what films are classic?
The AFI, Ebert and Roeper, Molly Haskell, Kenneth Turan?
I can hear the groans now.
A classic film is any film that touched your heart and that you carry with you regardless of era, decade, star, etc.
Kyle is right, this is the 31 Days of Oscar and we are being treated to some of Oscar's winners and nominees.
But the bottom line is that each one of has a list of what we consider to be classic films.
And that list is as different as each one of us.
TCM recognizes that fact and tries to show as many and varied films as possible, knowing that each film it shows is someone's classic.
How many films have you watched on TCM in the last 90 days that you had never seen before and now that film is on your classic list?
Had it not been for TCM showing that film you might never have been exposed to it.
None of us have seen every film ever made and none of us have seen every great film ever made and not all of us have seen the films that inevitably make up the top 100 classic films of all time as defined by the AFI or the critics.
If TCM only showed those top 100 classic films we would be done watching them in about two weeks (giving time to Cartoon Alley, etc). Do we really want to spend the next 50 weeks watching the same 100 films over and over?
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Kyle,
Hopefully by January 2008 they will realize that Butch Cassidy is a Fox film.
Sorry TCM, that typo keeps getting repeated around here about it being a Paramount film.
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Rusty,
So glad you enjoyed "Cinema Paradiso". It may be the only instance that I am glad that TCM shows the shorter version.
The longer version goes into more depth about his romance with the young girl and adds almost an hour to the running time.
But the shorter version to me packs much more of an emotional wallop. The ending is both sad and rewarding. All those film clips. A treasure indeed.
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UUUUUUUUh, This is the only channel I get on my Television... >>
!!!!!
Relax,
Sorry that you didn't enjoy "The High and the Mighty, The Professionals, Detective Story, The Killers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Farewell to Arms, Shane, The Third Man, Arrowsmith, Judgement at Nurembourg, Cover Girl, Funny Face, Black Narcissus, To Catch a Thief, Speedy, The African Queen, Garden of Allah, Queen Bee, Cinema Paradiso, Algiers, Champion, Sunset Blvd, The Black Stallion, Maltese Falcon, A Thousand Clowns, Come and Get It, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Westerner, Stagecoach, The Big Country and Last Picture Show.
I've actually been enjoying this year's Oscar month much more than in the past.
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Movieman,
Gunsmoke, but especially The Virginian, had a number of classic era stars such as Bette Davis, Sheree North and others in guest roles throughout the mid-1960s. Lee J Cobb started out as the patriarchal owner of Shiloh and when he left was replaced with Charles Bickford.
The show also had a number of actors such as Lee Marvin, pre-Cat Ballou, Robert Redford, pre-Butch Cassidy and others who would go on to acclaimed careers.
It's 90 minute format and stories must have been appealing.
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Hollis,
If we are talking simply from a cinematography point of view (the beauty of the way the film was shot):
Black and White: Grapes of Wrath (seen on the big screen in all its black and white glory, it is a beauty)
Runner Up: The Killers (Film Noir was made for black and white)
Color: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Remington come to life)
Runner Up: The Wizard of Oz (A properly restored print of this film is manna from heaven)
Modern Day:
Color: The Godfather (the burnished golden hues of memory abound in this film and set the tone for the structure of Godfather 2.)
Black and White: Manhattan (New York never looked so beautiful)
The last time I watched LOA I was struck by how much David Lean was influenced by John Ford. The long vista shots and establishing shots are very reminiscent of Ford in Monument Valley.
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Happy Birthday, Filmlover!!!
May you have many participants in your Take 5 Challenge and many birthday wishes that come true!
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bobhopefan,
I'm with you, makes no difference to me what their sexual orientation was.
But if a biographer will try to make a story out of lies and innuendo about that, what else will they try to fabricate out of whole cloth?
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Every since Charles Higham and the Errol Flynn debate back in the late 1970s, I have been much more particular about checking out the author's credentials and reading some reviews before reading recent biographies.
When I was younger, I used to devour them. Many of them, however, were filled with lots of dubious sources.
In this new age of media when the more provocative and scandalous you can make your subject out to be the more buzz it will generate seems to be the bottom line for many authors and publishers, I try very hard to spend my time (and money) wisely.
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There are a number of them vying for number one in my opinion: (mostly from the silent era):
Colleen Moore,
Billie Dove
Bessie Love
Pola Negri
Mae Marsh
George O'Brien
Harry Carey, Sr
What Movie or Movies are You Still Waiting for a DVD Release?
in Hot Topics
Posted
will have much better re-sale value than TV programs. Might that be construed to say that people are more likely to watch the TV show on DVD, then get rid of it shortly afterwards? And that people don't necessarily see these as something to hold on to for the long run?>>
I don't know. People tend to buy old television show box sets because the show holds some special meaning to them, much the way we film fans buy DVDs and box sets of films we love.
As for current television shows on DVD, you may be right about their longevity. I only own two television show box sets. One for a canceled HBO show from two years ago and The Family Guy. I consider both keepers. I've given my dad Deadwood and the first 4 seasons of 24 as gifts because for Deadwood he doesn't have HBO and loves westerns and for 24, he loves the show but due to health reasons missed season 3 & 4.
When he gets done with them, I can borrow them so I can get caught up on the show he introduced me to last season and now we both watch and talk about.
I love my film DVDs. He loves his TV show DVDs.
I guess there is no easy answer to this one. But you have raised some good points and suggestions in trying to think outside the box of Home Entertainment.