lzcutter
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Posts posted by lzcutter
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Universal, celebrating its centennial this year, announced that it is restoring the following films: *All Quiet on the Western Front,* *The Birds*, *Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates, Dracula* (1931), the Spanish-language *Dracula* filmed on the same set at night, *Frankenstein, Jaws, Schindler's List, Out of Africa, Pillow Talk, Bride of Frankenstein, The Sting* and *To Kill a Mockingbird*.
Each restoration costs between $250,000 and $600,000 to do and takes between three to six months to complete. Restoration on the films began last year and the films will be released throughout this year as part of the Universal centennial.
Universal senior VP, Michael Daruty spoke about the restorations last month and said, ""This restoration effort was not about marketability and whether we're gonna sell enough DVDs. That is what we do on a daily basis, but this was a commitment by the company to say, 'We're gonna devote funding and most probably continue that effort year over year, to try and preserve and restore the legacy of the company. We're here to spend the money on these 13 titles and some others, whether we're gonna get our money back in that first year or not.' It's really refreshing."
More from COO Ron Meyer, "There will be a number of films in collectible book style packaging with memorabilia. It's an area for us to frankly show off and give the audience something they've never seen before."
Daruty's team proved Meyer right by showing horrifying damage magically repaired in the coming releases. In Universal's classic monster cinema (which you can expect to see promoted next Halloween), loud hisses, pops, and crackles vanish, making scary footsteps audible. *To Kill a Mockingbird* loses the appalling graininess in a courtroom closeup. *In Out of Africa*, Meryl Streep loses a weird wobble in her walk possibly caused by projectors that enlarged the sprocket holes. *Pillow Talk* erupts with dazzling color and detail. *Jaws* practically bites your nose off.
So, when you wonder why studios aren't churning out restorations fast enough, it's important to consider the money and logistics involved.
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My apologies, I posted in the wrong thread.
Edited by: lzcutter on Jan 10, 2012 9:30 AM
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> If that's the case, do they have to do that with every film they air?
TCM has to rent/lease the films they broadcast. Some films come with long term contracts and some come with short-term contracts.
It all comes down to the negotiations between TCM and the studios/distributors that own the films.
Once a contract has expired, the film is available to other networks for rental/lease or TCM may have the opportunity to extend the contract.
It all depends on the negotiations.
Other channels that rent/lease classic films (though not to the degree that TCM does) include: the Encore channels, especially the Western channel, Retroplex and Multiplex (which seems to have some sort of corporate partnership with the Encore channels and possibly the Fox Movie Channel), Fox Movie Channel (only Fox films) Flix, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime. HD channels showing classic films also include UAHD, SonyHD and MGMHD.
Hope that helps.
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> I don't think Will Geer was ever legally married
He was married for twenty years to Herta Ware.
His children run the Theater Botanicum and adjacent gardens, the outdoor theater in Topanga Canyon that Geer started during his blacklist days.
His daughter, Ellen, is the artistic director.
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> Who/what is responsible for this ?
Likely your cable company. If it was a problem with TCM we would all be experiencing the problem and these boards would be lit up like a Christmas tree with people complaining.
Your cable company may try to say the fault lies with TCM (it seems to be their favorite fallback position) but again, if the problem was with the signal from TCM, we would all be experiencing the same problem and that's not happening.
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> But if it's based on work by Doris Kearns Goodwin, will it really be historical?
I just know that it's based on her best-selling book, *Team of Rivals*.
The screenplay was written by award-winning playwright, Tony Kushner.
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> What surprised me was seeing them all clumped together over consecutive nights.
As Michael, the WebAdmin, has repeatedly said, the schedule is not to be considered finalized until it is announced.
Just because six days are posted online does not mean that those six days are finalized or that the overall schedule for April won't change.
It is also the month that the Film Festival will be held in Hollywood and there is always programming included that highlights what is going on at the Festival.
So, based on what Michael has said, it's a schedule that is a work in progress and could change so these first six days should be taken with a grain of salt.
Doris Day being Star of the Month and films and programming that highlight the Film Festival are the two things not likely to change.
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> Do they pay their employees a fair market rate and provide health insurance?
James,
One of the most interesting things I learned while watching the *Employee Picks* month last year, is that most of the employees who appeared on camera have been working at TCM for at least three to five years, some have been there for over ten and a few have been there since the beginning.
We've also heard the same from some of the panelists who appear at the *Meet the Staff* discussions at the TCM Film Festivals.
From that, I would guess that they consider TCM a good place to work.
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> What is the word for a male "floozie"? A flooz?
Gigolo is used a lot in the movies.
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The movie, *Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter* is based on a best-selling book of the same title. It's a mash-up of history and a vampire story. The book garnered good reviews when it was released and the movie rights were quickly nabbed up.
For everyone who wants to the traditional Lincoln story, you will get your chance with Daniel Day Lewis in the Spielberg directed movie, *Lincoln* which is currently filming. Photos from the production show that Day Lewis looks very much like Lincoln. The script for this one is from the book by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt ( *500 Days of Summer* ) and Jared Harris ( *Game of Shadows* and *Mad Men* ).
Edited by: lzcutter on Jan 7, 2012 9:50 AM
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It's also the Cactus Rose theme in *Liberty Valance*. It's heard mainly when Hallie is remembering/talking about Tom Doniphon.
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> A while ago there was a special on John Ford shown on TCM (I think narrated by Orson Welles?), and he mentions Ford reusing this piece of music.
The special was the restoration of the documentary called *Directed by John Ford* (done by Peter Bogdanovich and featuring a number of actors talking about working for Ford) and the piece of music from *Young Mr. Lincoln* is used very eloquently in Ford's film, *The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance*.
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> because I find James Caan unbearable. He became so arrogant after he won the Oscar for playing Sonny in The Godfather, that I can't stand to watch him in anything except Misery - and that's only because he is the victim in that movie.
Mimi,
Just a fyi, James Caan was nominated for his supporting role in *The Godfather* (along with Al Pacino and Robert Duvall) but Joel Grey took the Oscar home that year for his supporting role in *Cabaret*.
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> but why would TCM allow Comcast to use its programming/station for such a blatant money grab. Doesn't TCM have any input into a decision like this?.
JustRich,
Unfortunately, TCM has no say as to which tier a cable or satellite company puts TCM at or moves it to.
I think in the message board archives is a post from TCMProgrammr (who works for TCM) saying this and we've also heard them say this at the TCM Film Festival's *Meet the Staff* panel discussions.
If it is too expensive to stay with Comcast, it's definitely worth looking at other providers!
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> Well, RJ Wagner must have some pretty deep pockets.
The likely reason, at least according to Angelenos, is that the whole revival of the case was just a smoke and mirrors attempt by the Sheriff's Department to divert the public's attention from the burgeoning prison scandal that was all over the news when the Wood case was reopened.
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> I didn't insult you, and I expect you to be honorable enough not to insult me.
FredC,
I'm sorry you felt insulted. I was actually referring to the followers of Big Hollywood, not you when I made that comment.
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> This means he doesn't give a damn about the movie or the star, but he's here to push his political point of view and to constantly promote his family and to make himself seem important to mention his famous relations who were movie makers.
FredC,
It might be worth you checking out the old thread when the whole *Spirit of St. Louis* hand wringing came up. As posters who actually saw his commentary wrote, he didn't say anything untoward about Lindbergh or anything political.
Some people would prefer to just believe the BigHollywood site about Ben, his politics and TCM no matter how many times posters here provide ample evidence to the contrary. The rest of us prefer to believe reality.
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Ah, BigHollywood strikes again. Almost every thread complaining about Ben M, his politics overshadowing his commentaries and TCM all have one thing in common, the website called BigHollywood.
Nine times out of ten, when TCM posters who actually watched the "offending" commentary chime in, we tend to find out that Ben M isn't guilty of saying what others try to put in his mouth.
A search of Ben M and BigHollywood on the message board archives should bring up the ghosts.
Be aware, they ain't pretty.
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LFN,
I totally agree! The think people tend to forget when it comes to Ben M. and his on-air wrap-arounds, those are *written* by TCM staff not Ben M himself.
Staffers write Robert O's copy for wrap-arounds as well. He does not write his own and neither does Ben M.
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Ben was hired for the weekend hosting duties. He has more than stepped up to the plate this last year while Robert O was on vacation. He filled in during *Summer Under the Stars*, filled in on some of Robert O's personal appearances at concerts and movie screenings as well.
He does not voice his political views on TCM any more than Robert O, Alec B or any of the other Guest Hosts, Co-hosts or Guest Programmers do.
To think that Ben M would use TCM for that purpose tells us more about the people who believe that than the reality of the situation.
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Roy,
Yep, I was watching the Channel 5 local broadcast with Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards. They said there were a couple of bicyclists near the Roy Rogers riders and the reins of the horse got snared in the handlebars of one of the bicyclists.
The bicyclists were adviced to get off the parade route, pronto.
I felt really bad for the rider who through no fault of his own had to dismount and walk the route.
I'm just glad he's okay.
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> It is much easier for TCM to air it than those Doris Day films from Universal and Fox.
At one time, *Storm Center* had rights issues surrounding it. I don't know if those issues have been worked out but it is worth noting that just because a film is in a studio film library does not always mean that it can be shown.
*The Story of Temple Drake*, *The Constant Nymph* and *NIght Flight* are recent examples of films that were kept in the vaults for decades due to rights issues and only recently were those issues resolved (a big thanks to TCM for the major assist they provided in helping those films come back to us).
Other films in the MGM/RKO/Warner's film library still unable to TCM because of rights issues include *Letty Lynton*.
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Happy New Year to all the Ramblers!
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theKing,
You still can find if movies are scheduled via the database and sign up for a reminder while on the page for that particular film.
This is just an example of a film from the database that is scheduled to be shown:
The Searchers(1956)Sunday, January 1 @ 12:45 PM (ET) - Only on TCM-REMINDER
Click on Reminder just to the right of the broadcast time and you should be able to set up a reminder.
UNIVERSAL 1930s
in General Discussions
Posted
> There is but one classic film and that is All Quiet on the Western Front. The rest are recent popular films that have all been released before
The list includes restorations of *Dracula*, the Spanish language *Dracula*, *Frankenstein*, *The Bride of Frankenstein*, *Buck Privates*, *The Birds* and *To Kill a Mockingbird*.
Those who have been clamoring for restorations of Universal's horror films are getting their wish come true.