Special Sales of Classic Titles on DVD & Blu-ray

[Film_Fatale]

Wonder if they're going to have a Black Friday sale...

[filmlover]

So far, I have ordered from DVD Planet:

Ox-Bow Incident

Orchestra Wives

The Rains Came

The Snake Pit

Anna Karenina

The Razor?s Edge

Desk Set

River?s Edge

2001: A Space Odyssey (Blu-ray)

The Shining (Blu-ray)

Eyes Wide Shut (Blu-ray)

The Lone Ranger ? The Legend Begins (contains the first serial plus Clayton Moore shows)

 

From deepdiscount:

Huh?Hush, Sweet Charlotte

A Christmas Carol

4 Film Favorites: John Wayne

4 Film Favorites: Draculas

Superman the Movie (Blu-ray)

[FrankGrimes]

Hi, Web -- I'm amazed by the amount of coin you and FilmLover are dropping on DVDs. I wish I could play in your world. I spent $300 on my brother (Christmas/B-Day) and myself (SELFISH PIG). Well, at least I dropped far more on him than me.

 

I won't go into the titles I got my bro', but the ones I got myself are:

 

Fritz Lang's Indian Epic

The Spiders (Fritz Lang)

Fox Horror Classics (finally, dammit)

The Shanghai Gesture (Gene Tierney)

Thunder Birds (Gene Tierney)

Ultimate Film Noir Collection (Too Late For Tears, among others)

Suspense 20 Movie Pack (Sundown/Gene Tierney, among others)

 

I'll let my brother return the favor at Christmas.

[dsclassic]

Frank, when you have time, please tell me the details of the 20 Suspense Pack and the Ultimate Film Noir Collection ?

I read some reviews and the reviews says the prints are average/ok and its a good value for the money, but the same films are on both sets you bought...

I usually go after print quality. DOA is out there by different companies and I went with the Roan Group version as the print as far superior..

Some titles Alpha put out I passed on for Kino ( Hitchhiker )

I wish some of the other Alpha obscurities would pop up from another company in a better print

 

Message was edited by: dsclassic

[Web]

I've held out on getting any Fox Classics or Film Noirs, like The Rains Came, this sale because Amazon usually puts them on sale at $6.95 now and then. Also, check out ebay before you buy anything new. I picked up the Classic Comedy Teams Collection last week for $11.00 used but mint.

[Web]

filmlover,

 

The Classic Comedy Teams cost $11 with shipping. $5.99 + $5 shipping. And it was a buy-it-now item, surprisingly. So there are some good deals on ebay, just have to see them at the right time, I guess. I messed up on the Inner Sanctum set though. I paid $18 on Planet and then saw it sell for $9 total on ebay. I should have known that wasn't one that would be on many people's radar screens and could probably be had for cheap. But the excitement of the sale made me less careful than usual.

 

But, yeah, you check all the places I check too. Found some better prices on Amazon used dealers this sale and got those.

 

Oh, and I hadn't known about Planet charging taxes because...they don't charge me taxes! (sticking out my tongue right now) because...I'm a Delaware resident and that's a no-tax state. I love this state right about now. In fact, sales tax is just a distant memory to me from when I lived in NY about 15 years ago.

[FrankGrimes]

Hi, DSClassic -- I usually go after print quality. DOA is out there by different companies and I went with the Roan Group version as the print as far superior.. Some titles Alpha put out I passed on for Kino ( Hitchhiker ) I wish some of the other Alpha obscurities would pop up from another company in a better print.

 

I also read up on the DVDs I'm thinking about purchasing for many reasons, with print quality being the biggest of reasons. I decided to take the gamble on the Dark Crimes 50 Movie Pack earlier this year and this has opened the door for me buying PD noirs. I got the set for under $15 and I've enjoyed the films. The films are basically VHS-dubbed. Of the ones I have seen, only The Red House has been very poor, primarily because of horrible audio. It's inaudible at times and it really does ruin Miklos Rozsa's score. But I really wanted to see this film and I didn't want to sit around and hope that a restored version of the film would show up. I could get The Red House on DVD just by itself for about $5 but I thought, why not get 50 films for less than $15? That's why I took the plunge.

 

Frank, when you have time, please tell me the details of the 20 Suspense Pack and the Ultimate Film Noir Collection? I read some reviews and the reviews says the prints are average/ok and its a good value for the money, but the same films are on both sets you bought...

 

After getting the Dark Crimes set, I now feel a little more comfortable going cheap just to see certain films. Here was my thinking with each of the sets I just purchased.

 

20 Suspense Pack ($6.63 at DeepDiscount with sale) -- I don't have these films on DVD: Sundown (Gene Tierney), The Black Book (Anthony Mann), Algiers (Hedy Lamarr), They Made Me a Criminal (John Garfield), British Intelligence, Eyes in the Night, The Man on the Eiffel Tower, The White Orchid, Outpost in Morocco, Ransom Money, and Dangerous Passage.

 

I'll probably end up getting Sundown by itself because the VCI DVD is supposedly "restored." It's also cheap. I really want to see The Black Book and Algiers.

 

The Ultimate Film Noir Collection ($9.86 at DeepDiscount with sale) -- Too Late for Tears (Dan Duryea & Liz Scott), The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino), Kansas City Confidential, and Buried Alive are the films that I don't have on DVD. The primary reason why I was getting this box set is Too Late for Tears. I also don't have The Hitch-Hiker and Kansas City Confidential on DVD yet and I've yet to see either in their entirety. I may end up buying Kansas City Confidential by itself (the new release) and I am considering buying the Kino bundle with The Hitch-Hiker, although I need to do research on their print of the film. Kino has been very hit or miss with their prints. I already have the Kino version of Scarlet Street, which is very good. I want to get Strange Impersonation in the Kino bundle, so I may dive in. We'll see.

 

Both DVDs feature these films that I also don't have on DVD: Detour, He Walked by Night, Quicksand, Suddenly, Jigsaw, and Port of New York. I really wanted to get Detour and He Walked by Night on DVD. I'll upgrade to better copies when I get the urge.

 

 

Notice the "Mill Creek" logo in the bottom right corner. This will appear about four times a film and remain on the screen for about 5-10 seconds. If I had my druthers, I wouldn't want the logo on the screen ever, but again, if I wanted to see The Red House and other films in this box set, I had to take the bad with the good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dream sequence in the beginning is too dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I posted some caps from Anthony Mann's The Great Flamarion here:

 

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=82251&tstart=0&start=0

 

I posted some caps from The Strange Woman (Hedy Lamarr) here:

 

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=113315&start=30&tstart=0

 

I posted some caps from Whistle Stop (Ava Gardner) here:

 

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=115491&start=135&tstart=30

 

All of the above caps are from the Dark Crimes box set.

[Film_Fatale]

Hi, DSClassic -- I usually go after print quality. DOA is out there by different companies and I went with the Roan Group version as the print as far superior..

 

How does it compare to the TCM print?

[MissGoddess]

I'll probably end up getting Sundown by itself because the VCI DVD is supposedly "restored." It's also cheap. I really want to see The Black Book and Algiers.

 

Hi Frank

 

I'm guessing that print of *Algiers* won't be any better than the others I've seen. This is one of my favorite movie romances of all time and it's a really famous classic (Pepe le Pew and all that "come wid me to dee Cashbah" stuff) yet there are no restored prints. I think it should be at or near the top of anyone's list to clean up and release as a special edition. I was saddened that Criterion didn't do this when it pesented the French original, Pepe le Moko. It would have been ideal.

 

My dvd of Sundown is pretty nice and it wasn't expensive. I liked this little adventure movie though some pan it.

 

I have a vhs of *Whistle Stop* which is probably the same print as you have. I can hardly see Ava in some scenes, they're so muddy! She'd probably crack "that's a mercy, honey."

[dsclassic]

i havent seen the TCM print, but I do know the Roan Group blows away everything else I have seen...

[filmlover]

It may slip through the cracks, but Kino has a 25%-30% off sale right now. I know with deepdiscount's sale and Dvdplanet's sale the discount are higher there, but there are are titles Kino sells that dvdplanet and DD don't carry. (For example, The Gaucho and The Iron Mask, two Doug Fairbanks silent films.) Here's a link:

 

http://www.kino.com/video/

[MissGoddess]

OH, looky! I just got box #2 from DDD and had forgotten that I had also ordered Night of the Iguana! I'm getting a little scared now. I just fixed everything "just so" in order to find room for all the new dvds and box sets. But the Ford at Fox set is yet to come and it will probably take up the room of two or three normal size box sets.

[filmlover]

Price drops on Amazon for Fox Film Noir bundle and the Fox Studio Classics set!!! The Film Noir bundle is down to $109 from about $139 (already a bargain, and now works out to about $6.40 each for its 17 DVDs) and the Studio Classics set at $199, down from about $240 (40 DVDs, so that is $5 each!!!).

 

What a great way to get some of the best of Fox! LOL, and who knows Fox may try to put these in a fancy binder and charge $500 for it, ala Ford at Fox or United Artists set. Hey, what if we took the discs and a $10-$20 book about Fox and made it into a gift set? Hmm, possibilities.

 

I went ahead and got the film noir bundle because I only have two of those and I can always resell my two. But I have almost all of the Studio Classics, so I passed on that but, boy, what a steal!!!

[Snorky]

The DJ on the radio mentioned this site that has the Black Friday ads for all the stores.

 

http://www.blackfriday.info/

[Web]

This coming Friday, Nov. 23, VCI is having a 40% off sale on everything on their site. The prices come to the same or better than on DD or Planet. Of course, they only have VCI DVDs, which are pretty good quality by the way. They got a lot of serials and cliffhangers from the 30s and 40s, like The Phantom, a lot of decent westerns from Republic, and other stuff.

 

The best ones to consider:

 

And Then There Were None

The Fighting Sullivans

Forgotten Noir Vol 1

Forgotten Noir Vol 2

Sundown

A Christmas Carol (Scrooge)- 1951

Chu Chin Chow

Angel on My Shoulder

Beyond Tomorrow- 1940

The City of the Dead- 1960, Christopher Lee

Manhattan Merry-Go-Round- 1937

 

I have them all and love 'em.

 

(Will the sales never end!)

[filmlover]

Wow, Web, I will so be all over this sale. I have two serials from them, Mandrake the Magician and Drums of Fu Manchu, and while the quality is far from perfect, I can see they do care. Mandrake looks good. Drums fair less well BUT it is a very rare serial from Republic and considered one of the best Republic ever made. And each has a well-illustrated booklet. I was looking at the catalogue on line and if I read it correctly, $14.98 seems to be the price right now on their serials but those are marked down from $19.99. If it 40% off $14.99, that would bring them down to $10 each and I will be buying a lot. (Sigh, will I even get out the door for a Black Friday sale??!!!) However, if they are $19.99 and then discounted, I will be more selective.

 

I do recommend the film, And Then There Were None, too. A genuine classic.

[Snorky]

>VCI is having a 40% off sale on everything on their site

 

A good time to buy My Little Margie Collections 1 & 2 for anyone considering the purchase.

; )

[Web]

For VCI you need to use the code: ABTGMPDR at checkout for 40% off. And it can only be used once. Sales over $50 qualify for free shipping.

[filmlover]

I tried the code but it said it had expired

[Web]

Yeah, I just tried it and it said expired. I wonder what they're trying to pull? Here's the email I got from them:

 

 

On Friday NOVEMBER 23rd?VCI will be offering 40% off ALL DVDs including all clearance and sale items by using the coupon code ABTGMPDR. This also includes all box sets as well! We are talking every single DVD at VCI is 40% off one day only! This is a great deal for anyone planning on purchasing any DVDs this holiday season. Still trying to figure out what to get Dad or that one family member you just can?t quite figure out what to buy them! Well look no further! Everyone loves movies and VCI has the largest amount of hard to find cult and classic hits that Hollywood has to offer!

 

*This is a website only special only available at www.vcient.com*

 

Maybe they were over-whelmed with orders.

[edgeciff]

Very odd re sale. I checked VCI's prices (even with their extra 40% off) and everything is so much cheaper at DDD especially with their 20% off sale. I did order a number of VCI releases, (A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BLONDE ICE and FORGOTTEN FILM NOIR) but from DDD.

[dsclassic]

Alpha's prints are hit or miss & the majority of titles they release arent carried by a major company to be remastered, such as the 4 that I ordered. Some of their prints do stink I agree,but they are from 16MM or 35MM sources with no remastering, they just crank them out, like most public domain titles.

I own many Alpha titles that the prints are viewable & enjoy a lot. These we will see..

The best print they have put out is the movie Impact. Its better than anything they've put out there..

Anyway, when a chance to upgrade from Alpha occurs, I tend to go for it

[filmlover]

I've found the Mill Creek 50 Movie Packs have many of the same Alpha titles and for a lot less. Whereas Alpha charges about $5 each, you can get 50 of the same titles for less than $20 withthe Mill Creek packages. And the PQ still can be as bad, lol.

[edgeciff]

I have a HighDef TV and poor quality prints tend to look even worse on that kind of set. I was glad when MGM brought out HE WALKED BY NIGHT and KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. taken from their original masters. The PD prints of these two films were pretty awful. Now if only someone would get a hold of THE RED HOUSE, NEW FACES, and DELIGHTFULLY DANGEROUS. Those prints are horrible. I wonder if the original master still exists for these three films. I would like to order some old 50s TV shows from ALPHA including OUR MISS BROOKS, BEULAH and MY LITTLE MARGIE. I am wondering what the prints look like.

[Film_Fatale]

Did you mean the original master or the original negative? Because many movies are constantly being re-mastered each time the technology advances a little bit. However the source material, most of the time, doesn't change unless there is a major restoration, which doesn't happen with all titles.

 

Of course, when the original negative of a classic movie isn't available, they'll just use the best source material available, and it can be anything (IIRC) from an interpositive to a 16mm print.