MOVIE

[kneecappers]

Dear Sir

 

I know that you have played CARMEN JONES with Dorothy DANDRIDGE.

What I want to know is what happened to PORGY & BESS also staring DOROTHY DANDRIDGE.?

It seem's as if it disappeared.

[movieslover1000]

Generally, no one from TCM answers here. Porgy and Bess was made by the Samuel Goldwyn Company and released through Columbia in 1959. That makes its copyright a little murky. There are no plans to release it. It is one that probably will not be released.

[jhnrndglt]

My sources tell me that the Gershwin estate was unhappy with the film and will not allow it to be shown or released.

[leobertucelli]

To movieslover1000 --My sentiments exactly. I wish the hell Osborn himself jumped on to see what we all feel & say - Does anyone out there know his e-mail address??

Leo

[edgeciff]

jhnrndgit, the Gershwin estate HATES this film so they may never release. It DID play last year at the Egyptain Theatre in Hollywood for one showing as part of a widescreen festival. I am surprised they released it for that one play date. Unfortunately, I missed this showing. So who knows, anything is possible! I'm sure it needs restoration work.

[jhnrndglt]

Thanks edgecliffd - I had a friend who was at the Egyptian just to see PORGY AND BESS and said that the print was in surprisingly good shape.

[chrtbsh]

it's true - the Gershwin estate hates the film; at TCM we had some discussions a couple of years ago about being involved in a restoration, but they didn't go anywhere

 

I believe the copyright is owned by Goldwyn (at one point MGM/UA was representing it, though)

 

and sometimes people from TCM do answer on the message boards

[deeanddaisy666]

tcmprogrammer, since this is an Information thread, can I ask you a question? Are there any plans to make this site more user friendly in terms of updating the log in? The site doesn't allow opening new windows without logging in anew, and yes I've set all my 'cookie' settings properly. This is the only site that causes an error.

 

And, if one opens a thread first without logging in, there is a loop that occurs if login is then attempted that I for one cannot get out of until I shut down the window and start again. I'm not sure which system other boards use to maintain their message capability, but it appears that this one is one of the more difficult to maneuver.

 

Any plans on updating? Thank you.

[chrtbsh]

We will look into it to see if we can improve it. Thanks.

[edgeciff]

TCMPROGRAMMER: Thanks for all your comments. Please more films from the pre-48 Paramount library (which is owned by Universal) such as HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME with Irene Dunne and early 30's Paramount flicks, if you have the rights to show them. Also, STORM WARNING, the only Doris Day film never seen on TV any more. Are there legal rights problems with this one?

[classicsfan1119]

To our TCM Programmer,

Again, I just want to say that it has been wonderful to see you posting with us recently! It means a lot...A LOT...to many of us here to see you among us, and to have your input concerning many issues.

 

I'm wondering if it might be possible for your IT-people to develop an additional Forum that could be exclusively used for us to communicate with you, and for you and others on your staff to communicate with us, at least in the "general" sense? Many of us are dropping requests to you now for Programming we'd like to see, but they are being posted everywhere in various Forums, and if it's hard for me to find them, it must be equally hard for you to locate them, too...and I know that your time is valuable and limited re. posting with us. Just an idea. :)Mary Lou

[brackenhe]

To Deeanddaisy666--I've found that's it's much easier to manuver around the forums if you have DSL instead of dial up service. I'm able to post today but some times when the network is busy I'm not able to log in. But when I use my friends computer with High Speed connections (DSL) I have no problems at all.

[moviejoe79]

I also have alot of problems with the boards. I can only log in at work, since I have high speed access here. I have dial up at home and I can't log in for the life of me. That's why I never post on the weekends.

[chrtbsh]

edgecliffd - "Storm Warning" is controlled by Warner Brothers, and there shouldn't be any rights issue involved. We played it back in '95, and it's just a matter of us acquiring the rights from them (even though we're the same company, we don't automatically have the rights to their films). As for early Paramount (via Universal), we do have some and I'm sure we will add more as we move forward. We have a limited acquisitions budget, but your request has been noted (I realize a lot of people are interested in the early Paramounts). A few that we have now, and coming up include: "Morocco," "The Smiling Lieutenant," "Love Me Tonight," "Midnight," "Shanghai Express," "The Sign of the Cross," "She Done Him Wrong," "Cleopatra," "Death Takes a Holiday," "The Crusades," "Lives of a Bengal Lancer." (I'm sure you've already seen many of these on the network.)

 

Mary Lou - I think that's a good idea. I'd actually thought about it, and maybe it makes some sense.

 

Thank you everybody, again, for participating on the message boards. If I have the time, I will try to be more active.

[deeanddaisy666]

tcmprogrammer, thank you! I echo ML's sentiments on how nice it is to have you here to communicate with us.

 

And brackenhe, I have a feeling you are correct. Come to think of it, it's only since I've had to resort to dial up (isn't it annoying, moviejoe?) that I've had problems.

 

At any rate, thank you every one for the comments.

[classicsfan1119]

To TCM Programmer...glad you caught my earlier message, and thanks for your reply. :)ML

[loliteblue]

thanks TCM programmer for joining and answering all of our inquiries.....glad you've come aboard!.........

[feaito]

TCM Programmer...Hi! It's great to have you posting with us....Great what you tell about those Paramounts, great taste in chhosing those wonderful movies...I have four questions "in that line"....well, five:

 

- High, Wide and Handsome?

- Peter Ibbetson?

- Design For Living?

- The Story of Temple Drake?

- Hot Saturday?

 

Thanks in advance for your answer!!!

[chrtbsh]

feaito - unfortunately, I don't have an answer that will satisfy you

 

none of those films are in upcoming windows for us; I will note your request and when we are negotiating we may license some of them, but as of now none are coming up

 

we did play "Design for Living" last year; and I think we were going to play "The Story of Temple Drake," but (if I remember correctly) Universal didn't have decent materials

[edgeciff]

tcmprogrammer, you answered me once before, I hope you are out there looking at this message now. With the passing of Irene Manning this week, it brings to mind another WB film I am longing to see (as many other are too) the 1943 version of THE DESERT SONG with this beautiful actress. I believe this one never has been on TV. Are there litigation problems keeping this musical out of circulation? Even the 1953 remake seems to have disappeared from TV although that version has been released on video. Could we see the 1943 version in the future?

[chrtbsh]

deeanddaisy666 - our technical wizard has promised that she's trying to fix the problem you mentioned below

 

here is her suggestion while she works on it:

____________________________________________________

as a temporary solution, please have the user log in immediately at the forums homepage level at

http://forums.turnerclassicmovies.com/jive/tcm/

 

go there and then click login in the upper right hand corner. (Rather than trying to login at the thread level as they noted in their email)

____________________________________________________

 

she mentioned that we're probably migrating to a different login system in a few months, so hopefully things will be a lot better then

 

[atcmviewer]

Hi,

 

Any chance of TCM showing the 1935 Paramount film Peter Ibbetson, with Gary Cooper? I saw it on AMC about 10 years ago, and would like to see it again.

 

Thanks.

[deeanddaisy666]

Wow. tcmprogrammer, thanks. LOL, yes, someone here mentioned that, to log in "immediately" on accessing the site, rather than trying to read and then log in. It does work, temporarily.

 

But THANK you for pursuing the problem and getting back to me with an answer. Yes, I may be the junkyard dog of the Internet and an oldtimer when it comes to manners of current day service people, and may be overreacting, but you have no idea how nice it is for someone like yourself to pursue an issue and get BACK to the person with an answer. In this day and age. On the Internet.

 

I thank you most wholeheartedly. I congratulate you on your integrity and decency, I wonder if TCM knows what a rare commodity you are in today's environment of slipshod customer service????

 

And please also extend my thanks also to your tech wizard, I look forward to the new login system.

 

AND, since you are a real, breathing, decent human being who delivers on inquiries, can you tell me if TCM owns 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Beyond Tomorrow', two movies I would like to suggest TCM program?

 

Thanks again.

 

[chrtbsh]

thank you for the kind words

 

unfortunately, we don't own either of those films - I believe Paramount has the rights to "Beyond Tomorrow" (although it looks like it might be in the public domain); I have no idea about "Stairway to Heaven" (if I can figure out who it is, I will post it here)

[chrtbsh]

edgecliffd - "The Desert Song" has been tied up with underlying rights issues for many years; I do not know the exact issue, but it's a filf that should be in our library but has been out of circulation since I've been here (a little over 6 years)

 

atcmviewer - "Peter Ibbetson" is one of those early Paramounts that had been requested, and I am noting that you are adding your name to the list of people who'd like us to acquire it from Universal (who controls the early Paramount library); we don't have it in any upcoming agreement, but we might be able to get it at some point