Ray Faiola Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I found out this past weekend that the last time TCM ran MEET JOHN DOE it was a new master provided by Sony, who apparently negotiated for the materials from Warner Bros. (Sony's lineage to the picture dates back to when Screen Gems was the official television distributor of the film). Anyway, fans should be on the lookout for the next performance of the film on Wednesday May, 7 2014 at 1:00 PM ET. And, no, the film never carried a Warner Bros. shield. The original release prints had a credit "Produced at Warner Bros. Studio. Distributed by Vitagraph", which was changed for the reissue to simply "Produced at Warner Bros. Studios". The video versions that carry the Warner shield are simple tack-ons. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Thanks for the update, I've already set a reminder. The last print of the film that I saw on TCM did have the shield, but it was noticeably better than the copy they had been running prior to that. So, Sony has it now? Could they be thinking of some new Capra box set with restored editions? I thank my stars that Sony went through the trouble of cleaning up HIS GIRL FRIDAY for a Cary Grant set as I had never seen a decent print of it since the dawn of home video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Thanks for the notification, Ray. At times it seems to be brutal hoping to find a really good looking image of Meet John Doe. I'm hoping this Sony version will be it. Years ago I came across a version, from Blockbuster Video, of all sources, which was probably the best I had seen of the film up until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 I finally saw the Sony master on MEET JOHN DOE when TCM rebroadcast it on Wednesday. WOW! This was a superb presentation. The only previous 35mm edition was the Hal Roach Studios video release which was a composite of Frank Capra's personal print with insertions from another 35mm print to cover jump splices. The Sony edition is pristine in both picture and sound I hope they will release this commercially. Odds may be against the suits making that decision since the film is P.D. and there are dozens and dozens of releases out there. Thank you TCM for airing this ultimate MEET JOHN DOE. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 It will be on again in August on Stanwyck's day. It is a fine looking print. I did record it yesterday, but had forgotten to adjust my cable box to get the proper sized image. I only get the HD feeds of channels offered in HD and SD and have to make allowances, otherwise I get DVDs of Academy ratio films that are windowboxed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I recorded the film based on the heads up provided earlier with this thread. I haven't really examined the image too closely yet but from what little I saw of it, it looked fine. One never knows which print of a film that TCM will show so I'm certainly glad I got this one of one of my favourite Capra films. For those who insist that Gary Cooper was a one note actor, I say take another look at his remarkable performance in this film. Thanks, Ray, for the heads up about this print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I could not help but notice in tonight's airing that the WB logo is properly missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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