August 13, 2025 • 52 mins
George Feltenstein joins Tim Millard to discuss the Warner Archive's June Blu-ray releases, spanning from 1938 to 1961 and featuring newly restored classics across multiple genres.
• The Citadel (1938) stars Robert Donat as a doctor whose idealism is tested when he moves from a Welsh mining town to wealthy London practice
• A Date with Judy (1948) showcases Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor in a vibrant Technicolor musical with restored color that eliminates previous transfer issues
• The Enchanted Cottage (1945) tells the story of a disfigured war veteran and plain young woman whose love transforms how they see each other
• Executive Suite (1954) features an all-star cast including William Holden and Barbara Stanwyck in a corporate drama that remains relevant today
• His Kind of Woman (1951) pairs Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell in a noir that transforms into comedy when Vincent Price's character appears
• Splendor in the Grass (1961) presents Natalie Wood's powerful performance and Warren Beatty's screen debut in Elia Kazan's emotionally raw drama about young love
• All releases feature 4K scans from original camera negatives, with Warner Archive addressing previous transfer issues
• Many releases include period-appropriate shorts, cartoons, radio adaptations, and other special features that enhance the viewing experience
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tim Millard (00:04):
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me is George
Feltenstein to review the JuneBlu-ray releases from the Warner
Archive.
Hi, George.
George Feltenstein (00:16):
Hello Tim.
We're now in August and we'rejust getting to talk about June.
That's how busy everybody'sbeen.
Tim Millard (00:21):
That's how busy.
We've got summer vacations andall of those good things.
I actually finished watchingthese quite a while back, but we
just weren't able to get thisscheduled.
But I'm looking forward to ourdiscussion today because these
are all terrific films.
And I thought, george, we'd goin alphabetical order because we
do have six films that we'regoing to review, and that means
(00:45):
the first one is the 1938 dramathe Citadel, starring Robert
Donat and Rosalind Russell, andthis is a really well-done story
of the life of an Englishdoctor who starts off very young
and idealistic in his firstposting in a Welsh mining town
(01:06):
and then the cares of the world.
He's got a wife and money andthese things.
They move to London and thatleads him to become a doctor to
the rich clientele of London.
It's really well written andreally well acted.
This is a really very goodmovie.
George Feltenstein (01:27):
I'm assuming that you had not seen it before
.
I had not, so it's great tohave a first time viewing of a
film like this where you havethe improvements we've been able
to make with the new master,seeing it in high definition,
clean.
It changes people's perceptionof these films when there is
such a huge jump in quality, andwe're very proud of the disc.
(01:52):
The film itself has always hada prestigious reputation and it
was based on a novel written byAJ Cronin, who was himself a
doctor.
Like before Michael Crichton,there was AJ Cronin, and I'm
(02:12):
just thrilled with the receptionto the disc.
We've gotten so many wonderfulcomments from people that said I
didn't even know about thismovie and they just appreciated
everything about it, and Donut'sscreen performances are not
plentiful.
He did a lot of work on stageand he also had health issues
(02:37):
and he died relatively young,and so yet he's always
remembered for something likethe 39 Steps.
Goodbye Mr Chips.
This isn't as well known asGoodbye Mr Chips, or certainly
the 39 Steps, but this is one ofhis finest films and I just
(02:57):
feel that it's still relevantand very timely, even almost 90
years since the film wasreleased.
But it's such a work of qualityand Rosalind Russell is
wonderful in it, and I'm just sopleased that you enjoyed it as
(03:21):
much as I hoped you would.
Tim Millard (03:22):
Well, you released Goodbye, mr Chips on Blu-ray I
think about two years ago.
Yes, that's a fabulous film,and he's a professor there, or
teacher, and this has a littlebit of that feeling, but in the
medical field now, where ittells this kind of epic story of
a life right, and there's aromance involved as well, and,
(03:46):
uh, that is such a well-donemovie and I think the citadel
like, like you said, it shouldbecome more well known because
it has that same level ofwonderful storytelling and the
romance is built in there aswell.
Um, so it's a it's a very, verywell done movie and and I'm
sure you got to give Donat a lotof the credit for that because
(04:08):
he just inhabits thesecharacters and brings them to
life over as they age and matureand go through different phases
of life.
So it's really good.
And Rosalind Russell shedoesn't have a huge part to play
in it, but she's very strongthere as his supportive wife.
And then is this one that theyactually filmed in the UK,
George.
George Feltenstein (04:29):
Absolutely.
It was filmed at the MGM.
They had established an MGMBritish studio and this was, I
think, the second film made.
It was like a joint venturewith another British company
(04:50):
where MGM set up shop and thefirst film was a yank at Oxford,
was Robert Taylor and in asmall role, a woman who had
become very famous worldwide forthe rest of eternity, in my
opinion, and that's Vivian Leigh.
She was really first noticed bya lot of American audiences
(05:16):
because of a yank at Oxford andthat was a big success.
And the idea was MGM would sendover one big star from Culver
City and one of their bigdirectors.
It was a recipe for success.
But not too many films were madethere because of the outbreak
(05:38):
of World War II and thatcertainly put a very serious
dent on things.
But the films that were madethere while this was still an
active joint venture with the UK, part of what spurred that was
(05:59):
that there was a quota system ofyou could only release so many
American films if there was anequal amount of British films.
And I don't really I'm not anexpert on that part of the
history, but MGM was not theonly studio to start making
movies in England.
(06:20):
Warner Brothers had theTeddington Studios, but it was
really really quite importantwhen they made a film at the
British outpost, shall we saythe little group of them that
were made there before World WarII.
They're all very, very notableand impressive.
(06:42):
They're four-star movies, ifyou will.
So I'm glad that you enjoyed itand I'm also so happy that it
looks as good as it does.
That does change one's abilityto appreciate a great film.
Tim Millard (07:00):
Yeah, and I think if you're a fan of Donut and if
you're a fan of Goodbye Mr Chips, you should buy this one,
because you're going to want tohave it in your home collection
and you have a couple of classicshort subjects on there and a
classic cartoon, the Daffy Duck.
George Feltenstein (07:15):
Yeah, we have two MGM shorts from the
same year which happened to bedirected by the great Jacques
Tourneur as he was working hisway from short subjects to
features.
Four years later he'd directCat People at RKO for producer
Val Luton.
It's a picture that we're alittle bit familiar with around
(07:36):
here.
And we also have a WarnerBrothers cartoon, the Daffy Duck
, because you got Daffy Duck andPorky Pig with the medical
story, I just thought it wouldbe a little funny to put that on
.
It's a very serious movie, butwhen you went to the movies in
those days you'd see two shortsubjects in a cartoon trailers,
(08:01):
and that's why we try to putcontent shorts, cartoons,
trailers of the era on thesediscs to try to recreate the
theatrical viewing experience.
Tim Millard (08:14):
Yeah, it's really good, really really good one,
highly recommended.
Well, next we have A Date withJudy, and that's from 1948, the
MGM Technicolor Musical, andthat stars a young Jane Powell
and an even younger ElizabethTaylor.
They're both terrific in thisfilm.
I love seeing them together andit's a charming high school
(08:37):
story of romance and of course,there's the drama there.
And, as with all of yourTechnicolor restorations, it
just looks and sounds terrificand is a lot of fun.
Grab your fun evening snacks orwhatever, and this is a really,
really fun musical.
George Feltenstein (08:55):
It's light entertainment and I often say
it's a film that is not really amusical as much as it's a film
that has a lot of music in it.
It has a nice balance.
But it is remarkable thatElizabeth Taylor was basically
15 years old in this movie andlooks like, you know, I think
(09:17):
everybody looked older back then, but she looks like a woman in
her early 20s.
Basically she certainly doesn'tlook like a 15-year-old, but
her beauty is arresting and howTechnicolor captured her violet
eyes is really remarkable.
But the real center of the filmis Jane Powell, who was one of
(09:44):
the leading ladies at MGM atthat time, the time this movie
was made, she was probably 18.
And I happened to think veryhighly of her and I thought she
was a very, very attractiveleading lady in terms of her
(10:06):
multiple talents.
She was a good actress, she wascharming, she was very, very
pretty, she had a wonderfulsinging voice, but she also had
a special quality on screen thatmade you want to love her and I
think a lot, of, a lot ofpeople I know uh speak of her uh
(10:27):
, like I'll.
You know, my dad was a littlekid when this movie came out,
but he had a crush on JanePowell, you know, and I don't
think he was the only one Uh,you know, people certainly had
crushes on Elizabeth Taylor, butbut, uh, the relationship
between jane powell andelizabeth taylor in the film is
(10:48):
also kind of uh, it's kind ofunique because elizabeth
taylor's character is almost themore advising, has a little
more grounded wisdom thanteenage judy foster.
But we also created the disc insuch a way where it was based
(11:08):
on a radio show and we have anepisode of the radio show on
there and, uh, that gives you ataste of these.
Characters were so popular onradio that mgm invested in
buying the rights to make amovie with the characters.
That didn't happen very much.
Sometimes they were radio, well, often they were radio
(11:31):
adaptations of movies, but itwas very rare that they took
radio characters and put theminto a film.
It did happen at RKO earlier inthe 40s with Fibber, mcgee and
Molly and the Great Gildersleeve.
But this was a really it was aone shot attempt and a very,
(11:54):
very financially successfulmovie.
And the other thing that takesadvantage all these Technicolor
restorations that we've beenworking on, one after another,
another after another.
People are starting to run outof adjectives to describe how
gorgeous they look.
I still am amazed by howwonderful they look, especially
(12:14):
because how they lookedpreviously on dvd coming from
interpositives, some of whichwere really badly made by bad
labs.
I'll just say it out loud theywere gray and the alignment of
the Technicolor records wascompletely a wacky and people
(12:35):
were ghosting.
And we're making up for thesins of the past of others by
doing these the right way.
A Date with Judy is just aTechnicolor spectacle, and who
better for Technicolor thanCarmen Miranda?
And Carmen Miranda had beenunder contract to 20th Century
Fox probably for, I'm guessing,seven years, and when her
(12:59):
contract was up she eventuallyended up at MGM for two films,
both of which were with JanePowell, the other being Nancy
Goes to Rio, and I'd love to beable to put that out someday,
but right now, a Day with Judywas far more successful and very
popular, and Carmen Miranda isdelightful in it, and I just
(13:21):
recommend it for audiences ofall ages.
Tim Millard (13:24):
Yeah, and along with her there's xavier cougat
his orchestra, I mean the music,that's really fun, um.
And then, uh, wallace berry asthe father of judy um, he's good
.
And then, uh, it was fun to seeRobert Stack, a very young,
handsome Robert Stack, in thereas a love interest for well
(13:48):
between the two girls actually,but he's so much older but he
plays it pretty well, you know,pretty straight, but pretty well
, and just it was fun to see himin there as well.
Oh, and of course we have tomention the actor, scotty
Beckett, who plays Oogie Pringle, oogie Pringle.
Yeah, so it's a lot of fun andthere's some good performances
(14:10):
in there.
And you know, going back to theTechnicolor, people are now
just, you know, they're going tojust assume it's got that
Warner Archive stamp Technicolor.
It's going to look great and Iknow you hate to take things for
granted, but in a way it's ahuge compliment to you, george,
and the Warner Archive andWarner Brothers that that's the
(14:33):
new standard.
George Feltenstein (14:35):
Well, we're very proud of that and again,
this is very much a group effort.
I every year go to thepreservation team and say we
need to do these films.
They look dreadful and thatstarts the process.
We're fortunate where thetechnical or negatives still
(15:00):
exist or exist in, let's say, apartial form.
There are certain films, veryimportant films.
I've talked about this before.
Singing in the Rain burnt inthat awful fire in 1978, except
for one reel.
So we have to work frompositive separations that were
(15:20):
thankfully made on those films.
But in many cases the full filmdoes exist and when that
happens the results arefantastic and we never take it
for granted.
But I do want to again, Iconstantly harp on this, but
(15:43):
it's very much a team effort.
Preservation team works veryhard on this.
Then MPI steps in and the waywe use our proprietary
technology to create analignment that is down to the
pixel, it's just a knockout andevery film deserves to be
(16:05):
treated with the most respect wecan give it, regardless of what
the film is.
And when we're working withthese very popular of their era
Technicolor films, it's an extraspecial treat, for sure yeah,
and you've loaded this disc uhwith a fair amount of extras as
(16:26):
well.
Tim Millard (16:28):
You've got, uh, classic tom and jerry, professor
tom and the mgm musical short,martin block's musical
merry-go-round short.
Uh, you've got audio episodesin there.
There's just a lot uh plus thetrailer, so that's a a lot of
fun to go through those as well.
So this is a terrific discoverall.
George Feltenstein (16:47):
One of the things that I'm particularly
happy about is I've been workingwith a lot of these films for
quite some time in differentformats, and there was a DVD of
A Date with Judy and it did havesome of those extras on there.
But there's an extra on here.
Aside from the Date with Judyradio show.
(17:09):
There's that interview withJane Powell, and MGM did these
promotional interviews thatwould be sent to radio stations
and they were put out on atwo-sided 78 record.
Radio stations and they wereput out on a two-sided 78 record
(17:31):
.
One side was MGM contractplayer, dick Simmons, not a
famous person who wouldinterview the star, and then of
course the star would answer hisquestions.
The other side of the discwould be open-ended so that it
would be like Joe Smith at WXXRadio and I'm speaking today
(17:52):
with Jane Powell, star of theDate with Judy, and then so
they'd send out the record witha script in case a local host
wanted to speak where DickSimmons was.
So many of these discs we don'thave and we've gone to private
(18:14):
collectors and various othersources to try and add them to
our releases.
I've been doing so for a longtime, but I love sharing a
little tidbit that we just foundamongst our corporate archives
(18:34):
I would say several hundreddiscs that I didn't know existed
Basically nobody knew.
They opened up a box and foundall of these treasures, most of
which not labeled.
They have codes on them that wedon't have a reference to.
So I did find both ElizabethTaylor and Jane Palo.
(19:01):
Unfortunately, the ElizabethTaylor disc was deteriorated to
a degree where we couldn'tinclude it because sentences
were not completed.
These were acetate discs and themore they were played, the more
the sound would go away.
So a lot of work went into justputting that little five-minute
(19:27):
interview on there.
But it's a piece of history,it's a piece of time, and
whenever we can add somethingnew and whenever we're
discovering, we have somethingthat we didn't know we had.
I love that after all this timewe're still finding things and
to be able to share them withthe fans when they buy their
discs.
(19:47):
They're getting a piece ofhistory and that's something
that I'm particularly proud of.
Yeah, that's exciting.
Tim Millard (19:54):
Uh, that's just a great release.
I'm sure that people are lovingit, who have got it, and if you
haven't got it yet, I think, uh, you'll you'll really enjoy it,
for the technicolor and the funof the story and all these
extras that are on there.
Well, next, george, we have a1945 romantic war drama called
the Enchanted Cottage and thatstars Robert Young and Dorothy
(20:19):
McGuire, and I did not knowanything about this film, but
this is a wholesome, delightfulfilm that explores the romance
between a disfigured war veteranand a plain, homely young woman
who never felt attractive inher life, doesn't think she's
(20:41):
going to ever get a husband, andthey meet at this cottage,
which it's kind of like ametaphor for a safe place where
love can grow, and it'sdefinitely set in its time,
right after the war.
George Feltenstein (20:57):
But the story of beauty being in the eye
of the beholder is timeless ofbeauty being in the eye of the
beholder is timeless and very,very important actually, because
not only is it timeless, but itwas representative of when this
movie was made in 1945, thatDorothy McGuire, who is a very
(21:19):
beautiful woman, was planed down, if that was the proper way of
saying it.
They tried to minimize herbeauty, but the story of and who
you are inside your outer shell, that is what made Oliver fall
(21:43):
in love with Laura.
In this movie there arecharacters with Robert Young and
Dorothy McGuire.
It's based on a play by SirArthur Wing Pinheiro and it was
filmed as a silent movie in 1924with Richard Barthelmus, 20
forward with Richard Barthelmas,and RKO was keen on remaking
(22:05):
the movie, not only with sound,but also in a more contemporary
setting, as it were, becauseRobert Young's character has
scars from World War II.
This film was released at theend or toward the end of World
War II, so the film was sopopular that RKO decided to
(22:27):
re-release it a few years later,which was not unusual for them.
And what was also not unusualfor them was they decided to
trim the running time and foryears the film was truncated in
its length.
The main titles had beenreplaced and updated, so we had
(22:51):
been distributing the completeversion from inferior materials,
and that was all the moremotivation for us to go back to
the camera negative, fix thetitles as they were from another
nitrate element and put back inthe scenes that had been taken
out from another nitrate element, and it's really kind of uh,
(23:15):
you can't tell where the cameranegative ends and the second
generation element begins,because they were so beautifully
matched by our colorist atWarner brothers motion picture
imaging.
We're very proud of the releaseand I think it's a film people
really really need to discoverand see, because it's it's not
(23:38):
that famous, but it has been avery strong seller for us, even
when we put out our WarnerArchive DVD back in 2009, which,
frankly, didn't look very good,but that was the best we had to
work with.
So having this restoration now,which has also preserved the
film in a way it hadn't beenpreserved before, it means it
(24:02):
will look great and sound greatfor many, many years to come,
and that's the important part,the byproduct of our work.
Tim Millard (24:12):
Yeah, it's a universal story and that's why I
think it probably is so popularand that people want to own it,
because we all crave love andwe all crave companionship.
That's human nature for that,and this story really does a
terrific job of telling thatstory in an entertaining way.
(24:32):
And you have some nice extrason here as well that round out
the disc with the audiobroadcast and the trailer on
here.
George Feltenstein (24:39):
Extras on here as well, that round out the
disc with the audio broadcastsand the trailer on here.
Well, and what I like about theradio shows is the first one is
pretty straightforward luxradio theater with robert young
and darth mcgriner uh, reprisingtheir roles and the whole
visual.
Visual aspect of it of beautyversus unattractive.
(25:01):
It has to be handled in adifferent way when there's no
visual.
But the other radio program wehave, which is half the length
it's only a half hour with JoanFontaine from General Electric
Theater, broadcast the early 50s, takes a very different tack in
(25:21):
telling the same story and it'sinteresting to compare the two.
But it's a terrific disc, we'revery proud of it and it's
selling really well, which makesus very happy.
That leads the way to morerestorations.
Tim Millard (25:35):
Yeah, yeah, it's one of those hidden gems that
coming coming out on on blu-raylooking so good is gonna
hopefully increase the audiencebeyond just the the fans of the
dvd.
Well, next we jump to 1954, toa very different kind of film.
This is a corporate dramaexecutive suite.
And boy does it have a cast,george.
(25:58):
I mean the lineup of talent inthis film.
Let's go down here WilliamHolden, june Allison, barbara
Stanwyck, frederick March,walter Pidgeon, shelley Winters
I mean it is a terrific cast andit's directed by the
sure-handed Robert Wise.
(26:18):
He does a terrific job.
I thoroughly enjoyed it becauseit feels very modern in its
storytelling.
George Feltenstein (26:24):
Well, this was one I just couldn't wait for
us to release, because it's gotjust when the movie opens and
they just flash all the stars'names, one after the other after
the other.
It's so exciting.
And what I love about this filmis it was based on a book by
(26:49):
Cameron Hawley, but the personwho adapted the book was none
other than one of my favoritescreenwriters, was none other
than one of my favoritescreenwriters, ernest Lehman,
who wrote the screenplay forSweet Smell of Success and, most
notably, adapted the King and Iand West Side Story and the
(27:13):
Sound of Music from stagemusical to cinema.
And then he also wrote thishitchcock movie.
If I can remember the name ofit um, carrie grant, isn't what?
Of course I'm joking north bynorthwest, which is my favorite
hitchcock movie.
Uh, that was ernest layman.
(27:36):
So you had had the combinationof Robert Wise and Ernest Lehman
, who would later collaborate onso many things.
I think this was their firstcollaboration.
And then to add that cast ofjust so many great stars, really
(27:56):
at the top of their form, andyou have a reunion of Barbara
Stanwyck and William Holden.
And Barbara Stanwyck was theleading lady in William Holden's
first important film, goldenBoy, in 1939, 15 years before
this, and it's also a look atcorporate America of 1954.
(28:18):
That isn't that different fromwhat is corporate America in
2025.
Some of those issues are stillpresent, I think.
You know I don't want to getinto a political discussion, but
it kind of lays out there a lotof the machinations that go on
(28:44):
within a corporate structure,something I would have no
possible experience in livingthrough.
A little private joke there.
But in any event, everybody inthe film was excellent.
I think Robert Wise was juststarting to expand from his
(29:10):
period at RKO into being moredefining of his excellence as a
director and handling that cast,making the decision to have the
movie have no music.
It was a very unconventionalfilm Deciding to take a cast
(29:36):
like that and a big, importantproject like that and to make
the choice to film it in blackand white.
Everything was starting to gocinemascope at that time and
they wisely decided to keep itin a more traditional uh, what
is close to a 185.
It actually was mgm'swidescreen, meaning
(29:57):
non-cinemascope, but not AcademySquare.
Mgm's ratio when they decidedto make films in widescreen was
1.75.
And if people had seen thismovie on our DVD or they had
seen it on TV.
They would be used to seeing itas a traditional 4x3 open matte
(30:21):
film.
There was a LaserDisc in thelate 90s that was in the 1.75
aspect ratio, but our DVD wasnot.
Thankfully, this is a 4K scanoff the camera negative and it's
just a stunning disc visually.
The audio is monophonic, as itshould be from that time, but it
(30:48):
comes from magnetic sources soit's really really clear and the
storytelling, the performances,everything about it is riveting
.
You really don't know howthings are going to wind up.
I don't want to give anyspoilers, but there is a big
event in the storytelling at thebeginning of the film that
(31:10):
starts the trajectory of thestorytelling and what is going
to happen at this corporationafter there's been this
significant event.
And I can't recommend this filmmore highly.
It is a true classic and itholds up so well Despite all the
(31:38):
changes in the world 71 yearslater and especially in
corporate America or the worldcorporately.
It holds up very, very well andI think it's a testament to
Wise and Lehman and you know thefact that they went on to such
success together.
In future films it just letsyou know the talent that was
(31:59):
behind the creation of this,what turned out to be a very
successful motion picture.
Tim Millard (32:05):
Yeah, the talent from the camera you've mentioned
.
I do want to kind of focus inon Frederick March, who plays
the antagonist so well in thisto William Holden's character.
Very, very, very good to seethat.
And then, of course, the talentbehind the camera.
You put that all together andyou know I was just thinking all
(32:28):
of the great films you justmentioned that you know Ernest
Lehman has worked on and the twoof them worked on together, and
Robert Wise.
I mean just what filmographiesthey have.
This one I don't know if it'sas well known as some of the
others that I mean just whatfilmographies they have.
This one I don't know if it'sas well known as some of the
others that they're known for,but people should become aware
of this one Very entertaining,looks terrific, as you mentioned
(32:54):
your new HD master there andsome interesting extras you have
on here.
George Feltenstein (32:57):
Well, we have a feature commentary from
oliver stone.
Mr stone didn't direct themovie, but he was such a fan of
the movie that he wanted tospeak about it.
And uh, we're fortunate to havethat on the disc.
And we have a tom and jerrycartoon and a pete smith short
in the trailer and it's aterrific disc and a terrific
(33:18):
movie and it really belongs inany serious film lover's library
.
Tim Millard (33:22):
Yep, yep for sure.
Well, next we have a noir, andthat is the 1951 RKO film His
Kind of Woman, starring RobertMitchum and Jane Russell and
also Vincent Price.
Now, it's always fun to watchMitchum and Russell because of
their onscreen chemistry, butthis film has a little lighter
(33:45):
tone because of Vincent Price'scharacter and what he brings to
this film, playing a Hollywoodstar obsessed with guns at this
resort.
But overall it just is a lot offun this film, and I'm sure
it's very popular with fans.
But it's great to see this newHD Blu-ray.
George Feltenstein (34:06):
And another 4K scan off the camera negative.
When we released this film onDVD 20-some-odd years ago, we
recorded a commentary with filmhistorian Vivian Sobchak.
It's a great commentary.
Unfortunately, the film elementthat the old master was from
(34:28):
was missing frames here andthere, so it was very difficult
to maintain sync sync.
So in order to keep thecommentary, we had to present
the commentary synchronized tothe old SD master.
Uh, so that just lets you knowhow important we felt that
(34:49):
commentary was because, uh, herresearch into the torturous film
, uh production phase of thismovie she gets into great detail
about this was made when HowardHughes was the owner of and
(35:10):
running RKO and every once in awhile he would get very involved
with the making of a movie andthe changing of a movie.
And especially because JaneRussell he basically was the
(35:31):
overlord of her career and he'dmade all the decisions on Jane
Russell movies especially, therewere many changes made to the
film, to the screenplay, therewere reshoots.
It almost feels like twodifferent movies.
The commentary kind of explainsthe background of how it ended
(35:56):
up that way, but I say it's afilm noir that ends up turning
into a comedy, especially whenVincent Price shows up and
Price's character lampoonsHollywood stardom in quite a
unique way and I think that'spart of the attraction of this
(36:19):
film.
Uh, but when Russell and Mitchumwere together on screen it was
electric and uh.
They made other films togetherand we hope to be revisiting
those uh in the future.
But we've got to start at thebeginning and his kind of woman
was there first together and uh,it's irresistible fun.
Tim Millard (36:55):
It's a cult favorite because it's so wacky
at times and it really can'tdecide what it wants to be as a
film, but it's entertaining allthe way through and that's
what's important.
Yeah, I mean it.
You know it starts off beingvery, more very traditional noir
in terms of the setup and andeverything.
We won't spoil anything but thesetup of the gangsters and and
the money and you know, andeverything.
But then it, like you say, itjust expands out from that more
traditional, serious noir tohave all of this, you know,
(37:16):
broader fun that the VincentPrice character brings into it.
So, yeah, I mean it's one thatyou want to own.
I mean, and it looks now soterrific, it's one that people
are going to want to have andI'm sure that people who have
gotten it already are reallyenjoying it, but highly
recommend it to everybody elseto get His Kind of Woman.
Well, the last film we're goingto talk about today, not
(37:39):
purposefully saved to last, butthis is a very important film.
Oh, yeah, a wonderful film andthat's Splendor in the Grass
from 1961.
And that stars I mean NatalieWood, I mean this performance,
we'll talk more about that, butshe's fantastic.
It introduces Warren Beatty,who is.
(38:00):
You could just tell the starwritten all over him when he's
on screen.
And, of course, the directorElia Kazan, who is one of our
most important directors,especially there at Warner
Brothers.
George Feltenstein (38:14):
Without question, and this is a film
that you know.
I've been begging those, youknow, in order for me to get a
project greenlit, I have to, youknow, make my pitch and get
people on board, because it's abig investment.
We undertake one of these kindsof projects.
(38:37):
We did have an hd master ofsplendor in the grass.
That was done somewhere between15 and 20 years ago.
That was completely, uh, out ofwhack.
Uh there, the nighttime scenesat the beginning was day for
night and it looks like that'sthe middle of the afternoon.
(38:58):
It just was.
It was wrong in many ways andthat's the way the film looked.
But what we needed to do was goback to the negative, scan it
in 4K and the results are juststunning in terms of the visuals
and, of course, the acting inthis movie.
When you've got Kazan and youhave an original screenplay
(39:20):
written by the great WilliamInge, it is as honest and laid
bare the pain of youthfulromance and especially what
Natalie Wood's character goesthrough.
This was one of her greatestperformances and it wasn't her
(39:43):
first performance in aquote-unquote adult role, and
she's playing a high schoolstudent in the movie, but the
subject matter is very adult andthe conflict of.
It's obvious that Warren Beattywants to take their
relationship to a new level.
(40:05):
And Natalie Wood's character isfearful and there's the whole
dynamic of parental dysfunction.
And it's written so well byInge and directed as really very
few people could direct likeKazan, and you have all the
(40:27):
ingredients to make a classic.
This was an instant classic.
It's also very successful atthe box office and it
established Natalie Wood as agreat adult actress.
And uh, the following year youknow, she starred along rosalind
russell and gypsy and uh, shealso the same year as splendid
(40:51):
of the grass came out, west sidestory came out.
She was terrific in all thosefilms.
And uh, warren baity, hisscreen career introducing Warren
Beatty with this film, made ahuge impression and it was like
instant screen, charisma onscreen and a really substantial
(41:19):
box office success, criticalsuccess, audience favorite and
it holds up extremely well.
I can't believe the movie isnearly 65 years old.
Right now, as we record this,it's 64.
Very contemporary sensibilityin terms of the respect for the
(41:53):
written word and how it'sperformed and how it's acted.
You still had the restrictionsof the production code hanging
loosely.
It was being frayed and peoplelike Kazan were chipping away at
it trying to make morerealistic adult films, but here
I don't think they reallycompromised in the storytelling
(42:16):
and that's why the film remainsso powerful and it looks so
terrific.
Tim Millard (42:20):
Yeah, yeah.
And Pat Hingle as the father,uh, a stamper, he does a
terrific job.
Just, you know the the force.
Anybody who has had a fatherlike that, very successful, very
strong, Um, it's so true, theperformance very, very good
(42:44):
there by the parents and thatreally, I mean you have to have
that as well as the young people.
George Feltenstein (42:52):
Pat Hingle is not as well known today.
He passed away quite some timeago but he was a member of the
Actors Studio.
He was a New York stage actor.
Kazan brought together manypeople for this movie.
The real name attraction wasNatalie Wood.
(43:15):
Warren Beatty was introducingWarren Beatty.
But many of the other rolesincluding Audrey Christie as
Natalie Wood's mother, PatHingle, as you mentioned, a very
young Sandy Dennis in a smallrole they're all the actors in
(43:35):
this movie.
They're really superb, BecauseI feel Kazan's fingerprints all
over its excellence.
That's why we decided to add thedocumentary LA Kazan A
Director's Journey, and I thinkit's such a wonderful thing to
(44:00):
have that on this disc just togive more people.
I don't want people to forgetkazan, you know, and the impact
he had on the stage and thescreen as a director.
Uh, it just can't be overstatedhow important it was.
(44:21):
Um, so I've been wanting to putthis movie out for a very long
time, but we needed to go backto scratch, basically to create
a beautiful new master, and Ithink our talented colorists at
Warner Brothers Motion PictureImaging did a beautiful job.
(44:42):
We're very proud of the releaseand it's selling like hotcakes,
which I'm glad to say.
Tim Millard (44:49):
Yeah, and going back to that documentary, I
watched the whole thing.
It's well worth watchingbecause it gives you that big
picture on Kazan's life and youhear from him directly and how
he developed and what hisphilosophy was about directing
(45:13):
and how he approached it.
Terrific, really, gives yougreat insight and let's hope
that there continues to bereleases like this that can make
people aware of Kazan and keephis legacy going, because such
an important director, his filmsof the 50s and 60s, that era
(45:33):
changed filmmaking, along withothers, changed filmmaking to
the more modern style filmmakingthat we know.
The psychological complexity ofhis storytelling, the
truthfulness it's terrific, it'swonderful.
This is one people should ownand I'm so glad it's out on
(45:56):
Blu-ray.
George Feltenstein (45:57):
I agree with you, tim.
You addressed its excellenceeloquently.
Thank, you.
Tim Millard (46:04):
Well, this is a terrific month.
All these films.
I enjoyed watching all of them,george, this is a terrific
month.
I'm glad to hear that othersfeel the same way and that many
of them are selling very well,and I hope our discussion can
help those who don't know thesefilms to think about looking
into them and picking these up,because this is a terrific group
(46:25):
of films in June.
George Feltenstein (46:28):
I think you make a very good point because
my takeaway of what you'resaying.
Every year, there are dozensand dozens of new movies that
come into our world, and a filmlike this is now over 60 years
old.
It was hugely important when itcame out.
(46:49):
It's our responsibility to makesure that these great films
continue to be not only seen butavailable in the best quality,
and we're working as quickly aswe can, but we can't rush
anything.
But we have so many inproduction right now and every
(47:13):
time I can check one off thelist.
We finally got that done.
What we have yet to do isoverwhelming and enormous, but
it's also tremendously excitingand I'm looking so forward to
hearing how people react whenthey see what we've got coming.
In the future, there may be somevalleys where we're not in any
(47:37):
particular month, where we don'thave like a stellar lineup like
this in June or that we had inJuly and that we're having in
August.
But if a month seems less, insome ways, that only means the
next month is going to have more, and I think we've proven that
(47:57):
this year.
We're more than halfway throughthe year and we're halfway
through in our discussions hereon the extras, but I think 2025
is going to continue to beinteresting and exciting to many
different audiences and we'vegot some great stuff in store
for the rest of the year as wellas next year.
(48:19):
So much to look forward to inour discussions here on your
show, and I'm so grateful forthe opportunity to hear what you
think, because I'm alwaysexcited to hear your reactions
after we've spent so many monthsworking on a particular film or
project, and to see what youthink about it and to share
(48:40):
those thoughts here on yourpodcast.
It's always something I lookforward to.
While we're talking, I do wantto address kind of what is now
an elephant that's left the room.
But in the last few weeks,particularly with our July
(49:00):
releases, we were havingproblems.
Our July releases.
We were having problems notinternally, but some retailers
were not making our releasesavailable when they were
supposed to be available, whichwas very frustrating, and we
believe that problem has nowbeen rectified.
(49:21):
But I want all of our faithfulWarner Archive collection
consumers to know that we'redoing our very best.
This was not a replicationissue.
This was a communication issuethat had no fault with us nor
our distribution partners.
(49:43):
It was on the retail side andhappily, I think, those problems
are now behind us.
Tim Millard (49:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good to hear.
You know these little bumpshappen, but the fact is the
delay I think we're talkingabout.
We're only talking about alittle delay.
Yeah, we're not talking a week,two weeks, maybe three weeks
delay, because most of thatdelay was just in the pre-order
process, not in the actualshipping.
(50:10):
The shipping part is just asmall delay.
George Feltenstein (50:13):
I will say that we did everything we could
to try to get this resolved.
Get this resolved, so did ourpartners at Allied Vaughn
Entertainment, who bring ourproduct to market as our
distributor, and the partnershiphas been an excellent one for
(50:36):
16 years and I'm so grateful totheir efforts on our behalf to
get this remedied so that theconsumers out there get the
discs they've been looking forand hoping for.
And when we hit these littlebumps in the road, we do our
best to iron them out as quicklyas possible.
Tim Millard (50:56):
Yeah Well, george, another terrific discussion.
Thank you so much for coming onand talking to me and letting
the fans hear your thoughts, andit's always a lot of fun.
George Feltenstein (51:06):
Well, thank you, tim.
As always, it's a pleasure, andwe're going to have a lot more
to talk about in the comingweeks.
Tim Millard (51:13):
Well, as I mentioned in the podcast, I was
on vacation and that is thereason for the slight delay
since our last podcast airing.
But I'm back from vacation nowand I have a pile of Blu-rays
from the Warner Archive toreview which I'm looking forward
to, and that's for July.
As for the June releases, I dohave links, if you have not
(51:33):
ordered your copy, to purchaseeach of these great films.
And, as George mentioned, therewas a slight hiccup for the
July pre-orders, so if thatdeterred you or in any way
caused you to have to wait,please get your orders in now so
that the Warner Archive doesn'thave a big drop off in July of
their sales, because each monthdoes fund the continuing and
(51:57):
ongoing work of restoration andremastering for Blu-ray.
So we need to be sure andcontinue that support for the
Warner Archive so there isn'tany drop-off in sales so that
George and the team over therecan continue to do the great
work that they do to bring theseclassic animation and classic
films to all of us so that wecan enjoy them Until next time.
(52:20):
You've been listening to TimMillard.
Stay slightly obsessed.
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me is George
Feltenstein to review the JuneBlu-ray releases from the Warner
Archive.
Hi, George.
George Feltenstein (00:16):
Hello Tim.
We're now in August and we'rejust getting to talk about June.
That's how busy everybody'sbeen.
Tim Millard (00:21):
That's how busy.
We've got summer vacations andall of those good things.
I actually finished watchingthese quite a while back, but we
just weren't able to get thisscheduled.
But I'm looking forward to ourdiscussion today because these
are all terrific films.
And I thought, george, we'd goin alphabetical order because we
do have six films that we'regoing to review, and that means
(00:45):
the first one is the 1938 dramathe Citadel, starring Robert
Donat and Rosalind Russell, andthis is a really well-done story
of the life of an Englishdoctor who starts off very young
and idealistic in his firstposting in a Welsh mining town
(01:06):
and then the cares of the world.
He's got a wife and money andthese things.
They move to London and thatleads him to become a doctor to
the rich clientele of London.
It's really well written andreally well acted.
This is a really very goodmovie.
George Feltenstein (01:27):
I'm assuming that you had not seen it before
.
I had not, so it's great tohave a first time viewing of a
film like this where you havethe improvements we've been able
to make with the new master,seeing it in high definition,
clean.
It changes people's perceptionof these films when there is
such a huge jump in quality, andwe're very proud of the disc.
(01:52):
The film itself has always hada prestigious reputation and it
was based on a novel written byAJ Cronin, who was himself a
doctor.
Like before Michael Crichton,there was AJ Cronin, and I'm
(02:12):
just thrilled with the receptionto the disc.
We've gotten so many wonderfulcomments from people that said I
didn't even know about thismovie and they just appreciated
everything about it, and Donut'sscreen performances are not
plentiful.
He did a lot of work on stageand he also had health issues
(02:37):
and he died relatively young,and so yet he's always
remembered for something likethe 39 Steps.
Goodbye Mr Chips.
This isn't as well known asGoodbye Mr Chips, or certainly
the 39 Steps, but this is one ofhis finest films and I just
(02:57):
feel that it's still relevantand very timely, even almost 90
years since the film wasreleased.
But it's such a work of qualityand Rosalind Russell is
wonderful in it, and I'm just sopleased that you enjoyed it as
(03:21):
much as I hoped you would.
Tim Millard (03:22):
Well, you released Goodbye, mr Chips on Blu-ray I
think about two years ago.
Yes, that's a fabulous film,and he's a professor there, or
teacher, and this has a littlebit of that feeling, but in the
medical field now, where ittells this kind of epic story of
a life right, and there's aromance involved as well, and,
(03:46):
uh, that is such a well-donemovie and I think the citadel
like, like you said, it shouldbecome more well known because
it has that same level ofwonderful storytelling and the
romance is built in there aswell.
Um, so it's a it's a very, verywell done movie and and I'm
sure you got to give Donat a lotof the credit for that because
(04:08):
he just inhabits thesecharacters and brings them to
life over as they age and matureand go through different phases
of life.
So it's really good.
And Rosalind Russell shedoesn't have a huge part to play
in it, but she's very strongthere as his supportive wife.
And then is this one that theyactually filmed in the UK,
George.
George Feltenstein (04:29):
Absolutely.
It was filmed at the MGM.
They had established an MGMBritish studio and this was, I
think, the second film made.
It was like a joint venturewith another British company
(04:50):
where MGM set up shop and thefirst film was a yank at Oxford,
was Robert Taylor and in asmall role, a woman who had
become very famous worldwide forthe rest of eternity, in my
opinion, and that's Vivian Leigh.
She was really first noticed bya lot of American audiences
(05:16):
because of a yank at Oxford andthat was a big success.
And the idea was MGM would sendover one big star from Culver
City and one of their bigdirectors.
It was a recipe for success.
But not too many films were madethere because of the outbreak
(05:38):
of World War II and thatcertainly put a very serious
dent on things.
But the films that were madethere while this was still an
active joint venture with the UK, part of what spurred that was
(05:59):
that there was a quota system ofyou could only release so many
American films if there was anequal amount of British films.
And I don't really I'm not anexpert on that part of the
history, but MGM was not theonly studio to start making
movies in England.
(06:20):
Warner Brothers had theTeddington Studios, but it was
really really quite importantwhen they made a film at the
British outpost, shall we saythe little group of them that
were made there before World WarII.
They're all very, very notableand impressive.
(06:42):
They're four-star movies, ifyou will.
So I'm glad that you enjoyed itand I'm also so happy that it
looks as good as it does.
That does change one's abilityto appreciate a great film.
Tim Millard (07:00):
Yeah, and I think if you're a fan of Donut and if
you're a fan of Goodbye Mr Chips, you should buy this one,
because you're going to want tohave it in your home collection
and you have a couple of classicshort subjects on there and a
classic cartoon, the Daffy Duck.
George Feltenstein (07:15):
Yeah, we have two MGM shorts from the
same year which happened to bedirected by the great Jacques
Tourneur as he was working hisway from short subjects to
features.
Four years later he'd directCat People at RKO for producer
Val Luton.
It's a picture that we're alittle bit familiar with around
(07:36):
here.
And we also have a WarnerBrothers cartoon, the Daffy Duck
, because you got Daffy Duck andPorky Pig with the medical
story, I just thought it wouldbe a little funny to put that on
.
It's a very serious movie, butwhen you went to the movies in
those days you'd see two shortsubjects in a cartoon trailers,
(08:01):
and that's why we try to putcontent shorts, cartoons,
trailers of the era on thesediscs to try to recreate the
theatrical viewing experience.
Tim Millard (08:14):
Yeah, it's really good, really really good one,
highly recommended.
Well, next we have A Date withJudy, and that's from 1948, the
MGM Technicolor Musical, andthat stars a young Jane Powell
and an even younger ElizabethTaylor.
They're both terrific in thisfilm.
I love seeing them together andit's a charming high school
(08:37):
story of romance and of course,there's the drama there.
And, as with all of yourTechnicolor restorations, it
just looks and sounds terrificand is a lot of fun.
Grab your fun evening snacks orwhatever, and this is a really,
really fun musical.
George Feltenstein (08:55):
It's light entertainment and I often say
it's a film that is not really amusical as much as it's a film
that has a lot of music in it.
It has a nice balance.
But it is remarkable thatElizabeth Taylor was basically
15 years old in this movie andlooks like, you know, I think
(09:17):
everybody looked older back then, but she looks like a woman in
her early 20s.
Basically she certainly doesn'tlook like a 15-year-old, but
her beauty is arresting and howTechnicolor captured her violet
eyes is really remarkable.
But the real center of the filmis Jane Powell, who was one of
(09:44):
the leading ladies at MGM atthat time, the time this movie
was made, she was probably 18.
And I happened to think veryhighly of her and I thought she
was a very, very attractiveleading lady in terms of her
(10:06):
multiple talents.
She was a good actress, she wascharming, she was very, very
pretty, she had a wonderfulsinging voice, but she also had
a special quality on screen thatmade you want to love her and I
think a lot, of, a lot ofpeople I know uh speak of her uh
(10:27):
, like I'll.
You know, my dad was a littlekid when this movie came out,
but he had a crush on JanePowell, you know, and I don't
think he was the only one Uh,you know, people certainly had
crushes on Elizabeth Taylor, butbut, uh, the relationship
between jane powell andelizabeth taylor in the film is
(10:48):
also kind of uh, it's kind ofunique because elizabeth
taylor's character is almost themore advising, has a little
more grounded wisdom thanteenage judy foster.
But we also created the disc insuch a way where it was based
(11:08):
on a radio show and we have anepisode of the radio show on
there and, uh, that gives you ataste of these.
Characters were so popular onradio that mgm invested in
buying the rights to make amovie with the characters.
That didn't happen very much.
Sometimes they were radio, well, often they were radio
(11:31):
adaptations of movies, but itwas very rare that they took
radio characters and put theminto a film.
It did happen at RKO earlier inthe 40s with Fibber, mcgee and
Molly and the Great Gildersleeve.
But this was a really it was aone shot attempt and a very,
(11:54):
very financially successfulmovie.
And the other thing that takesadvantage all these Technicolor
restorations that we've beenworking on, one after another,
another after another.
People are starting to run outof adjectives to describe how
gorgeous they look.
I still am amazed by howwonderful they look, especially
(12:14):
because how they lookedpreviously on dvd coming from
interpositives, some of whichwere really badly made by bad
labs.
I'll just say it out loud theywere gray and the alignment of
the Technicolor records wascompletely a wacky and people
(12:35):
were ghosting.
And we're making up for thesins of the past of others by
doing these the right way.
A Date with Judy is just aTechnicolor spectacle, and who
better for Technicolor thanCarmen Miranda?
And Carmen Miranda had beenunder contract to 20th Century
Fox probably for, I'm guessing,seven years, and when her
(12:59):
contract was up she eventuallyended up at MGM for two films,
both of which were with JanePowell, the other being Nancy
Goes to Rio, and I'd love to beable to put that out someday,
but right now, a Day with Judywas far more successful and very
popular, and Carmen Miranda isdelightful in it, and I just
(13:21):
recommend it for audiences ofall ages.
Tim Millard (13:24):
Yeah, and along with her there's xavier cougat
his orchestra, I mean the music,that's really fun, um.
And then, uh, wallace berry asthe father of judy um, he's good
.
And then, uh, it was fun to seeRobert Stack, a very young,
handsome Robert Stack, in thereas a love interest for well
(13:48):
between the two girls actually,but he's so much older but he
plays it pretty well, you know,pretty straight, but pretty well
, and just it was fun to see himin there as well.
Oh, and of course we have tomention the actor, scotty
Beckett, who plays Oogie Pringle, oogie Pringle.
Yeah, so it's a lot of fun andthere's some good performances
(14:10):
in there.
And you know, going back to theTechnicolor, people are now
just, you know, they're going tojust assume it's got that
Warner Archive stamp Technicolor.
It's going to look great and Iknow you hate to take things for
granted, but in a way it's ahuge compliment to you, george,
and the Warner Archive andWarner Brothers that that's the
(14:33):
new standard.
George Feltenstein (14:35):
Well, we're very proud of that and again,
this is very much a group effort.
I every year go to thepreservation team and say we
need to do these films.
They look dreadful and thatstarts the process.
We're fortunate where thetechnical or negatives still
(15:00):
exist or exist in, let's say, apartial form.
There are certain films, veryimportant films.
I've talked about this before.
Singing in the Rain burnt inthat awful fire in 1978, except
for one reel.
So we have to work frompositive separations that were
(15:20):
thankfully made on those films.
But in many cases the full filmdoes exist and when that
happens the results arefantastic and we never take it
for granted.
But I do want to again, Iconstantly harp on this, but
(15:43):
it's very much a team effort.
Preservation team works veryhard on this.
Then MPI steps in and the waywe use our proprietary
technology to create analignment that is down to the
pixel, it's just a knockout andevery film deserves to be
(16:05):
treated with the most respect wecan give it, regardless of what
the film is.
And when we're working withthese very popular of their era
Technicolor films, it's an extraspecial treat, for sure yeah,
and you've loaded this disc uhwith a fair amount of extras as
(16:26):
well.
Tim Millard (16:28):
You've got, uh, classic tom and jerry, professor
tom and the mgm musical short,martin block's musical
merry-go-round short.
Uh, you've got audio episodesin there.
There's just a lot uh plus thetrailer, so that's a a lot of
fun to go through those as well.
So this is a terrific discoverall.
George Feltenstein (16:47):
One of the things that I'm particularly
happy about is I've been workingwith a lot of these films for
quite some time in differentformats, and there was a DVD of
A Date with Judy and it did havesome of those extras on there.
But there's an extra on here.
Aside from the Date with Judyradio show.
(17:09):
There's that interview withJane Powell, and MGM did these
promotional interviews thatwould be sent to radio stations
and they were put out on atwo-sided 78 record.
Radio stations and they wereput out on a two-sided 78 record
(17:31):
.
One side was MGM contractplayer, dick Simmons, not a
famous person who wouldinterview the star, and then of
course the star would answer hisquestions.
The other side of the discwould be open-ended so that it
would be like Joe Smith at WXXRadio and I'm speaking today
(17:52):
with Jane Powell, star of theDate with Judy, and then so
they'd send out the record witha script in case a local host
wanted to speak where DickSimmons was.
So many of these discs we don'thave and we've gone to private
(18:14):
collectors and various othersources to try and add them to
our releases.
I've been doing so for a longtime, but I love sharing a
little tidbit that we just foundamongst our corporate archives
(18:34):
I would say several hundreddiscs that I didn't know existed
Basically nobody knew.
They opened up a box and foundall of these treasures, most of
which not labeled.
They have codes on them that wedon't have a reference to.
So I did find both ElizabethTaylor and Jane Palo.
(19:01):
Unfortunately, the ElizabethTaylor disc was deteriorated to
a degree where we couldn'tinclude it because sentences
were not completed.
These were acetate discs and themore they were played, the more
the sound would go away.
So a lot of work went into justputting that little five-minute
(19:27):
interview on there.
But it's a piece of history,it's a piece of time, and
whenever we can add somethingnew and whenever we're
discovering, we have somethingthat we didn't know we had.
I love that after all this timewe're still finding things and
to be able to share them withthe fans when they buy their
discs.
(19:47):
They're getting a piece ofhistory and that's something
that I'm particularly proud of.
Yeah, that's exciting.
Tim Millard (19:54):
Uh, that's just a great release.
I'm sure that people are lovingit, who have got it, and if you
haven't got it yet, I think, uh, you'll you'll really enjoy it,
for the technicolor and the funof the story and all these
extras that are on there.
Well, next, george, we have a1945 romantic war drama called
the Enchanted Cottage and thatstars Robert Young and Dorothy
(20:19):
McGuire, and I did not knowanything about this film, but
this is a wholesome, delightfulfilm that explores the romance
between a disfigured war veteranand a plain, homely young woman
who never felt attractive inher life, doesn't think she's
(20:41):
going to ever get a husband, andthey meet at this cottage,
which it's kind of like ametaphor for a safe place where
love can grow, and it'sdefinitely set in its time,
right after the war.
George Feltenstein (20:57):
But the story of beauty being in the eye
of the beholder is timeless ofbeauty being in the eye of the
beholder is timeless and very,very important actually, because
not only is it timeless, but itwas representative of when this
movie was made in 1945, thatDorothy McGuire, who is a very
(21:19):
beautiful woman, was planed down, if that was the proper way of
saying it.
They tried to minimize herbeauty, but the story of and who
you are inside your outer shell, that is what made Oliver fall
(21:43):
in love with Laura.
In this movie there arecharacters with Robert Young and
Dorothy McGuire.
It's based on a play by SirArthur Wing Pinheiro and it was
filmed as a silent movie in 1924with Richard Barthelmus, 20
forward with Richard Barthelmas,and RKO was keen on remaking
(22:05):
the movie, not only with sound,but also in a more contemporary
setting, as it were, becauseRobert Young's character has
scars from World War II.
This film was released at theend or toward the end of World
War II, so the film was sopopular that RKO decided to
(22:27):
re-release it a few years later,which was not unusual for them.
And what was also not unusualfor them was they decided to
trim the running time and foryears the film was truncated in
its length.
The main titles had beenreplaced and updated, so we had
(22:51):
been distributing the completeversion from inferior materials,
and that was all the moremotivation for us to go back to
the camera negative, fix thetitles as they were from another
nitrate element and put back inthe scenes that had been taken
out from another nitrate element, and it's really kind of uh,
(23:15):
you can't tell where the cameranegative ends and the second
generation element begins,because they were so beautifully
matched by our colorist atWarner brothers motion picture
imaging.
We're very proud of the releaseand I think it's a film people
really really need to discoverand see, because it's it's not
(23:38):
that famous, but it has been avery strong seller for us, even
when we put out our WarnerArchive DVD back in 2009, which,
frankly, didn't look very good,but that was the best we had to
work with.
So having this restoration now,which has also preserved the
film in a way it hadn't beenpreserved before, it means it
(24:02):
will look great and sound greatfor many, many years to come,
and that's the important part,the byproduct of our work.
Tim Millard (24:12):
Yeah, it's a universal story and that's why I
think it probably is so popularand that people want to own it,
because we all crave love andwe all crave companionship.
That's human nature for that,and this story really does a
terrific job of telling thatstory in an entertaining way.
(24:32):
And you have some nice extrason here as well that round out
the disc with the audiobroadcast and the trailer on
here.
George Feltenstein (24:39):
Extras on here as well, that round out the
disc with the audio broadcastsand the trailer on here.
Well, and what I like about theradio shows is the first one is
pretty straightforward luxradio theater with robert young
and darth mcgriner uh, reprisingtheir roles and the whole
visual.
Visual aspect of it of beautyversus unattractive.
(25:01):
It has to be handled in adifferent way when there's no
visual.
But the other radio program wehave, which is half the length
it's only a half hour with JoanFontaine from General Electric
Theater, broadcast the early 50s, takes a very different tack in
(25:21):
telling the same story and it'sinteresting to compare the two.
But it's a terrific disc, we'revery proud of it and it's
selling really well, which makesus very happy.
That leads the way to morerestorations.
Tim Millard (25:35):
Yeah, yeah, it's one of those hidden gems that
coming coming out on on blu-raylooking so good is gonna
hopefully increase the audiencebeyond just the the fans of the
dvd.
Well, next we jump to 1954, toa very different kind of film.
This is a corporate dramaexecutive suite.
And boy does it have a cast,george.
(25:58):
I mean the lineup of talent inthis film.
Let's go down here WilliamHolden, june Allison, barbara
Stanwyck, frederick March,walter Pidgeon, shelley Winters
I mean it is a terrific cast andit's directed by the
sure-handed Robert Wise.
(26:18):
He does a terrific job.
I thoroughly enjoyed it becauseit feels very modern in its
storytelling.
George Feltenstein (26:24):
Well, this was one I just couldn't wait for
us to release, because it's gotjust when the movie opens and
they just flash all the stars'names, one after the other after
the other.
It's so exciting.
And what I love about this filmis it was based on a book by
(26:49):
Cameron Hawley, but the personwho adapted the book was none
other than one of my favoritescreenwriters, was none other
than one of my favoritescreenwriters, ernest Lehman,
who wrote the screenplay forSweet Smell of Success and, most
notably, adapted the King and Iand West Side Story and the
(27:13):
Sound of Music from stagemusical to cinema.
And then he also wrote thishitchcock movie.
If I can remember the name ofit um, carrie grant, isn't what?
Of course I'm joking north bynorthwest, which is my favorite
hitchcock movie.
Uh, that was ernest layman.
(27:36):
So you had had the combinationof Robert Wise and Ernest Lehman
, who would later collaborate onso many things.
I think this was their firstcollaboration.
And then to add that cast ofjust so many great stars, really
(27:56):
at the top of their form, andyou have a reunion of Barbara
Stanwyck and William Holden.
And Barbara Stanwyck was theleading lady in William Holden's
first important film, goldenBoy, in 1939, 15 years before
this, and it's also a look atcorporate America of 1954.
(28:18):
That isn't that different fromwhat is corporate America in
2025.
Some of those issues are stillpresent, I think.
You know I don't want to getinto a political discussion, but
it kind of lays out there a lotof the machinations that go on
(28:44):
within a corporate structure,something I would have no
possible experience in livingthrough.
A little private joke there.
But in any event, everybody inthe film was excellent.
I think Robert Wise was juststarting to expand from his
(29:10):
period at RKO into being moredefining of his excellence as a
director and handling that cast,making the decision to have the
movie have no music.
It was a very unconventionalfilm Deciding to take a cast
(29:36):
like that and a big, importantproject like that and to make
the choice to film it in blackand white.
Everything was starting to gocinemascope at that time and
they wisely decided to keep itin a more traditional uh, what
is close to a 185.
It actually was mgm'swidescreen, meaning
(29:57):
non-cinemascope, but not AcademySquare.
Mgm's ratio when they decidedto make films in widescreen was
1.75.
And if people had seen thismovie on our DVD or they had
seen it on TV.
They would be used to seeing itas a traditional 4x3 open matte
(30:21):
film.
There was a LaserDisc in thelate 90s that was in the 1.75
aspect ratio, but our DVD wasnot.
Thankfully, this is a 4K scanoff the camera negative and it's
just a stunning disc visually.
The audio is monophonic, as itshould be from that time, but it
(30:48):
comes from magnetic sources soit's really really clear and the
storytelling, the performances,everything about it is riveting
.
You really don't know howthings are going to wind up.
I don't want to give anyspoilers, but there is a big
event in the storytelling at thebeginning of the film that
(31:10):
starts the trajectory of thestorytelling and what is going
to happen at this corporationafter there's been this
significant event.
And I can't recommend this filmmore highly.
It is a true classic and itholds up so well Despite all the
(31:38):
changes in the world 71 yearslater and especially in
corporate America or the worldcorporately.
It holds up very, very well andI think it's a testament to
Wise and Lehman and you know thefact that they went on to such
success together.
In future films it just letsyou know the talent that was
(31:59):
behind the creation of this,what turned out to be a very
successful motion picture.
Tim Millard (32:05):
Yeah, the talent from the camera you've mentioned
.
I do want to kind of focus inon Frederick March, who plays
the antagonist so well in thisto William Holden's character.
Very, very, very good to seethat.
And then, of course, the talentbehind the camera.
You put that all together andyou know I was just thinking all
(32:28):
of the great films you justmentioned that you know Ernest
Lehman has worked on and the twoof them worked on together, and
Robert Wise.
I mean just what filmographiesthey have.
This one I don't know if it'sas well known as some of the
others that I mean just whatfilmographies they have.
This one I don't know if it'sas well known as some of the
others that they're known for,but people should become aware
of this one Very entertaining,looks terrific, as you mentioned
(32:54):
your new HD master there andsome interesting extras you have
on here.
George Feltenstein (32:57):
Well, we have a feature commentary from
oliver stone.
Mr stone didn't direct themovie, but he was such a fan of
the movie that he wanted tospeak about it.
And uh, we're fortunate to havethat on the disc.
And we have a tom and jerrycartoon and a pete smith short
in the trailer and it's aterrific disc and a terrific
(33:18):
movie and it really belongs inany serious film lover's library
.
Tim Millard (33:22):
Yep, yep for sure.
Well, next we have a noir, andthat is the 1951 RKO film His
Kind of Woman, starring RobertMitchum and Jane Russell and
also Vincent Price.
Now, it's always fun to watchMitchum and Russell because of
their onscreen chemistry, butthis film has a little lighter
(33:45):
tone because of Vincent Price'scharacter and what he brings to
this film, playing a Hollywoodstar obsessed with guns at this
resort.
But overall it just is a lot offun this film, and I'm sure
it's very popular with fans.
But it's great to see this newHD Blu-ray.
George Feltenstein (34:06):
And another 4K scan off the camera negative.
When we released this film onDVD 20-some-odd years ago, we
recorded a commentary with filmhistorian Vivian Sobchak.
It's a great commentary.
Unfortunately, the film elementthat the old master was from
(34:28):
was missing frames here andthere, so it was very difficult
to maintain sync sync.
So in order to keep thecommentary, we had to present
the commentary synchronized tothe old SD master.
Uh, so that just lets you knowhow important we felt that
(34:49):
commentary was because, uh, herresearch into the torturous film
, uh production phase of thismovie she gets into great detail
about this was made when HowardHughes was the owner of and
(35:10):
running RKO and every once in awhile he would get very involved
with the making of a movie andthe changing of a movie.
And especially because JaneRussell he basically was the
(35:31):
overlord of her career and he'dmade all the decisions on Jane
Russell movies especially, therewere many changes made to the
film, to the screenplay, therewere reshoots.
It almost feels like twodifferent movies.
The commentary kind of explainsthe background of how it ended
(35:56):
up that way, but I say it's afilm noir that ends up turning
into a comedy, especially whenVincent Price shows up and
Price's character lampoonsHollywood stardom in quite a
unique way and I think that'spart of the attraction of this
(36:19):
film.
Uh, but when Russell and Mitchumwere together on screen it was
electric and uh.
They made other films togetherand we hope to be revisiting
those uh in the future.
But we've got to start at thebeginning and his kind of woman
was there first together and uh,it's irresistible fun.
Tim Millard (36:55):
It's a cult favorite because it's so wacky
at times and it really can'tdecide what it wants to be as a
film, but it's entertaining allthe way through and that's
what's important.
Yeah, I mean it.
You know it starts off beingvery, more very traditional noir
in terms of the setup and andeverything.
We won't spoil anything but thesetup of the gangsters and and
the money and you know, andeverything.
But then it, like you say, itjust expands out from that more
traditional, serious noir tohave all of this, you know,
(37:16):
broader fun that the VincentPrice character brings into it.
So, yeah, I mean it's one thatyou want to own.
I mean, and it looks now soterrific, it's one that people
are going to want to have andI'm sure that people who have
gotten it already are reallyenjoying it, but highly
recommend it to everybody elseto get His Kind of Woman.
Well, the last film we're goingto talk about today, not
(37:39):
purposefully saved to last, butthis is a very important film.
Oh, yeah, a wonderful film andthat's Splendor in the Grass
from 1961.
And that stars I mean NatalieWood, I mean this performance,
we'll talk more about that, butshe's fantastic.
It introduces Warren Beatty,who is.
(38:00):
You could just tell the starwritten all over him when he's
on screen.
And, of course, the directorElia Kazan, who is one of our
most important directors,especially there at Warner
Brothers.
George Feltenstein (38:14):
Without question, and this is a film
that you know.
I've been begging those, youknow, in order for me to get a
project greenlit, I have to, youknow, make my pitch and get
people on board, because it's abig investment.
We undertake one of these kindsof projects.
(38:37):
We did have an hd master ofsplendor in the grass.
That was done somewhere between15 and 20 years ago.
That was completely, uh, out ofwhack.
Uh there, the nighttime scenesat the beginning was day for
night and it looks like that'sthe middle of the afternoon.
(38:58):
It just was.
It was wrong in many ways andthat's the way the film looked.
But what we needed to do was goback to the negative, scan it
in 4K and the results are juststunning in terms of the visuals
and, of course, the acting inthis movie.
When you've got Kazan and youhave an original screenplay
(39:20):
written by the great WilliamInge, it is as honest and laid
bare the pain of youthfulromance and especially what
Natalie Wood's character goesthrough.
This was one of her greatestperformances and it wasn't her
(39:43):
first performance in aquote-unquote adult role, and
she's playing a high schoolstudent in the movie, but the
subject matter is very adult andthe conflict of.
It's obvious that Warren Beattywants to take their
relationship to a new level.
(40:05):
And Natalie Wood's character isfearful and there's the whole
dynamic of parental dysfunction.
And it's written so well byInge and directed as really very
few people could direct likeKazan, and you have all the
(40:27):
ingredients to make a classic.
This was an instant classic.
It's also very successful atthe box office and it
established Natalie Wood as agreat adult actress.
And uh, the following year youknow, she starred along rosalind
russell and gypsy and uh, shealso the same year as splendid
(40:51):
of the grass came out, west sidestory came out.
She was terrific in all thosefilms.
And uh, warren baity, hisscreen career introducing Warren
Beatty with this film, made ahuge impression and it was like
instant screen, charisma onscreen and a really substantial
(41:19):
box office success, criticalsuccess, audience favorite and
it holds up extremely well.
I can't believe the movie isnearly 65 years old.
Right now, as we record this,it's 64.
Very contemporary sensibilityin terms of the respect for the
(41:53):
written word and how it'sperformed and how it's acted.
You still had the restrictionsof the production code hanging
loosely.
It was being frayed and peoplelike Kazan were chipping away at
it trying to make morerealistic adult films, but here
I don't think they reallycompromised in the storytelling
(42:16):
and that's why the film remainsso powerful and it looks so
terrific.
Tim Millard (42:20):
Yeah, yeah.
And Pat Hingle as the father,uh, a stamper, he does a
terrific job.
Just, you know the the force.
Anybody who has had a fatherlike that, very successful, very
strong, Um, it's so true, theperformance very, very good
(42:44):
there by the parents and thatreally, I mean you have to have
that as well as the young people.
George Feltenstein (42:52):
Pat Hingle is not as well known today.
He passed away quite some timeago but he was a member of the
Actors Studio.
He was a New York stage actor.
Kazan brought together manypeople for this movie.
The real name attraction wasNatalie Wood.
(43:15):
Warren Beatty was introducingWarren Beatty.
But many of the other rolesincluding Audrey Christie as
Natalie Wood's mother, PatHingle, as you mentioned, a very
young Sandy Dennis in a smallrole they're all the actors in
(43:35):
this movie.
They're really superb, BecauseI feel Kazan's fingerprints all
over its excellence.
That's why we decided to add thedocumentary LA Kazan A
Director's Journey, and I thinkit's such a wonderful thing to
(44:00):
have that on this disc just togive more people.
I don't want people to forgetkazan, you know, and the impact
he had on the stage and thescreen as a director.
Uh, it just can't be overstatedhow important it was.
(44:21):
Um, so I've been wanting to putthis movie out for a very long
time, but we needed to go backto scratch, basically to create
a beautiful new master, and Ithink our talented colorists at
Warner Brothers Motion PictureImaging did a beautiful job.
(44:42):
We're very proud of the releaseand it's selling like hotcakes,
which I'm glad to say.
Tim Millard (44:49):
Yeah, and going back to that documentary, I
watched the whole thing.
It's well worth watchingbecause it gives you that big
picture on Kazan's life and youhear from him directly and how
he developed and what hisphilosophy was about directing
(45:13):
and how he approached it.
Terrific, really, gives yougreat insight and let's hope
that there continues to bereleases like this that can make
people aware of Kazan and keephis legacy going, because such
an important director, his filmsof the 50s and 60s, that era
(45:33):
changed filmmaking, along withothers, changed filmmaking to
the more modern style filmmakingthat we know.
The psychological complexity ofhis storytelling, the
truthfulness it's terrific, it'swonderful.
This is one people should ownand I'm so glad it's out on
(45:56):
Blu-ray.
George Feltenstein (45:57):
I agree with you, tim.
You addressed its excellenceeloquently.
Thank, you.
Tim Millard (46:04):
Well, this is a terrific month.
All these films.
I enjoyed watching all of them,george, this is a terrific
month.
I'm glad to hear that othersfeel the same way and that many
of them are selling very well,and I hope our discussion can
help those who don't know thesefilms to think about looking
into them and picking these up,because this is a terrific group
(46:25):
of films in June.
George Feltenstein (46:28):
I think you make a very good point because
my takeaway of what you'resaying.
Every year, there are dozensand dozens of new movies that
come into our world, and a filmlike this is now over 60 years
old.
It was hugely important when itcame out.
(46:49):
It's our responsibility to makesure that these great films
continue to be not only seen butavailable in the best quality,
and we're working as quickly aswe can, but we can't rush
anything.
But we have so many inproduction right now and every
(47:13):
time I can check one off thelist.
We finally got that done.
What we have yet to do isoverwhelming and enormous, but
it's also tremendously excitingand I'm looking so forward to
hearing how people react whenthey see what we've got coming.
In the future, there may be somevalleys where we're not in any
(47:37):
particular month, where we don'thave like a stellar lineup like
this in June or that we had inJuly and that we're having in
August.
But if a month seems less, insome ways, that only means the
next month is going to have more, and I think we've proven that
(47:57):
this year.
We're more than halfway throughthe year and we're halfway
through in our discussions hereon the extras, but I think 2025
is going to continue to beinteresting and exciting to many
different audiences and we'vegot some great stuff in store
for the rest of the year as wellas next year.
(48:19):
So much to look forward to inour discussions here on your
show, and I'm so grateful forthe opportunity to hear what you
think, because I'm alwaysexcited to hear your reactions
after we've spent so many monthsworking on a particular film or
project, and to see what youthink about it and to share
(48:40):
those thoughts here on yourpodcast.
It's always something I lookforward to.
While we're talking, I do wantto address kind of what is now
an elephant that's left the room.
But in the last few weeks,particularly with our July
(49:00):
releases, we were havingproblems.
Our July releases.
We were having problems notinternally, but some retailers
were not making our releasesavailable when they were
supposed to be available, whichwas very frustrating, and we
believe that problem has nowbeen rectified.
(49:21):
But I want all of our faithfulWarner Archive collection
consumers to know that we'redoing our very best.
This was not a replicationissue.
This was a communication issuethat had no fault with us nor
our distribution partners.
(49:43):
It was on the retail side andhappily, I think, those problems
are now behind us.
Tim Millard (49:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good to hear.
You know these little bumpshappen, but the fact is the
delay I think we're talkingabout.
We're only talking about alittle delay.
Yeah, we're not talking a week,two weeks, maybe three weeks
delay, because most of thatdelay was just in the pre-order
process, not in the actualshipping.
(50:10):
The shipping part is just asmall delay.
George Feltenstein (50:13):
I will say that we did everything we could
to try to get this resolved.
Get this resolved, so did ourpartners at Allied Vaughn
Entertainment, who bring ourproduct to market as our
distributor, and the partnershiphas been an excellent one for
(50:36):
16 years and I'm so grateful totheir efforts on our behalf to
get this remedied so that theconsumers out there get the
discs they've been looking forand hoping for.
And when we hit these littlebumps in the road, we do our
best to iron them out as quicklyas possible.
Tim Millard (50:56):
Yeah Well, george, another terrific discussion.
Thank you so much for coming onand talking to me and letting
the fans hear your thoughts, andit's always a lot of fun.
George Feltenstein (51:06):
Well, thank you, tim.
As always, it's a pleasure, andwe're going to have a lot more
to talk about in the comingweeks.
Tim Millard (51:13):
Well, as I mentioned in the podcast, I was
on vacation and that is thereason for the slight delay
since our last podcast airing.
But I'm back from vacation nowand I have a pile of Blu-rays
from the Warner Archive toreview which I'm looking forward
to, and that's for July.
As for the June releases, I dohave links, if you have not
(51:33):
ordered your copy, to purchaseeach of these great films.
And, as George mentioned, therewas a slight hiccup for the
July pre-orders, so if thatdeterred you or in any way
caused you to have to wait,please get your orders in now so
that the Warner Archive doesn'thave a big drop off in July of
their sales, because each monthdoes fund the continuing and
(51:57):
ongoing work of restoration andremastering for Blu-ray.
So we need to be sure andcontinue that support for the
Warner Archive so there isn'tany drop-off in sales so that
George and the team over therecan continue to do the great
work that they do to bring theseclassic animation and classic
films to all of us so that wecan enjoy them Until next time.
(52:20):
You've been listening to TimMillard.
Stay slightly obsessed.
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