November 5, 2024 • 47 mins
George Feltenstein joins the podcast to announce six December Blu-ray releases, PLUS EXCLUSIVE details on THE SEARCHERS 4K and what it means for the future of the Warner Archive. George provides background on each film or TV series, the new HD master, and more clarification on the extras that will be included. And he always drops some knowledge about what is being worked on for the future. There is no better way to learn about what is on the Warner Archive schedule than to hear directly from George.
Purchase links:
The Searchers 4K + Blu-ray
The Searchers Blu-ray (Remastered)
Purchase links are not yet available for all titles.
REVIEW - THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE with Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andtoday I'm a little extra
excited because not only do wehave George Feltenstein on to
announce the December Blu-rayreleases from the Warner Archive
, but there will be a littleextra special announcement that
we'll save to the end of thepodcast that everyone, I think,
(00:23):
will want to hear about.
How's that, George?
For a tease.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I think that's an excellent tease.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
People are probably wondering what is that all about
?
But I think it's.
I mean, I'm very excited aboutit and I think everybody else
will be as well.
So really looking forward tothat and hearing about these
December releases.
And I remember, george, a fewyears ago you mentioned that
(00:54):
traditionally December has notbeen that big of a month for the
Warner Archive, but after thelast few years it feels like
you've been ramping up andramping up.
Are things changing, and whatbrought that about?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, I think it's preferable to have everything
kind of locked and loaded beforeThanksgiving.
We usually would skip Decemberfor that reason, because there's
so much noise with Black Fridayand sales and how are people
going to get attention.
But we've also been strugglingand I don't think this is any
(01:28):
secret and I really want toaddress it.
We've been struggling with, asthe whole industry has basically
manufacturing delays at theplants or plant, I should say,
because there's only onelocation plan for all the
companies in North America andit has delayed a lot of our
(01:49):
releases.
And we've also had delays incompleting masters and something
would be supposed to bedelivered by a certain date and
then problems would bediscovered and that would delay
the delivery of the master,which therefore would delay our
release date.
And so I would like to haveconfidence in our replication
(02:13):
facility that they will deliverwhen promised.
And I know from speaking withpeople at other organizations
that they're having the sameissues because there is only one
plant and, despite the factthat certain people are saying
that the physical media is dying, there is certainly a very,
(02:34):
very strong audience that iscountering that argument with
their pocketbook and buyingdiscs.
So we hope that continues and Ido want to apologize on behalf
of the Warner Archive that someof our October 29th street date
titles were late and, as we'rerecording this, people should
(02:59):
have received some of them nowby now, I should say.
But there are also two titlesthat we learned last week
weren't going to make it andthey've been delayed till
November 26th.
Those are Sweethearts and thetelevision series man Called
Shenandoah.
We don't like when that happens, but it's to make sure that the
(03:23):
final product is of the properquality and I think people will
be happy when those do arrive,albeit late.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, I think that the nice thing is that those
horror titles got in, you know,in time and I know I received my
copies there and then theseothers, you know it's.
It's been something that you'vehad to deal with for the last.
It feels like three, four, five, six months, and it's
especially-.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And we're again.
We're not the only companythat's having this problem.
Yeah, because it's.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I mean Q4, just from a business standpoint, that's
always the busiest because youhave the holiday seasons and the
Black Fridays and Christmasgifting and everything as you
mentioned, but it's good newsthat it'll just be a few weeks
later here into November forthose releases.
Well, there are a lot ofDecember titles that you're
going to be talking throughtoday, so we should probably
(04:19):
dive right in.
Where do you want to start?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Well, I leave that to your judgment.
Surprise me.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Okay.
Well, I'm going to surprise youby being pretty traditional, by
starting at the oldest film,and that's partly because, of
course, it has a major, majorstar in it, and this is Mr Lucky
, from 1943.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, what's exciting for me about this is we've had
this film available as a notvery good looking DVD for more
than 15 years and people havewanted something that looked and
sounded a lot better.
And this is one of those RKOfilms where the actual camera
(05:03):
negative is still extant and wedid a new preservation scan off
the camera negative in 4K andcame up with the new 1080p high
definition master for thisrelease and Mr Lucky is kind of
the.
It's really just the definitionof what made Cary Grant such an
(05:28):
irresistible movie star.
The film had very, verysuccessful sales for us on DVD
and it was just a matter of whenwe could get to that negative.
And there are other Cary Grantmovies that will be coming and
we never know which one will beready when, because everything
(05:50):
is in such a different state.
But I was happy we were able toget this released for this year
.
Lorraine Day is Cary Grant'sleading lady in this movie and
it's just terrific entertainment.
It's brisk, it's sophisticatedand he's just so charming in
this film that I think that'swhy it's a favorite among his
(06:14):
fans.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, I've seen a lot of excitement so far with the
announcement.
Obviously, fans of Cary Grantare going to want to add this to
their collection, and then youhave a nice amount of the
traditional kind of extras.
I think that you put on these40s releases.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, we have two radio broadcasts and those are
always nice because they capturehow specific film properties
were going on to another media,if you will.
They didn't have television yetand there was no other way to
(06:53):
convey the story of the movie.
This is after the movie hadbeen released.
People were reminded of itagain when Cary Grant and
Lorraine Day recreated theirfilm roles in an hour-long radio
presentation on the Lux RadioTheater.
So we have that on the disc.
We also have a Screen DirectorsPlayhouse broadcast, which at
(07:18):
that time was a half-hour radioseries.
So you're taking ahundred-minute movie and
smooshing it into a half houralong with, you know, radio
commercials of the day.
But the cool thing about ScreenDirectors Playhouse was that
you had the star, cary Grant,and you had the director, hc
Potter, participating and thatseries ran, I think, for about
(07:42):
four seasons on the radio,eventually expanded to an hour.
But these things are justwonderful little accoutrements
to add to the feature itself.
Even though it's an RKO movieand we almost never have RKO
trailers, we have a trailer forMr Luck.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, that shocked me when I saw that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That rounds out the extras on that title.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, that's great that you actually have the
trailer for this one, verysurprising.
Well, next, just a couple yearslater, tell us a little bit
about the Spanish Main from 1945.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well, the Spanish Main is important for many
reasons.
First of all, it was the firstRKO Radio Pictures production
shot in Technicolor.
And because it was shot inTechnicolor it hasn't looked
very good in prior incarnations.
And what we are able to do Ithink a lot of people listening
(08:39):
know what happens when we'reable to go to original
Technicolor camera negativesfrom the nitrate era and
recombine them as only we canand the net result is a stunning
looking film.
And this is also directed bythe wonderful Frank Borzeghi and
we've had many of his films inthe Warner Archive collection.
(09:02):
Happy to say.
Also, this is an opportunity forMaureen O'Hara and Technicolor.
They were kind of made for eachother.
She's the leading lady in thisswashbuckler and kind of against
type.
Paul Henry is the leading manand when people think of Paul
Henry they think of him asVictor Laszlo in Casablanca or
(09:24):
they think of him as JerryDurrance in Now Voyager.
But he's actually undercontract to RKO and was loaned
to Warner Brothers for thoseother films and he wanted to be
the romantic leading man andthis is the film that gave him a
chance to do so.
And everybody in the film isreally entertaining, especially
(09:47):
Walter Slazak in a supportingrole.
He's quite humorously menacingbut it's gorgeous to look at.
And we've added a Technicolorshort from Warner Brothers of
the year called Movie Land Magic.
That's in high def, calledMovie Land Magic that's in high
def.
And there are two, basicallyYosemite Sam as a pirate, warner
(10:09):
Brothers cartoons, also in HD,buccaneer Bunny and Captain
Hairblower, and we do have theoriginal theatrical trailer as
well on this RKO movie.
So we're doing pretty well inthat respect.
But it's swashbuckling,seafaring entertainment.
It's just a lot of fun.
Uh, it's not pretentious and itwas beautifully produced.
(10:34):
Archaea took great pride inspending the money, because when
you did a technicolor movie itcost three times as much, and
they took great pride in thisproduction.
Maureen O'Hara would be inanother Technicolor production
for RKO two years later Sinbadthe Sailor and we're hoping to
(10:56):
do our Technicolor RestorationMagic for that title as well.
No work has begun, but it's.
You know where do you start,because there's so many other
options of films that peoplewant to see and swashbuckler
films are very, very popular andvery, very entertaining.
(11:18):
Maureen O'Hara just was one ofthose people that was meant for
Technicolor with her fiery redhair, and I think people are
going to love this.
It got an Oscar nomination forBest Color Cinematography.
It's very, very stylish andvery handsome production.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, because it is a Technicolor restoration, I'm
really looking forward to seeinghow this one looks, and I love
adventure movies.
It's an all-time favorite forme.
It's always entertaining, soI'm really looking forward to
seeing the colors popping offthe screen for this one.
So looking forward to it.
All right.
Well, let's stay in the 40swith the last one you have from
(11:55):
the 40s coming in December, andthat is Nora Prentiss from 1947.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
This is a particular favorite of mine.
I remember seeing this when Iwas a kid and the storyline was
just kind of wacko, weird.
It's most definitely a filmnoir, but basically Ken Smith
plays a respected family man,doctor, who finds himself
(12:23):
falling in love with a nightclubsinger your apprentice and he
basically loses all reason forfalling so madly in love with
her and the consequences aredire.
This was directed by VincentSherman and not unlike Bonnie
(12:44):
and Clyde, this is a film thatgot a scathingly bad review from
Bosley Crowther in the New YorkTimes.
Mr Crowther was usually wrongabout things and I don't know
how he kept his job at the Timesfor so many years, but so many
great films were savaged by himand loved by audiences.
And Noir Apprentice is a prettyfrequently requested noir and
(13:08):
we put out a DVD of this in theearly days of the Warner Archive
.
That, to put it kindly, is kindof wretched looking.
We didn't have the abilitiesthat we have now as the business
has grown.
This is a 4K scan off thenitrate camera negative and it
looks great and sounds great andAnne Sheridan is just wonderful
(13:31):
in the movie.
I think people are going to bevery happy with it.
It's with a Warner Brotherscartoon that's one of my
favorites the Big Snooze withBugs and Elmer.
And this is where Elmer isbasically fed up getting screwed
over by Bugs and all thosecartoons.
As a result, he tears up hiscontract with Mr Warner.
(13:53):
So this was actually made byBob Clampett, but he didn't get
credit because he had alreadyleft the studio.
I just thought when I went backand researched well, what
cartoon opened with this moviewhen the movie opened in Los
Angeles?
And I found out it was the BigSnooze.
And this is why we put thecartoons and the shorts with
(14:15):
many features is to try torecreate that theatrical
experience of the era.
So this is truly legitimate inthat that's how the film opened
in LA.
Of course it didn't necessarilyplay with that cartoon all over
the country, but that wasenough for me.
And we've got a great JoeMcDowell short on here also with
(14:36):
George O'Hanlon.
So you think you're a nervouswreck and the trailer.
So it's a nifty package andlooks and sounds sensational.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Well, I know there's a lot of excitement for this one
.
As you said, I think a lot ofpeople have had this on their
Blu-ray wishlist for a long time.
Well, I wasn't going to talkabout this one next, but I
decided let's talk about theTall Target from 1951.
Is this a noir?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well, when you say that this is a film about a
conspiracy, about attempting toassassinate Abraham Lincoln
right after his election, yousay that's not a film noir.
But because this is directed bythe great Anthony Mann, this
(15:23):
film is really admired by agreat Anthony Mann, this film is
really admired by a great manynoir fans and Anthony Mann could
work in many different genresand and he was astute at
creating, you know, tension andwhere the plot called for it.
(15:44):
This is another Warner ArchiveDVD release that needed an
upgrade and fortunately we wereable to do that.
It is a big improvement fromwhat was on DVD and a lot of
people because we've beenputting a little bit of a focus
on Anthony Mann with films likethe Naked Spur and Devil's
(16:07):
Doorway people have been askingfor this and you ask and if the
circumstances are right, youshall receive.
I'm particularly excited aboutthis.
It's a great film.
It is so taught and well doneand Dick Powell, who's the lead,
said that this was the favoritefilm that he ever did and it
(16:32):
wasn't given the respect itdeserved at the time of its
release and I don't think MGMquite knew how to market it, to
be honest.
But in recent years it hasobtained the fine reputation
that it has deservedly so earned, and we're happy to add it to
(16:56):
the collection of a beautifulBlu-ray.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
And then you have a couple of nice extras on here as
well.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Absolutely we.
You know, taking intoconsideration the subject matter
, I was trying to find if theyever did a radio adaptation of
the Tall Target, but no one did.
But Edward Arnold had a serieson radio called Mr President and
(17:25):
they had a specific episode,two years before the Tall Target
came out, that dealt with thisvery same, you know,
assassination conspiracysituation.
So we've added that and then wehave two great 1951 Tom and
Jerry cartoons in HD Jerry'sCousin and Slicked Up Pup, and
(17:48):
we have the trailer.
So it's a nice package and thefilm looks sensational, as all
these films do when they get arevisitation.
The improvement is dramatic andDick Powell is really, really
terrific.
So I can't call it a film noir,but I can say that, you know,
(18:12):
it has noir-ish overtones in thestorytelling and it's to be
appreciated.
And it is appreciated by a lotof film buffs and I hope that
they will be very pleased withthis presentation.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Well, we're going to jump a few decades to the 1970s
for a couple of titles, and thefirst one that we'll go over is
also kind of like a police has aPI in it, and that's Black Eye
from 1974.
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Well, this is a 1974 detective picture with Fred
Williamson, who was reallyhaving a very, very strong movie
career at that time having avery, very strong movie career
at that time, and because a lotof the films released during the
(19:08):
70s that had African-Americanperformers in them were labeled
as quote unquote blaxploitation.
Sometimes this film getsconsidered to be a
blaxploitation movie and it'snot.
It is much more of atraditional detective film, more
(19:28):
along the lines of other, youknow, breaking the law kind of
movies you would see in the 70s,and Williamson had a tremendous
screen presence.
And this is a film that againhas been cast aside in prior
years and I'm delighted that wecan do more with it now.
(19:50):
And this is a 4K scan off thecamera negative.
It looks terrific.
It definitely looks like a filmthat was shot in 1974.
And Williamson, he's reallygreat in it.
His leading lady is TeresaGraves, who was in that series
Get Christy Love, if peopleremember, from the early 70s and
(20:12):
Rosemary Forsyth really goodcast, strong action, but very,
very good storytelling.
Williamson's character is anex-cop named Shep Stone and I
think they could have made morefilms with that character at
Warner Brothers but that did notcome to pass at Warner Brothers
.
But there will be more FredWilliamson films coming from us
(20:35):
next year, so there's a reasonwhy he was called the Hammer.
He was very popular and aspopular as a football star and
then a movie star.
So here's to Fred Williamsonand Black Eye.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Well, you have another one from a little later
in the 70s that is garnering alot of interest.
That I saw, and it is.
What does it have two differenttitles, george?
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Well, it has one.
Everybody kind of uses theshorthand and calls it A Night
Full of Rain, because it's aLena Wurtmuller film.
And Lena Wurtmuller burst onto.
She was making films in Italyfor a few years before they
started to have.
(21:22):
I think it was in 1974 or 75.
She made a film called SweptAway, except the real title was
Swept Away, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
It has this long title title,but it crossed over from being a
(21:46):
little art film to being afinancial success for its
distributor of the time, cinema5, and it was followed by a film
called Seven Beauties, and boththose films had a leading man,
giancarlo Giannini, and that ledto Warner Brothers signing Lena
Wurtmuller to a three-picturecontract with Warner Brothers,
and the first of which was thisA Night Full of Rain is the
(22:10):
shortened title, but the realtitle is the End of the World
and Our Usual Bed in a NightFull of Rain.
That would be very hard to fiton the marquee, so it posed a
marketing challenge for thestudio and it was her first film
in English and GiancarloGiannini, her leading man from
(22:31):
Swept Away and Seven Beauties,is the leading man here,
opposite Candice Bergen, who wasprobably never more lovely than
she was in this film and it'sreally quite entertaining and
it's very much a portrait of itstime.
It reflects the late 70s, ithas a dash of comedy to it and
(22:55):
it's very entertaining andpeople don't get to see it.
It's kind of fallen off theradar.
People don't get to see it.
It's kind of fallen off theradar.
Considering how popular LenaVertmuller was in the 70s, it's
sad to me that a lot of peopledon't know who she is now.
This film is another one thatwas an early Warner Archive DVD
(23:17):
and we've gone back to thecamera, negative, scanned it in
4K, created a new master.
Now it'll look and soundterrific and that makes a big
difference in your ability toenjoy a film.
In the quality of thepresentation, candice Bergen is
terrific and Giannini isterrific and I think people
(23:37):
should take a chance on thismovie.
They won't be disappointed.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah, I think there's already quite a bit of
excitement that I've noticed insocial media.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
And I think that's partly because of you know, the
had built this basicallymomentum, with Swept Away and
Seven Beauties and this was adifferent kind of film.
And this ended up being theonly film that Lena Verdon
Miller made for Warner Brothers.
There weren't any further.
But it wasn't because this filmwasn't good, it was because
(24:20):
this film just didn't quite fitin the way a major studio would
market a film that was reallyintended for an art audience.
So I think people willappreciate having it available
in a fine presentation and thisis where we look for the nooks
and crannies in the corners ofthe library and I think it will
(24:43):
please a lot of the Wertmullerfans.
There are still many peoplethat laud her work appropriately
.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You know that makes me think, george.
Sometimes I see people makingcomments like why is the Warner
Archive releasing these titlesthat aren't well known, and it
dawns on me like this personmust not understand what it is
the Warner Archive does.
I mean to make a statementabout a title that is a hard to
(25:12):
find or lesser known gem?
That's exactly what the WarnerArchive does, and I think this
film is a great example of thatand many of the ones that you've
released that are more modernclassics but lesser known or
didn't have an outlet.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
That's exactly our initial mission statement was
rare and hard to find, and yetwe've released some very
well-known popular films as well.
The latter is only a reflectionof the strength of our business
and being able to be a boutiquelabel within a motion picture
(25:51):
studio.
We're the boutique within thebehemoth, so the fact that we're
allowed to do what we do we'rethe only operation like that
that exists within a majorstudio to have a boutique
sub-label, and that's what ourmission statement still is.
(26:13):
The fact that we've been ableto broaden our offerings to do
things we thought we wouldn't beable to do years ago is a
testament actually to theconsumers who have supported our
work, and that's why we're verygrateful for all the support
that we've gotten fromcinephiles for certain.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Well, I teased that we were going to have a big
special announcement and, kindof as a follow-up to what I just
mentioned, that the WarnerArchive does a lot of smaller,
lesser known titles that have astrong fan base out there.
This one, george, should make alot of people happy.
Tell us about it.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Well, this is something that I didn't think we
would be able to do.
This is our first 4K releaseand it isn't just any 4K.
If I have my facts correctly,this film in the last AFI 100
(27:17):
Greatest American Films EverMade.
This film was voted, I believe,number 12 out of the 100.
This is one of the most famousclassic American films from what
could be the greatest directorof American films certainly at
(27:39):
the top of the list it's JohnFord as director, and the film
is the Searchers.
And it's been very well knownfor the last, I'd say,
two-thirds of 2024 that thestudio embarked, with the
collaboration of the FilmFoundation, to create a new 4K
(28:04):
master of the searchers from theoriginal negative universe and
to also have a 4K DCP that couldbe shown in theaters.
And they even created 70millimeter print off the
VistaVision negative becausethis film in VistaVision, it
(28:27):
being a wide format that wasshot.
Vistavision went through thecamera horizontally as opposed
to vertically, so the size of aVistaVision frame is double the
size of a traditional 4x3 frameon its side.
So it gives you a 1.85 aspectratio with no lenses like
(28:53):
CinemaScope needed, where thepicture was squished and then
unsquished.
This has tremendous depth offield and incredible clarity,
and it stars a guy you may haveheard of named John Wayne.
This is one of the most famousWarner Brothers films, and the
(29:13):
fact that the company hasentrusted the Warner Archive
Collection to release this is agreat honor for us.
So, accordingly, we'rereleasing, on December 17th, a
4K UHD Blu-ray combo of the film, the first 4K disc, the first
disc 4K.
(29:33):
It's on a BD-100 with amaximized bitrate and it looks
amazing, the film restorationwork having been done by the
wizards of ours, as I call them,the people at Warner Brothers
Motion Picture Imaging, and theresult is gorgeous.
(29:55):
The sky is no longer yellow onthe searchers, as you would find
on our old Blu-ray, which wasbadly misbegotten, and now we
have a master of the film thatwe can be very proud of.
And the 4K UHD disc comes witha second disc, a Blu-ray of the
(30:17):
remastered film, not the oldmaster, it's a new Blu-ray disc
that also includes over an hourof special features, all of
which are now in HD.
We also have a commentary forthe feature by the late Peter
Bogdanovich.
(30:39):
Have a commentary for thefeature by the late Peter
Bogdanovich.
He was such a really.
He began a whole generation offilm and analyzation and film
criticism and could write soamazingly about it as a very
young man then went on to be agreat director himself and he
was a great friend to ourcompany and we're so lucky to
have this archival commentary.
So that's on both the 4K discand the Blu-ray disc and all the
(31:04):
rest of the special featuresare on the Blu-ray disc.
We have a documentary calledthe Searchers and Appreciation.
We have another documentarycalled the Turning of the Earth,
john Ford, john Wayne and theSearchers.
It was made by Nick Redman whohas passed away a few years ago,
and it was a passion projectfor him.
People who admired him andadmired his work I think will be
(31:27):
very grateful to see that nowpresented in high definition.
We have outtakes that are really, really interesting and I don't
think they've ever been onprevious releases before.
We have newsreel coverage ofthe film's world premiere in
Chicago and then we also havefour different behind-the-camera
(31:48):
sequences from the WarnerBrothers Presents television
series.
The Warner Brothers Presentstelevision series was Warner
Brothers' first dive into theworld of television and they had
three series in rotation inthat series and they would take
(32:11):
like five minutes out of thevery end of the program.
Before you'd get to the climax,they would take five, five
minutes out of the very end ofthe program.
Before you'd get to the climax,they would take five minutes or
so out to have Gig Youngnarrate these behind the camera
sequences about upcoming WarnerBrothers movies.
So we have one on JeffreyHunter, one on Natalie Wood, one
on Monument Valley, where theSearchers was filmed, and
(32:33):
another that shows you how theyset up the production.
The disc is a BD-100 for the 4KUHD disc.
It has Dolby Vision as well asHDR10.
The film was mono and theoriginal mono track has been
cleaned up, but there's no fakestereo, no fake surround.
(32:56):
It is its inherent theatricaltrack with no false manipulation
.
And the Blu-ray is not only thesecond disc in the combo pack,
which does have a very handsomesleeve around it, but we also
have a standalone Blu-ray forthose who prefer to just have
(33:17):
Blu-ray, and so there'll be twodifferent SKUs, both available
on December 17th, and theyshould be coming up for
pre-order fairly soon.
This is something we've keptunder wraps for a long time, and
I also want to make it veryclear.
I've talked about the fact thatwe can't release 4K titles in
(33:40):
the Warner Archive because ofthe huge expense and this isn't
representing a major shift.
Our release schedule willpretty much stay Blu-ray, but
there are a few 4Ks in ourfuture.
You may only see two or threeor four in the next year, but
(34:01):
we're opening the door a littlebit where it's possible,
especially when we're dealingwith wide format films, which
really are.
They have to have the finesthome presentation using the
capabilities of 4K and HDR andin this case I'm very happy to
(34:24):
say Dolby Vision, so the finestpicture and the finest sound.
And I'm very happy to say thatwe engaged David McKenzie and
his company, fidelity and Motion, to handle the compression and
authoring for these discs.
David's company, fidelity andMotion, is well known to
(34:48):
enthusiasts of home media forhis incredible work that he's
done for so many labels, and I'mhappy to say that this is the
first collaboration directlywith Warner Brothers and
Fidelity in Motion.
His acumen in compression andauthoring is really the best in
(35:10):
the industry, in my opinion.
I feel we're so lucky that hecame on board to help us bring
this magnificent film to 4K aswell as remastered Blu-ray, so a
lot for people to look forwardto.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
And I'll just reiterate, George, for those who
are just Blu-ray, we get manypeople say, hey, I don't, you
know, I'm not 4K, I don't havethe equipment.
There is the standalone Blu-rayfrom this new restoration.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Right, that was very important.
It's on a BD-50.
And again, the same level ofmaximizing the potential of the
Blu-ray disc at a very high bitrate and with all the special
features.
We give consumers a choice andI'm hoping that people will look
(35:59):
upon this release because it'sloaded with extras and we've
used every means possible tomake the film look so amazing.
I just couldn't believe howimproved it was from anything
I've ever seen before on it.
I think people are going to bevery pleased with it.
(36:21):
The results will speak forthemselves.
This has been something thatwe've been very excited about
and I'm happy that it will bedone in time that people can
consider it a Christmas presentfrom the Warner Archive that
people can consider it aChristmas present from the
Warner Archive.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
So there's two options there.
Folks, you Blu-ray fans, that'sgoing to be an amazing, amazing
Blu-ray to get.
If you've been thinking if theWarner Archive ever starts
releasing 4Ks would, I want toget that.
This is a great opportunity todo that as well, because you get
the 4K and you get the Blu-ray,so you still can watch the
(36:58):
Blu-ray if you haven't boughtthe player and then meanwhile
get the player here.
Knowing, george you just saidthere's some more in the works
down the road, knowing thatthere's some more coming at the
quality level that, George, youalways do for your releases, so
I'm so excited.
I saw the film this summer andI saw the restoration, all the
(37:23):
work that was done, and it wasamazing to see it.
I'm so excited now that peoplecan have it at home as part of
their collection.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I agree with you wholeheartedly, tim, and we
could not do justice to thisfilm without giving it a
first-class presentation.
And I also want to call out Idon't usually talk about this,
but I think it is worth talkingabout the suggested retail price
.
The list price for the 4KBlu-ray combo is $29.99.
(37:56):
The standalone Blu-ray isconsistent with other Warner
Archive Blu-rays at $21.99.
If certain retailers areselling our product for above
list price, there is nothing wecan do about that.
It's not coming from us and Iwant to be very clear.
(38:18):
We have not raised our pricesand, considering the amount of
work that has gone into thisgreat film, I feel that the 4K
Blu-ray combo is priced in linewith providing consumer value
(38:39):
and when they see and hear thefilm, as never before I mean I
haven't even talked about themovie.
I think we can do that anothertime when we're doing a
different podcast, because wecould do a whole podcast just on
that and the restoration,because there's so much involved
.
But this is a big moment for usand I want to be very clear
(39:02):
again.
It doesn't mean that we'reshifting to a ramped up 4K
release schedule.
No, we will have a fine Blu-rayrelease schedule.
No, we will have a fine Blu-rayrelease schedule and there may
be an occasional dip into thewater with other very special
films making their debut as a 4Kdisc.
(39:25):
So there will be more, but ouroverall trajectory is not
changing Right.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Well, george, I said at the beginning I was excited
and now I think people know whyI love this film.
It's it's, as you mentioned,number 12 on the AFI list top
100.
I mean the actors, the director, where it fits into film
history and it's just greatentertainment.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
And the cinematography, and I happen to
be nuts for VistaVision.
Vistavision was a widescreenprocess developed by Paramount
to compete with 20th CenturyFox's process of CinemaScope,
and it's very rare that otherstudios would use VistaVision.
(40:15):
But the Searchers was actuallynot a Warner Brothers production
.
It was an independentproduction that Warner Brothers
got involved in very early inthe game.
It was a CV Whitney production.
It's called the CV WhitneyPicture.
A CV Whitney production.
(40:36):
It's called the CV WhitneyPicture.
Thankfully it feels organicallylike a Warner Brothers movie
because Max Steiner scored themusic.
So everybody in the film isterrific.
I think we should definitelytake an opportunity to dig in
deep, not only on the film buton the pieces that we've added
(40:56):
to it.
A lot of people did a greatdeal of work to make this
release as wonderful as it is.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Yeah, very exciting.
Well, we'll definitely berevisiting the Searchers when it
comes out, or closer to when itcomes out, because there is so
much to talk about there, george, so I'm looking forward to that
so well, a great lineup forDecember.
Wow, what a way to end the year, and I think I mentioned this
last month and also maybe themonth before.
But when we're recording this,george, and people hear the
(41:28):
December announcement, theNovember releases haven't come
out yet, and I'm still soexcited for all of those, for
those animation fans out there.
Of course, you've got theLooney Tunes that we talked
about.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Yes, we're going to have a lot to talk about.
Yeah, you got the.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Thin man collection, which is coming out so just in
November, december.
What a great wrap to the year.
October has been great, just somuch.
So fun to hear about themomentum that you have going
into the end of the year here atthe Warner Archive.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
For those who would like more information about the
films announced today, be sureto check out our Facebook page
and our Warner Archive Facebookgroup.
You can find the links to thoseand all of our social media
sites in the podcast show notes.
We'll post the pre-order linksfor the searchers and then for
the other eight releases comingin December as soon as those are
made available.
(42:25):
But I just want to reiteratethat, since this is the first 4K
release for the Warner Archive,I hope you guys will support it
and will purchase it so thatGeorge can know confidently that
, going into next year, thatthese other titles that are on
board or on the schedule forrelease in 4K will be supported.
(42:47):
So I think that's important forthose of you who do want to
build out your 4K library.
So let's get a good start forhim with these 4K releases with
the searchers and I know thatprobably is not a big ask for
many of you who have been askingfor or looking for 4K titles
from the Warner Archive and I'mexcited to hear at some point
(43:09):
what these 4K titles will be.
So be sure and continue tolisten to the extras where
George comes on and is sogenerous with his time in
sharing with us what is comingdown the line from the Warner
Archive.
So very exciting month, a greatlineup of six titles, plus the
Searchers 4K Blu-ray.
(43:29):
If you aren't yet subscribed orfollowing the show at your
favorite podcast provider, youmay want to do that so that you
don't miss anything like theseexciting announcements and
special little tidbits thatGeorge brings to the show.
Until next time you've beenlistening to Tim Millard, stay
slightly obsessed.
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andtoday I'm a little extra
excited because not only do wehave George Feltenstein on to
announce the December Blu-rayreleases from the Warner Archive
, but there will be a littleextra special announcement that
we'll save to the end of thepodcast that everyone, I think,
(00:23):
will want to hear about.
How's that, George?
For a tease.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I think that's an excellent tease.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
People are probably wondering what is that all about
?
But I think it's.
I mean, I'm very excited aboutit and I think everybody else
will be as well.
So really looking forward tothat and hearing about these
December releases.
And I remember, george, a fewyears ago you mentioned that
(00:54):
traditionally December has notbeen that big of a month for the
Warner Archive, but after thelast few years it feels like
you've been ramping up andramping up.
Are things changing, and whatbrought that about?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, I think it's preferable to have everything
kind of locked and loaded beforeThanksgiving.
We usually would skip Decemberfor that reason, because there's
so much noise with Black Fridayand sales and how are people
going to get attention.
But we've also been strugglingand I don't think this is any
(01:28):
secret and I really want toaddress it.
We've been struggling with, asthe whole industry has basically
manufacturing delays at theplants or plant, I should say,
because there's only onelocation plan for all the
companies in North America andit has delayed a lot of our
(01:49):
releases.
And we've also had delays incompleting masters and something
would be supposed to bedelivered by a certain date and
then problems would bediscovered and that would delay
the delivery of the master,which therefore would delay our
release date.
And so I would like to haveconfidence in our replication
(02:13):
facility that they will deliverwhen promised.
And I know from speaking withpeople at other organizations
that they're having the sameissues because there is only one
plant and, despite the factthat certain people are saying
that the physical media is dying, there is certainly a very,
(02:34):
very strong audience that iscountering that argument with
their pocketbook and buyingdiscs.
So we hope that continues and Ido want to apologize on behalf
of the Warner Archive that someof our October 29th street date
titles were late and, as we'rerecording this, people should
(02:59):
have received some of them nowby now, I should say.
But there are also two titlesthat we learned last week
weren't going to make it andthey've been delayed till
November 26th.
Those are Sweethearts and thetelevision series man Called
Shenandoah.
We don't like when that happens, but it's to make sure that the
(03:23):
final product is of the properquality and I think people will
be happy when those do arrive,albeit late.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, I think that the nice thing is that those
horror titles got in, you know,in time and I know I received my
copies there and then theseothers, you know it's.
It's been something that you'vehad to deal with for the last.
It feels like three, four, five, six months, and it's
especially-.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And we're again.
We're not the only companythat's having this problem.
Yeah, because it's.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I mean Q4, just from a business standpoint, that's
always the busiest because youhave the holiday seasons and the
Black Fridays and Christmasgifting and everything as you
mentioned, but it's good newsthat it'll just be a few weeks
later here into November forthose releases.
Well, there are a lot ofDecember titles that you're
going to be talking throughtoday, so we should probably
(04:19):
dive right in.
Where do you want to start?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Well, I leave that to your judgment.
Surprise me.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Okay.
Well, I'm going to surprise youby being pretty traditional, by
starting at the oldest film,and that's partly because, of
course, it has a major, majorstar in it, and this is Mr Lucky
, from 1943.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, what's exciting for me about this is we've had
this film available as a notvery good looking DVD for more
than 15 years and people havewanted something that looked and
sounded a lot better.
And this is one of those RKOfilms where the actual camera
(05:03):
negative is still extant and wedid a new preservation scan off
the camera negative in 4K andcame up with the new 1080p high
definition master for thisrelease and Mr Lucky is kind of
the.
It's really just the definitionof what made Cary Grant such an
(05:28):
irresistible movie star.
The film had very, verysuccessful sales for us on DVD
and it was just a matter of whenwe could get to that negative.
And there are other Cary Grantmovies that will be coming and
we never know which one will beready when, because everything
(05:50):
is in such a different state.
But I was happy we were able toget this released for this year
.
Lorraine Day is Cary Grant'sleading lady in this movie and
it's just terrific entertainment.
It's brisk, it's sophisticatedand he's just so charming in
this film that I think that'swhy it's a favorite among his
(06:14):
fans.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, I've seen a lot of excitement so far with the
announcement.
Obviously, fans of Cary Grantare going to want to add this to
their collection, and then youhave a nice amount of the
traditional kind of extras.
I think that you put on these40s releases.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, we have two radio broadcasts and those are
always nice because they capturehow specific film properties
were going on to another media,if you will.
They didn't have television yetand there was no other way to
(06:53):
convey the story of the movie.
This is after the movie hadbeen released.
People were reminded of itagain when Cary Grant and
Lorraine Day recreated theirfilm roles in an hour-long radio
presentation on the Lux RadioTheater.
So we have that on the disc.
We also have a Screen DirectorsPlayhouse broadcast, which at
(07:18):
that time was a half-hour radioseries.
So you're taking ahundred-minute movie and
smooshing it into a half houralong with, you know, radio
commercials of the day.
But the cool thing about ScreenDirectors Playhouse was that
you had the star, cary Grant,and you had the director, hc
Potter, participating and thatseries ran, I think, for about
(07:42):
four seasons on the radio,eventually expanded to an hour.
But these things are justwonderful little accoutrements
to add to the feature itself.
Even though it's an RKO movieand we almost never have RKO
trailers, we have a trailer forMr Luck.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, that shocked me when I saw that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That rounds out the extras on that title.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, that's great that you actually have the
trailer for this one, verysurprising.
Well, next, just a couple yearslater, tell us a little bit
about the Spanish Main from 1945.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well, the Spanish Main is important for many
reasons.
First of all, it was the firstRKO Radio Pictures production
shot in Technicolor.
And because it was shot inTechnicolor it hasn't looked
very good in prior incarnations.
And what we are able to do Ithink a lot of people listening
(08:39):
know what happens when we'reable to go to original
Technicolor camera negativesfrom the nitrate era and
recombine them as only we canand the net result is a stunning
looking film.
And this is also directed bythe wonderful Frank Borzeghi and
we've had many of his films inthe Warner Archive collection.
(09:02):
Happy to say.
Also, this is an opportunity forMaureen O'Hara and Technicolor.
They were kind of made for eachother.
She's the leading lady in thisswashbuckler and kind of against
type.
Paul Henry is the leading manand when people think of Paul
Henry they think of him asVictor Laszlo in Casablanca or
(09:24):
they think of him as JerryDurrance in Now Voyager.
But he's actually undercontract to RKO and was loaned
to Warner Brothers for thoseother films and he wanted to be
the romantic leading man andthis is the film that gave him a
chance to do so.
And everybody in the film isreally entertaining, especially
(09:47):
Walter Slazak in a supportingrole.
He's quite humorously menacingbut it's gorgeous to look at.
And we've added a Technicolorshort from Warner Brothers of
the year called Movie Land Magic.
That's in high def, calledMovie Land Magic that's in high
def.
And there are two, basicallyYosemite Sam as a pirate, warner
(10:09):
Brothers cartoons, also in HD,buccaneer Bunny and Captain
Hairblower, and we do have theoriginal theatrical trailer as
well on this RKO movie.
So we're doing pretty well inthat respect.
But it's swashbuckling,seafaring entertainment.
It's just a lot of fun.
Uh, it's not pretentious and itwas beautifully produced.
(10:34):
Archaea took great pride inspending the money, because when
you did a technicolor movie itcost three times as much, and
they took great pride in thisproduction.
Maureen O'Hara would be inanother Technicolor production
for RKO two years later Sinbadthe Sailor and we're hoping to
(10:56):
do our Technicolor RestorationMagic for that title as well.
No work has begun, but it's.
You know where do you start,because there's so many other
options of films that peoplewant to see and swashbuckler
films are very, very popular andvery, very entertaining.
(11:18):
Maureen O'Hara just was one ofthose people that was meant for
Technicolor with her fiery redhair, and I think people are
going to love this.
It got an Oscar nomination forBest Color Cinematography.
It's very, very stylish andvery handsome production.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, because it is a Technicolor restoration, I'm
really looking forward to seeinghow this one looks, and I love
adventure movies.
It's an all-time favorite forme.
It's always entertaining, soI'm really looking forward to
seeing the colors popping offthe screen for this one.
So looking forward to it.
All right.
Well, let's stay in the 40swith the last one you have from
(11:55):
the 40s coming in December, andthat is Nora Prentiss from 1947.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
This is a particular favorite of mine.
I remember seeing this when Iwas a kid and the storyline was
just kind of wacko, weird.
It's most definitely a filmnoir, but basically Ken Smith
plays a respected family man,doctor, who finds himself
(12:23):
falling in love with a nightclubsinger your apprentice and he
basically loses all reason forfalling so madly in love with
her and the consequences aredire.
This was directed by VincentSherman and not unlike Bonnie
(12:44):
and Clyde, this is a film thatgot a scathingly bad review from
Bosley Crowther in the New YorkTimes.
Mr Crowther was usually wrongabout things and I don't know
how he kept his job at the Timesfor so many years, but so many
great films were savaged by himand loved by audiences.
And Noir Apprentice is a prettyfrequently requested noir and
(13:08):
we put out a DVD of this in theearly days of the Warner Archive
.
That, to put it kindly, is kindof wretched looking.
We didn't have the abilitiesthat we have now as the business
has grown.
This is a 4K scan off thenitrate camera negative and it
looks great and sounds great andAnne Sheridan is just wonderful
(13:31):
in the movie.
I think people are going to bevery happy with it.
It's with a Warner Brotherscartoon that's one of my
favorites the Big Snooze withBugs and Elmer.
And this is where Elmer isbasically fed up getting screwed
over by Bugs and all thosecartoons.
As a result, he tears up hiscontract with Mr Warner.
(13:53):
So this was actually made byBob Clampett, but he didn't get
credit because he had alreadyleft the studio.
I just thought when I went backand researched well, what
cartoon opened with this moviewhen the movie opened in Los
Angeles?
And I found out it was the BigSnooze.
And this is why we put thecartoons and the shorts with
(14:15):
many features is to try torecreate that theatrical
experience of the era.
So this is truly legitimate inthat that's how the film opened
in LA.
Of course it didn't necessarilyplay with that cartoon all over
the country, but that wasenough for me.
And we've got a great JoeMcDowell short on here also with
(14:36):
George O'Hanlon.
So you think you're a nervouswreck and the trailer.
So it's a nifty package andlooks and sounds sensational.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Well, I know there's a lot of excitement for this one
.
As you said, I think a lot ofpeople have had this on their
Blu-ray wishlist for a long time.
Well, I wasn't going to talkabout this one next, but I
decided let's talk about theTall Target from 1951.
Is this a noir?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Well, when you say that this is a film about a
conspiracy, about attempting toassassinate Abraham Lincoln
right after his election, yousay that's not a film noir.
But because this is directed bythe great Anthony Mann, this
(15:23):
film is really admired by agreat Anthony Mann, this film is
really admired by a great manynoir fans and Anthony Mann could
work in many different genresand and he was astute at
creating, you know, tension andwhere the plot called for it.
(15:44):
This is another Warner ArchiveDVD release that needed an
upgrade and fortunately we wereable to do that.
It is a big improvement fromwhat was on DVD and a lot of
people because we've beenputting a little bit of a focus
on Anthony Mann with films likethe Naked Spur and Devil's
(16:07):
Doorway people have been askingfor this and you ask and if the
circumstances are right, youshall receive.
I'm particularly excited aboutthis.
It's a great film.
It is so taught and well doneand Dick Powell, who's the lead,
said that this was the favoritefilm that he ever did and it
(16:32):
wasn't given the respect itdeserved at the time of its
release and I don't think MGMquite knew how to market it, to
be honest.
But in recent years it hasobtained the fine reputation
that it has deservedly so earned, and we're happy to add it to
(16:56):
the collection of a beautifulBlu-ray.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
And then you have a couple of nice extras on here as
well.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Absolutely we.
You know, taking intoconsideration the subject matter
, I was trying to find if theyever did a radio adaptation of
the Tall Target, but no one did.
But Edward Arnold had a serieson radio called Mr President and
(17:25):
they had a specific episode,two years before the Tall Target
came out, that dealt with thisvery same, you know,
assassination conspiracysituation.
So we've added that and then wehave two great 1951 Tom and
Jerry cartoons in HD Jerry'sCousin and Slicked Up Pup, and
(17:48):
we have the trailer.
So it's a nice package and thefilm looks sensational, as all
these films do when they get arevisitation.
The improvement is dramatic andDick Powell is really, really
terrific.
So I can't call it a film noir,but I can say that, you know,
(18:12):
it has noir-ish overtones in thestorytelling and it's to be
appreciated.
And it is appreciated by a lotof film buffs and I hope that
they will be very pleased withthis presentation.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Well, we're going to jump a few decades to the 1970s
for a couple of titles, and thefirst one that we'll go over is
also kind of like a police has aPI in it, and that's Black Eye
from 1974.
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Well, this is a 1974 detective picture with Fred
Williamson, who was reallyhaving a very, very strong movie
career at that time having avery, very strong movie career
at that time, and because a lotof the films released during the
(19:08):
70s that had African-Americanperformers in them were labeled
as quote unquote blaxploitation.
Sometimes this film getsconsidered to be a
blaxploitation movie and it'snot.
It is much more of atraditional detective film, more
(19:28):
along the lines of other, youknow, breaking the law kind of
movies you would see in the 70s,and Williamson had a tremendous
screen presence.
And this is a film that againhas been cast aside in prior
years and I'm delighted that wecan do more with it now.
(19:50):
And this is a 4K scan off thecamera negative.
It looks terrific.
It definitely looks like a filmthat was shot in 1974.
And Williamson, he's reallygreat in it.
His leading lady is TeresaGraves, who was in that series
Get Christy Love, if peopleremember, from the early 70s and
(20:12):
Rosemary Forsyth really goodcast, strong action, but very,
very good storytelling.
Williamson's character is anex-cop named Shep Stone and I
think they could have made morefilms with that character at
Warner Brothers but that did notcome to pass at Warner Brothers
.
But there will be more FredWilliamson films coming from us
(20:35):
next year, so there's a reasonwhy he was called the Hammer.
He was very popular and aspopular as a football star and
then a movie star.
So here's to Fred Williamsonand Black Eye.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Well, you have another one from a little later
in the 70s that is garnering alot of interest.
That I saw, and it is.
What does it have two differenttitles, george?
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Well, it has one.
Everybody kind of uses theshorthand and calls it A Night
Full of Rain, because it's aLena Wurtmuller film.
And Lena Wurtmuller burst onto.
She was making films in Italyfor a few years before they
started to have.
(21:22):
I think it was in 1974 or 75.
She made a film called SweptAway, except the real title was
Swept Away, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
It has this long title title,but it crossed over from being a
(21:46):
little art film to being afinancial success for its
distributor of the time, cinema5, and it was followed by a film
called Seven Beauties, and boththose films had a leading man,
giancarlo Giannini, and that ledto Warner Brothers signing Lena
Wurtmuller to a three-picturecontract with Warner Brothers,
and the first of which was thisA Night Full of Rain is the
(22:10):
shortened title, but the realtitle is the End of the World
and Our Usual Bed in a NightFull of Rain.
That would be very hard to fiton the marquee, so it posed a
marketing challenge for thestudio and it was her first film
in English and GiancarloGiannini, her leading man from
(22:31):
Swept Away and Seven Beauties,is the leading man here,
opposite Candice Bergen, who wasprobably never more lovely than
she was in this film and it'sreally quite entertaining and
it's very much a portrait of itstime.
It reflects the late 70s, ithas a dash of comedy to it and
(22:55):
it's very entertaining andpeople don't get to see it.
It's kind of fallen off theradar.
People don't get to see it.
It's kind of fallen off theradar.
Considering how popular LenaVertmuller was in the 70s, it's
sad to me that a lot of peopledon't know who she is now.
This film is another one thatwas an early Warner Archive DVD
(23:17):
and we've gone back to thecamera, negative, scanned it in
4K, created a new master.
Now it'll look and soundterrific and that makes a big
difference in your ability toenjoy a film.
In the quality of thepresentation, candice Bergen is
terrific and Giannini isterrific and I think people
(23:37):
should take a chance on thismovie.
They won't be disappointed.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah, I think there's already quite a bit of
excitement that I've noticed insocial media.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
And I think that's partly because of you know, the
had built this basicallymomentum, with Swept Away and
Seven Beauties and this was adifferent kind of film.
And this ended up being theonly film that Lena Verdon
Miller made for Warner Brothers.
There weren't any further.
But it wasn't because this filmwasn't good, it was because
(24:20):
this film just didn't quite fitin the way a major studio would
market a film that was reallyintended for an art audience.
So I think people willappreciate having it available
in a fine presentation and thisis where we look for the nooks
and crannies in the corners ofthe library and I think it will
(24:43):
please a lot of the Wertmullerfans.
There are still many peoplethat laud her work appropriately
.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You know that makes me think, george.
Sometimes I see people makingcomments like why is the Warner
Archive releasing these titlesthat aren't well known, and it
dawns on me like this personmust not understand what it is
the Warner Archive does.
I mean to make a statementabout a title that is a hard to
(25:12):
find or lesser known gem?
That's exactly what the WarnerArchive does, and I think this
film is a great example of thatand many of the ones that you've
released that are more modernclassics but lesser known or
didn't have an outlet.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
That's exactly our initial mission statement was
rare and hard to find, and yetwe've released some very
well-known popular films as well.
The latter is only a reflectionof the strength of our business
and being able to be a boutiquelabel within a motion picture
(25:51):
studio.
We're the boutique within thebehemoth, so the fact that we're
allowed to do what we do we'rethe only operation like that
that exists within a majorstudio to have a boutique
sub-label, and that's what ourmission statement still is.
(26:13):
The fact that we've been ableto broaden our offerings to do
things we thought we wouldn't beable to do years ago is a
testament actually to theconsumers who have supported our
work, and that's why we're verygrateful for all the support
that we've gotten fromcinephiles for certain.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Well, I teased that we were going to have a big
special announcement and, kindof as a follow-up to what I just
mentioned, that the WarnerArchive does a lot of smaller,
lesser known titles that have astrong fan base out there.
This one, george, should make alot of people happy.
Tell us about it.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Well, this is something that I didn't think we
would be able to do.
This is our first 4K releaseand it isn't just any 4K.
If I have my facts correctly,this film in the last AFI 100
(27:17):
Greatest American Films EverMade.
This film was voted, I believe,number 12 out of the 100.
This is one of the most famousclassic American films from what
could be the greatest directorof American films certainly at
(27:39):
the top of the list it's JohnFord as director, and the film
is the Searchers.
And it's been very well knownfor the last, I'd say,
two-thirds of 2024 that thestudio embarked, with the
collaboration of the FilmFoundation, to create a new 4K
(28:04):
master of the searchers from theoriginal negative universe and
to also have a 4K DCP that couldbe shown in theaters.
And they even created 70millimeter print off the
VistaVision negative becausethis film in VistaVision, it
(28:27):
being a wide format that wasshot.
Vistavision went through thecamera horizontally as opposed
to vertically, so the size of aVistaVision frame is double the
size of a traditional 4x3 frameon its side.
So it gives you a 1.85 aspectratio with no lenses like
(28:53):
CinemaScope needed, where thepicture was squished and then
unsquished.
This has tremendous depth offield and incredible clarity,
and it stars a guy you may haveheard of named John Wayne.
This is one of the most famousWarner Brothers films, and the
(29:13):
fact that the company hasentrusted the Warner Archive
Collection to release this is agreat honor for us.
So, accordingly, we'rereleasing, on December 17th, a
4K UHD Blu-ray combo of the film, the first 4K disc, the first
disc 4K.
(29:33):
It's on a BD-100 with amaximized bitrate and it looks
amazing, the film restorationwork having been done by the
wizards of ours, as I call them,the people at Warner Brothers
Motion Picture Imaging, and theresult is gorgeous.
(29:55):
The sky is no longer yellow onthe searchers, as you would find
on our old Blu-ray, which wasbadly misbegotten, and now we
have a master of the film thatwe can be very proud of.
And the 4K UHD disc comes witha second disc, a Blu-ray of the
(30:17):
remastered film, not the oldmaster, it's a new Blu-ray disc
that also includes over an hourof special features, all of
which are now in HD.
We also have a commentary forthe feature by the late Peter
Bogdanovich.
(30:39):
Have a commentary for thefeature by the late Peter
Bogdanovich.
He was such a really.
He began a whole generation offilm and analyzation and film
criticism and could write soamazingly about it as a very
young man then went on to be agreat director himself and he
was a great friend to ourcompany and we're so lucky to
have this archival commentary.
So that's on both the 4K discand the Blu-ray disc and all the
(31:04):
rest of the special featuresare on the Blu-ray disc.
We have a documentary calledthe Searchers and Appreciation.
We have another documentarycalled the Turning of the Earth,
john Ford, john Wayne and theSearchers.
It was made by Nick Redman whohas passed away a few years ago,
and it was a passion projectfor him.
People who admired him andadmired his work I think will be
(31:27):
very grateful to see that nowpresented in high definition.
We have outtakes that are really, really interesting and I don't
think they've ever been onprevious releases before.
We have newsreel coverage ofthe film's world premiere in
Chicago and then we also havefour different behind-the-camera
(31:48):
sequences from the WarnerBrothers Presents television
series.
The Warner Brothers Presentstelevision series was Warner
Brothers' first dive into theworld of television and they had
three series in rotation inthat series and they would take
(32:11):
like five minutes out of thevery end of the program.
Before you'd get to the climax,they would take five, five
minutes out of the very end ofthe program.
Before you'd get to the climax,they would take five minutes or
so out to have Gig Youngnarrate these behind the camera
sequences about upcoming WarnerBrothers movies.
So we have one on JeffreyHunter, one on Natalie Wood, one
on Monument Valley, where theSearchers was filmed, and
(32:33):
another that shows you how theyset up the production.
The disc is a BD-100 for the 4KUHD disc.
It has Dolby Vision as well asHDR10.
The film was mono and theoriginal mono track has been
cleaned up, but there's no fakestereo, no fake surround.
(32:56):
It is its inherent theatricaltrack with no false manipulation
.
And the Blu-ray is not only thesecond disc in the combo pack,
which does have a very handsomesleeve around it, but we also
have a standalone Blu-ray forthose who prefer to just have
(33:17):
Blu-ray, and so there'll be twodifferent SKUs, both available
on December 17th, and theyshould be coming up for
pre-order fairly soon.
This is something we've keptunder wraps for a long time, and
I also want to make it veryclear.
I've talked about the fact thatwe can't release 4K titles in
(33:40):
the Warner Archive because ofthe huge expense and this isn't
representing a major shift.
Our release schedule willpretty much stay Blu-ray, but
there are a few 4Ks in ourfuture.
You may only see two or threeor four in the next year, but
(34:01):
we're opening the door a littlebit where it's possible,
especially when we're dealingwith wide format films, which
really are.
They have to have the finesthome presentation using the
capabilities of 4K and HDR andin this case I'm very happy to
(34:24):
say Dolby Vision, so the finestpicture and the finest sound.
And I'm very happy to say thatwe engaged David McKenzie and
his company, fidelity and Motion, to handle the compression and
authoring for these discs.
David's company, fidelity andMotion, is well known to
(34:48):
enthusiasts of home media forhis incredible work that he's
done for so many labels, and I'mhappy to say that this is the
first collaboration directlywith Warner Brothers and
Fidelity in Motion.
His acumen in compression andauthoring is really the best in
(35:10):
the industry, in my opinion.
I feel we're so lucky that hecame on board to help us bring
this magnificent film to 4K aswell as remastered Blu-ray, so a
lot for people to look forwardto.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
And I'll just reiterate, George, for those who
are just Blu-ray, we get manypeople say, hey, I don't, you
know, I'm not 4K, I don't havethe equipment.
There is the standalone Blu-rayfrom this new restoration.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Right, that was very important.
It's on a BD-50.
And again, the same level ofmaximizing the potential of the
Blu-ray disc at a very high bitrate and with all the special
features.
We give consumers a choice andI'm hoping that people will look
(35:59):
upon this release because it'sloaded with extras and we've
used every means possible tomake the film look so amazing.
I just couldn't believe howimproved it was from anything
I've ever seen before on it.
I think people are going to bevery pleased with it.
(36:21):
The results will speak forthemselves.
This has been something thatwe've been very excited about
and I'm happy that it will bedone in time that people can
consider it a Christmas presentfrom the Warner Archive that
people can consider it aChristmas present from the
Warner Archive.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
So there's two options there.
Folks, you Blu-ray fans, that'sgoing to be an amazing, amazing
Blu-ray to get.
If you've been thinking if theWarner Archive ever starts
releasing 4Ks would, I want toget that.
This is a great opportunity todo that as well, because you get
the 4K and you get the Blu-ray,so you still can watch the
(36:58):
Blu-ray if you haven't boughtthe player and then meanwhile
get the player here.
Knowing, george you just saidthere's some more in the works
down the road, knowing thatthere's some more coming at the
quality level that, George, youalways do for your releases, so
I'm so excited.
I saw the film this summer andI saw the restoration, all the
(37:23):
work that was done, and it wasamazing to see it.
I'm so excited now that peoplecan have it at home as part of
their collection.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I agree with you wholeheartedly, tim, and we
could not do justice to thisfilm without giving it a
first-class presentation.
And I also want to call out Idon't usually talk about this,
but I think it is worth talkingabout the suggested retail price
.
The list price for the 4KBlu-ray combo is $29.99.
(37:56):
The standalone Blu-ray isconsistent with other Warner
Archive Blu-rays at $21.99.
If certain retailers areselling our product for above
list price, there is nothing wecan do about that.
It's not coming from us and Iwant to be very clear.
(38:18):
We have not raised our pricesand, considering the amount of
work that has gone into thisgreat film, I feel that the 4K
Blu-ray combo is priced in linewith providing consumer value
(38:39):
and when they see and hear thefilm, as never before I mean I
haven't even talked about themovie.
I think we can do that anothertime when we're doing a
different podcast, because wecould do a whole podcast just on
that and the restoration,because there's so much involved
.
But this is a big moment for usand I want to be very clear
(39:02):
again.
It doesn't mean that we'reshifting to a ramped up 4K
release schedule.
No, we will have a fine Blu-rayrelease schedule.
No, we will have a fine Blu-rayrelease schedule and there may
be an occasional dip into thewater with other very special
films making their debut as a 4Kdisc.
(39:25):
So there will be more, but ouroverall trajectory is not
changing Right.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Well, george, I said at the beginning I was excited
and now I think people know whyI love this film.
It's it's, as you mentioned,number 12 on the AFI list top
100.
I mean the actors, the director, where it fits into film
history and it's just greatentertainment.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
And the cinematography, and I happen to
be nuts for VistaVision.
Vistavision was a widescreenprocess developed by Paramount
to compete with 20th CenturyFox's process of CinemaScope,
and it's very rare that otherstudios would use VistaVision.
(40:15):
But the Searchers was actuallynot a Warner Brothers production
.
It was an independentproduction that Warner Brothers
got involved in very early inthe game.
It was a CV Whitney production.
It's called the CV WhitneyPicture.
A CV Whitney production.
(40:36):
It's called the CV WhitneyPicture.
Thankfully it feels organicallylike a Warner Brothers movie
because Max Steiner scored themusic.
So everybody in the film isterrific.
I think we should definitelytake an opportunity to dig in
deep, not only on the film buton the pieces that we've added
(40:56):
to it.
A lot of people did a greatdeal of work to make this
release as wonderful as it is.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Yeah, very exciting.
Well, we'll definitely berevisiting the Searchers when it
comes out, or closer to when itcomes out, because there is so
much to talk about there, george, so I'm looking forward to that
so well, a great lineup forDecember.
Wow, what a way to end the year, and I think I mentioned this
last month and also maybe themonth before.
But when we're recording this,george, and people hear the
(41:28):
December announcement, theNovember releases haven't come
out yet, and I'm still soexcited for all of those, for
those animation fans out there.
Of course, you've got theLooney Tunes that we talked
about.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
Yes, we're going to have a lot to talk about.
Yeah, you got the.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Thin man collection, which is coming out so just in
November, december.
What a great wrap to the year.
October has been great, just somuch.
So fun to hear about themomentum that you have going
into the end of the year here atthe Warner Archive.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
For those who would like more information about the
films announced today, be sureto check out our Facebook page
and our Warner Archive Facebookgroup.
You can find the links to thoseand all of our social media
sites in the podcast show notes.
We'll post the pre-order linksfor the searchers and then for
the other eight releases comingin December as soon as those are
made available.
(42:25):
But I just want to reiteratethat, since this is the first 4K
release for the Warner Archive,I hope you guys will support it
and will purchase it so thatGeorge can know confidently that
, going into next year, thatthese other titles that are on
board or on the schedule forrelease in 4K will be supported.
(42:47):
So I think that's important forthose of you who do want to
build out your 4K library.
So let's get a good start forhim with these 4K releases with
the searchers and I know thatprobably is not a big ask for
many of you who have been askingfor or looking for 4K titles
from the Warner Archive and I'mexcited to hear at some point
(43:09):
what these 4K titles will be.
So be sure and continue tolisten to the extras where
George comes on and is sogenerous with his time in
sharing with us what is comingdown the line from the Warner
Archive.
So very exciting month, a greatlineup of six titles, plus the
Searchers 4K Blu-ray.
(43:29):
If you aren't yet subscribed orfollowing the show at your
favorite podcast provider, youmay want to do that so that you
don't miss anything like theseexciting announcements and
special little tidbits thatGeorge brings to the show.
Until next time you've beenlistening to Tim Millard, stay
slightly obsessed.
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