April 4, 2025 • 22 mins
Warner Archive announces four exciting Blu-ray releases for May, ranging from 1930s classics to modern masterpieces, all meticulously remastered for optimal presentation.
• Three Comrades (1938): Frank Borzage directs this pacifist film based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel, with screenplay contributions from F. Scott Fitzgerald
• First remaster in 32 years showcases stunning new transfer from second generation elements after original negative was lost
• Mystery Street (1950): Early John Sturges police procedural featuring Ricardo Montalban in a rare leading role that wasn't compromised by his ethnicity
• Includes significant Boston location shooting including scenes at Harvard before commercial filming was banned there
• Lean on Me (1989): Morgan Freeman stars as real-life principal Joe Clark in John G. Avildsen's inspirational drama
• First proper HD release, scanned from original negative at 4K after only being available in pan-and-scan DVD format
• La Vie en Rose (2007): Marion Cotillard's Oscar-winning performance as legendary singer Edith Piaf finally comes to US Blu-ray
• Features beautiful cinematography and 5.1 audio showcasing Piaf's iconic music
Stay tuned for part two of our May release announcements coming in an upcoming episode.
Pre-orders are not yet available.
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.
Tim Millard (00:06):
Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of the Extras
podcast, and today we're goingto be talking to George
Feldstein of the Warner Archiveto go over some of the May Lurie
releases, and this is going tobe part one of a multi-part
release for the May releases, asthere was just so much to talk
about, including the second 4Krelease from the Warner Archive,
(00:28):
which will be in a laterepisode.
Today we'll talk about fourreleases, including two classic
films and two modern classics.
Hello Tim, great to be with you, as always.
Yes, always a pleasure, George.
I love it when we get togetherfor these announcement podcasts.
(00:49):
They're so much fun, and Ithought we'd start with the
oldest of these films that'scoming out in May, and that is
Three Comrades from 1938.
What can you tell us about thisrelease, george?
George Feltenstein (01:03):
This is a film that I would assume many
people haven't seen.
It's a terrific film withterrific performances, and it's
based on a novel by Eric MariaRemarque, if I'm pronouncing his
(01:29):
name correctly, the author ofAll Quiet at the Western Front,
and it is a film with a pacifistmessage that is not unlike some
other films we've releasedrecently, like Gabriel over the
White House and other films thatare more prescient now, in 2025
, than they would have been evena few years ago.
It's a film with a very strongmessage and it's directed by one
of my favorite directors, frankBorzeghi, and you've got a
(01:51):
really stellar cast threeleading men Robert Taylor,
franchotone and Robert Young andthe leading lady is the
remarkable Margaret Sullivan,whose filmography is relatively
sparse.
She did a lot of work on thestage, but what she did do on
screen is quite magical in mostcases, and this is a film where
(02:15):
the acting, the writing, thedirecting everything comes
together, and it's about a trioof World War I German soldiers
and how they deal with lifeafter the war.
And, most importantly, thescreenplay was, at least
(02:38):
partially, written by F ScottFitzgerald, and he did very
sparse work in Hollywood, atleast that he got credited for.
But my understanding was thathe wrote the screenplay for this
and then other people came inand made contributions to
(02:58):
ultimately create what was avery successful film.
There was some anti-Nazithematics in the original book
that the production code madeMGM tone down because at that
time Hollywood was very afraidof Hitler and they didn't want
(03:19):
to upset the German Third Reich.
You know it was a very tensetime and the film reflects that.
But the message of pacifism andthe relationship of the three
men and Margaret Sullivan beinga very frail, wonderful woman
who's the object of RobertTaylor's affection but I think
(03:43):
all the gentlemen in the moviehave deep feelings for her she's
kind of like the fourth comrade.
It really deserves to be seen.
And this is yet another filmthat when it came out on DVD it
came out as a Warner Archiveearly release from an old master
(04:04):
.
This is the first remaster ofthe film in 32 years.
I think this is another filmwhere the original negative
burnt, so we have a secondgeneration safety element to
work from.
It's gorgeous, the master isjust stunning and I think people
(04:24):
who have seen the old DVD orseen the old Master on TCM
they'll really be impressed withhow great it looks and the
performances are terrific.
It was produced by Joseph LMenkwitch and then, of course,
frank Borzeghi being thedirector.
This is a Class A MGM effortand, despite being socially
(04:46):
relevant and being intelligent,it was also profitable for the
studio when it was released.
So imagine that an intelligentmovie that can earn a profit for
its release.
That wasn't such a rarityactually in 1938.
It's much more of a rarity now,actually 1938.
(05:10):
It's much more of a rarity now.
But I'm very enthused thatwe're able to bring a film of
this kind of importance out in abeautiful Blu-ray and we've got
some 1938 MGM shorts toaccompany it and the trailer,
and it's going to be a greatrelease, one of many for me.
Yeah, it sounds terrific.
Tim Millard (05:24):
I'm looking forward to that one and it's going to
be a great release, one of manyfor me.
Yeah, it sounds terrific.
I'm looking forward to that one, and it's great to get a 1930s
film in here for the month ofMay, and then we're going to
jump ahead on our next one hereto 1950.
And that is a film from JohnSturgis called Mystery Street.
(05:44):
What can you tell us about thisMGM film?
George Feltenstein (05:47):
Well, Well, this is an early work of Sturges
and he did a lot of reallygreat work at MGM really in the
early days of his career beforehe became known as such an
action director.
This is one of those films thatfalls in between.
Is it a film noir or is it apolice film?
(06:13):
This is really like thegranddaddy predecessor of the
police procedural televisionseries that have mobbed the
airwaves for the last 25, 30years.
It's more of that than it is atrue noir, but it has noir
influences to it.
(06:34):
There's murder and there'smystery and, most importantly,
ricardo Montalban is the leadingman and is one of the few
opportunities MGM gave him oncehe stepped out of the swimming
pool with Esther Williams.
You know you didn't get toomany opportunities to play
(06:55):
really great leads.
His character was notcompromised by his ethnicity.
He was a respected lieutenanton the police force as a
detective assigned to thismurder case assigned to this
murder case.
And there's a good deal ofBoston location shooting on this
(07:16):
movie.
And they even shot on locationat Harvard University, which
subsequently became somethingthat was not allowed.
Harvard would not allowcommercial filmmaking on their
campus and I believe that isstill true to this day.
If I'm wrong about that, youfolks can all let me know, but
(07:37):
that's my understanding.
But they did get permission.
I believe it was based on ashort story called Murder at
Harvard, which just happens tobe the name of the archival
featurette we have on this discas an extra.
But Ricardo Montalban isterrific.
(07:57):
Sally Forrest, who had joinedMGM really because of her
musical talents.
She never really became a bigstar but she showed her dramatic
side in a film, an independentfilm that I, the Filipino,
directed, called Not Wanted, andshe actually became more of a
noir woman, if you will.
(08:19):
She made a few reallyimpressive films like that and
she's terrific in this.
And then there's Jan Sterling,who gives a terrific performance
as a quote-unquote bad girl,and Bruce Bennett, who a lot of
people know as the husband ofMildred Pierce, who divorces
(08:40):
Mildred and who was HermanBricks, the Tarzan of the 1930s
that weren't made at MGM.
He did a few of those otherTarzan films.
That makes up the cast and itis fast moving.
It's 93 minutes long and thisis another beautiful new master.
(09:02):
That looks gorgeous.
It was a double feature withActive Violence and we did
remaster Active Violence, Iguess about a year ago.
You know, I can't keep track oftime because we're doing so
much.
Tim Millard (09:21):
You know it was pretty good.
I think it was released alittle bit more recently than
that.
Yeah, yeah, within the lastyear.
George Feltenstein (09:26):
You know.
But we start where I mean rightnow.
Literally, we have between 50and 60 movies in some stage of
production.
So, keeping track of all thedates, you know it's.
Oh, did we work on thatrecently?
Oh, no, that was two years agoyou know, so I lose track of
(09:48):
that, but they're all at frontof mind.
That, but they're all at frontof mind, and the fact that we're
able to check off titles thatwere only available as DVDs and
finally bring them to Blu-ray,there's an enormity, considering
the size of our library, ofwhat deserves the upgrade, and
(10:09):
every time we can check one boxoff for these really great films
, it's a victory.
It'll be a beautiful disc.
We have two MGM cartoons in HDto add to it, and there's a
wonderful feature commentary byAlain Silver I hope I'm
pronouncing his name correctly,alain, you know French Alain
(10:31):
Silver and Elizabeth Ward, andthat was recorded for the DVD
release and is being repurposedhere.
And then we of course have thetrailer, and it should be a
terrific disc.
I know fans are really lookingforward to this.
Tim Millard (10:44):
I've seen some fans very, very, very excited about
this one finally coming toBlu-ray and, just like with Act
of Violence, it should lookstunning with the restoration
work that you guys are doing.
So looking forward to that.
You know how I love the noir aswell, so now we're going to
jump a few decades and talkabout a couple of modern
(11:06):
classics, as we like to say.
What can you tell us about thefantastic film Lean on Me from
1989, starring Morgan Freeman?
George Feltenstein (11:17):
Well, this is I would say this is Morgan
Freeman's movie.
This is the film.
It's ironic too, because Ibelieve it came out the same
year as Driving Miss Daisy.
It was a great time for MorganFreeman to really move into that
(11:37):
starring status.
And it's based on a true storyabout a high school principal
his name was Joe Clark who wasdealing with tough students in
Patterson, new Jersey, and hebrought the principal, joe Clark
but ordered, to his school,which was newsworthy and
(12:01):
eventually turned into this film.
And what is distinguishing aboutthe film, aside from Morgan
Freeman's amazing performance asthis real life person, is that
it was directed by John GAbelson, who's best known for
(12:24):
heroic triumph films such asRocky and the Karate Kid.
So it's a feel-good movie.
And just to see this movie from1989 looking brand new, this
movie from 1989 looking brandnew, the DVD of this film was,
(12:45):
you know, 137 pan and scan.
It never even had a 16 by 9 DVDrelease, at least in this
country that I'm aware of.
So this was like crying out forgetting the Warner Archive
treatment, scanning the originalnegative at 4K, creating a
(13:05):
beautiful new master, and itjust is a tribute to the talent
of all the people that worked onit, but especially Mr Freeman,
who is one of our great actors,truly an American treasure.
Tim Millard (13:26):
Yeah, it's surprising, George, that this
one has not been out on Blu-raybefore, considering that it is a
real classic and one of the big, big movies for Morgan Freeman.
George Feltenstein (13:36):
Well, we were trying to right those
wrongs and everybody's got theirfavorite.
But this was a big success,both critically as well as the
box office, and I think it'sgoing to hit a home run.
It's not a baseball movie, butI think it will be quite
successful when it is releasedlooking forward to it.
Tim Millard (13:57):
It's an all time favorite of mine.
I'm really looking forward toseeing it in HD now.
So I'm so excited that that'sgoing to be out there for folks,
because there's a wholegeneration now that hasn't grown
up with that film who can enjoyit.
So now we're going to jump to2007.
And this is a film I reallyenjoy La Vie en Rose.
(14:19):
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
George Feltenstein (14:23):
Well, this is long overdue to have a US
Blu-ray.
This is a French film.
Obviously.
It is the story of the greatEdith Piaf the little sparrow.
She was one of the greatestmusical artists of the 20th
century.
A life filled with tragedy.
(14:44):
Her life story has beenportrayed in other films.
There was even a Broadway playnot a musical, but a play about
Piaf in 1981.
She had such a legendary career, such a hard life.
There have been greatdocumentaries on her.
(15:05):
But to make a narrative filmabout her and really capture the
essence of her life story, thatis what happened here in 2007.
And Marion Cotillard, whoportrays Piaf in the film,
earned the Best Actress Oscarfor her performance and it was
(15:27):
very successful at the boxoffice here in the US as well as
around the world.
A Blu-ray opened up theopportunity for us to jump in
and create just that.
So when it comes out at the endof May, people can add this to
their collection and we've got alittle featurette on there and
(15:52):
there's about they call thisextended version.
And the DVD was the same thingand the DVD was the same thing.
(16:12):
It only amounts to a differenceof a few minutes of extra
footage.
That wasn't in the at least the?
U would sync with this versioncreated a delay, but now we are
able to announce it and stick toMay 27th being the release date
, and there's a behind thescenes piece called Stepping
(16:33):
Into Character.
That tells you a little bitabout the making of the film.
I personally am a huge fan ofPiaf's recordings and discovered
them when, I was in college andshe was one of those artists
that transcended the genre ofthe kind of music that she
performed and she resonates withthe world.
(16:58):
She passed away, I believe in1963, at a very young age.
She was in her mid-40s and, notunlike Judy Garland, she looked
20, 30 years older at the timeof her death than her actual
chronological age.
She had been through such atough life with so many
(17:21):
disappointments, but she sangfrom her soul and that's what
Cotillard in her performance,really captures in this film.
It's beautifully shot and theaudio is beautiful 5.1 track and
I think it's going to make awonderful Blu-ray that people
will enjoy.
Tim Millard (17:41):
I'm so looking forward to this.
I mean, this is a fairly recentfilm, you know, just 2007.
And I, you know, I justremember coming out of the
theater after watching this, andthe music, of course, is so
remarkable in and of itself, butthe performance that Marianne
gives Gerard Depardieu is alsoin here.
They's a wonderful film and soenjoyable.
(18:03):
Whenever you watch somethinglike this, it's tough to see
somebody go through suchhardships, but it's so wonderful
to see such beautiful artistrycome out of it very difficult to
do that and be true to the lifestory and have it be believable
(18:24):
.
George Feltenstein (18:25):
There have been other attempts at other
famous performers and the screenbiographies have been, in
certain cases, verydisappointing.
This is the opposite of that.
This is a celebration of anamazing person, an amazing
artist and someone who still hassuch international fame and
(18:48):
those people who discover herfor the first time.
I had seen a documentary abouther on PBS many, many years ago,
many, many years ago, andthat's what turned me on to her
and I started buying all therecordings and I'm a huge fan of
(19:12):
the artist and I'm a huge fanof this film, which really tells
her life story with greataccuracy and empathy.
Tim Millard (19:21):
Well, that was part one of our discussion with
george of the may blu-rayreleases from the archive.
We'll talk about the rest ofthe may releases in an upcoming
episode, so you can look forthat coming soon.
As always, this is timillard.
Thanks for listening and stayslightly obsessed, obsessed.
Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of the Extras
podcast, and today we're goingto be talking to George
Feldstein of the Warner Archiveto go over some of the May Lurie
releases, and this is going tobe part one of a multi-part
release for the May releases, asthere was just so much to talk
about, including the second 4Krelease from the Warner Archive,
(00:28):
which will be in a laterepisode.
Today we'll talk about fourreleases, including two classic
films and two modern classics.
Hello Tim, great to be with you, as always.
Yes, always a pleasure, George.
I love it when we get togetherfor these announcement podcasts.
(00:49):
They're so much fun, and Ithought we'd start with the
oldest of these films that'scoming out in May, and that is
Three Comrades from 1938.
What can you tell us about thisrelease, george?
George Feltenstein (01:03):
This is a film that I would assume many
people haven't seen.
It's a terrific film withterrific performances, and it's
based on a novel by Eric MariaRemarque, if I'm pronouncing his
(01:29):
name correctly, the author ofAll Quiet at the Western Front,
and it is a film with a pacifistmessage that is not unlike some
other films we've releasedrecently, like Gabriel over the
White House and other films thatare more prescient now, in 2025
, than they would have been evena few years ago.
It's a film with a very strongmessage and it's directed by one
of my favorite directors, frankBorzeghi, and you've got a
(01:51):
really stellar cast threeleading men Robert Taylor,
franchotone and Robert Young andthe leading lady is the
remarkable Margaret Sullivan,whose filmography is relatively
sparse.
She did a lot of work on thestage, but what she did do on
screen is quite magical in mostcases, and this is a film where
(02:15):
the acting, the writing, thedirecting everything comes
together, and it's about a trioof World War I German soldiers
and how they deal with lifeafter the war.
And, most importantly, thescreenplay was, at least
(02:38):
partially, written by F ScottFitzgerald, and he did very
sparse work in Hollywood, atleast that he got credited for.
But my understanding was thathe wrote the screenplay for this
and then other people came inand made contributions to
(02:58):
ultimately create what was avery successful film.
There was some anti-Nazithematics in the original book
that the production code madeMGM tone down because at that
time Hollywood was very afraidof Hitler and they didn't want
(03:19):
to upset the German Third Reich.
You know it was a very tensetime and the film reflects that.
But the message of pacifism andthe relationship of the three
men and Margaret Sullivan beinga very frail, wonderful woman
who's the object of RobertTaylor's affection but I think
(03:43):
all the gentlemen in the moviehave deep feelings for her she's
kind of like the fourth comrade.
It really deserves to be seen.
And this is yet another filmthat when it came out on DVD it
came out as a Warner Archiveearly release from an old master
(04:04):
.
This is the first remaster ofthe film in 32 years.
I think this is another filmwhere the original negative
burnt, so we have a secondgeneration safety element to
work from.
It's gorgeous, the master isjust stunning and I think people
(04:24):
who have seen the old DVD orseen the old Master on TCM
they'll really be impressed withhow great it looks and the
performances are terrific.
It was produced by Joseph LMenkwitch and then, of course,
frank Borzeghi being thedirector.
This is a Class A MGM effortand, despite being socially
(04:46):
relevant and being intelligent,it was also profitable for the
studio when it was released.
So imagine that an intelligentmovie that can earn a profit for
its release.
That wasn't such a rarityactually in 1938.
It's much more of a rarity now,actually 1938.
(05:10):
It's much more of a rarity now.
But I'm very enthused thatwe're able to bring a film of
this kind of importance out in abeautiful Blu-ray and we've got
some 1938 MGM shorts toaccompany it and the trailer,
and it's going to be a greatrelease, one of many for me.
Yeah, it sounds terrific.
Tim Millard (05:24):
I'm looking forward to that one and it's going to
be a great release, one of manyfor me.
Yeah, it sounds terrific.
I'm looking forward to that one, and it's great to get a 1930s
film in here for the month ofMay, and then we're going to
jump ahead on our next one hereto 1950.
And that is a film from JohnSturgis called Mystery Street.
(05:44):
What can you tell us about thisMGM film?
George Feltenstein (05:47):
Well, Well, this is an early work of Sturges
and he did a lot of reallygreat work at MGM really in the
early days of his career beforehe became known as such an
action director.
This is one of those films thatfalls in between.
Is it a film noir or is it apolice film?
(06:13):
This is really like thegranddaddy predecessor of the
police procedural televisionseries that have mobbed the
airwaves for the last 25, 30years.
It's more of that than it is atrue noir, but it has noir
influences to it.
(06:34):
There's murder and there'smystery and, most importantly,
ricardo Montalban is the leadingman and is one of the few
opportunities MGM gave him oncehe stepped out of the swimming
pool with Esther Williams.
You know you didn't get toomany opportunities to play
(06:55):
really great leads.
His character was notcompromised by his ethnicity.
He was a respected lieutenanton the police force as a
detective assigned to thismurder case assigned to this
murder case.
And there's a good deal ofBoston location shooting on this
(07:16):
movie.
And they even shot on locationat Harvard University, which
subsequently became somethingthat was not allowed.
Harvard would not allowcommercial filmmaking on their
campus and I believe that isstill true to this day.
If I'm wrong about that, youfolks can all let me know, but
(07:37):
that's my understanding.
But they did get permission.
I believe it was based on ashort story called Murder at
Harvard, which just happens tobe the name of the archival
featurette we have on this discas an extra.
But Ricardo Montalban isterrific.
(07:57):
Sally Forrest, who had joinedMGM really because of her
musical talents.
She never really became a bigstar but she showed her dramatic
side in a film, an independentfilm that I, the Filipino,
directed, called Not Wanted, andshe actually became more of a
noir woman, if you will.
(08:19):
She made a few reallyimpressive films like that and
she's terrific in this.
And then there's Jan Sterling,who gives a terrific performance
as a quote-unquote bad girl,and Bruce Bennett, who a lot of
people know as the husband ofMildred Pierce, who divorces
(08:40):
Mildred and who was HermanBricks, the Tarzan of the 1930s
that weren't made at MGM.
He did a few of those otherTarzan films.
That makes up the cast and itis fast moving.
It's 93 minutes long and thisis another beautiful new master.
(09:02):
That looks gorgeous.
It was a double feature withActive Violence and we did
remaster Active Violence, Iguess about a year ago.
You know, I can't keep track oftime because we're doing so
much.
Tim Millard (09:21):
You know it was pretty good.
I think it was released alittle bit more recently than
that.
Yeah, yeah, within the lastyear.
George Feltenstein (09:26):
You know.
But we start where I mean rightnow.
Literally, we have between 50and 60 movies in some stage of
production.
So, keeping track of all thedates, you know it's.
Oh, did we work on thatrecently?
Oh, no, that was two years agoyou know, so I lose track of
(09:48):
that, but they're all at frontof mind.
That, but they're all at frontof mind, and the fact that we're
able to check off titles thatwere only available as DVDs and
finally bring them to Blu-ray,there's an enormity, considering
the size of our library, ofwhat deserves the upgrade, and
(10:09):
every time we can check one boxoff for these really great films
, it's a victory.
It'll be a beautiful disc.
We have two MGM cartoons in HDto add to it, and there's a
wonderful feature commentary byAlain Silver I hope I'm
pronouncing his name correctly,alain, you know French Alain
(10:31):
Silver and Elizabeth Ward, andthat was recorded for the DVD
release and is being repurposedhere.
And then we of course have thetrailer, and it should be a
terrific disc.
I know fans are really lookingforward to this.
Tim Millard (10:44):
I've seen some fans very, very, very excited about
this one finally coming toBlu-ray and, just like with Act
of Violence, it should lookstunning with the restoration
work that you guys are doing.
So looking forward to that.
You know how I love the noir aswell, so now we're going to
jump a few decades and talkabout a couple of modern
(11:06):
classics, as we like to say.
What can you tell us about thefantastic film Lean on Me from
1989, starring Morgan Freeman?
George Feltenstein (11:17):
Well, this is I would say this is Morgan
Freeman's movie.
This is the film.
It's ironic too, because Ibelieve it came out the same
year as Driving Miss Daisy.
It was a great time for MorganFreeman to really move into that
(11:37):
starring status.
And it's based on a true storyabout a high school principal
his name was Joe Clark who wasdealing with tough students in
Patterson, new Jersey, and hebrought the principal, joe Clark
but ordered, to his school,which was newsworthy and
(12:01):
eventually turned into this film.
And what is distinguishing aboutthe film, aside from Morgan
Freeman's amazing performance asthis real life person, is that
it was directed by John GAbelson, who's best known for
(12:24):
heroic triumph films such asRocky and the Karate Kid.
So it's a feel-good movie.
And just to see this movie from1989 looking brand new, this
movie from 1989 looking brandnew, the DVD of this film was,
(12:45):
you know, 137 pan and scan.
It never even had a 16 by 9 DVDrelease, at least in this
country that I'm aware of.
So this was like crying out forgetting the Warner Archive
treatment, scanning the originalnegative at 4K, creating a
(13:05):
beautiful new master, and itjust is a tribute to the talent
of all the people that worked onit, but especially Mr Freeman,
who is one of our great actors,truly an American treasure.
Tim Millard (13:26):
Yeah, it's surprising, George, that this
one has not been out on Blu-raybefore, considering that it is a
real classic and one of the big, big movies for Morgan Freeman.
George Feltenstein (13:36):
Well, we were trying to right those
wrongs and everybody's got theirfavorite.
But this was a big success,both critically as well as the
box office, and I think it'sgoing to hit a home run.
It's not a baseball movie, butI think it will be quite
successful when it is releasedlooking forward to it.
Tim Millard (13:57):
It's an all time favorite of mine.
I'm really looking forward toseeing it in HD now.
So I'm so excited that that'sgoing to be out there for folks,
because there's a wholegeneration now that hasn't grown
up with that film who can enjoyit.
So now we're going to jump to2007.
And this is a film I reallyenjoy La Vie en Rose.
(14:19):
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
George Feltenstein (14:23):
Well, this is long overdue to have a US
Blu-ray.
This is a French film.
Obviously.
It is the story of the greatEdith Piaf the little sparrow.
She was one of the greatestmusical artists of the 20th
century.
A life filled with tragedy.
(14:44):
Her life story has beenportrayed in other films.
There was even a Broadway playnot a musical, but a play about
Piaf in 1981.
She had such a legendary career, such a hard life.
There have been greatdocumentaries on her.
(15:05):
But to make a narrative filmabout her and really capture the
essence of her life story, thatis what happened here in 2007.
And Marion Cotillard, whoportrays Piaf in the film,
earned the Best Actress Oscarfor her performance and it was
(15:27):
very successful at the boxoffice here in the US as well as
around the world.
A Blu-ray opened up theopportunity for us to jump in
and create just that.
So when it comes out at the endof May, people can add this to
their collection and we've got alittle featurette on there and
(15:52):
there's about they call thisextended version.
And the DVD was the same thingand the DVD was the same thing.
(16:12):
It only amounts to a differenceof a few minutes of extra
footage.
That wasn't in the at least the?
U would sync with this versioncreated a delay, but now we are
able to announce it and stick toMay 27th being the release date
, and there's a behind thescenes piece called Stepping
(16:33):
Into Character.
That tells you a little bitabout the making of the film.
I personally am a huge fan ofPiaf's recordings and discovered
them when, I was in college andshe was one of those artists
that transcended the genre ofthe kind of music that she
performed and she resonates withthe world.
(16:58):
She passed away, I believe in1963, at a very young age.
She was in her mid-40s and, notunlike Judy Garland, she looked
20, 30 years older at the timeof her death than her actual
chronological age.
She had been through such atough life with so many
(17:21):
disappointments, but she sangfrom her soul and that's what
Cotillard in her performance,really captures in this film.
It's beautifully shot and theaudio is beautiful 5.1 track and
I think it's going to make awonderful Blu-ray that people
will enjoy.
Tim Millard (17:41):
I'm so looking forward to this.
I mean, this is a fairly recentfilm, you know, just 2007.
And I, you know, I justremember coming out of the
theater after watching this, andthe music, of course, is so
remarkable in and of itself, butthe performance that Marianne
gives Gerard Depardieu is alsoin here.
They's a wonderful film and soenjoyable.
(18:03):
Whenever you watch somethinglike this, it's tough to see
somebody go through suchhardships, but it's so wonderful
to see such beautiful artistrycome out of it very difficult to
do that and be true to the lifestory and have it be believable
(18:24):
.
George Feltenstein (18:25):
There have been other attempts at other
famous performers and the screenbiographies have been, in
certain cases, verydisappointing.
This is the opposite of that.
This is a celebration of anamazing person, an amazing
artist and someone who still hassuch international fame and
(18:48):
those people who discover herfor the first time.
I had seen a documentary abouther on PBS many, many years ago,
many, many years ago, andthat's what turned me on to her
and I started buying all therecordings and I'm a huge fan of
(19:12):
the artist and I'm a huge fanof this film, which really tells
her life story with greataccuracy and empathy.
Tim Millard (19:21):
Well, that was part one of our discussion with
george of the may blu-rayreleases from the archive.
We'll talk about the rest ofthe may releases in an upcoming
episode, so you can look forthat coming soon.
As always, this is timillard.
Thanks for listening and stayslightly obsessed, obsessed.
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