George Feltenstein joins us to discuss four classic films releasing on Blu-ray from Warner Archive on October 28th, following the previously announced October 14th releases. These restorations showcase Warner Archive's commitment to preserving cinema history with pristine 4K scans from original negative elements whenever possible.
• Manhattan Melodrama (1934) - The first on-screen pairing of William Powell and Myrna Loy, with Clark Gable, restored from preservation elements with rare Ted Healy and His Stooges shorts as extras
• Out of the Fog (1941) - John Garfield and Ida Lupino star in this pre-WWII drama about fascism, featuring a 4K scan from original camera negative
• The Mad Miss Manton (1938) - Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda's first pairing in this screwball comedy from RKO, beautifully restored from the camera negative
• The Master of Ballantrae (1953) - Errol Flynn's final Warner Bros. swashbuckler, shot in stunning Technicolor by Jack Cardiff on location in England and Scotland
• All releases include period-appropriate cartoon shorts and theatrical trailers when available
• Warner Archive continues to prioritize physical media, offering film collectors pristine versions of classic cinema
Look for pre-order information on our Facebook page and in the Warner Archive Facebook group.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tim Millard (00:02):
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me is George
Feltenstein to announce more ofthe October Blu-ray releases
from the Warner Archive.
Hi, George.
George Feltenstein (00:13):
Hello Tim.
There is more to discuss andit's exciting.
Tim Millard (00:17):
October is such a huge month, we had to split it
up so that people can get allthe information that you provide
, and we previously recorded aOctober 14th release, so people
should check that out if theyhaven't yet.
And today these are going to befour classic films releasing on
October 28th.
Right, and let's go inalphabetical order again.
George Feltenstein (00:41):
Okay.
Tim Millard (00:43):
So first up we have Manhattan Melodrama from 1934.
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (00:50):
Well, this film is representative of a
group of films that were made atMGM under the supervision of
producer David O Selznick, andDavid O Selznick was the
son-in-law of LB Mayer and heleft being the head of
(01:28):
production, leave from thestudio due to medical conditions
.
He had a very weak heartfollowing Thalberg's chemistry
and design with Grand Hotel, anall-star mega film, and
(01:51):
Selznick's was Dinner at Eightin 1933.
So Selznick produced 11 films,I believe during his brief
tenure at MGM, and then heformed his own company during
his brief tenure at MGM and thenhe formed his own company.
But one of his earliestsuccesses during that period,
and a very famous movie, isManhattan Melodrama and it just
(02:22):
happens to be the first of manyscreen pairings before the Thin
man of William Powell and MyrnaLoy and they are joined with the
star of the movie, whichhappens to be someone who was a
little popular at MGM, namedClark Gable.
So when you've got Gable,william Powell, myrna Loy and a
great, a very, very powerfulstory about basically two orphan
(02:50):
kids, because the picture opensup with the William Powell
character and the Clark Gablecharacter as kids and their best
friends, and they're bestfriends and actually Clark
Gable's character, blackie, as achild is played by a 13 or
(03:11):
14-year-old, mickey Rooney,which is very interesting, and
the film's basic story takesplace as those characters are
adults who are on differentsides of the law, and so Clark
(03:33):
Gable's kind of the gangster,but he's Clark Gable, so you got
to love him, you know what Imean.
And William Powell is the goodguy, and they both have their
eyes on one beautiful womanplayed by Myrna Loy, and therein
lies the story.
(03:55):
It was co -written by Joseph LMankiewicz, who had an
incredible career in cinema,spent many years at MGM, mostly
as a producer and a writer, andit was in his later years at
Twinsetree Fox that he didthings like Letter to Three
Wives and All About Eve.
(04:15):
So the pedigree of this movie isspectacular and WS Van Dyke is
the director and WS Van Dyke isthe director, but there were a
couple of scenes that were shotby George Cukor when Van Dyke
was not available.
This is very much a studioconcoction.
(04:36):
It was a huge hit at the boxoffice, but the thing it's most
famous for really has nothing todo with the movie at all, and
that is this is the film thatJohn Dillinger saw at the
Biograph Theater in ChicagoIllinois and the cops and the
feds were waiting for him whenhe came out of the theater and
(04:57):
that was the end of Dillinger.
So the film is better known forthat than its actual movie
itself.
But it was a big hit and verywell received and it was part of
Selznick's thinking of creatinga movie that would just be
automatically popular with theaudiences of the day, and it was
(05:18):
one of MGM's biggest hits in1934.
Tim Millard (05:22):
in 1934.
Every time I see these 1930, 31, 32, the early 30s restorations
or that they're going to berestored here in HD, I'm so
looking forward to them, becausewe're talking a 91-year-old
film and now it gets thetreatment, gets the 4K scan.
You know it's just going tolook fantastic.
George Feltenstein (05:43):
It does.
Tim Millard (05:44):
Yeah, and the stars speak for themselves, obviously
.
And it's just gonna lookfantastic and yeah, and, and the
stars speak for themselvesobviously.
Um, and it's really fun thatthis is, you know, powell and
lloyd before the thin man, andI'm just such a big fan of those
, as almost everybody is, so, uh, really looking forward to this
now.
Do you have some extras on here?
George Feltenstein (06:02):
Yes, we do.
We have very special extrasactually, because we have two
MGM shorts and both of themfeature the team known as Ted
Healy and His Stooges.
Ted Healy served as like thestraight man to these three
(06:27):
wackos that were Howard, Fineand Howard, and they called him
his stooges, and of course itwas Moe Howard, Larry Fine and
(06:51):
Jerry Howard, better known asCurly, along with Ted Haley,
were under contract to MGM,appeared in a few features, but
mostly appeared in a series ofsix shorts that give you a
glimpse of what was ahead forthem when they broke away from
Ted Haley, went to ColumbiaPictures and, with Mo, Mo and
Larry staying all the waythrough, Curly retired due to
health reasons.
The 40s was replaced by Shempand then eventually by Joe
(07:15):
Dorita, but for almost, I'd say,close to 25 years.
It wasn't exactly that, but alittle less than that.
They were making two realshorts for Columbia, which
probably provided them moremoney at Columbia than most of
the feature films they made,Because Columbia during the 30s
(07:35):
and 40s was, with some verynotable exceptions, a B-movie
studio.
They would occasionally make anA-movie with Frank Capra
involved or later, Rita HayworthSome really great movies but
they didn't really become amajor studio to be reckoned with
(07:57):
until the later part of the 50sand the 60s and so forth.
So the Stooges' legacy isimportant and so we have two
shorts the Big Idea, which is inblack and white, and then Roast
Beef and Movies, which Ibelieve is in early two-color
(08:18):
technicolor.
It's just a delight for peopleto be able to see them.
They're very much a product oftheir time.
For people to be able to seethem.
They're very much a product oftheir time.
And we also have a Manhattanmelodrama radio, Lux Radio
broadcast audio.
Only that does bring backWilliam Powell and Myrna Loy to
(08:40):
recreate their roles for theradio productions From 1940,
Clark Gable is not in the radioversion, but just to have powell
and loy.
That's pretty good.
And, uh, I always love when wecan put on a classic radio
broadcast and, uh, this has gotthe trailer.
(09:00):
So it's a very strong releaseon multiple levels.
And I should note that, likemost, unfortunately like most
MGM films, black and white thatwere shot on nitrate, the
negative went up in the fire atEastman House in 1978.
So we're working from secondgeneration preservation elements
(09:23):
, but it looks so great that Ithink people would say I can't
believe this isn't from thenegative, but it's the next best
thing and we're lucky to haveit.
Tim Millard (09:34):
Yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to this one.
I've been watching some ofthese you know Stooges pieces
that you've been putting on andthey're very entertaining, very
entertaining.
So it's fun to see those onthere.
George Feltenstein (09:48):
We're delighted to be able to present
them, and they're in HD, whichis nice.
Tim Millard (09:52):
Yeah, that's pretty good too.
Well, next up, we have a filmfrom 1941 called Out of the Fog.
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
George Feltenstein (10:02):
Well, out of the Fog is a very interesting
film.
Some people consider it to be afilm noir.
I don't know if I would agreewith that, but people's
definitions of noir, uh, theyare subject to interpretation.
Uh, what's important about thisfilm is it stars John Garfield
(10:28):
and Ida Lupino.
It deals with, as some Warnerfilms of that era did, with
prospective fascism and you knownot great people along with
very good people.
And it's set in a small townand it was actually adapted from
(10:51):
a play by Irwin Shaw.
It's probably best known forhaving written the book Rich man
, poor man, which became a veryimportant miniseries on
television in the late 70s.
But Irwin Shaw wrote this playcalled the Gentle People and
this is kind of a pre-World WarII warning about the allure and
(11:16):
danger that fascism could create.
And Garfield I find to beremarkable in almost everything
he did because he was so youknow, he was a byproduct of the
group theater in New York in thelate 30s and he brought a very
(11:40):
different acting style to hiswork, style to his work and
almost every film he did, evenif the film isn't top-notch.
There were a few he did thatwere moderate films versus
instant classics, but he'salways fascinating to watch.
This is an important film andit's a film that doesn't get
(12:04):
enough credit for the kind ofstorytelling it provides.
The acting is really superb.
Garfield and Lupino arewonderful.
Thomas Mitchell, who is so wellknown for so many wonderful
supporting roles I mean he wasScarlett O'Hara's father in Gone
(12:26):
with the Wind.
The same year he was inStagecoach, which he won the
Supporting Actor Oscar for, andhe also had a very important
role in Capra's Mr Smith Goes toWashington.
That was just in 1939.
And he worked up until hisdeath in the early 60s.
He was a great, greatsupporting actor and he's got a
(12:49):
great role in this.
And the screenplay is very tightand written by very impressive
screenwriters Robert Rosen andJerry Wald, both of whom
contributed to the screenplayfor the Roaring Twenties from
1939, which is another Warnerclassic, and this was directed
(13:10):
by Anatole Litvak, who was oneof the top directors at Warner
Brothers during this era.
So it's very much a film worthyof rediscovery if you haven't
seen it and happily this is a 4Kscan off the camera, negative
and our previous iterations andwhat you've been seeing on TV is
(13:32):
kind of looks like it's beenrun through a meat grinder.
So the leap up to a 4K scan offthe camera.
Negative is quite impressivehere, yeah, and it's a very,
very memorable film and veryprescient, unfortunately, given
the world and its current state.
(13:55):
But the disc also does come witha few extras.
We've added two superb cartoonsfrom 1941, the heckling Hare,
which is a Tex Avery Bugs Bunnycartoon that I happen to be very
much a fan of, and HollywoodSteps Out, which is the Warner
Brothers cartoon unit basicallyskewering Hollywood celebrities
(14:19):
of the era, and both of thoseare in HD.
And then we have the theatricaltrailers.
So it's a very, very niftypackage and I think people will
like it.
Tim Millard (14:29):
Yeah, and this is two months in a row that we get
a Ida Lupino film.
Yep.
George Feltenstein (14:34):
At the.
Tim Millard (14:34):
Hardway last month, so that's-.
George Feltenstein (14:38):
And the man I Love seems like it was just
something we released a fewmonths ago, but that was over a
year ago, right, right, yeah.
They drive by night.
We've tried to give Ida her due, yeah, and I hope that we can
bring more of her films out tothe public for certain.
Tim Millard (14:56):
That's great for fans.
Well, next we have the Mad MissManton from 1938.
What can you tell us about thisscrewball comedy?
George Feltenstein (15:07):
Well, you just said the magic words.
You said screwball comedy.
Barbara Stanwyck was at homedoing very serious drama and she
was also exceptional atscrewball comedies.
This is from RKO in 1938.
(15:28):
This is another 4K scan off thecamera, negative A rarity when
it comes to RKO movies.
And this is another movie that'sbeen looking awful for years
that now looks great.
And Stanwyck plays oppositenone other than Henry Fonda,
which is wonderful.
They would later be reunited atSamuel Goldwyn Productions'
(15:53):
studio and make one of thefunniest films of all time in my
opinion, ball of Fire.
But this was their first screenappearance together.
And Stanwyck plays a madcap NewYork rich lady who somehow gets
involved initially in being aprankster and finds herself in
(16:19):
the middle of a murder mystery.
And Henry Fonda is a New YorkCity reporter out to find out
the truth about the murder andends up falling in love with
Stanwyck.
And it's 80 minutes long, so itmoves with tremendous pulsation
(16:40):
.
There's not a wasted frame inthe movie.
It's very efficient filmmakingand the two of them together on
the screen are just terrific.
It's a delight it really is.
And this disc we've added twoWarner Brothers cartoons to the
presentation the Penguin Paradeand Porky the Gob Porky being
(17:01):
Porky Pig, and both thosecartoons are in HD.
And this is one of those RKOmovies where we actually still
had the trailer, becauseprobably 95% of our RKO movies
we don't have a trailer RightBecause they didn't make their
trailers themselves.
They farmed them out toNational Screen Service so when
the library was sold thereweren't a bunch of negatives for
(17:24):
trailers sent along with it.
So this one we happened toprocure a couple of years ago
and it's on the disc.
So it's going to be a wonderfulpresentation and quite a step
up from what we had on DVD.
I'm very, very proud of it.
I think people will love it.
Tim Millard (17:42):
Yeah, and people are always asking when is there
going to be more Stanwyck, whenis there going to be more of her
films?
So here you go, and a comedy atthat, so that people can add
this to their collection.
George Feltenstein (17:56):
Well, I've been delighted at the response
since we announced that this wascoming out.
People were like oh my God, Ilove this movie.
I'm so glad it's coming.
So that is very gratifying andI hope people will really enjoy
it.
I'm confident of that.
It's a lot of fun.
Tim Millard (18:15):
Let's see.
Here we have one more film, andthis one it's special in a lot
of ways, of course, but it's aswashbuckler from 1953, the
master of Ballantrae.
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
George Feltenstein (18:30):
Well, this was Errol Flynn's final
swashbuckler at Warner Brothersas a contract player.
Wood returned to the studio onemore time, right before his
untimely death, to play JohnBarrymore in the story of John
Barrymore's daughter, diana.
(18:51):
Too much, too soon.
That was his final WarnerBrothers appearance, but this
was the last appearance of Flynnrunning out his contract at
Warner Brothers.
He had been under contractthere for about 18 years and
this is, of course, based on aRobert Louis Stevenson novel and
(19:12):
it is beautifully shot inTechnicolor by the master of
color cinematography, jackCardiff, and it was shot in
England on location.
So you have that wonderful lookof what I call British
Technicolor, because there'ssomething about how the films
(19:35):
that were shot three stripTechnicolor looked due to the
lighting and the cinematography.
The outdoor shots reflected thefact that it was very cloudy in
england most often and, uh,it's a luscious looking
technicolor film and we haveapplied our uh proprietary
(20:00):
technology and using ourtechnical registration abilities
to make this just a dazzling 90minutes of fun.
It also comes with two 1953Warner Brothers cartoons Plop
Goes the Weasel and one of myvery favorite Bugs Bunny
(20:20):
cartoons, bully for Bugs and oneof my very favorite Bugs Bunny
cartoons, bully for Bugs, sothere's an original trailer on
it.
It's a wonderful package andthis has been very highly
requested.
The last time this arrived inpeople's collections was when we
released a Snapper DVDsomewhere around 2002 or 2003.
(20:45):
So this has been a long timecoming and the difference
between this and what we hadpreviously is staggering.
So I tend to maybe seem likeI'm too enthusiastic about the
improvement of the picturepresentation, but that's how
(21:07):
much these films are improved bygetting a 4K scan from the
original, in this case from theoriginal Tick to Color negatives
.
Uh, it's just a glorious thingto see.
And Errol Flynn unfortunatelylived life on the edge.
It's no secret that he was aheavy smoker.
(21:30):
He was a heavy drinker.
I think, if I'm doing my mathcorrectly, he was only in his
early, early 40s when he madethis, but he looked like he was
60.
You know, I mean you reallycould see the wear and tear and
the age on his face.
But that doesn't take away fromthe real joy of the fun of this
(21:53):
movie.
And I should also mention thiswas not just shot in England,
but it was also shot partiallyin Scotland, which wasn't too
far away, and they really wantedto make this a humdinger of a
swashbuckler, and they succeeded, and so we're delighted to
(22:14):
finally answer the cries fromconsumers who wanted to see the
master of ballantrae.
They're always asking for morearrow flynn, and we have a lot
more arrow flynn that we'reworking on right now, which is
very exciting.
Yeah, because we made a lot ofmovies for this studio and it's
our job to fix them up, makethem look great and bring him
(22:37):
back out on Blu-ray.
Tim Millard (22:39):
I'm a huge fan and that's why I love it.
Every time you you mentionedyou know that you have one of
his films coming out.
So, and then I'm also a hugefan about these Technicolors,
and you have two in the month ofOctober.
We already talked about the onecoming out on the 14th lovely
to look at, and then now thisone on the 28th.
(23:01):
So Technicolor fans can rejoicethat they have a double dose in
the month of October.
George Feltenstein (23:07):
Absolutely.
Tim Millard (23:08):
Yeah, and you have Two Noir in October as well.
It's just a loaded month.
Four classic films October 14th.
George Feltenstein (23:20):
For classic films on October 28th and Curse
of Frankenstein, which is aseminal horror classic, on the
14th as well, yeah, and one ofour rare ventures into 4K Right.
So we're very excited about allof it.
Tim Millard (23:40):
Yeah, and then you have those film collections also
on the 14th.
So October is packed.
It's a loaded month it really is, and it's fantastic to go into
October and toward the end ofthe season with so many films
for the classic film fan.
Well, as always, george, thankyou for coming on and explaining
(24:03):
and giving us all the detailsand the fun stories.
I love your stories, george,and I get so many comments for
the podcast where people say Ilove hearing from George, I love
his stories and the details,and that's the fun part of
listening to the podcast orwatching the YouTube channel is
getting these directly from you.
(24:23):
So thank you again.
George Feltenstein (24:25):
Oh, it's my pleasure and I love being able
to spread the word, because somany of these films do have a
very interesting backstory andall of these films have a place
on classic film collectors'shelves, and that's why we say
physical media rules.
Tim Millard (24:45):
Nothing better.
That's right.
Physical media rules.
Thanks, george.
Thank you, tim.
For those who'd like moreinformation about the titles
announced today, we will havepostings on our Facebook page
and in our Warner ArchiveFacebook group and we'll also
put the pre-orders there whenthey become available.
And, as I mentioned, this ispart two of the October
(25:08):
announcements.
There were four titlesannounced for release on October
14th.
You can look for that podcastor video on our YouTube page so
that you can catch up on thoseif you would like.
October is a great month with alot of releases, so there's a
lot of information you'll wantto check out.
You'll be sure that you heardabout all of the great Blu-rays
(25:29):
and 4Ks coming from the WarnerArchive in October.
Until next time, you've beenlistening to Tim Millard, stay
Slightly Obsessed.
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me is George
Feltenstein to announce more ofthe October Blu-ray releases
from the Warner Archive.
Hi, George.
George Feltenstein (00:13):
Hello Tim.
There is more to discuss andit's exciting.
Tim Millard (00:17):
October is such a huge month, we had to split it
up so that people can get allthe information that you provide
, and we previously recorded aOctober 14th release, so people
should check that out if theyhaven't yet.
And today these are going to befour classic films releasing on
October 28th.
Right, and let's go inalphabetical order again.
George Feltenstein (00:41):
Okay.
Tim Millard (00:43):
So first up we have Manhattan Melodrama from 1934.
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (00:50):
Well, this film is representative of a
group of films that were made atMGM under the supervision of
producer David O Selznick, andDavid O Selznick was the
son-in-law of LB Mayer and heleft being the head of
(01:28):
production, leave from thestudio due to medical conditions
.
He had a very weak heartfollowing Thalberg's chemistry
and design with Grand Hotel, anall-star mega film, and
(01:51):
Selznick's was Dinner at Eightin 1933.
So Selznick produced 11 films,I believe during his brief
tenure at MGM, and then heformed his own company during
his brief tenure at MGM and thenhe formed his own company.
But one of his earliestsuccesses during that period,
and a very famous movie, isManhattan Melodrama and it just
(02:22):
happens to be the first of manyscreen pairings before the Thin
man of William Powell and MyrnaLoy and they are joined with the
star of the movie, whichhappens to be someone who was a
little popular at MGM, namedClark Gable.
So when you've got Gable,william Powell, myrna Loy and a
great, a very, very powerfulstory about basically two orphan
(02:50):
kids, because the picture opensup with the William Powell
character and the Clark Gablecharacter as kids and their best
friends, and they're bestfriends and actually Clark
Gable's character, blackie, as achild is played by a 13 or
(03:11):
14-year-old, mickey Rooney,which is very interesting, and
the film's basic story takesplace as those characters are
adults who are on differentsides of the law, and so Clark
(03:33):
Gable's kind of the gangster,but he's Clark Gable, so you got
to love him, you know what Imean.
And William Powell is the goodguy, and they both have their
eyes on one beautiful womanplayed by Myrna Loy, and therein
lies the story.
(03:55):
It was co -written by Joseph LMankiewicz, who had an
incredible career in cinema,spent many years at MGM, mostly
as a producer and a writer, andit was in his later years at
Twinsetree Fox that he didthings like Letter to Three
Wives and All About Eve.
(04:15):
So the pedigree of this movie isspectacular and WS Van Dyke is
the director and WS Van Dyke isthe director, but there were a
couple of scenes that were shotby George Cukor when Van Dyke
was not available.
This is very much a studioconcoction.
(04:36):
It was a huge hit at the boxoffice, but the thing it's most
famous for really has nothing todo with the movie at all, and
that is this is the film thatJohn Dillinger saw at the
Biograph Theater in ChicagoIllinois and the cops and the
feds were waiting for him whenhe came out of the theater and
(04:57):
that was the end of Dillinger.
So the film is better known forthat than its actual movie
itself.
But it was a big hit and verywell received and it was part of
Selznick's thinking of creatinga movie that would just be
automatically popular with theaudiences of the day, and it was
(05:18):
one of MGM's biggest hits in1934.
Tim Millard (05:22):
in 1934.
Every time I see these 1930, 31, 32, the early 30s restorations
or that they're going to berestored here in HD, I'm so
looking forward to them, becausewe're talking a 91-year-old
film and now it gets thetreatment, gets the 4K scan.
You know it's just going tolook fantastic.
George Feltenstein (05:43):
It does.
Tim Millard (05:44):
Yeah, and the stars speak for themselves, obviously
.
And it's just gonna lookfantastic and yeah, and, and the
stars speak for themselvesobviously.
Um, and it's really fun thatthis is, you know, powell and
lloyd before the thin man, andI'm just such a big fan of those
, as almost everybody is, so, uh, really looking forward to this
now.
Do you have some extras on here?
George Feltenstein (06:02):
Yes, we do.
We have very special extrasactually, because we have two
MGM shorts and both of themfeature the team known as Ted
Healy and His Stooges.
Ted Healy served as like thestraight man to these three
(06:27):
wackos that were Howard, Fineand Howard, and they called him
his stooges, and of course itwas Moe Howard, Larry Fine and
(06:51):
Jerry Howard, better known asCurly, along with Ted Haley,
were under contract to MGM,appeared in a few features, but
mostly appeared in a series ofsix shorts that give you a
glimpse of what was ahead forthem when they broke away from
Ted Haley, went to ColumbiaPictures and, with Mo, Mo and
Larry staying all the waythrough, Curly retired due to
health reasons.
The 40s was replaced by Shempand then eventually by Joe
(07:15):
Dorita, but for almost, I'd say,close to 25 years.
It wasn't exactly that, but alittle less than that.
They were making two realshorts for Columbia, which
probably provided them moremoney at Columbia than most of
the feature films they made,Because Columbia during the 30s
(07:35):
and 40s was, with some verynotable exceptions, a B-movie
studio.
They would occasionally make anA-movie with Frank Capra
involved or later, Rita HayworthSome really great movies but
they didn't really become amajor studio to be reckoned with
(07:57):
until the later part of the 50sand the 60s and so forth.
So the Stooges' legacy isimportant and so we have two
shorts the Big Idea, which is inblack and white, and then Roast
Beef and Movies, which Ibelieve is in early two-color
(08:18):
technicolor.
It's just a delight for peopleto be able to see them.
They're very much a product oftheir time.
For people to be able to seethem.
They're very much a product oftheir time.
And we also have a Manhattanmelodrama radio, Lux Radio
broadcast audio.
Only that does bring backWilliam Powell and Myrna Loy to
(08:40):
recreate their roles for theradio productions From 1940,
Clark Gable is not in the radioversion, but just to have powell
and loy.
That's pretty good.
And, uh, I always love when wecan put on a classic radio
broadcast and, uh, this has gotthe trailer.
(09:00):
So it's a very strong releaseon multiple levels.
And I should note that, likemost, unfortunately like most
MGM films, black and white thatwere shot on nitrate, the
negative went up in the fire atEastman House in 1978.
So we're working from secondgeneration preservation elements
(09:23):
, but it looks so great that Ithink people would say I can't
believe this isn't from thenegative, but it's the next best
thing and we're lucky to haveit.
Tim Millard (09:34):
Yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to this one.
I've been watching some ofthese you know Stooges pieces
that you've been putting on andthey're very entertaining, very
entertaining.
So it's fun to see those onthere.
George Feltenstein (09:48):
We're delighted to be able to present
them, and they're in HD, whichis nice.
Tim Millard (09:52):
Yeah, that's pretty good too.
Well, next up, we have a filmfrom 1941 called Out of the Fog.
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
George Feltenstein (10:02):
Well, out of the Fog is a very interesting
film.
Some people consider it to be afilm noir.
I don't know if I would agreewith that, but people's
definitions of noir, uh, theyare subject to interpretation.
Uh, what's important about thisfilm is it stars John Garfield
(10:28):
and Ida Lupino.
It deals with, as some Warnerfilms of that era did, with
prospective fascism and you knownot great people along with
very good people.
And it's set in a small townand it was actually adapted from
(10:51):
a play by Irwin Shaw.
It's probably best known forhaving written the book Rich man
, poor man, which became a veryimportant miniseries on
television in the late 70s.
But Irwin Shaw wrote this playcalled the Gentle People and
this is kind of a pre-World WarII warning about the allure and
(11:16):
danger that fascism could create.
And Garfield I find to beremarkable in almost everything
he did because he was so youknow, he was a byproduct of the
group theater in New York in thelate 30s and he brought a very
(11:40):
different acting style to hiswork, style to his work and
almost every film he did, evenif the film isn't top-notch.
There were a few he did thatwere moderate films versus
instant classics, but he'salways fascinating to watch.
This is an important film andit's a film that doesn't get
(12:04):
enough credit for the kind ofstorytelling it provides.
The acting is really superb.
Garfield and Lupino arewonderful.
Thomas Mitchell, who is so wellknown for so many wonderful
supporting roles I mean he wasScarlett O'Hara's father in Gone
(12:26):
with the Wind.
The same year he was inStagecoach, which he won the
Supporting Actor Oscar for, andhe also had a very important
role in Capra's Mr Smith Goes toWashington.
That was just in 1939.
And he worked up until hisdeath in the early 60s.
He was a great, greatsupporting actor and he's got a
(12:49):
great role in this.
And the screenplay is very tightand written by very impressive
screenwriters Robert Rosen andJerry Wald, both of whom
contributed to the screenplayfor the Roaring Twenties from
1939, which is another Warnerclassic, and this was directed
(13:10):
by Anatole Litvak, who was oneof the top directors at Warner
Brothers during this era.
So it's very much a film worthyof rediscovery if you haven't
seen it and happily this is a 4Kscan off the camera, negative
and our previous iterations andwhat you've been seeing on TV is
(13:32):
kind of looks like it's beenrun through a meat grinder.
So the leap up to a 4K scan offthe camera.
Negative is quite impressivehere, yeah, and it's a very,
very memorable film and veryprescient, unfortunately, given
the world and its current state.
(13:55):
But the disc also does come witha few extras.
We've added two superb cartoonsfrom 1941, the heckling Hare,
which is a Tex Avery Bugs Bunnycartoon that I happen to be very
much a fan of, and HollywoodSteps Out, which is the Warner
Brothers cartoon unit basicallyskewering Hollywood celebrities
(14:19):
of the era, and both of thoseare in HD.
And then we have the theatricaltrailers.
So it's a very, very niftypackage and I think people will
like it.
Tim Millard (14:29):
Yeah, and this is two months in a row that we get
a Ida Lupino film.
Yep.
George Feltenstein (14:34):
At the.
Tim Millard (14:34):
Hardway last month, so that's-.
George Feltenstein (14:38):
And the man I Love seems like it was just
something we released a fewmonths ago, but that was over a
year ago, right, right, yeah.
They drive by night.
We've tried to give Ida her due, yeah, and I hope that we can
bring more of her films out tothe public for certain.
Tim Millard (14:56):
That's great for fans.
Well, next we have the Mad MissManton from 1938.
What can you tell us about thisscrewball comedy?
George Feltenstein (15:07):
Well, you just said the magic words.
You said screwball comedy.
Barbara Stanwyck was at homedoing very serious drama and she
was also exceptional atscrewball comedies.
This is from RKO in 1938.
(15:28):
This is another 4K scan off thecamera, negative A rarity when
it comes to RKO movies.
And this is another movie that'sbeen looking awful for years
that now looks great.
And Stanwyck plays oppositenone other than Henry Fonda,
which is wonderful.
They would later be reunited atSamuel Goldwyn Productions'
(15:53):
studio and make one of thefunniest films of all time in my
opinion, ball of Fire.
But this was their first screenappearance together.
And Stanwyck plays a madcap NewYork rich lady who somehow gets
involved initially in being aprankster and finds herself in
(16:19):
the middle of a murder mystery.
And Henry Fonda is a New YorkCity reporter out to find out
the truth about the murder andends up falling in love with
Stanwyck.
And it's 80 minutes long, so itmoves with tremendous pulsation
(16:40):
.
There's not a wasted frame inthe movie.
It's very efficient filmmakingand the two of them together on
the screen are just terrific.
It's a delight it really is.
And this disc we've added twoWarner Brothers cartoons to the
presentation the Penguin Paradeand Porky the Gob Porky being
(17:01):
Porky Pig, and both thosecartoons are in HD.
And this is one of those RKOmovies where we actually still
had the trailer, becauseprobably 95% of our RKO movies
we don't have a trailer RightBecause they didn't make their
trailers themselves.
They farmed them out toNational Screen Service so when
the library was sold thereweren't a bunch of negatives for
(17:24):
trailers sent along with it.
So this one we happened toprocure a couple of years ago
and it's on the disc.
So it's going to be a wonderfulpresentation and quite a step
up from what we had on DVD.
I'm very, very proud of it.
I think people will love it.
Tim Millard (17:42):
Yeah, and people are always asking when is there
going to be more Stanwyck, whenis there going to be more of her
films?
So here you go, and a comedy atthat, so that people can add
this to their collection.
George Feltenstein (17:56):
Well, I've been delighted at the response
since we announced that this wascoming out.
People were like oh my God, Ilove this movie.
I'm so glad it's coming.
So that is very gratifying andI hope people will really enjoy
it.
I'm confident of that.
It's a lot of fun.
Tim Millard (18:15):
Let's see.
Here we have one more film, andthis one it's special in a lot
of ways, of course, but it's aswashbuckler from 1953, the
master of Ballantrae.
What can you tell us about thisrelease?
George Feltenstein (18:30):
Well, this was Errol Flynn's final
swashbuckler at Warner Brothersas a contract player.
Wood returned to the studio onemore time, right before his
untimely death, to play JohnBarrymore in the story of John
Barrymore's daughter, diana.
(18:51):
Too much, too soon.
That was his final WarnerBrothers appearance, but this
was the last appearance of Flynnrunning out his contract at
Warner Brothers.
He had been under contractthere for about 18 years and
this is, of course, based on aRobert Louis Stevenson novel and
(19:12):
it is beautifully shot inTechnicolor by the master of
color cinematography, jackCardiff, and it was shot in
England on location.
So you have that wonderful lookof what I call British
Technicolor, because there'ssomething about how the films
(19:35):
that were shot three stripTechnicolor looked due to the
lighting and the cinematography.
The outdoor shots reflected thefact that it was very cloudy in
england most often and, uh,it's a luscious looking
technicolor film and we haveapplied our uh proprietary
(20:00):
technology and using ourtechnical registration abilities
to make this just a dazzling 90minutes of fun.
It also comes with two 1953Warner Brothers cartoons Plop
Goes the Weasel and one of myvery favorite Bugs Bunny
(20:20):
cartoons, bully for Bugs and oneof my very favorite Bugs Bunny
cartoons, bully for Bugs, sothere's an original trailer on
it.
It's a wonderful package andthis has been very highly
requested.
The last time this arrived inpeople's collections was when we
released a Snapper DVDsomewhere around 2002 or 2003.
(20:45):
So this has been a long timecoming and the difference
between this and what we hadpreviously is staggering.
So I tend to maybe seem likeI'm too enthusiastic about the
improvement of the picturepresentation, but that's how
(21:07):
much these films are improved bygetting a 4K scan from the
original, in this case from theoriginal Tick to Color negatives
.
Uh, it's just a glorious thingto see.
And Errol Flynn unfortunatelylived life on the edge.
It's no secret that he was aheavy smoker.
(21:30):
He was a heavy drinker.
I think, if I'm doing my mathcorrectly, he was only in his
early, early 40s when he madethis, but he looked like he was
60.
You know, I mean you reallycould see the wear and tear and
the age on his face.
But that doesn't take away fromthe real joy of the fun of this
(21:53):
movie.
And I should also mention thiswas not just shot in England,
but it was also shot partiallyin Scotland, which wasn't too
far away, and they really wantedto make this a humdinger of a
swashbuckler, and they succeeded, and so we're delighted to
(22:14):
finally answer the cries fromconsumers who wanted to see the
master of ballantrae.
They're always asking for morearrow flynn, and we have a lot
more arrow flynn that we'reworking on right now, which is
very exciting.
Yeah, because we made a lot ofmovies for this studio and it's
our job to fix them up, makethem look great and bring him
(22:37):
back out on Blu-ray.
Tim Millard (22:39):
I'm a huge fan and that's why I love it.
Every time you you mentionedyou know that you have one of
his films coming out.
So, and then I'm also a hugefan about these Technicolors,
and you have two in the month ofOctober.
We already talked about the onecoming out on the 14th lovely
to look at, and then now thisone on the 28th.
(23:01):
So Technicolor fans can rejoicethat they have a double dose in
the month of October.
George Feltenstein (23:07):
Absolutely.
Tim Millard (23:08):
Yeah, and you have Two Noir in October as well.
It's just a loaded month.
Four classic films October 14th.
George Feltenstein (23:20):
For classic films on October 28th and Curse
of Frankenstein, which is aseminal horror classic, on the
14th as well, yeah, and one ofour rare ventures into 4K Right.
So we're very excited about allof it.
Tim Millard (23:40):
Yeah, and then you have those film collections also
on the 14th.
So October is packed.
It's a loaded month it really is, and it's fantastic to go into
October and toward the end ofthe season with so many films
for the classic film fan.
Well, as always, george, thankyou for coming on and explaining
(24:03):
and giving us all the detailsand the fun stories.
I love your stories, george,and I get so many comments for
the podcast where people say Ilove hearing from George, I love
his stories and the details,and that's the fun part of
listening to the podcast orwatching the YouTube channel is
getting these directly from you.
(24:23):
So thank you again.
George Feltenstein (24:25):
Oh, it's my pleasure and I love being able
to spread the word, because somany of these films do have a
very interesting backstory andall of these films have a place
on classic film collectors'shelves, and that's why we say
physical media rules.
Tim Millard (24:45):
Nothing better.
That's right.
Physical media rules.
Thanks, george.
Thank you, tim.
For those who'd like moreinformation about the titles
announced today, we will havepostings on our Facebook page
and in our Warner ArchiveFacebook group and we'll also
put the pre-orders there whenthey become available.
And, as I mentioned, this ispart two of the October
(25:08):
announcements.
There were four titlesannounced for release on October
14th.
You can look for that podcastor video on our YouTube page so
that you can catch up on thoseif you would like.
October is a great month with alot of releases, so there's a
lot of information you'll wantto check out.
You'll be sure that you heardabout all of the great Blu-rays
(25:29):
and 4Ks coming from the WarnerArchive in October.
Until next time, you've beenlistening to Tim Millard, stay
Slightly Obsessed.
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