George Feltenstein joins host Tim Millard to announce the September Blu-ray releases from Warner Archive. The lineup includes five films from various eras, all receiving meticulous 4K restorations that dramatically improve their visual and audio quality.
• Beast of the City (1932): Jean Harlow's breakout film as a leading lady, an MGM attempt at Warner-style gangster pictures, with a new master from 4K scans of preservation elements
• The Beggar's Opera (1953): Technicolor British film starring Laurence Olivier in a singing role, based on a 1728 operetta that later inspired Brecht's "Threepenny Opera"
• Black Samson (1974): Fan-favorite blaxploitation film with a musical score by Alan Toussaint, scanned from original camera negative
• I Died a Thousand Times (1955): CinemaScope remake of "High Sierra" starring Jack Palance and Shelley Winters
• Touché Turtle and Dum-Dum: Complete series of 52 Hanna-Barbera cartoons, never before released in its entirety
Also announced are three multi-film Blu-ray collections coming September 2nd: a six-film Errol Flynn collection, a four-film Greta Garbo collection, and a four-film 1950s sci-fi collection, all offering excellent value at approximately $10 per film.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Touche Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series Blu-ray
THE BEAST OF THE CITY (1932) Blu-ray
I Died A Thousand Times Blu-ray
Greta Garbo - 4 Film Collection
50's SCI-FI - 4 Film Collection
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tim Millard (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the Extras.
I'm Tim Millard, your host, andjoining me is George
Feltenstein to announce theSeptember Blu-ray releases from
the Warner Archive.
Hi, George.
George Feltenstein (00:11):
Hello, Tim.
As always, it's wonderful to bewith you.
Tim Millard (00:15):
Yeah, it's always fun to do these announcement
podcasts, and September islooking like another great month
from the Warner Archive.
So let's dive right in, becausethis is always exciting for the
fans to hear what you havecoming on Blu-ray.
And we'll go alphabetical, sothat means the first one we have
up is the Beast of the Cityfrom 1932.
(00:39):
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (00:42):
Well, this really was the first film that
Jean Harlow was recognized as aleading lady and you know she
catapulted to greater fame afterthis film.
She had been in other filmsbefore of significance, even at
(01:03):
MGM, like the Secret six.
Uh, she had a small part inthat, but she's the leading lady
in this and I call this movie,uh, mgm trying to be like warner
brothers because it is afterthe success of public enemy and
little caesar and the gangsterfilms and the gangster genre in
general.
(01:23):
Mgm kind of took off theirgloves to make this film and it
deals with Walter Houston as thestar dealing with crime and
corruption and Jean Harlow playsthe leading lady, daisy, who
wants to achieve greateradoration and fame.
(01:46):
And it all goes downhill, notin a very pretty way.
This is a kind of gritty moviethat goes against the MGM house
style.
But the source material camefrom WR Burnett, who had written
Little Caesar and later wroteHigh Sierra and even contributed
to another film we're going totalk about later in this podcast
(02:09):
.
So it was interesting thatThalberg at MGM took this
particular piece of material andmade a very uncharacteristic
MGM film and made a veryuncharacteristic MGM film.
What's really great about thisnew Blu-ray is that the master
(02:30):
we've been distributing both onDVD and television is over three
decades old and looks wretched.
This film desperately needed amakeover.
Now, a lot of people would say,but there are more important
gene harlem movies that have yetto make it to blu-ray and they
(02:51):
have said that, and my answer tothat is we're working on them,
but this was ready now.
Uh, people have to understandthat.
Uh, we can't predict ifsomething's going to take three
months or six months, ninemonths, a year, two years.
Every film is different andwe've been working on this a
(03:12):
long time.
But there are some more famousGene Harlow movies we're working
on right now.
That will be coming soon.
We're trying to push all thebuttons and get all the levers,
but there's certainly nothingnegative to say about this film.
It's very entertaining and itreally was a linchpin in her
(03:32):
screen career, brief though itwas due to her untimely death at
age 26.
But this is the beginning ofher MGM stardom and it really
holds up well, just like theWarner gangster films hold up so
well.
Tim Millard (03:49):
And you have a few extras on here as well.
George Feltenstein (03:53):
Yeah, we have two Warner Brothers
cartoons and the reason why wedon't have MGM cartoons is that
MGM didn't make cartoons at thistime.
They were distributing cartoonsmade by other people.
So we have no ownership, but itgives us an opportunity to
create that Night at the Moviesatmosphere.
(04:15):
We also don't have a trailer onthis film, which is not unusual
.
We really don't start seeingthe trailers kick in on the MGM
side until a little bit later,32, and then 1933, it sort of
comes together and they werevery good about saving trailers
(04:36):
thereafter.
But no trailer, but twocartoons and a really terrific
film that deserves to be betterknown.
And when you take a film likethis and you watch it and it is
a pretty deplorable-looking copy, Master it doesn't draw you
(04:58):
into the film the way that youcould be drawn into the film.
Now the new Master comes from a4K scan of our best preservation
safety elements originalnegative, long, long destroyed,
as I sound like a broken recordtalking about the terrible fate
of MGM nitrate, but what we haveis a result of preservation
(05:25):
that took place in the 1960s andthankfully that brings us 60
plus years later the ability tomake that available in a
pristine new master.
That looks and, as important,sounds, really good, because we
need to have a clean track andto make sure that it has the
(05:45):
wide frequency response anddoesn't sound like people are
under a pillow.
So we're very careful aboutmaking sure that the tracks have
their vibrancy on the high endwhile taking away clicks and
pops and noises that don'tbelong there.
So really, really terrific film.
We're excited to be releasingit and I think people are really
(06:07):
going to enjoy it and noisesthat don't belong there.
So really, really terrific film.
We're excited to be releasingit and I think people are really
going to enjoy it, especiallysince it isn't as well known as
some of Harlow's other films.
Tim Millard (06:15):
I.
You know we're talking 93 yearsold and that's a pretty old
film, but I've been amazed atwhat you've been able to do with
the films that you've beenreleasing that are over 90 years
old, so I'm looking forward tothis one as well.
George Feltenstein (06:28):
The credit there goes to Warner Brothers
Motion Picture Imaging.
Of course, it's those talentedpeople that do this amazing work
, and it's basically done byhand Humans.
Yes, we applaud work done byhuman beings.
Tim Millard (06:48):
Well, next we have a Technicolor film the Beggar's
Opera from 1953.
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (06:57):
This is a very unique film and first let
me say that it is yet anotherrestoration from the Technicolor
negatives, so they've beenrecombined and using our
proprietary technology to do so,it looks remarkable and this is
a British film shot by awonderful cinematographer, guy
(07:20):
Green cinematographer Guy Greenand it's beautiful to look at
and it was a very experimentalfilm, I would have to say.
In a sense it's based on, Iwould say, an operetta, if you
will, that was written in 1728by John Gay, the beggars opera,
(07:45):
and what it deals with basically, not unlike beast of the city,
it's about a criminal named MacKeith and who is a rogue with
the ladies and responsible formurders and all sorts of
terrible things.
And there are also othercharacters whose names may be
(08:06):
familiar, like Polly Peachum andJenny Diver.
And what is this resonate withme?
I'm a huge fanatic for theBertolt Brecht, kurt Weill works
of the late twenties and earlythirties, and the three penny
opera is something I've beenobsessed with since I was in
(08:28):
college.
So I had not seen this earlierversion on which Brecht and Weil
had adapted this piece, I guess200 years later East, I guess
200 years later.
(08:49):
So Olivier teamed up with aproducer, herbert Wilcox, who
was pretty famous for makingfilms with his wife, jessie
Matthews.
She was a British musical starand Wilcox and Olivier
collaborated together to producethis film.
But the film was directed byPeter Brook, who didn't make too
(09:12):
many films Lord of the Flies isprobably his most famous film
but he was primarily known as aBritish stage director and a
very young break-all-the-ruleskind of director.
So you have an enormous amountof talent telling this story
(09:33):
that is now almost 300 years old.
The basic source material, Imean we're three years away from
2028.
So historically it's ofimportance.
And Laurence Olivier sings andhe actually has a pleasant voice
, the only other person I knowof in the film that also does
(09:56):
his own vocals.
Most of the people, or many ofthe actors, were dubbed, but
Stanley Holloway, who wouldlater become well-known to
American audiences as AlfredDoolittle in the film and stage
versions of my Fair Lady.
But Stanley Holloway is in thisfilm.
And you have the beggar at thebeginning of the film played by
(10:22):
Hugh Griffith, who would laterbecome known internationally for
his performance in Ben-Hur.
So it's a great cast and it'sjust a really unique film.
It's certainly not foreverybody.
It has a cult following, butyet again what we had been
(10:44):
distributing.
If you look at our current dvd,we didn't have the ability to
take advantage of the process todeal with technicolor properly,
and now we do so.
This is a wonderful opportunityto see and hear this film with
far greater quality.
(11:05):
And Olivier he certainly wasn'tFrank Sinatra but he had a
pleasant voice and he's muchmore charismatic in this film
than he is in some of his laterfilms where he's supposed to be
charismatic and it doesn'treally come off.
(11:26):
I think he's very likable asbasically a crook and murderer.
So I think people who share myinterest in three penny opera
and don't know about theoriginal source material, the
beggars opera, will find this asinteresting as I did when I
first saw it.
(11:46):
It was one of those titles, notunlike the Beast of the City.
That was an early WarnerArchive Shelfmaster DVD-R and
now we have a beautiful Blu-raythat's been.
A 4K scan from Technicolornegatives Makes quite a
difference, right, and we didput some Warner Brothers
(12:07):
cartoons on here, so that addsto the fun.
Tim Millard (12:13):
Yeah, and I have to say I'm interested to hear
Olivier singing on this one.
Obviously his acting, we allknow his prowess there, but that
does add a twist.
That'll be kind of fun.
Well, next, George, we jump afew decades to the 70s for
another urban action film, andthat is Black Samson from 1974.
(12:35):
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (12:39):
Well, this is definitely a fan favorite
amongst the community of peoplewho love grindhouse films and
specifically those that wouldfall under the blaxploitation
genre.
Warner Brothers made several ofthese.
This is from 1974.
It is everything you'd want outof a good blaxploitation movie.
(13:03):
The photography is reallyterrific, the performances are
great.
It moves at a very quick pace.
It has a musical score that waswritten by Alan Toussaint, who
was a very famous NewOrleans-based R&B musician and I
(13:27):
don't think a lot of peopleknow he was involved with this
movie.
He was primarily not related tofilm, but they got him to do
the score for this movie andit's your typical crime film
where the hood is being invadedby bad people and Black Samson
(13:47):
is there to go get them.
And, uh, this was one of thosefilms, because we've talked
about this before.
There was a four pack that Iwas asked to put together for
walmart, like, uh, several yearsago that included Three, the
Hard Way and this film and twoothers, and it was this huge
(14:08):
seller.
And everybody was asking me,like, why are these films so
popular?
And I had to explain to themthat there's a massive audience
that loved these movies whenthey came out and now you've got
several generations later.
It's a 51 year old movie.
Discovering them, if theyhaven't already discovered them.
(14:30):
And here again we've scanned theoriginal camera negative at 4k.
We have a beautiful blu-raythat has.
I've never seen this film lookso good.
I've seen it have a magentacast, just not representative of
what things could and shouldlook like.
I would venture to say thislooks better than it did the day
(14:51):
it opened.
I didn't see it then, obviously, but I was thrilled at how
really terrific it looked For avery modestly budget film.
This was not meant to be an Apicture.
This was the equivalent of a Bpicture in the 70s, but we treat
every film with the same kindof reverence.
(15:13):
This comes with its originaltrailer.
We didn't have any archival youknow, behind-the-scenes
featurette made for syndicationor anything that would be
relevant.
But the film stands on its ownand we have released several of
these films in the genre overthe last year and a half and
(15:33):
they've sold very well and beenvery well received, and so we're
glad to add this to the WarnerArchive collection.
Tim Millard (15:40):
Yeah, more than several.
I think.
This is the fifth one thatwe've talked about over the last
couple of years, and this onehas been requested highly, so
there's a lot of people I knowlooking forward to this one, so
that's terrific.
Well, next we have a noir.
I Died a Thousand Times from1955.
What can you tell us about thisfilm, george?
(16:01):
What?
George Feltenstein (16:01):
can you tell us about this film, george Well
, this is the second remake ofthe classic that put Bogart on
the map as a leading man star,high Sierra.
This is a remake of High Sierra.
It's not taking the story ofHigh Sierra and changing the
names and the locale.
That was done.
(16:22):
I'm trying to figure out five,six years earlier, with Colorado
Territory, which came out in1948, which was a remake of High
Sierra, turned into a WesternRight.
This is not.
This is really a remake of HighSierra, adding color, adding
(16:42):
cinemascope, adding stereophonicsound and really as a vehicle
for a relatively young jackpalance.
I don't ever know how topronounce his name is palance or
palance?
I, I don't know.
Yeah, um, but the properpronunciation is I know who jack
is and I like his work in many,many films and you know know,
doing the push up at the Oscarswhen I was a kid.
(17:03):
That was fun too.
But he's terrific in the movie.
No, he's not Humphrey Bogart,but he is his own man and he
holds his own and ShelleyWinters is his love interest
plot to show the human side ofMad Dog Earl, where there's this
(17:25):
ill young girl who he caresdeeply about and wants to help
her.
So you see that this criminalon the run has a heart, and that
is the thing that also makesyou want to care about the
characters.
You know.
Anytime you remake a movie,usually the remake is never held
(17:45):
in high esteem as the original,and that's completely
understandable in this case.
But as its own film, it's veryentertaining and I did read
somewhere someone referred to itin a review.
I did read somewhere someonereferred to it in a review as
(18:16):
very specific to the mid-1950sand making a gangster picture in
the 1950s and taking advantage.
There's a lot of locationphotography and it's very
entertaining.
And it's very entertaining andit looks and sounds magnificent
because yet once again we'vescanned the camera negative at
4K.
Our new master looks fantastic,it sounds great.
I mean, having the stereophonicscore is really wonderful and
(18:37):
it's very, very entertaining.
And so, if you don't compare itto the original, this is a case
where the original is anunmitigated classic.
This is an important film inits own right and should be
appreciated for what it is.
Now we're making it availablethe way it should be seen and
heard.
Tim Millard (18:57):
Yeah, and you have some classic cartoons on here
hairbrush and Sahara hair, whichI think is hilarious, and then
the original theatrical trailer.
So a nice package there.
Well, we have one more title,george, and I think I've already
seen just a lot, a lot ofexcitement about this one,
because it is anotherHanna-Barbera TV series.
(19:20):
Tell us about what's coming inSeptember from Hanna-Barbera TV
series.
Tell us about what's coming inSeptember from Hanna-Barbera.
George Feltenstein (19:26):
Well, touche Turtle and Dum-Dum were a
series of 52 cartoons that wereprepared for local syndication
to television stationsthroughout the country and then
eventually around the world.
There were three differentcharacter cartoons developed for
a syndication package ToucheTurtle and Dum Dum, wally Gator
(19:52):
and Lippy the Lion and Hardy HarHar.
These were done on a very lowbudget.
The original negatives were 16millimeter, not 35 millimeter,
so there is a definite dropinherent in quality when you're
working from 16 millimeterversus 35 millimeter.
(20:13):
Sure, we had released on DVDLippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har
and Wally Gator, each in theirown DVD set.
But we couldn't do a DVD set ofTouche Turtle because the
existing masters were deplorableand the film elements were a
(20:37):
mess.
And, as we've been doing withmany, many different programs
(20:57):
not just animation or televisionseries, but everything that we
do in trying to improve thingsoriginal negatives were scanned
at 4K and where we didn't haveoriginal negatives because some
of them were lost, we had towork from some prints.
But MPI's team really did theirbest work on this to make what
was originally produced 63 yearsago, if I'm doing the math
right, making these look as goodas they can and sound as good
(21:20):
as they can and we will bereleasing for those who ask.
Yes, there will be a WallyGator Blu-ray somewhere down the
line.
There will be a Lippy the LionBlu-ray somewhere down the line.
But there's real confusionaround these three cartoons
(21:40):
because in some markets theywere put together as a half-hour
programming, whereas in othermarkets they were shown
individually and usedindividually.
So all 52 cartoons are on thistwo-disc set and we've also
(22:01):
priced it the same as a one-discrelease to make it more
inherently a consumer valueproposition.
And we know that theHanna-Barbera fans want
everything.
And because this one wasn't onDVD, that's why we chose to put
this out first, because theaudience has nothing else to
(22:25):
watch unless they want to watchtelevision, and that's a whole
different thing.
But this is the way you get toown it and keep it and look at
it with the best possiblequality.
Tim Millard (22:36):
So, if I'm hearing you correctly, this has never
been out on dvd.
So, uh, and probably never onlaser disc, right?
George Feltenstein (22:42):
no, there was a vhs tape.
Vhs came out with a couple ofcartoons, but this was like
first time the entire series hasbeen out to be like early 90s,
but it was far from the entireseries.
The entire series is more thanfour hours in length.
(23:02):
It's almost five hours ofprogramming.
The cartoons are each aboutfive minutes with a few extra
seconds.
Right.
There are 26 cartoons on discone, 26 cartoons on disc two,
which enables us to have a veryhigh warner archive bit rate and
(23:24):
have them look terrific to thedegree that they can.
We can't right make them lookbetter than how hannah barbera
finished them, unlikeHuckleberry Hound, quick Draw
McGraw and then Yogi Bear in themiddle kind of with his own
show.
Those were all sponsored byKellogg's.
(23:45):
That gave Hanna-Barbera more ofa budget to work with.
These went into syndicationwithout a commercial sponsor.
It was up to the local stationsto take care of the ad time.
So I think that's why they madethe financial decision to shoot
these on 16 millimeter.
(24:06):
And basically, until we gotinto the world of home
entertainment, home video and tosome degree, cable television,
suddenly the switch was from 16millimeter to 35 millimeter.
Thankfully, with the exceptionof a few stations in the United
(24:26):
States, most local stations onlyran 16 millimeter.
Networks ran 35 millimeter.
Growing up in New York, we hadone channel, wpixix channel 11
that did run 35 millimeter andit was so noticeable, but it was
a rarity and of course they hadno choice.
(24:46):
Uh, I think wpix channel 11 hadthis package of cartoons and of
course they had no choice butto run them in 16 millimeter
because that's how they weremade sure, but the majority of
syndicated content throughoutthe 50s, 60s, 70s, it was all
about 16 millimeter, even themost famous shows I Love Lucy,
(25:10):
bewitched Gunsmoke, whatever.
16 millimeter Prince was whatwent to the stations for reruns.
Fortunately, if things weremade in 35 millimeter, we get to
take advantage of that.
The very first Hanna-Barberaseries which did go to network,
uh, which was right beforeHuckleberry Hound was rough and
ready, that too was made in 16millimeter because Hanna-Barbero
(25:34):
was barely formed when theymade their first sale right.
So, um, I don't think at theend of the day it takes away
from the good writing.
Uh, and there are special voicetalents involved here, because
touche turtle was voiced by aradio actor named Bill Thompson,
(25:55):
who happened to also be thevoice of MGM's Droopy, and you
can hear the similarity.
Of course Droopy had the Droopyqualities in his speaking, but
it's Bill Thompson doing thevoice of Touche, and then Alan
Reid, the original voice of FredFlintstone, does the voice of
(26:18):
Dum-Dum his companion.
So it's great Hanna-Barbera TVfun and it's a long time coming
for the collectors and I hopepeople appreciate it.
Tim Millard (26:30):
Yeah, yeah.
I'm sure there's many peoplealso wondering, george, since
this was on 16 and you're ableto bring this out from the
original 16, other stories thatwere shot on 16, does this mean
that they have a chance, maybein the future as well, to come
to Blu-ray?
George Feltenstein (26:49):
Absolutely.
I mean, we have found that wehave on certain occasions, if
that's all that exists.
We did it with a feature film,originally for DVD.
Safe in Hell, we thought allthat existed was a 16 millimeter
print, finding the 35millimeter print, which was the
(27:11):
only known element by 1956, whenthe Warner Library had been
sold off for television.
And then we got it back 40years later.
But, safe in hell, the onlyelement that existed for the
1956 sale was a 35 millimeternitrate print, but we didn't
(27:32):
know about that until a fewyears ago.
So what we were distributingcame from 16 millimeter.
The blu-ray we put out in 2023thankfully came out from 35
millimeter print and, uh, for amovie that is as old as it is,
1931, the results were very,very satisfying.
Yeah, so we try not to letthose kind of problems get in
(27:54):
our way if something deserves tobe seen.
But you know, in the case ofthat film, we were on a search
to see if there was somethingbetter, and there was If
something was produced in 16millimeter.
There's only so much you can do.
Tim Millard (28:11):
Right, right.
Well, george, that's a greatlineup for September.
Before we go, though, I didwant to also ask you, and
mention, so that the listenersknow, that you have three
different Blu-ray filmcollections coming out in early
September, september 2nd.
You've released a few of thesebefore, but I did want to
(28:39):
mention that today so that fansknow.
You have the six-film ErrolFlynn collection, you have a
four-film Greta Garbo collection, and then you have a four-film
50s sci-fi collection, so wasthere anything you wanted to say
about those before we go?
George Feltenstein (28:56):
about those before we go.
Well, if you're a loyalsubscriber to the extras, the
likelihood is you probably ownthese films already on Blu-ray.
We wanted to create thesemulti-feature sets of previously
released titles so that wecould add a value proposition at
(29:16):
a reasonable price.
These are more intended fornewbie collectors that haven't
started their collection yet,because these are really all
essential classics to add toone's library or for gift-giving
.
And we started this a couple ofyears ago with the Bogart
Bacall Collection.
(29:37):
And we started this a couple ofyears ago with the Bogart
Bacall collection, with theHitchcock collection, a film
noir collection, a horrorcollection, and we're building
upon that with these newreleases.
In this kind of set where youget these wonderful quality
discs that we've been producingfor the last few years, when you
get these wonderful qualitydiscs that we've been producing
for the last few years, andwe've also been able to include
(30:00):
some non-Warner Archive releasesthat were classic films I was
involved with before there wasthe Warner Archive collection
Right were able to pay propertribute to a particular talent
like putting the adventures ofRobin Hood in the Errol Flynn
collection makes a great deal ofsense.
(30:23):
It's a film he's most famous for.
I can't think of anything heever did that's more famous than
Robin Hood.
There's a great value.
Six movies, $59.98 list price.
People really like gettingtheir movies for $10 a piece.
We couldn't stay in business ifwe released them new at $10 a
(30:43):
piece.
I hope people understand that.
But once we've recouped ourexpenses after a certain period
of time, this now gives us theflexibility we're going to be
releasing more and more of these, but we will only do so after a
film has comfortably recoupedthe massive investment we make
(31:05):
in our mastering.
Tim Millard (31:07):
Well, september has a lot between those collections
which come out early and thenthe five films that come out
toward the end of the month.
So thank you again, george, forcoming on.
George Feltenstein (31:18):
Hi, it's my pleasure, tim, as always, and I
want to let people know thatthere were a couple of titles we
had intended to be released inSeptember, but in order to make
our dates if they didn't hit thedeadline, they got pushed into
October.
Tim Millard (31:35):
So October is going to be quite a substantial month
, looking forward to it and I'llleave it at that, and just to
provide a little furtherclarification on what's in the
film collections.
In the Greta Garbo collectionthere are four films Camille
(31:57):
Queen, christina Ninuchka andAnna Christie.
So you have those four films,all previously released on
Blu-ray from the Warner Archive,now in a four-film collection,
and again the price on thesecomes out to about $10 per
Blu-ray.
So it's a great value.
And then for the 50s sci-ficollection there's Attack of the
(32:20):
50-Foot Woman, the Beast from20,000 Fathoms, world Without
End and them.
And then the one that's reallybeen exciting people is this
Errol Flynn collection of sixfilms and, as George mentioned,
that includes the Adventures ofRobin Hood, seahawk, santa Fe
Trail, edge of Darkness,objective Burma and the
(32:43):
Adventures of Don Juan Onceagain about $10 per film.
So you're looking at close to$60 for that collection.
All of the five films forSeptember are available for
pre-order as well as these threefilm collections.
So look for those in thepodcast show notes and you can
get your orders in for those ifyou haven't yet already.
(33:03):
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 theSeptember Blu-ray releases from
the Warner Archive.
Hi, George.
George Feltenstein (00:11):
Hello, Tim.
As always, it's wonderful to bewith you.
Tim Millard (00:15):
Yeah, it's always fun to do these announcement
podcasts, and September islooking like another great month
from the Warner Archive.
So let's dive right in, becausethis is always exciting for the
fans to hear what you havecoming on Blu-ray.
And we'll go alphabetical, sothat means the first one we have
up is the Beast of the Cityfrom 1932.
(00:39):
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (00:42):
Well, this really was the first film that
Jean Harlow was recognized as aleading lady and you know she
catapulted to greater fame afterthis film.
She had been in other filmsbefore of significance, even at
(01:03):
MGM, like the Secret six.
Uh, she had a small part inthat, but she's the leading lady
in this and I call this movie,uh, mgm trying to be like warner
brothers because it is afterthe success of public enemy and
little caesar and the gangsterfilms and the gangster genre in
general.
(01:23):
Mgm kind of took off theirgloves to make this film and it
deals with Walter Houston as thestar dealing with crime and
corruption and Jean Harlow playsthe leading lady, daisy, who
wants to achieve greateradoration and fame.
(01:46):
And it all goes downhill, notin a very pretty way.
This is a kind of gritty moviethat goes against the MGM house
style.
But the source material camefrom WR Burnett, who had written
Little Caesar and later wroteHigh Sierra and even contributed
to another film we're going totalk about later in this podcast
(02:09):
.
So it was interesting thatThalberg at MGM took this
particular piece of material andmade a very uncharacteristic
MGM film and made a veryuncharacteristic MGM film.
What's really great about thisnew Blu-ray is that the master
(02:30):
we've been distributing both onDVD and television is over three
decades old and looks wretched.
This film desperately needed amakeover.
Now, a lot of people would say,but there are more important
gene harlem movies that have yetto make it to blu-ray and they
(02:51):
have said that, and my answer tothat is we're working on them,
but this was ready now.
Uh, people have to understandthat.
Uh, we can't predict ifsomething's going to take three
months or six months, ninemonths, a year, two years.
Every film is different andwe've been working on this a
(03:12):
long time.
But there are some more famousGene Harlow movies we're working
on right now.
That will be coming soon.
We're trying to push all thebuttons and get all the levers,
but there's certainly nothingnegative to say about this film.
It's very entertaining and itreally was a linchpin in her
(03:32):
screen career, brief though itwas due to her untimely death at
age 26.
But this is the beginning ofher MGM stardom and it really
holds up well, just like theWarner gangster films hold up so
well.
Tim Millard (03:49):
And you have a few extras on here as well.
George Feltenstein (03:53):
Yeah, we have two Warner Brothers
cartoons and the reason why wedon't have MGM cartoons is that
MGM didn't make cartoons at thistime.
They were distributing cartoonsmade by other people.
So we have no ownership, but itgives us an opportunity to
create that Night at the Moviesatmosphere.
(04:15):
We also don't have a trailer onthis film, which is not unusual
.
We really don't start seeingthe trailers kick in on the MGM
side until a little bit later,32, and then 1933, it sort of
comes together and they werevery good about saving trailers
(04:36):
thereafter.
But no trailer, but twocartoons and a really terrific
film that deserves to be betterknown.
And when you take a film likethis and you watch it and it is
a pretty deplorable-looking copy, Master it doesn't draw you
(04:58):
into the film the way that youcould be drawn into the film.
Now the new Master comes from a4K scan of our best preservation
safety elements originalnegative, long, long destroyed,
as I sound like a broken recordtalking about the terrible fate
of MGM nitrate, but what we haveis a result of preservation
(05:25):
that took place in the 1960s andthankfully that brings us 60
plus years later the ability tomake that available in a
pristine new master.
That looks and, as important,sounds, really good, because we
need to have a clean track andto make sure that it has the
(05:45):
wide frequency response anddoesn't sound like people are
under a pillow.
So we're very careful aboutmaking sure that the tracks have
their vibrancy on the high endwhile taking away clicks and
pops and noises that don'tbelong there.
So really, really terrific film.
We're excited to be releasingit and I think people are really
(06:07):
going to enjoy it and noisesthat don't belong there.
So really, really terrific film.
We're excited to be releasingit and I think people are really
going to enjoy it, especiallysince it isn't as well known as
some of Harlow's other films.
Tim Millard (06:15):
I.
You know we're talking 93 yearsold and that's a pretty old
film, but I've been amazed atwhat you've been able to do with
the films that you've beenreleasing that are over 90 years
old, so I'm looking forward tothis one as well.
George Feltenstein (06:28):
The credit there goes to Warner Brothers
Motion Picture Imaging.
Of course, it's those talentedpeople that do this amazing work
, and it's basically done byhand Humans.
Yes, we applaud work done byhuman beings.
Tim Millard (06:48):
Well, next we have a Technicolor film the Beggar's
Opera from 1953.
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (06:57):
This is a very unique film and first let
me say that it is yet anotherrestoration from the Technicolor
negatives, so they've beenrecombined and using our
proprietary technology to do so,it looks remarkable and this is
a British film shot by awonderful cinematographer, guy
(07:20):
Green cinematographer Guy Greenand it's beautiful to look at
and it was a very experimentalfilm, I would have to say.
In a sense it's based on, Iwould say, an operetta, if you
will, that was written in 1728by John Gay, the beggars opera,
(07:45):
and what it deals with basically, not unlike beast of the city,
it's about a criminal named MacKeith and who is a rogue with
the ladies and responsible formurders and all sorts of
terrible things.
And there are also othercharacters whose names may be
(08:06):
familiar, like Polly Peachum andJenny Diver.
And what is this resonate withme?
I'm a huge fanatic for theBertolt Brecht, kurt Weill works
of the late twenties and earlythirties, and the three penny
opera is something I've beenobsessed with since I was in
(08:28):
college.
So I had not seen this earlierversion on which Brecht and Weil
had adapted this piece, I guess200 years later East, I guess
200 years later.
(08:49):
So Olivier teamed up with aproducer, herbert Wilcox, who
was pretty famous for makingfilms with his wife, jessie
Matthews.
She was a British musical starand Wilcox and Olivier
collaborated together to producethis film.
But the film was directed byPeter Brook, who didn't make too
(09:12):
many films Lord of the Flies isprobably his most famous film
but he was primarily known as aBritish stage director and a
very young break-all-the-ruleskind of director.
So you have an enormous amountof talent telling this story
(09:33):
that is now almost 300 years old.
The basic source material, Imean we're three years away from
2028.
So historically it's ofimportance.
And Laurence Olivier sings andhe actually has a pleasant voice
, the only other person I knowof in the film that also does
(09:56):
his own vocals.
Most of the people, or many ofthe actors, were dubbed, but
Stanley Holloway, who wouldlater become well-known to
American audiences as AlfredDoolittle in the film and stage
versions of my Fair Lady.
But Stanley Holloway is in thisfilm.
And you have the beggar at thebeginning of the film played by
(10:22):
Hugh Griffith, who would laterbecome known internationally for
his performance in Ben-Hur.
So it's a great cast and it'sjust a really unique film.
It's certainly not foreverybody.
It has a cult following, butyet again what we had been
(10:44):
distributing.
If you look at our current dvd,we didn't have the ability to
take advantage of the process todeal with technicolor properly,
and now we do so.
This is a wonderful opportunityto see and hear this film with
far greater quality.
(11:05):
And Olivier he certainly wasn'tFrank Sinatra but he had a
pleasant voice and he's muchmore charismatic in this film
than he is in some of his laterfilms where he's supposed to be
charismatic and it doesn'treally come off.
(11:26):
I think he's very likable asbasically a crook and murderer.
So I think people who share myinterest in three penny opera
and don't know about theoriginal source material, the
beggars opera, will find this asinteresting as I did when I
first saw it.
(11:46):
It was one of those titles, notunlike the Beast of the City.
That was an early WarnerArchive Shelfmaster DVD-R and
now we have a beautiful Blu-raythat's been.
A 4K scan from Technicolornegatives Makes quite a
difference, right, and we didput some Warner Brothers
(12:07):
cartoons on here, so that addsto the fun.
Tim Millard (12:13):
Yeah, and I have to say I'm interested to hear
Olivier singing on this one.
Obviously his acting, we allknow his prowess there, but that
does add a twist.
That'll be kind of fun.
Well, next, George, we jump afew decades to the 70s for
another urban action film, andthat is Black Samson from 1974.
(12:35):
What can you tell us about thisfilm?
George Feltenstein (12:39):
Well, this is definitely a fan favorite
amongst the community of peoplewho love grindhouse films and
specifically those that wouldfall under the blaxploitation
genre.
Warner Brothers made several ofthese.
This is from 1974.
It is everything you'd want outof a good blaxploitation movie.
(13:03):
The photography is reallyterrific, the performances are
great.
It moves at a very quick pace.
It has a musical score that waswritten by Alan Toussaint, who
was a very famous NewOrleans-based R&B musician and I
(13:27):
don't think a lot of peopleknow he was involved with this
movie.
He was primarily not related tofilm, but they got him to do
the score for this movie andit's your typical crime film
where the hood is being invadedby bad people and Black Samson
(13:47):
is there to go get them.
And, uh, this was one of thosefilms, because we've talked
about this before.
There was a four pack that Iwas asked to put together for
walmart, like, uh, several yearsago that included Three, the
Hard Way and this film and twoothers, and it was this huge
(14:08):
seller.
And everybody was asking me,like, why are these films so
popular?
And I had to explain to themthat there's a massive audience
that loved these movies whenthey came out and now you've got
several generations later.
It's a 51 year old movie.
Discovering them, if theyhaven't already discovered them.
(14:30):
And here again we've scanned theoriginal camera negative at 4k.
We have a beautiful blu-raythat has.
I've never seen this film lookso good.
I've seen it have a magentacast, just not representative of
what things could and shouldlook like.
I would venture to say thislooks better than it did the day
(14:51):
it opened.
I didn't see it then, obviously, but I was thrilled at how
really terrific it looked For avery modestly budget film.
This was not meant to be an Apicture.
This was the equivalent of a Bpicture in the 70s, but we treat
every film with the same kindof reverence.
(15:13):
This comes with its originaltrailer.
We didn't have any archival youknow, behind-the-scenes
featurette made for syndicationor anything that would be
relevant.
But the film stands on its ownand we have released several of
these films in the genre overthe last year and a half and
(15:33):
they've sold very well and beenvery well received, and so we're
glad to add this to the WarnerArchive collection.
Tim Millard (15:40):
Yeah, more than several.
I think.
This is the fifth one thatwe've talked about over the last
couple of years, and this onehas been requested highly, so
there's a lot of people I knowlooking forward to this one, so
that's terrific.
Well, next we have a noir.
I Died a Thousand Times from1955.
What can you tell us about thisfilm, george?
(16:01):
What?
George Feltenstein (16:01):
can you tell us about this film, george Well
, this is the second remake ofthe classic that put Bogart on
the map as a leading man star,high Sierra.
This is a remake of High Sierra.
It's not taking the story ofHigh Sierra and changing the
names and the locale.
That was done.
(16:22):
I'm trying to figure out five,six years earlier, with Colorado
Territory, which came out in1948, which was a remake of High
Sierra, turned into a WesternRight.
This is not.
This is really a remake of HighSierra, adding color, adding
(16:42):
cinemascope, adding stereophonicsound and really as a vehicle
for a relatively young jackpalance.
I don't ever know how topronounce his name is palance or
palance?
I, I don't know.
Yeah, um, but the properpronunciation is I know who jack
is and I like his work in many,many films and you know know,
doing the push up at the Oscarswhen I was a kid.
(17:03):
That was fun too.
But he's terrific in the movie.
No, he's not Humphrey Bogart,but he is his own man and he
holds his own and ShelleyWinters is his love interest
plot to show the human side ofMad Dog Earl, where there's this
(17:25):
ill young girl who he caresdeeply about and wants to help
her.
So you see that this criminalon the run has a heart, and that
is the thing that also makesyou want to care about the
characters.
You know.
Anytime you remake a movie,usually the remake is never held
(17:45):
in high esteem as the original,and that's completely
understandable in this case.
But as its own film, it's veryentertaining and I did read
somewhere someone referred to itin a review.
I did read somewhere someonereferred to it in a review as
(18:16):
very specific to the mid-1950sand making a gangster picture in
the 1950s and taking advantage.
There's a lot of locationphotography and it's very
entertaining.
And it's very entertaining andit looks and sounds magnificent
because yet once again we'vescanned the camera negative at
4K.
Our new master looks fantastic,it sounds great.
I mean, having the stereophonicscore is really wonderful and
(18:37):
it's very, very entertaining.
And so, if you don't compare itto the original, this is a case
where the original is anunmitigated classic.
This is an important film inits own right and should be
appreciated for what it is.
Now we're making it availablethe way it should be seen and
heard.
Tim Millard (18:57):
Yeah, and you have some classic cartoons on here
hairbrush and Sahara hair, whichI think is hilarious, and then
the original theatrical trailer.
So a nice package there.
Well, we have one more title,george, and I think I've already
seen just a lot, a lot ofexcitement about this one,
because it is anotherHanna-Barbera TV series.
(19:20):
Tell us about what's coming inSeptember from Hanna-Barbera TV
series.
Tell us about what's coming inSeptember from Hanna-Barbera.
George Feltenstein (19:26):
Well, touche Turtle and Dum-Dum were a
series of 52 cartoons that wereprepared for local syndication
to television stationsthroughout the country and then
eventually around the world.
There were three differentcharacter cartoons developed for
a syndication package ToucheTurtle and Dum Dum, wally Gator
(19:52):
and Lippy the Lion and Hardy HarHar.
These were done on a very lowbudget.
The original negatives were 16millimeter, not 35 millimeter,
so there is a definite dropinherent in quality when you're
working from 16 millimeterversus 35 millimeter.
(20:13):
Sure, we had released on DVDLippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har
and Wally Gator, each in theirown DVD set.
But we couldn't do a DVD set ofTouche Turtle because the
existing masters were deplorableand the film elements were a
(20:37):
mess.
And, as we've been doing withmany, many different programs
(20:57):
not just animation or televisionseries, but everything that we
do in trying to improve thingsoriginal negatives were scanned
at 4K and where we didn't haveoriginal negatives because some
of them were lost, we had towork from some prints.
But MPI's team really did theirbest work on this to make what
was originally produced 63 yearsago, if I'm doing the math
right, making these look as goodas they can and sound as good
(21:20):
as they can and we will bereleasing for those who ask.
Yes, there will be a WallyGator Blu-ray somewhere down the
line.
There will be a Lippy the LionBlu-ray somewhere down the line.
But there's real confusionaround these three cartoons
(21:40):
because in some markets theywere put together as a half-hour
programming, whereas in othermarkets they were shown
individually and usedindividually.
So all 52 cartoons are on thistwo-disc set and we've also
(22:01):
priced it the same as a one-discrelease to make it more
inherently a consumer valueproposition.
And we know that theHanna-Barbera fans want
everything.
And because this one wasn't onDVD, that's why we chose to put
this out first, because theaudience has nothing else to
(22:25):
watch unless they want to watchtelevision, and that's a whole
different thing.
But this is the way you get toown it and keep it and look at
it with the best possiblequality.
Tim Millard (22:36):
So, if I'm hearing you correctly, this has never
been out on dvd.
So, uh, and probably never onlaser disc, right?
George Feltenstein (22:42):
no, there was a vhs tape.
Vhs came out with a couple ofcartoons, but this was like
first time the entire series hasbeen out to be like early 90s,
but it was far from the entireseries.
The entire series is more thanfour hours in length.
(23:02):
It's almost five hours ofprogramming.
The cartoons are each aboutfive minutes with a few extra
seconds.
Right.
There are 26 cartoons on discone, 26 cartoons on disc two,
which enables us to have a veryhigh warner archive bit rate and
(23:24):
have them look terrific to thedegree that they can.
We can't right make them lookbetter than how hannah barbera
finished them, unlikeHuckleberry Hound, quick Draw
McGraw and then Yogi Bear in themiddle kind of with his own
show.
Those were all sponsored byKellogg's.
(23:45):
That gave Hanna-Barbera more ofa budget to work with.
These went into syndicationwithout a commercial sponsor.
It was up to the local stationsto take care of the ad time.
So I think that's why they madethe financial decision to shoot
these on 16 millimeter.
(24:06):
And basically, until we gotinto the world of home
entertainment, home video and tosome degree, cable television,
suddenly the switch was from 16millimeter to 35 millimeter.
Thankfully, with the exceptionof a few stations in the United
(24:26):
States, most local stations onlyran 16 millimeter.
Networks ran 35 millimeter.
Growing up in New York, we hadone channel, wpixix channel 11
that did run 35 millimeter andit was so noticeable, but it was
a rarity and of course they hadno choice.
(24:46):
Uh, I think wpix channel 11 hadthis package of cartoons and of
course they had no choice butto run them in 16 millimeter
because that's how they weremade sure, but the majority of
syndicated content throughoutthe 50s, 60s, 70s, it was all
about 16 millimeter, even themost famous shows I Love Lucy,
(25:10):
bewitched Gunsmoke, whatever.
16 millimeter Prince was whatwent to the stations for reruns.
Fortunately, if things weremade in 35 millimeter, we get to
take advantage of that.
The very first Hanna-Barberaseries which did go to network,
uh, which was right beforeHuckleberry Hound was rough and
ready, that too was made in 16millimeter because Hanna-Barbero
(25:34):
was barely formed when theymade their first sale right.
So, um, I don't think at theend of the day it takes away
from the good writing.
Uh, and there are special voicetalents involved here, because
touche turtle was voiced by aradio actor named Bill Thompson,
(25:55):
who happened to also be thevoice of MGM's Droopy, and you
can hear the similarity.
Of course Droopy had the Droopyqualities in his speaking, but
it's Bill Thompson doing thevoice of Touche, and then Alan
Reid, the original voice of FredFlintstone, does the voice of
(26:18):
Dum-Dum his companion.
So it's great Hanna-Barbera TVfun and it's a long time coming
for the collectors and I hopepeople appreciate it.
Tim Millard (26:30):
Yeah, yeah.
I'm sure there's many peoplealso wondering, george, since
this was on 16 and you're ableto bring this out from the
original 16, other stories thatwere shot on 16, does this mean
that they have a chance, maybein the future as well, to come
to Blu-ray?
George Feltenstein (26:49):
Absolutely.
I mean, we have found that wehave on certain occasions, if
that's all that exists.
We did it with a feature film,originally for DVD.
Safe in Hell, we thought allthat existed was a 16 millimeter
print, finding the 35millimeter print, which was the
(27:11):
only known element by 1956, whenthe Warner Library had been
sold off for television.
And then we got it back 40years later.
But, safe in hell, the onlyelement that existed for the
1956 sale was a 35 millimeternitrate print, but we didn't
(27:32):
know about that until a fewyears ago.
So what we were distributingcame from 16 millimeter.
The blu-ray we put out in 2023thankfully came out from 35
millimeter print and, uh, for amovie that is as old as it is,
1931, the results were very,very satisfying.
Yeah, so we try not to letthose kind of problems get in
(27:54):
our way if something deserves tobe seen.
But you know, in the case ofthat film, we were on a search
to see if there was somethingbetter, and there was If
something was produced in 16millimeter.
There's only so much you can do.
Tim Millard (28:11):
Right, right.
Well, george, that's a greatlineup for September.
Before we go, though, I didwant to also ask you, and
mention, so that the listenersknow, that you have three
different Blu-ray filmcollections coming out in early
September, september 2nd.
You've released a few of thesebefore, but I did want to
(28:39):
mention that today so that fansknow.
You have the six-film ErrolFlynn collection, you have a
four-film Greta Garbo collection, and then you have a four-film
50s sci-fi collection, so wasthere anything you wanted to say
about those before we go?
George Feltenstein (28:56):
about those before we go.
Well, if you're a loyalsubscriber to the extras, the
likelihood is you probably ownthese films already on Blu-ray.
We wanted to create thesemulti-feature sets of previously
released titles so that wecould add a value proposition at
(29:16):
a reasonable price.
These are more intended fornewbie collectors that haven't
started their collection yet,because these are really all
essential classics to add toone's library or for gift-giving
.
And we started this a couple ofyears ago with the Bogart
Bacall Collection.
(29:37):
And we started this a couple ofyears ago with the Bogart
Bacall collection, with theHitchcock collection, a film
noir collection, a horrorcollection, and we're building
upon that with these newreleases.
In this kind of set where youget these wonderful quality
discs that we've been producingfor the last few years, when you
get these wonderful qualitydiscs that we've been producing
for the last few years, andwe've also been able to include
(30:00):
some non-Warner Archive releasesthat were classic films I was
involved with before there wasthe Warner Archive collection
Right were able to pay propertribute to a particular talent
like putting the adventures ofRobin Hood in the Errol Flynn
collection makes a great deal ofsense.
(30:23):
It's a film he's most famous for.
I can't think of anything heever did that's more famous than
Robin Hood.
There's a great value.
Six movies, $59.98 list price.
People really like gettingtheir movies for $10 a piece.
We couldn't stay in business ifwe released them new at $10 a
(30:43):
piece.
I hope people understand that.
But once we've recouped ourexpenses after a certain period
of time, this now gives us theflexibility we're going to be
releasing more and more of these, but we will only do so after a
film has comfortably recoupedthe massive investment we make
(31:05):
in our mastering.
Tim Millard (31:07):
Well, september has a lot between those collections
which come out early and thenthe five films that come out
toward the end of the month.
So thank you again, george, forcoming on.
George Feltenstein (31:18):
Hi, it's my pleasure, tim, as always, and I
want to let people know thatthere were a couple of titles we
had intended to be released inSeptember, but in order to make
our dates if they didn't hit thedeadline, they got pushed into
October.
Tim Millard (31:35):
So October is going to be quite a substantial month
, looking forward to it and I'llleave it at that, and just to
provide a little furtherclarification on what's in the
film collections.
In the Greta Garbo collectionthere are four films Camille
(31:57):
Queen, christina Ninuchka andAnna Christie.
So you have those four films,all previously released on
Blu-ray from the Warner Archive,now in a four-film collection,
and again the price on thesecomes out to about $10 per
Blu-ray.
So it's a great value.
And then for the 50s sci-ficollection there's Attack of the
(32:20):
50-Foot Woman, the Beast from20,000 Fathoms, world Without
End and them.
And then the one that's reallybeen exciting people is this
Errol Flynn collection of sixfilms and, as George mentioned,
that includes the Adventures ofRobin Hood, seahawk, santa Fe
Trail, edge of Darkness,objective Burma and the
(32:43):
Adventures of Don Juan Onceagain about $10 per film.
So you're looking at close to$60 for that collection.
All of the five films forSeptember are available for
pre-order as well as these threefilm collections.
So look for those in thepodcast show notes and you can
get your orders in for those ifyou haven't yet already.
(33:03):
Until next time you've beenlistening to Tim Millard, Stay
slightly obsessed.
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Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
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