The Extras - EXCLUSIVE: Warner Archive May Part 2 Release Announcement

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

George Feltenstein of the Warner Archive returns to announce PART 2 of the May  2023 Blu-ray releases.  Look for Part 1 in the archive at your favorite podcast provider, or select below:WA May Part 1 Release Announcement Warner Archive Store on Amazon Support the podcast by shopping with our Amazon Affiliate linkDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm film historian and author John Fricke. I've written books about Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz movie, and you're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies, and animation, and their release on digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Millard, your host. Well, recently we had an announcement podcast for three May Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive, and we told you then that there would be more coming that month,

so George Feltenstein is back to announce the rest of the May schedule. Before I bring on George, I just want to take a moment to encourage everyone who listens to the podcast to be sure you hit that follow or subscribe button at your favorite podcast provider. If you're interested in what we talked about in this episode, we will have a lot of follow-up discussion on these titles that you don't want to miss. And the best way to ensure that is to follow the show. So please take a moment to do that as soon as you get the chance. And I do want to encourage you to listen all the way to the end of this episode, as there are a few nuggets about future releases that I think you'll want to hear. Well, let's get to the announce.

Well, hi, George. Thanks for coming back on the podcast to announce the rest of the Warner Archive May Blu-ray releases. Oh, Tim, it's my pleasure to be here. I know people have been chomping at the bit, wanting to know what we have coming up for the rest of May. I'm excited to share that with you and the people that are listening to The Extras. Well, you announcing it here on The Extras is proving to be a really popular format. I mean, people are really enjoying, they enjoy

hearing it from you. And of course it has that kind of live feel, which is really fun. And I think harkens back to some of the best things about podcasting or radio and things of that nature. So it's a lot of fun to do it this way. And I think people are getting a kick out of it. So how many films are you going to be talking about today? I'm going to be talking about five feature films, all of which are making their Blu-ray debut. Very diverse, spanning from the 1930s to the 1960s. That kind of illustrates what we're trying to do within Warner Archive is hitting different groups of people that like different kinds of films. And I know no matter what we do, there are always going to be people who complain because this or

that isn't happening when the fact probably we're working on the very film that they're complaining isn't available. We are working usually on two or three dozen films at any given time in different stages. So all the pistons are moving and I'm very excited to share what the rest of May has to hold because May will be released with eight new Blu-ray releases. We, of course, talked about Border Incident, Clash by Night, and Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 1. So that's three. So now we'll talk about the five films that will complete May. And then in a couple of weeks,

we'll be talking about the films that will be coming out in June. So people have a lot to look forward to. out in June. So people have a lot to look forward to. The first film coming in May is a 4K scan of Nitrate Technicolor Original Negative. That's exciting in and of itself. Anytime we can do that. This is a very unique, special film that I know has a really significant cult following. Very important film, too. It's called The Boy with Green Hair, and it was made at RKO in 1948. It was one of Dori Shari's personal productions because it was a message film about how people are treated differently, about how people are treated differently. And it was very much post-World War II.

And you have amazing direction from Joseph Lozzi, who ended up getting blacklisted and moving to England because of that. But before that happened, he was creating films like this. And it was very rare for RKO to make Technicolor films. I think this was probably, if my brain isn't failing me, this was either the third or fourth, and they didn't have a color RKO logo yet. And people noticed that even on our recent release of Rancho Notorious. But when the Technicolor hits, it will knock your socks off because this is yet another one of those films that on DVD didn't look particularly good. It's the first time we're remastering in nearly 30 years. And with a 4K scan of the nitrate original yellow, cyan, and magenta negatives, the results are astounding, thanks to our incredible colleagues at Warner Brothers

Motion Picture Imaging. So The Boy with Green Hair, as I said, was directed by Joseph Lozzi. It stars Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, who we talk about a lot, Barbara Hale. And most importantly, really, he should have gotten top billing, is Dean Stockwell as the boy with green hair. And RKO borrowed Dean Stockwell from MGM, where he was under contract. And people will know him from his adult career. You know, he had a very successful child actor career, but continued working as he grew as an adult. And I think the thing he's most famous for is the original Quantum Leap being on with

Scott Bakula. But he just passed away not too long ago, and was very well-liked in the industry, but was a really impressive child actor. And his performance in this film, everything about this film fascinates me. It's just so unlike anything that was done at the time. So we're very, very excited that that's leading off May Part 2. Now, the next film I'm going to talk about for May is also a film with a very famous child actor. This famous child actor grew in to become an Academy Award-winning director,

famous child actor grew into become an Academy Award winning director. And that is Ron Howard, when he was known as Ronnie Howard. And he re-teamed with Shirley Jones at MGM in 1963, that was the release date, after they had been in The Music Man together with a film that starred Glenn Ford, directed by Vincent Minnelli. If you haven't already figured it out, it's The Courtship of Eddie's Father. And this is emblematic of how Vincent Minnelli could direct any kind of movie. And that same light touch that he brought to films like Father of the Bride, and we even talked about the long, long trailer, light touch that he brought to films like father of the bride. And we even talked about the long, long trailer, uh, you know,

which we released in January, the man could direct virtually any genre. And this is, it's a comedy, yet it's also very much a drama, uh, because there are some moments of it that are deeply, I have to say, somewhat upsetting. Because the plot is basically that Glenn Ford has recently become a widower. His wife has passed away. And Ron Howard, Ronnie Howard, as he was called then, plays his little boy, Eddie. And the whole thing is based on a novel by Mark Tobey is about

how they're adjusting to life without respective wife and mother. And Shirley Jones is the neighbor across the hall who tries to help Eddie deal with this. But how both Glenn Ford's character and Ron Howard's character deal with the loss of the woman in their life and how they move forward is really the thrust of the film. The performances are excellent. It also co-stars Stella Stevens, who recently passed away, Dina Merrill, and Roberta Sherwood. And it has that Minnelli look specific to the period, filmed in 1962, released in 1963. The film was a huge hit when it came out,

and MGM was always looking at their successful films as potential material to create a television series. And this started when MGM got into the TV business in the late 50s. The first film to really get a TV translation that worked was the Thin Man series. That lasted two seasons on NBC. But when The Courtship of Eddie's Father came to television as a television series, with Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz as Eddie, it was very much reflective of the time period. It was in the 1969-1970 season on ABC. And it was very, very different in virtually all ways from the feature. And that, of course, had the Harry Nilsson theme song, Best Friend. And even though it only ran three

seasons on the network, it had a long syndication life. Warner Archive released it on DVD very long ago. I think it was 2010 or 11. And it sold really, really well. But the feature film hasn't had a proper high-definition 16x9 letterbox master until now. And this is yet another 4K scan off the original camera negative. It looks stunning, and I think this film is not appreciated enough, and I'm hoping that this new release will give it the attention it deserves. So we're very, very excited about that for sure. The next film is very much a family film. And it is animated. It is an animated feature. It is the first theatrical animated feature produced by Hanna-Barbera.

And that is, hey there, it's Yogi Bear. And this is a brand new, again, 4K scan off the original camera negative. This was released in 1964. And it was pretty successful when it came out. at doing full animation versus the limited animation format that they developed for television to cut down on cost. And it was successful enough that two years later, they did a Flintstones feature. And I hope we'll be able to do that someday. But this is really a nice showcase for the Yogi character and has always been beloved by generations. It's hard to believe this movie is 59 years old.

So it's been entertaining a lot of people. It's never been absent, but it's also never gotten this kind of presentation. So very, very excited about that. of a presentation. So very, very excited about that. And I know a lot of the Hanna-Barbera fans are looking forward to something like this. And yes, there will be more feature animation coming from us this year. We've got a few in the works. So we're going to take a complete left turn at Albuquerque, as Bugs Bunny would say, for the next film. The next film is from 1950 and reminds us that before there was Indiana Jones, there was Alan Quartermain, not the character on General Hospital, but the adventurer who is the main character in the famous 1885 novel by H. Ryder Haggard, King Solomon's Minds. And this was filmed on location

in Africa by MGM in 1949, released in 1950. It stars Deborah Carr, Stuart Granger, and Richard Carlson. And it was a huge hit when released. And most importantly, it was shot in Technicolor in Africa, which is really amazing when you think of what they had to go through to do this. And it's, in fact, a reason why that reusing footage shot for this movie was the basis for at least one MGM film made many years later, a very minor film. And I have to think that they provided stock footage to all sorts of folks. But it was fascinating to see this from the original camera negative with a 4K scan. People have loved our Technicolor Blu-ray releases and these restorations that

apply what used to be our ultra resolution process in a much more modernized format so the alignment of the elements is really astounding and uh there's going to be a special little bonus on this that we'll talk about when we go through the releases on your podcast as we do every month. I'll get into more of the details, but I did a lot of research on this and found something quite interesting, and so that'll be fun to talk about.

And then the last of our films is the oldest of our films. And this is a film held in the highest regard by many people. It stars a person that you may have heard of. Her name is Greta Garbo. And we're happy to bring another Garbo film in high definition on Blu-ray. The brand new master 4K scan. It's gorgeous. It's Ruben Mamoulian's Queen Christina. And this is the MGM style at its height. Some people think this is Greta Garbo's greatest performance. I would agree

arguably that it is an amazing performance, but there are so many others like Camille, which we released a few months ago. There will be more Garbo coming later in the year, but Queen Christina really is fascinating for multiple reasons. Her co-star was John Gilbert, and John Gilbert was her fiancé in the late 20s. They had made an incredible screen pair in Flesh and the Devil in 1926. And when sound came in, Gilbert's career took a downward trajectory. And there are many reasons why. It was rumored that his voice was high and therefore he could make the translation to talkies. That's a lot of bunk. Because if you see this film, Gilbert got the role at Garbo's insistence. And his career was not going well at that time. MGM was not supporting him.

And Garbo insisted that Gilbert get this part as her lover in the film. And as with other films of his that are worthy of note, like Downstairs, which was actually based on the story by Gilbert, he had a perfectly fine voice. And it was one of the great shames of Hollywood that his career was allowed to head downward as it did and led to a premature death. He's wonderful in this movie. And this is really his last great appearance. And it was thanks to Garbo's loyalty to him. She wasn't wanting to get married and she never did. But there was certainly something very special between the two of them and then of course reuben mamoulian being the director he is one of the most fascinating directors to me because he directed so many groundbreaking great films

and stage works he directed the stage productions of Porgy and Bess in Oklahoma, and he directed films not only like Queen Christina, but early talkie of enormous importance, Applause, which was made for Paramount in 1929. And he just, he didn't work a lot in film. But when he did, the results were often remarkable. And he lived to a ripe old age. So he lived to see his work properly lauded by future generations.

So it's it's quite a remarkable thing. So it's quite a remarkable thing. And to see this film in a beautiful new presentation, I think people will be very impressed with how gorgeous it looks. And I was particularly impressed how great it sounded. You know, when we do our sound restorations, we're very careful to not eliminate the high end, which often people stamp on a soundtrack and they, everybody sounds like they're under a pillow.

And I was noticing how crisp and clear the high end was on this. And for a movie that is literally 90 years old, that's a pretty impressive feat. So that is the May lineup for the rest of the May lineup. So all of May is Border Incident, Boy with Green Hair, Clash by Night, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, King Solomon's Minds, Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 1. And if sales are good, there will be Volume 2 and 3 and 4 and more. And last but not least, Queen Christina with Garbo.

So that's eight titles. We're really excited about it. May should be a wonderful month for the Warner Archive. And once again, Tim, I want to thank you for your support of the Warner Archive collection and the listeners to the extras for their support. And it couldn't be a better way to let people know how excited I am to be able to bring these films to the consumers who are hungry for them. Well, that is an amazing lineup. I mean,

you had these five, as you said, with the other three already announced. And then just recently, we, you know, we talked about the April ones, which are going to be coming out, you know, when this podcast is going to, this podcast is going to come out before they actually street. So people are still looking forward to receiving those and everything. So it's an exciting April. It's an exciting May. And as you've said, the rest of the year is looking amazing as well. And I just should, since their Blu-ray release was somewhat leaked, because we associated with the Film Foundation for the WB100 for a whole bunch of films, people are wondering, where is Land of the Pharaohs and where is Helen of Troy, since their press release indicated that they were coming out on Blu-ray?

And indeed they are, and we will be bringing them in the near future. So I'm just confirming that what they put in their press release was not a lie. It's coming. We're just trying to get a nice balance of different kinds of movies in each month. So coming soon, confirming that, and a lot of other goodies are in store. Well, thanks again, George, for coming on and just a fantastic announcement today. Well, thanks again, George, for coming on and just a fantastic announcement today. And as always, looking forward to getting back on another podcast with you to talk about these titles in detail. We'll go through the extras and provide a little bit more information.

We still need to do that for the April and then all these May. So we've got lots of great stuff coming ahead. Absolutely. Lots to talk about and looking forward to it. And of course, we also have to get Jerry and you on to talk about those Looney Tunes cartoons as well. I'm looking forward to that. And I know Jerry is as well. Yeah. Yeah. So lots of great stuff. Well, thanks again, George. Thank you, Tim. As I mentioned earlier, this is part two of the Warner Archive May releases. So if you missed the part one podcast, I will have a link to it in the podcast show notes. That one includes a segment with Jerry Beck to announce the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 1 release. And George and Jerry have a lot of fun with that one.

So I think you'll enjoy that. By the way, the full list of the 20 cartoons in the Looney Tunes release has been posted on our Facebook page, along with the pre-order links for all of the April and the May releases. And the Facebook page is also where I will post the pre-order links for the titles announced today, when those releases become available in the near future. And for those who are members of our private Warner Archive and Warner Brothers catalog group, I'll have even more information that I'll post there today. By the way, everyone is welcome to join that group, so look for the link in the

podcast show notes as well. It's just a fun place to discuss the releases with other Warner Archive fans. All right, as always, look for our social media links in the podcast show notes. And for our long-term listeners, please leave us a review at your favorite podcast provider. Until next time, I'm Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed. The Extras is a production of Otaku Media, producers of podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connects creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals at www.otakumedia.tv

or look for the link in the show notes.