The Extras - Warner Archive April & May 2023 Blu-ray Reviews: "Safe in Hell," "One Way Passage," "Strawberry Blonde," "Storm Warning," "A Lion is in the Streets," "Border Incident," and "Clash By Night"

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

George Feltenstein of the Warner Archive joins the podcast for a fun and informative review of all five April 2023 Blu-ray releases plus the first two Blu-rays releasing in May.   We dive into the restoration and all of the extras on each release and share our insights into why these seven films are worth adding to your Blu-ray collection."Safe in Hell" is a 1931 American pre-Code thriller film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Dorothy Mackaill, who plays a woman of ill repute who’s wanted for the murder of a man under accidental circumstances.  "One Way Passage" is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic film starring William Powell and Kay Francis as star-crossed lovers doomed to a tragic end. "The Strawberry Blonde" (1941) is a delightful romantic comedy directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, and Rita Hayworth. "Storm Warning" is a 1951 American thriller about the Ku Klux Klan directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day, and Steve Cochran.  "A Lion Is in the Streets" is a 1953 American drama directed by Raoul Walsh and stars James Cagney as a southern peddler turned politician and Barbara Hale as his wife.  "Border Incident" (1949) is a noir thriller about illegal immigration starring Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva, and directed by Anthony Mann.  "Clash by Night" (1952) is a noir drama starring Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, and directed by Fritz Lang.Purchase on Amazon:SAFE IN HELLONE WAY PASSAGETHE STRAWBERRY BLONDESTORM WARNINGA LION IS IN THE STREETSBORDER INCIDENTThe Sitcom StudyWelcome to the Sitcom Study, where we contemplate the TV shows we grew up with and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify 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 they're released on digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Millard, your host. Today, George Feltenstein of Warner Brothers joins me for a review of the 5 April

and two of the early May Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive. Hi, George. Hi, Tim. It's great to be back with you, and it's going to be a packed podcast. It really is, and I really enjoyed all of these April and early May releases. So I'm looking forward to kind of revisiting them with you and reviewing them and talking about all of the extras, which there are a lot. And that's why we wanted to have this podcast as well, so that we could really fill in everybody on those. So shall we start with the oldest film first, Ethan Hill? Absolutely. Before I talk about this at all, I have to ask you,

had you ever seen this film before? I had not. I own some of the pre-code releases from Warner Brothers, but I had never seen this one. And I'm not really conversant in those films other than a few of them. So when I saw this, I didn't really know what to expect other than what you had said in the announcement. And I'm becoming a real fan of these pre-code films because you should be, because as a fan of like noir and, and I like the cynical tone sometimes that they take. And also the very frankness, it gives them a real modern sensibility. Uh, even if some of the modes are, you know, set in that time. So, um, when I watched this, I, I really didn't know what to expect, but it is really a fun film for me. I really enjoyed it.

For any fan of Precode, but just any fan of seeing that era and seeing how frank the discussion was of her condition and the whole setup of being sent to this island and everything. It's really unusual and it's really great. I completely agree. And that was exactly what I was hoping you would say. This film, I think I mentioned when we talked about that it was going to be released,

but this film really had been forgotten except by a few very dedicated diehard individuals. And we hadn't relaunched Forbidden Hollywood within Warner Archive. There had been the three that came out at retail in the first decade of this new century. But we didn't have the ability when the business started to continue Forbidden Hollywood until we started being able to remaster things. And so when we released Safe in Hell, it was a standalone disc, and it came from a very poor 16 millimeter print. And even despite the poor quality of the DVD, it was really the first time people discovered it. There was a big article in the New York Times about it, and everybody's response was pretty much the same. It was they found the film shocking, frankly, because it is so frank in the sense that the protagonist is put in a situation not order just basically to protect her life,

she made choices that made her have to find a place to hide. And she ends up on a tropical island that's filled with degenerate people. There's really no way to put it. And yet there's so much fascinating dialogue, storytelling. And what I also like is that two supporting characters are played by African-American actors and there's none of the usual, at least in my view, none of the usual stereotyping. It's not a film that requires a disclaimer because of content. These characters are unique and real, like most of the other characters in the film are.

And that's refreshing to see in a film of this vintage. But I attribute all of the film's characteristics to the director, William Wellman. It's no secret that I'm more than just a fan of Wellman's work. And I think we're very fortunate that Warner Brothers had William Wellman make 18 movies in the course of two or three years. All of them are interesting. Some of them are brilliant. Most famous is, of course, Public Enemy. But he was just an amazing filmmaker. And this is a fearless film.

It's not afraid to show the underbelly of society. And Dorothy McHale was at the end of her contract with First National Pictures, which Warner Brothers had acquired. And her Hollywood career kind of nosedived after this movie. and she lived a long life and was relatively happy in retirement. But I like to think that making her films available when we did kind of shined a light on her. We even did a double feature of two of her movies and put her on the cover, and most people have never heard of her. And I'm hoping now that the film has been restored from 35 millimeter nitrate. And a lot of people knew that this was recently one of 10 films where we had promotional and emotional support

from the Film Foundation. And they were all restored at Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging by our talented artisans there. And the net result is new, beautiful Blu-ray masters. And some are being done in 4K for release, which is going through Warner Brothers Home Entertainment, not Warner Archive. But we're all joined together and working with the Film Foundation to let people know how these films reflect Warner Brothers history. And this is very early talky Warner Brothers history. And I think it's exceptional storytelling with exceptional

performances. And it's very memorable. It's not an easily forgotten movie. Yeah. And you know, the other thing that I was watching, and I thought that way, Wellman put the story together, you know, Darth Mikhail, she is the focus, but the degenerates, without getting into the specifics of the plot, are the men. And they really put her in this very tough situation and she keeps wanting to trust. In other words, it doesn't look down on her

for some of the decisions that she's made. Not at all. Yeah, which is a very modern take. And I love that element of it. I think all. Yeah. Which is a very modern take. And I love that element of it. I think this is one that people should definitely own. If you're a fan of Warner Brothers and you want to have films from the different decades and that represents different elements of Warner Brothers, this fits right into the celebration of the 100th. And you've made that clear with the work with the Film Foundation, that that's part of why this film was remastered and made sure that it now looks and sounds better than it ever has for what?

Yeah. From what I understand, there was some academic access to the 35 millimeter source. access to the 35 millimeter source. So it wasn't entirely unknown, but it was unknown to us, the owner in all of our inventories and whatnot. It showed that we had no 35 millimeter material. And when further exploration was made,

we found out there was, and that's when the restoration began. And it should come as no surprise that when Warner Brothers released this film, they were touting the fact that it wasn't for children. I think a title like Safe in Hell kind of gives you that already. But they went out of their way to make sure people knew that it was a very adult story. I'm so glad that you liked it as much as you did, and I knew that you

would. I think people will appreciate what the film is. It is a great disc because we did get to put on some 1931 items that one would have seen in a Warner Brothers theater going to see this Warner Brothers film. Yeah, there's a robust amount of extras on here. I watched that Pat O'Brien in Crime Square, which is what a short, I guess.

Right. It's a Vitaphone short. Yeah, quite entertaining. Metaphone short. Yeah, quite entertaining. And then this George Jessel and his Russian art choir. That was a very unique little piece. And of course, the cartoon was terrific. Stay with us.

We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast. And I wanted to let you know that we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers catalog physical media releases. So if that interests you, you can find the link on our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. Yeah, the cartoon and the Pat O'Brien short, both high definition, which really helps. Cartoon looks amazing for a cartoon that's 92 years old. So it's a wonderful package, and I'm grateful that we have the ability

to make it available for people to own. Well, should we talk next about the 1932 film One Way Passage? Well, we must, because chronologically that is the next film. This is not a film that's been hiding. This is a film that has remained popular for many, many years. It was given a theatrical reissue a few years after it came out, and then it was remade as Till We Meet Again in the early 1940s. It's a wonderful story because it was an original story written for the screen

and the writer, Robert Lord, got an Oscar for the original story. And it's a unique story. And I think what makes the film really special is the chemistry between William Powell in the leading male role and Kay Francis in the leading female role. Yeah, I was not that familiar with this film, but with everything that I had heard and read about it, there's obviously a lot of people who are very, very, very fond of this film. And it's had rave reviews over the years from Leonard Maltin and others. As a huge fan of William Powell, I was very excited to watch it. And what's amazing is that from like the first scene, their chemistry, you could just tell they've obviously worked together in other films, but the chemistry is just there. It's almost like they don't have to say that many words. So much of it

is expressed just in their body language and how they interact with each other. So right from the get-go, you can tell, oh, this is going to be a special film. They had both worked together, Kay Francis and William Powell, and worked together at Paramount. Paramount is where K. Francis made her film debut, I believe, right at the one of them were happy at Paramount. And Kay Francis went to Warner Brothers and stayed for many years and really was one of the biggest female stars at Warner Brothers. And William Powell stayed for a couple of years and then went to MGM, where he reigned as one of the biggest leading men at the studio for over a dozen years. But their work together, there are two films they made together at Warner Brothers, and I love both of them. One Way Passage is certainly a beautiful, romantic drama.

It's a melodrama, but in the finest sense of the word. And the other film they made together is a romantic comedy that is in one of our Forbidden Hollywood collections called Jewel Robbery. And my only prayer is that we get the opportunity to bring in that negative and scan it at 4K and put it out on Blu-ray as we've done with One Way Passage. Because it would be a sin if we couldn't bring that film to Blu-ray. Remastering it for DVD was a big step, but bringing it to Blu-ray would be wonderful. And they just have a great electricity. I don't think, with the exception, of course, obviously, of Myrna Loy, who was Powell's co-star not only in the Thin Man films, but in many other films, they were just magic together. But I think the chemistry between William Powell and Kay Francis was very special and helped to make this film as wonderful as it is.

immediately. You know, it's love at first sight here, or maybe it's love at first drink, but it's, you know, they're in the bar there in Hong Kong and it's fantastic. And, you know, I'm not sure if they started a whole trend of breaking the champagne glasses after drinking, but I mean, that was kind of this very romantic touch and, you know, that doesn't give away any plot points, but it becomes this kind of reoccurring thing and it's so sweet. But I have to say that I enjoyed these grifters, Skippy and Betty, the countess that are their friends that really also help in the storyline. I thought they brought a lot of humor and they brought a balance to the melodrama of the romance. Both of those performers, Frank McHugh as Skippy and Aileen McMahon as Barrelhouse, they both have lightened up. Maybe that's not even the right word. They both turned on an extra degree of wattage to many Warner Brothers movies, especially in the 1930s. many Warner Brothers movies, especially in the 1930s. For example, Aileen McMahon virtually steals the gold diggers of 1933

from the stars of the film. And she's an underrated, magnificent performer. And Frank McHugh was a staple at Warner Brothers throughout the 30s in countless films. Just wonderful. And we'll be talking about him a little later on in this podcast and in a film made over 20 years later. Yeah, he was great. It's a lot of fun. And I loved the whole kind of element of the ship as well. It captures a point in time in history when, I don't know, there's a certain kind of maybe a nostalgia about those kinds of old ship trips where it would take, what, 30 days, you know? So you legitimately could fall in love with somebody. It's not just

like a three-day Caribbean cruise or seven-day, you know, cruise that you have now, but there's this kind of romanticism, I think, just in the cruise itself and the boat and all those scenes. I really enjoyed as part of that story. Well, you've hit on the nail on the head because in that era, shipboard romance film stories are abundant. That was always a great device to set a film plot, you know, for a romantic comedy or a romantic drama. But the uniqueness of the storytelling here is what gives it the twist. And the direction is very stylish. Taye Garnett,

Direction is very stylish. Taye Garnett, who isn't known for that many great films, but this is certainly one of them. He also happened to direct The Postman Always Rings twice in the 1940s and had many other great successes during his career as a director. I don't think he's appreciated enough for, you know, the really magnificent contributions he made at multiple studios. You know, at MGM, he directed China Seas with Clark Gable and Gene Harlow and Wallace Beery. And he worked at MGM in the 40s again, doing films like Valley of Decision with Gregory Peck and Greg Garson. I just mentioned Post-Murray Springs twice. He went to Paramount

to direct Connecticut Yankee and King Arthur's Court, which is a magnificently entertaining technicolor opus with Bing Crosby and Rhonda Fleming. It's a fun film. And he worked from the silent era all the way till the 70s. He was a very prolific filmmaker, and people need to give him a little more credit. And One Way Passage is considered one of his best works, and we're delighted to be able to bring it again this is another one of the films selected to honor the hundred years of warner brothers with the

promotional support of the film foundation and it's been very enthusiastic because people are getting to see this movie it's like coming out of a fog. You're always looking at it in a substandard form. And now by going back to the original negative and creating this beautiful new Blu-ray, it's an honor to be able to bring that to our passionate customers that look for us to unleash the library.

And I think that's a very important thing. And you just packed this disc with extras as well. Yes. Some very juicy ones. Some that I'm particularly thrilled about. There was the Mary Melodies cartoon. Then you've got that WB short, Warner Brothers short, buzzing around with Fatty Arbuckle. That was pretty funny. I mean, it's fun to see that, right? That short is particularly important because it was part of a comeback on the part of Fatty Arbuckle,

who had been wrongfully accused of a tragic someone died at a party. I mean, it's Hollywood lore. People know this story. But basically, he was proven innocent twice, but it wrecked his career. It wrecked his popularity. And he signed a contract with Warner Brothers to make six Vitaphone shorts. And these were all filmed on the East Coast. And for people who care about what Brooklyn looked like in 1932,

Buzzing Around has some great location stuff shot on the streets. But it's a really great two-reel comedy. And you're seeing it in high definition. And you're seeing it the way it would have been seen in a movie theater in 1932 along with the Warner Brothers part two that's great yeah it really was and then you had those uh Lux radio theater yes it was wonderful to see that Kay Francis and William Powell did it again for radio. And then William Powell did it again for radio without Kay Francis, but with Tay Barnett on screen, director's playhouse. the second radio show was done 17 years after the movie was released and even condensed into a radio program and of a limited length. You got to hear a little banter given that it's's original director would be part of the radio production. And you get to hear Taye Garnett and William Powell reminisce about making the movie. And then you have the

theatrical trailer. And we didn't mention that for Safe in Hell, but both of those, I really enjoyed seeing the trailers for them. I don't know, I kind of could envision myself sitting in a theater watching the trailer and just how different they are from modern day trailers, of course, but, uh, they really put you in the era. And, uh, I, I loved watching those theatrical. The whole concept, why we add the vintage movie going experience of the year, we would do that in sometimes a grander scale when we start doing warner night the movies with the warner legends dvds back in 2003 but to give the color of what people would see when they went to the theater at that time and you bring up the trailers

the trailers the early early ones didn't show you scenes from the film right they were just art cards basically and how that ties into warner brothers history is that leon schlesinger was the executive at i believe pac Title, who was making those trailers. And then he approached Warner Brothers about doing animated cartoons for the studio. And that led to Leon Schlesinger Productions creating Looney Tunes with Harmon and Ising, and then a year later, Merry Melodies. with Harmon and Ising, and then a year later, Merry Melodies. And it all began with those art-only trailers that had not a frame of footage from the movie. Yeah, it's safe in hell.

It for sure had no frames. Right. It's like the artwork and then the words. And obviously it was very important, the text that you put up, the graphics and everything, to get people interested in the stories. So then, of course, for one way passage, pushing the stars and the pairing of the stars, that was a big part of that trailer. possible, you know, the best possible quality of the feature and adding in for color, even though everything's black and white. Yeah.

You know, just giving you a feel of what film going was like at the time. And we're very happy with that. Well, next up, a 1941 romantic comedy, The Strawberry Blonde. This is a terrific film, I think. I love it. And it was my great honor to be asked to present it at the TCM Film Festival a few weeks ago. How'd that go? And the audience loved it. And what we did at the TCM Film Festival was to show the same cartoon that's on the disc

here, Tortoise Beats Hare, a 1941 Tex Avery Warner Brothers cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle. The first of three Bugs and Cecil cartoons, each handled by a different director. Then we had the short subject Polo with the Stars. And the only difference is at the theater, we weren't going to show a trailer for Strawberry Blonde since they were about to see the movie. So we showed the trailer for Sergeant York, a 1941 film that would recreate the night, the movies for Warner Brothers. But of course, here we have the Strawberry Blonde trailer.

What's fascinating is that the story is very charming. It was a modestly successful Broadway play called One Sunday Afternoon. And literally, I think toward the end of its Broadway run, only a few months later, Paramount released a film version of One Sunday Afternoon starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray. And the film wasn't particularly successful, but Warner Brothers saw something in the property. They bought it from Paramount, and they bought the original film as well as the rights to the play. So that's why Warner Archive Collection has a DVD of the Paramount 1933

original one Sunday afternoon, and we got it available for a while. But what they added for this remake was a true sense of charm and nostalgia for the turn of the 20th century period. So that was a nostalgic film looking back at an earlier time. a nostalgic film looking back at an earlier time. Now that's looking back at a period of time that's way over 100 years old. Strawberry Blonde itself is 82 years old. But sitting in the theater,

watching this brand new 4K scan off the camera negative being projected as a DCP and seeing it with an audience and hearing them roaring with laughter and embracing the charm of the performances, the wit of the screenplay and the tight aspect with which Raoul Walsh, one of our great American directors, his handiwork is all over this film because it's directed so wonderfully. And Walsh worked with Cagney several times. And every time they worked together, the results were really quite remarkable. Right before this, they had joined forces to make The Roaring Twenties, 1939, which is one of Walsh's greatest films, one of Cagney's

greatest films. And I think that this film shows you the charming side of Cagney. You see a little bit of the pugnacious gangster that he was so famous for playing, but you

also... He's a good guy in this movie yeah and he goes to prison he's the good guy he goes to prison really under the twisted conditions right and it is a love story i love the chemistry between cagney and Olivia de Havilland. Now, I happen to be very partial towards Miss de Havilland for multiple reasons, but you can't help but fall in love with her when you see her in this movie. She's just so poignant. She gives a very realistic, believable performance. She gives a very realistic, believable performance. She's not giving a performance that's stagey and she's being tough and being a modern woman, spouting out the

suffrage messaging. And even though she seems so independent and everything, she's just so terrific. You're falling in love with her and you're like, to the Gagnon character, hey, why aren't you falling in love with her as well? You're missing this charm. You're missing this wonderful woman right here as he's chasing, of course, the strawberry blonde of Rita Hayworth. It's a terrific performance. And I just love her performance all throughout the movie.

Yeah, and they lucked out being able to get Rita Hayworth because she's just got the right quality. You can understand why all the men are so attracted to the strawberry blonde. Of course, Rita Hayworth was one of the great screen beauties of the golden era. But she also shows that she really had an exceptional ability with line delivery, with playing a character. She's very funny in the movie. And she was borrowed from Columbia, where she was under contract. And just on the cusp of stardom, she would really become a big star quite quickly in the early 40s after having played big parts and small parts since her youth, really. And in this film, they borrowed her

because there was no one else on the Warner lot that they felt was right for the role after Anne Sheridan, who was cast in the role, turned the role down and went on contract suspension. So Warner Brothers was caught with their pants down and needed to get just the right person for the role. And so they borrowed Rita Hayward from Columbia. And I think the film is all the better for it. I love Ann Sheridan, nothing against Ann Sheridan. But Ann Sheridan was feisty and had, you know, just that sharp, smart delivery. I think Rita Hayworth's exceptional beauty and her way with her dialogue is very specific to her. And I think the whole thing just works wonderfully. George Tobias has a great role supporting comedy as Biff is the character

played by James Cagney Biff's Greek friend. And he does a wonderful Greek accent. And then of course you have another stalwart, one of our other supporting players, the great Alan Hale, who plays Biff's father. And he's terrific in the movie. Everybody's terrific in the movie. And the movie was made very much

with a sense of frivolity, and you can feel it while you watch it. And that's why it's still so charming today and why we have gotten so many requests for this film to be given the Blu-ray treatment. Same thing with One Way Passage, very heavily requested. And I'm really delighted with how it all turned out and so excited that

people get to own him i also wanted to just just be sure we mentioned jack carson he plays the heel really well in this as well he certainly does yeah and that was something he did very well yeah yeah and it's surprising to hear about ann Sheridan turning down that role because when you read it, I mean, she's the object of everybody, every man's affection and rare for a woman to want to turn down a role like that because it puts you in such a great light. I mean, Olivia de Havilland plays the second fiddle in that sense, but she's the, she's the wholesome one. She's the one you, you really see. They almost toned down her natural beauty because Olivia de Havilland was exquisitely beautiful. For sure, yeah. For sure.

I think George is part of it, right? They put her in the more comely outfits compared to the – Absolutely. And the hair. Yeah. You know, everything was – they tried to make her a little more plain. Right. And yet, her inner beauty comes through in the performance.

And, you know, we don't want to give too much of the plot away, but I think people can kind of figure it out. But I always had a fondness for this movie. of fondness for this movie. And I should mention that seven years later, Warner Brothers asked Raoul Walsh to step in again for a musical version that retained the play's original title once in the afternoon.

And it's not as good a movie as Strawberry Blonde, but it is entertaining and it is available on DVD from the Warner Archive collection. So I had to put that little plug in. If people want to own all three versions of this story, that's the way to do it. Well, George, next we have the 1951 film Storm Warning. And you had said this was a terrific

film. And when I watched it, I was really kind of blown away with the messaging of the story and just how good of a drama this is. so brave in exposing something that really no one was talking about in popular culture. And they don't get to the degree of what this really represented, but they get close enough just by making the film quite shocking in dealing with the subject matter. I don't want to dance around it. This film exposes the Ku Klux Klan and the way that they would take justice into their own hands and kill people. There is no reference to the Ku Klux Klan's racism and anything like that. And that's where the film is somewhat, I don't want to say it's a disappointment. This is right for this story, but it was so brave of Warner Brothers to expose hatred and people taking the law into their own hands and, frankly, the stupidity behind it. where Doris Day and Ginger Rogers, you would think, oh, my goodness, you know,

Doris Day and Ginger Rogers, it must be a musical. It is far from it. It's as far from it as you can get. This is a very, very serious drama where Ginger Rogers goes to visit her newlywed sister and meet her sister's new husband. On the way, she sees a killing people don't know she was a witness to the killing but it is frighteningly real and Ronald Reagan gives a really exceptional fine performance leading male as the FBI agent who sent in to investigate the murder. And many people have made reference to the fact that there is a similarity in tone

to this film and Streetcar Named Desire, although the plots couldn't be more different. But Doris Day's husband is a brute and not very bright. And you've got this sister relationship between Ginger Rogers and Doris Day. In Streetcar Named Desire, you've got this sister relationship between Ginger Rogers and Doris Day. In A Streetcar New Desire, you've got the older sister coming to stay with the younger sister with the brutish husband. And it's set in the South. That's where it kind of ends. But there is a little bit of a similar dynamic. And given that both films were released by Warner Brothers in 1951, it's just interesting. Obviously, A Streetcar New Desire has no place in discussions about films dealing with murders or the Klan or racism or nationalism. Of course, it's not anything about that. But in terms of the sisterly relationships and the fact they're made by the same studio in the same place, there's even bowling alley scenes in both movies. I'm not

the only person who noticed that. And I've seen very many people comment about that. And people are also shocked by some of the events that occur in this film. They're certainly unexpected. Yeah. I have to say that i thought ginger rogers was terrific i think what she does so well is you think i probably would react the same way that she she does you know um and we don't want to get too much into the plot but this is her sister after all and and she and she wants to protect her. And, and yeah, she hasn't seen her in a few years, but her performance I thought was just so heartfelt and real. And I also really enjoyed Ronald Reagan's performance. I thought, I thought he was really good as well.

Yeah. I mean, a lot of people don't give him enough credit for being a good actor and he made some movies that weren't particularly good but he also when given the chance gave fine performances in several films and this is one of them and when we put this film out on dvd i think that was probably in the mid-aughts. People were kind of taken aback by this then, and it was within a collection of Ronald Reagan films. being yet another 4K scan off the camera negative. And a lot of work went into this because the camera negative had damage in certain sections. So we had to Frankenstein a few shots to make sure that the quality was even and beautiful. And even a not beautiful story needs to look like the filmmakers intended it to look. And I think we achieved that here. I often wonder if some of the issues that we found in the camera negative had to deal with potential censorship. And I haven't been able to quite answer that definitively. But I will say that what we released is the film as it was

originally released to theaters in 1951. And it is an impressive motion picture that needs to be better known. Yeah, the lighting in this, because a lot of it, it's shot, especially early on at night, really, I thought was terrific. And that the new scan really looks terrific. When I was watching it, you just get really pulled in by the great image. Well, and the colorist that was working on this film at mpi when we were doing our initial review you know they worked very hard with all those dark scenes to make sure the blacks weren't crushed and you know you could see the textures in the clothing and in the hair a lot of people don't realize all the hard work that goes into that. And the fact that these masters look so beautiful and these discs are so exceptionally impressive is a reflection of their hard work.

So I always want people to give their attention to the great colleagues we have at Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging. This is their moment to shine. And you have three terrific extras on here, which I watched. The Merry Melody, Bunny Hugged. And then this vintage short subject I thought was terrific, this documentary short, one who came back about a soldier who comes back from the Korean War. I mean, I got totally engrossed in that. Yeah, that's a very impressive piece of history. Yeah. And it brings you right into the moment of 1951.

Yeah. The war's going on in Korea and it looked pretty good for being a film that old as well. But it's a storytelling of just following this one soldier that was really terrific. And then the trailer. Yeah, the trailer is no holds barred in terms of letting people know what they're in for when they go to see this movie. Yeah, yeah. And the film delivers on that. And the film delivers on that. Well, next we should talk about A Lion is in the Streets from 1953. This is, again, a reunion of Raoul Walsh and James Cagney. also one of a relative few amount of films that were shot on safety film after the industry had

moved from nitrate to safety and using three color technicolor photography within a year of this film being made the whole industry switched to eastman Color Negative. And people who've listened to me on the extras talking to you know what I think about Eastman Color Negative from the 50s. It started off promising and then went downhill real fast. But this film is beautiful technicolor. Cagney is quite magnetic in his performance, which is sort of influenced by the story of Huey Long and how political bosses can have too much power. And he really is the centerpiece of it. And you also have a little bit of a, I don't want to say a love triangle, but there's Cagney being seduced by Anne Francis's character and being loyally loved by Barbara Hale's character. I mean, there's a lot going on in this film.

And it is a rarity to see Cagney in Technicolor. He didn't make that many color films. And it's also obvious from this film that when Cagney made it, he was probably about 53. And his days as a leading man were limited. And he started moving into different kinds of roles. The only other film I can think of that he did at Warner Brothers after this was his phenomenal performance in Mr. Roberts two years later. But that was very much not the leading role.

It's an important role. It's a leading role. It's an important role. It's a memorable role. He's the mean ship captain going up against Henry Fonda. And he gives an amazing performance in that. But he's not the protagonist. He's not the star. And it's wonderful to watch him in anything he does. watch him in anything he does. And this restoration being from three strip Technicolor, that meant that we scanned each one of the Technicolor negatives and did our careful recombination of those records for perfect alignment. So the film almost looks like it's 3D.

Anytime I had seen the film earlier, it was muddy. And now it looks fantastic. And it's very entertaining. And once again, we've tried to add some 1953 accoutrement to the proceedings with some extra Warner night, the movies kind of material. Yeah. The first thing I noticed was the color. You pop the disc in and that Technicolor just pops. And right from the very first scene, when Cagney comes on, the rainstorm is happening and they're going to the schoolhouse. It looks terrific. It sounds terrific. But I mean, the reason to buy this film is James Cagney. I mean, I think he is at his charismatic best. He just carries you along.

And at first I was like, why would this, you know, why would this Pennsylvania school teacher marry this guy? You know, they're so different. You know, you're kind of with her finding out who is this guy and seeing how he's just beloved in the community and has all these relationships. And it's really terrific. And I think if you're a fan of Cagney, this is one you definitely want to have because he's so good. It's a really actually a very powerful story of not just politics, but of psychology, really, in many ways, this terrific drama. And it's quite entertaining as well, as you said. Now, was this his production company that produced this? His brother had basically run a production company, William Cagney. And James Cagney brought his brother in to be an associate producer

on some of the last films under his second Warner Brothers contract. And then they went off independently. And this was the last Cagney production. After that, they closed up shop, but it was an intention to try to be somewhat independent, and that was certainly prominent in the 50s as talent was moving away from the studio system and long-term contracts. But Cagney left Warner Brothers after Yankee Doodle Dandy, which is one of his greatest performances. And they did independent films, and sometimes he worked at other studios. But he eventually came back to Warner Brothers for a last stay with White Heat in 1949,

also directed by Raoul Walsh. And eventually, he went off to do other things, but there were no longer any Cagney productions after this film, as far as I'm aware. Well, it's a terrific film. He's just amazing in it. And I think, as you said, you could see he's a little bit older in it, but the magnetism of his performance just won me over. That's for sure. Well, those were the five April titles, George. I just thought that that April group was just so strong. And then I wanted to ask you or talk to you about the two that are coming out

in early May and they're very, very strong films as well. Oh, absolutely. And the first one I thought we should talk about is border incident, which I thought was, uh, an amazing looking film from the first reel when you see it.

Well, this is one of those films where the original negative was a victim of archival fire, nitrate fire. So we had a second generation preservation safety fine grain to scan it 4K as our source. But if you compare that to the way the film looked previously, it's like you're looking at a different film. It's so crisp and clear and the grayscale is so beautiful. And the dark shadows that really define the way Anthony Mann was so adept at film noir.

This film actually began life at a small studio. I think we talked about this when we announced it was coming. It was originally going to be a low-budget movie at Eagle Lion Studios with Anthony Mann directing. But Eagle Lion was so in deep trouble that they sold the package, along with the directorial services of Mr. Anthony Mann, to MGM. And MGM, to their credit, didn't try to make this into an MGM-san movie. It's brutally honest and it deals with social and crime issues that are still prevalent in our society today that has to do with border migration and people trying to come work honestly in this country, people being killed and corruption. The biggest surprise of this movie is you see the usual genial song and dance man, George Murphy, playing a very dark, serious role.

Quite believably, that's the biggest surprise. quite believably. That's the biggest surprise. Not a surprise, but a delight in a positive way is to see Ricardo Montalban as MGM was building him up to be a leading man. And there were not a lot of leading men who were of Latino backgrounds. And MGM believed in his talent and his ability to play all sorts of roles. He did comedies. He did dramas like this. He even did a few musicals. But he had a great start to his career, began to contract to MGM. And prior to that, he was even, I think he went to Fairfax High School.

I think he, I'm not sure about this, but I think he lived here and then went to Mexico, made some films down there, and then was brought into MGM's Stable of Stars. So by the time this film was made in 1949, they were pushing his stardom big time. And of course, one of the other movies he made that very same year, we just released a few months ago, Neptune's Daughter, where he played the love interest of Esther Williams. ago, Neptune's Daughter, where he played the love interest of Esther Williams. But the two of them together are terrific. Anthony Mann is a favorite director of mine, of many people. He made great film noirs. He made great westerns. And we've had the pleasure of releasing both of those genres with him at the helm. And I only wish we had more in the library,

but I'm grateful for the ones that we have and hope that we can release more on Blu-ray. They deserve it. Yeah. And I started off talking about this title and focusing on the look of it. And part of that is because as a fan of noir, there obviously is that look that comes with noir, The Fat Noir, there obviously is that look that comes with noir. But so much of this takes place at night, in a trailer, in the field, in the desert, crossing the border, just in terms of locations. And just a terrific job of bringing you into that world. And of course, the suspense and the thriller element of it that happens as well as these agents are undercover trying to expose some of the criminal element of people who take advantage of the laborers crossing. You feel the messaging coming across more from the VO that's in the beginning and the end. But once the actual film just dives into the characters, it really takes you along for quite a ride and it's very entertaining.

I think it's really a very timely film. Yeah. Yeah. The same issues I think are today as we're back in 49. Yeah. That's kind of the poignant part of it is that it's unfortunately still a problem, It's unfortunately still a problem, maybe even magnified now. Yeah. But I think it was very brave of them to make a film like this at that time. And I'm proud that we're able to release it and to give it the treatment it deserves with a beautiful new presentation on Blu-ray. And you have a couple of extras on here.

You have a commentary with a film historian, Dana Pullen. Yes. And then the theatrical trailer, which is terrific. And I did want to also mention the performance by Charles McGraw. I thought he comes across really well with that voice and, you know, the heavy there for fans of him. His career was on the upswing at this point. Yeah. Well, George, one last film for us to talk about. And I'm not going to say we're saving the best for last

because they've all been terrific. But this is a very terrific film, Clash by Night from 1952. I've always liked this film a great deal. There's something so magnetic about it because the performances are so strong. The writing is so strong. The storytelling is so strong. And I think a lot of that has to do the fact that it's based on a play by Clifford Odets. a play by Clifford Odets. Clifford Odets was one of our great playwrights in the 20th century. And the play wasn't that much of a hit or famous, but Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Douglas' roles

are prime territory for an actor to chew up the stage or screen, depending what medium it is. And on Broadway, the leads were Tallulah Bankhead and Lee J. Cobb, both of whom were very powerful performers. And when they translated it to the screen, it was originally intended at RKO. They really wanted to borrow Joan Crawford to play the lead, but those plans fell through, and eventually they, I don't want to say they settled. Instead, they selected Barbara Stanwyck, who was one of the greatest actresses in film history to play the lead. And she's magnificent in this movie.

She's powerful. You can't take your eyes off her when she's on the screen. And Paul Douglas had a relatively brief screen career. He died relatively young. But he was one of those people that kind of played leading roles, even though he was more perceived as a character actor. to her husband, played by Paul Douglas, and her inability to resist the very charming and attractive movie projectionist who she falls in love with, played by Robert Ryan. And anybody who listens to these podcasts or podcasts of the past

knows that Robert Ryan is kind of like held in my Hall of Fame as one of our great screen actors, that any movie where Robert Ryan is on the screen, you can't take your eyes off the screen. So imagine having Stanwyck and Robert Ryan together. It's just amazing. And then I think we talked about this when we were letting the announcement be made that in supporting role, you have Marilyn Monroe they had a substantial talent. And a newcomer, Keith Andes, who never really became a big star, but worked a lot, especially in television. They're the young couple in contrast to the slightly older couple played by Paul Douglas

the slightly older couple played by Paul Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck. And I think Monroe is quite impressive in this drama. She's not playing the comic blonde that she played in many kind of movies. It's a serious role, but she's very realistic, very believable. And I think all of that is attributed to the fact that this film is directed by the amazing Fritz Lang. I don't think Fritz Lang would tolerate performances that aren't believable. He was just one of the truly greatest directors in the history of cinema. And we're fortunate on this disc to have a commentary that was recorded for the DVD release years ago. The late Peter Bogdanovich recorded the commentary and was kind enough to include

his own interview recordings that he had taped in the 1960s when he was starting out as a film journalist, really one of the earliest journalists in the 1960s looking back at the great directors and great films of the golden age. And he sought out these directors and wanted to interview them and talk about them. And so he had a lot of archival tape of Fritz Lang. And on more than one occasion, he was generous enough to share some of those conversations on commentaries for us, to which we are eternally grateful to Mr. Bogdanovich. He was a lovely gentleman. I had met him several times over the years, and he's very well known for being a great film director himself, making The Last Picture Show,

followed by What's Up Doc, followed by Paper Moon. If he did nothing else, the fact that he could make those three films in a row, it boggles my mind when I think about it, because each one of those films is magnificent in its own way, and they're completely different from each other. But he was a tremendous talent, but he brought his own sense of respect for cinema to his film directing. And he got that respect for cinema by learning from and talking to the great directors of a previous era. And we're fortunate to have his perspective as a running commentary to this film. It's terrific. I mean, he brings so much knowledge and background to the film that that in of itself is a terrific an extra and you know you can just

learn so much as he talks and plays the different clips from Fritz Lang and then you also have the theatrical trailer on there which is a lot of fun as well I was thinking George you know we talk about these films not just because they're great films but why would you want to own them? Right? Why would you want to buy the film? And you have the terrific new scan on this one from the original Camera Negative, and it looks terrific. Then you throw in there the great Fritz Lang, and then the fact that this script just snaps, like the lines, especially from Barbara Stanwyck's character. I mean, they just crackle. And she just has so many great kind of cynical lines about that set of her character. I have to just mention a couple of them.

But her brother is like, why did you come home after 10 years? We haven't heard from you. And her line there is, well, home is where you come when you run out of places. I mean, it's just so anti what we would say normally of home is where the heart is or whatever. It sets up her character of like, she's kind of at the end of the road. And so she's coming back to this dead end fishing town where she grew up that she wanted to escape so badly 10 years before. And it just sets the, the sets the drama for it and her unhappiness and her need to continue to find herself. And that just creates the sparks that work throughout

this film. But it's so good. It's so good for so many reasons, the performances, the script, the filming, the transfer now, the sex tree with peter uh bogdanovich and then if you're a fan of marilyn monroe i thought she was luminous in this you just can't take your eyes off of her yeah it seems that she's in she's spectacular yeah so i mean i just thought this was a terrific film and uh just highly recommended for people to uh to own now that it's coming out on Blu-ray. I think one of the things that all seven of these films have in common is not only that they're great, but they are eminently rewatchable. Yes.

They are films that you can pull off your shelf and watch again and again. And most importantly, even if you've seen them on television or streaming, you're not getting the best possible quality. The discs give you the best possible quality, the largest size file, best quality dependable playback. And when you're building a collection of physical media, that can't be underscored enough. Well, George, as always, thank you for coming on the podcast. It's my pleasure. And I look forward to the next opportunity. to the next opportunity. Well, it's always great to have George Feltenstein

on to talk about the Warner Archive releases. As mentioned, we will be reviewing the other May releases in a later podcast episode. So keep an eye out for those in the near future.

And for those of you interested in ordering the films we discussed today, there are links in the podcast show notes and on our website at www.theextras.tv. So be sure and check those out. If you're on social media, be sure and follow the show on Facebook or Twitter at TheExpressTV or Instagram at TheExpress.TV to stay up to date on our upcoming guests and to be a part of our community. And you're invited to a new Facebook group for fans of Warner Brothers films called the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers Catalog Group. So look for that link on the Facebook page or in the podcast show notes as well.

And for our long-term listeners, don't forget to follow and leave us a review at iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast provider. Until next time, you've been listening to 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.