The Extras - Warner Archive May Announcement: 7 Classic Films & Looney Tunes PLUS a Special Update

Episode Date: April 11, 2026

Send us Fan MailWe run through Warner Archive’s 8 May Blu-ray announcements and explain why these particular films are getting new life through fresh scans and thoughtful disc extras. We also share big animation news and a long-awaited update on a Joan Crawford title that has been legally out of reach for decades. • Seven Faces Of Dr. Lao as a cult fantasy favorite with Oscar winning makeup work and new bonus features • Follow Me Quietly as tight RKO noir with a new 4K scan and added crime shorts • Possessed 1931 as peak pre-code MGM with Crawford and Gable chemistry and a rare negative sourced remaster • It’s A Wise Child as a newly freed Marion Davies rarity finally coming to home video with shorts and cartoons • The Late Show as a fan requested 1970s mystery comedy-drama upgrade with Carney and Tomlin • Five Man Army as a spaghetti western with Dario Argento pedigree and a standout Ennio Morricone score • Monogram Matinee Volume 3 as newly preserved Johnny Mack Brown westerns returning from obscurity • Looney Tunes Cartoons on Blu-ray plus approval for Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault Volume 3 • Letty Linton restoration news and plans for a future Blu-ray release Pre-order links for the classic films are not yet available.Pre-order Looney Tunes Cartoons Blu-ray from Moviezyng and get 10% OFF: https://moviezyng.com/saxdn1Amazon pre-order links:Looney Tunes Cartoons: The Complete Series BLU-RAY: Looney Tunes Cartoons: The Complete Series DVDThe Extras Facebook pageThe Extras TV YouTube ChannelThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupJoin our new public Facebook Group for Warner Archive Animation Fans and get the latest update on all the releases.As an Amazon Affiliate, The Extras may receive a commission for purchases through our purchase links.  There is no additional cost to you, and every little bit helps us in the production of the podcast.  Thanks in advance.Otaku 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.  [e-mail]

Hi, I'm Gregory Orr, grandson of Jack Al Warner, and producer of the documentary Jack Al Warner The Last Mogul, and you are listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras. I'm Tim Larger host, and joining me is George Feltonstein to announce the May Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive. Good morning, George. Good morning, Tim, and hello world. Good morning, world. Great television show, by the way. Well, another loaded month here in May, you have eight releases. is actually covering eight films and one animated series. So lots to talk about.

And you're also going to give us a little update on the status of Looney Tunes Collectors Vault. So that will be fun to get to a little later in our discussion today. But there's a lot. We should just dive right in. And this first one, I'm very excited about, I know a lot of people have been requesting this film.

and that is the seven faces of Dr. Lau from 1964. What can you tell us about this film? Well, this has always been a cult favorite. Yes. And early in the DVD history at this company and the history of the medium, this came out in 2000 on DVD. We have not done any new work on the film

in 26 years. So it had been highly requested. It's very popular. It's a very, very entertaining fantasy film that really doesn't fit into any pat genres. It's comic, it's fantasy themed, and there's also just a buoyant sense of fun to it. It's one of those films that people were

remember seeing when they were kids and loving it. It's from director George Powell, who has quite a following. Right. So this seemed like a perfect opportunity, as I've been seeing in recent podcasts, that our lineup of what's in the queue is going to be heavily populated with films that people really want. Seven Paces of Dr. Loud now I has the Pairs. pedigree of being George Powell's work, which we are fortunate enough to own several of his

features in our library. But it also is a showcase, very different showcase for Tony Randall, who plays Dr. Lau. They have him in makeup that probably would not go over well in the current environment. I don't think it's going to be offensive. For example, it's not Mickey Rooney and Breakfast at Tiffany's. And Randall is known, you know, people know him from, of course, the odd couple television show, or they know him from, you know, being the second banana with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. But he never really had films where he was the focal point. And he, He embodies multiple characters, multiple visages, and the makeup is, making it so remarkable that it ended up getting a special Oscar for Bill Tuttle,

William Tuttle, who was the head of the MGM makeup department for decades. This is a 4K scan off the camera negative. I know I sound like a broken record talking about that, but this means the Blu-ray is going to look fantastic. We have added, in addition, of course, to the trailer. We added a Chuck Jones, Tom, and Jerry cartoon of the era, the cat above and the mouse below. And we have a featurette that MGM prepared specifically to promote the film and the makeup work that went into it

called The King of the Duplicators. So people get a real inside behind-the-scenes view of the making of Seven Faces of Dr. Lau. So we're very excited about the release. Yeah, and I just wanted to also mention that Barbara Eden is in here of interest. She's the leading lady. Exactly, exactly. So I didn't want to move on before we mentioned her.

So a lot of excitement for this one. It's a great way to start off our discussion today. Well, next we have another very popular film, and that is Follow Me Quietly from 1949. What can you tell us about this noir? This is a very efficiently made film noir. It comes from Archao. We've talked about Archao. We've talked about Archao-noirs.

I think that this is such efficient filmmaking, because Richard Fleischer, again, is the director. We talked about him a couple of months ago when we put out the narrow margin. He was very fond of this film, and it's got some real spooky elements to it. It's kind of a nail biter if you bite your nails. But it's highly entertaining. And it just shows what a craftsman Richard Fleischer was, especially within the RKO studio.

He was given a lot of basically free reign to make the kind of films that he did. And this also has a screenplay that was co-written by Anthony Mann, who we've talked about a lot on this podcast. So it's a 4K scan off the original camera negative. Again, remarkable on an archa-film that we have it. People will be really impressed, I think, by how great it looks, how great it sounds. We added two Crime Does Not Pay Shorts from the mid-40s

to provide more entertainment on the disc. The feature is relatively short. and we have the trailer as well. So it's a very nifty package. But I think people who buy this will really enjoy the film and be impressed with Lundigan as the leading man. He primarily is known for being a contract player at 20th century Fox. So we don't have a lot of his films,

but he holds the reins here well. And Fleischer again is nailing efficient filmmaking. There's no wasted frame. in this movie. We're trying to get to more noir's, and this was next in the queue. So here it is. Yeah, looking forward to it. Just a side note, narrow margin, so good. And so I'm looking forward to seeing another Fleischer film. Well, next we have a Joan Crawford in Possessed, but this one is from 1931. What can you tell us about this film? Well, I laugh because I've been racking my brain to see if there's another instance where a leading lady made two films completely different

using the same title. I think it is one of a kind. If someone out there knows of something else where a major star appeared in two movies with the same title that are completely different. They can let us know, but I don't think there's ever been one. This is really the first time that Clark Gable and Joan Crawford sizzled together on the screen. It's been alleged that at this point in time, although both Ms. Crawford and Mr. Gable were married to other people, People that they had an on-again, off-again affair for many, many years. We have no proof of that, but the chemistry between them on screen is truly unmistakable. It's just you could feel the electricity between the two of them.

And Joan is playing almost the prototype role that kind of established her. She's the poor girl who works her way up and meets a guy who is the gable part, is not necessarily willing to marry her, but he's willing to give her a good lifestyle, if you know what I mean. And this is very much pre-code. This is the first time this film has been remastered in almost 40 years. Wow. And this is one of those few.

MGM black and white films where the original camera negative does exist, and we were able to use that as the source for this new master. So the MGM look, the velvety grays, the deep blacks, the pearly whites. It's exquisitely photographed Clarence Brown directing, and it really personifies the MGM look when we're working with such a wonderful element that we're so grateful exists. So a lot of people are very, very happy about this. Yeah, and I'll just clarify for those who don't know, but the other possessed starring Joan Crawford is from 1947, and I believe that was released maybe what, a year ago?

Oh, no. That was released, I would say nine or ten years ago. On Blu-ray? Yeah. Okay. as a Blu-ray from Warner Archive. So this was one of those films where there was an HD Master made for DVD. It was not up to stuff for us to release on Blu-ray. So we released a new Blu-ray about nine or ten years ago.

I don't know the exact date. But that was taken from a fine grain and a two-k scan. here for this possessed the 1931, we have a 4K scan of the original negative. So both films are wonderful, and I encourage people to buy both. They couldn't be more disparate, but they're very representative of the eras in which they were made.

But Clark Gable and Joan Crawford made eight feature films together at MGM within a span of, I think, nine years. All of them are worth noting, but this is one of them that really, for lack of better words, rings the bell. It hits on all points, and I think people are really, really going to enjoy it. We don't have a trailer. Most of the very early sound era, MGM films we don't have trailers for, but we've added an MGM Dogville short. People love those.

and it's called Love Tales of Morocco. It's an old barky as they were promoting them at the time. And we also have a 1931 cartoon from Warner Brothers, Bosco the Do Boy. So it's a very full disc, a great presentation, and this is kind of an essential to add to your collection, if you're a Crawford fan, or a pre-code officinado, if you will. It's really, really terrific. Well, next we have, it's a wise child from 1931. What can you tell us about this pre-code film?

Well, this film has never been on television. This film has obviously never been on home video. It was out of distribution almost within a year or two of its initial release. I think one of the reasons for that is the implementation of the production code. And Marion Davies, who is terrific in this film, there's this whole plotline about an unwed mother. And there are some, frankly, some very pre-code lines in the dialogue. But it really shows off her comic skills. And there were legal reasons that we could not pursue a release. Finally, that moratorium, if you will, and distribution has been lifted.

and we're very happy to make it available. The kind people that do the Cinecon every year, they reached out to me over probably the last summer because their convention is on Labor Day, and they really wanted to show this film. So I had been in the process of trying to get the powers that be to say, yes, we can make it available. So I was able to get them the studio print.

to show in 35 millimeter, and now we have this great 4K scan from our preservation elements, and the real diehard MGM aficionados, Marion Davies fans, classic pre-code fans, this is an essential ad to your library. And it's really a good movie. Very often, there are certain films that have been out of sight for various legal reasons that you look at the film and you say, well, this film isn't very good. Not the case here. This is really a terrific film. And I think people are really going to enjoy it. And it's also, a lot of people don't give Marion Davies enough credit when they hear Marion Davies, the first thing they think of is, oh, she was William Randolph Hearst's mistress, and he made it possible for her to make those movies,

and she wasn't talented. It's so unfair. She was really a gifted comedian. And, I think made the transition from silence to sound films very, very well. Some people have managed to see this through, you know, maybe a screening on the MGM lot or something like that where there'd be some privacy because technically it wasn't supposed to be shown to anyone. But there are people who have seen it and think very highly of it. Now everybody can see it and it will no longer be inaccessible. It's something that's going to be on people's shelves as we hope all our classic films that we release will be. I think this is going to be very popular. And I'm very excited that people will be finally able to own this film.

Yeah. And you put in the write-up, you called it a rarity. Yes, it is. Yeah. And I love that word because I love it whenever you and, you know, at the Warner Archive, can bring these, hey, you just couldn't get this. And now you can get it in HD. So it's going to look fantastic. It's a 4K scan of the best preservation elements.

We're talking 1931. Again, pre-code, all of the great pre-code stuff that comes with that. But the fact that you just literally could not get this if the Warner Archive didn't release it. That's correct. And, you know, I'm hoping that it will appear in repertory theaters. It'll be on TCM at some point. that it will no longer be cloistered in the vault with nobody able to see it. I was able to see it many years ago by running the studio print here on the lot.

And I knew it was worth fighting for. So I'm so glad the battle is over. It can now be enjoyed by the fans and the enthusiasts and the cinephiles. And George, this one has some really nice extras as well. Yes, we have two really interesting. MGM short subjects from the era. One is called The Rounder, which has a very early performance from Jack Benny

before he really exploded in radio. But he was gaining popularity. He had been at MGM for like the Hollywood Review of 1929. So we've got that. And then we have a totally bizarre short, aptly called Crazy House. So I think people will really like that. And then to balance out, we have two Warner Brothers cartoons from the same year, 1931, both with Bosco, Bosco's Fox Hunt and Bosco's Soda Fountain.

So it's a really terrific presentation. I'm just so grateful because we've been working so hard to try to free up these films that are tied up in spaghetti. And it's no longer inaccessible pasta. It's ready for your consumption. Looking forward to it. Well, next we have a 1977 film, and that's The Late Show. What can you tell us about this proto-noir? This was the kind of film that doesn't really get made anymore. This was a modestly budgeted big studio film for Warner Brothers. It opened in February of 1977.

Art Carney is the lead, and he was coming off of a time where he was getting basically rediscovered on the big screen, because everybody knew him as Ed Norton on the honeymooners. And he was quite a talented good actor. So he plays an aging private eye in the film, who's seen better days, and he meets this really, cookey woman played by Lily Tomlin, whose cat has gone missing. And it ends up kind of being unexpected that the two of them are wrapped together into this web of lies and mysteries. And it's aptly and beautifully directed by Robert Benton, who had established himself as a screenwriter. He's one of the people who co-wrote Bonnie and Clyde and he contributed to What's Up, Doc. He would go on to do Kramer versus Kramer.

I believe he won the best director Oscar for that. But this is his first film as director, and it was produced by Robert Altman. And Altman had used Lillie Tomlin two years earlier in Nashville. and Lely Tom was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance because all people knew her from initially were her characters on Rowan Martin's Laugh-in. So this established her as a prime motion picture performer and a leading lady. It's just such a well-constructed, efficiently made, beautifully executed film. And it looks gorgeous because it's a 4K scan off the camera negative.

brand new master, and this is another one, not unlike, you know, we talked about last month, private, Benjamin, these films that people have been dying to get the upgrade. And this was constantly being requested. When are you going to put out the late show? Well, here it is, and it looks magnificent. I think people will really enjoy it. There's not that much we could put on this disc that was available to us. we do have an excerpt from when Lily Tomlin was a guest on the Dinah syndicated talk show for Dinah Short and the trailer.

So it's a nifty package. Well, this is not the 70s, but this next film we're going to talk about is from 1969, and that is the five-man army. What can you tell us about this film? Well, this is a spaghetti western, and spaghetti westerns have. have a huge, wrapped audience. MGM made arrangements to pick up distribution on this film that has two stars that normally people knew mostly from television at that point. Peter Graves, who was the star of Mission Impossible,

James Daly, who was the star of, co-star, I should say, of Medical Center. but also you have Bud Spencer and Bud Spencer is known for a lot of the great spaghetti westerns. He was in Trinity is my name and various other films. His spaghetti westerns are very popular. The director was Don Taylor.

So it's one of those rare spaghetti westerns that was directed by an American. The film was shot in English. and we released this on DVD as well. It's actually five minutes longer than the original theatrical release. It's 110 minutes. This is the complete film. Our DVD was the same,

but the DVD came from an interpositive and wasn't a very good master. This is a 4K scan off the camera negative. But I also want to mention that the screenplay was co-written by a legend, Dario Argento. And a lot of people really are. are passionate about this film because of its pedigree, and it's very, very entertaining. It was very popular when we released it on DVD, so we thought a remaster with a 4K scan off the camera negative was apt for this.

I think people are going to really love it. Well, speaking of pedigree, we can't forget the composer for this film, George. Ennio Morricone, yes, of course. It's one of his most praised scores, I think. The score is actually more renowned among certain circles than the film is. We had arranged with a company run by a wonderful guy, Lucas Kendall, film score monthly put out a lot of CDs of soundtrack underscore recordings, and Five Man Army was one of those that did very well for them.

the CD's out of print, and now it's a collector's item. But the music adds so much. It's just a wonderful package. We're very excited to give it the upgrade. Right, right. Next we have the third volume of the monogram matinee. I'm very excited to see that coming so quickly after volume two, but what can you tell us about this new collection of films?

Well, what makes me excited about these are they both star Johnny McNeck. Mac Brown. And Johnny Mac Brown had started out at MGM to try to make him into a leading man that didn't quite work out. So he started making B Westerns at various different studios and finally settled at Monogram in 1943. I think he may have made as many as 50 movies for them within like a 10-year period. Under Arizona Skies is one of these movies. That's the first movie on this two movie monogram matinee collection. This has been completely out of view, legitimate view. And it comes from nitrate source material. So it looks gorgeous. It's very, very entertaining, very typical of what monogram did best, you know, in terms of taught

storytelling. You know, most of these monogram westerns, a lot of them, we have put many of them out in our monogram cowboy collections on DVD, these two films were never part of that because we hadn't done any preservation work. And those elements were sitting there, so that work now has been done. So in Under Arizona Skies, Johnny McBrown plays Dusty Smith,

and his compatriot in the movie is Raymond Hatton, an actor whose career goes back to the days of D.W. Griffith. and I loved the chemistry between the two of them. They had an initial character for Johnny Mac Brown to play Nevada Jack Smith, I think it was his name. There were a lot of those with Raymond Hatton as his sidekick. So this is after they had kind of retired that name, that series, but they wanted to let him do some different kinds of things. But this follows the formula of the traditional monogram.

Saturday morning, B. Western. It's terrific. And then we also have on the same disc, another one at Monogram called Range Justice from 1949. But in this film, Johnny McBrown plays a character named, Get Ready for This, Johnny Mac Brown. They've decided to not even create a character. He's just being himself. They're just terrific because they're so efficient. They're well-made, good storytelling. You recognize the underscoring music that's been repeated from other movies. There is a small group of people that remember these monogram films, not as much from theatrical exhibition, but they were sold to television very early, way before major studio productions were made available.

So that's how these films gained popularity with another generation. But by I would say the late 60s, early 70s, they disappeared pretty much completely because there were more well-known big studio pictures that were available from the studios. So local stations stopped running these at a certain point. And I've spoken before on the podcast about how management at Allied artists, which was formed out of monogram, and Loramar, which bought the, Allied artist's monogram library, they say, oh, it's okay to let these films rot. They're of no importance. And so for many, many years, it's been something I've been very passionate about is saving monogram. These films are important. There are a lot of different. They didn't just make westerns. So I'm hoping we can continue this monogram matinee series

and to have volume three come literally a month after volume two, lets you know that we're seeing great success with the sales. So I hope they will continue. And people will really enjoy this. Yeah, yeah. It's just great, pure entertainment. So I really enjoy these. That was two kind of Westerns back to back.

So that was kind of fun to do there. Now we should turn our attention to animation for the many fans that we have out there. and you have one release that we did a separate podcast for, but I think we should reiterate what that release is here for those who maybe did not hear or watch that podcast. Yeah, absolutely. And I would recommend that anyone who has interest in these cartoons that we're about to talk about to check out that podcast with yourself, Jerry Beck and myself, where we give a quick take on what these cartoons are.

The title, Looney Tunes Cartoons can be confusing to people if they don't have the background to understand. These are not the classic Warner Brothers cartoons made between 1930 and 69. These were made for HBO Max to exhibit. And there's about seven. 17 hours worth of animated material. And these folks at Warner Brothers Animation were inspired by their love for what the great

animators did during the studio's Golden Age with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd and so forth and so on. So these kind of have a modern influence that represents the animators who created them. And also they are clearly inspired by the works of the past. So the baton was passed. And I think it was a terrific group of animated cartoons to be available to people who were watching HBO Max. But as is often the case, people want to own them.

This was a complicated series in that there was a HBO Max involvement. And so we as a company were not in a place to put these out as a physical release until recently. There was only going to be a DVD release. So I campaigned and said, hey, these are made in high definition. They should be available in high definition. So it's a six-disc set for a very reasonable 3498 list price.

And I think people will really enjoy them if they're not. familiar with these newer cartoons, the filmmakers, animators, writers, the creators, the voice talents involved, all do a terrific job. And I would really urge people to listen to the other podcast where we go a little bit more in depth than Jerry shares his personal knowledge of some of the people that worked on it. It's a nice thing to be able to do to have something just come out as a DVD, when there's an obvious audience for it for Blu-ray, we were happy to fill the void. And we also mentioned on that podcast, so I'll mention it here again, that speaking of the Golden Age cartoons, we did get the final financial approval to move ahead with Looney Tunes

Collector's Vault Volume 3. So work is starting on that now, and it'll be available later this here with 50 cartoons, 25 of which have never been part of a Warner Brothers animation collection before, and 25 cartoons that have been part of DVD releases, mostly the Golden collections or some of the single character-related iterations, but these are their debut on Blu-ray in high definition. We'll be able to talk more about what's in the set in a couple of months. So there's much to look forward to on multiple fronts. Yeah, yeah, that's great news for animation fans. Again, listen to or watch the other podcast on the Looney Tunes cartoons, HBO Max series. We really get into that why fans of classic Looney Tunes may find this something

they want to add to their collection as well. Well, George, we had late breaking news. So there is one more title that is not releasing in May, but I think we should talk about it. What can you tell us about Letty Linton from 1932? How much time do you have? I have all the time you know. A discussion could actually go on for several hours, but just to make a very, very, very long story short, one of Joan Crawford's most popular films of the 1930s, Letty Linton, which is even more famous than the movie itself, the dress that Joan Crawford wore in the film was replicated for a retail sale and became like the most popular dress of its time at places like Macy's and whatnot. But the film itself is really, really good. And it's based on a true story

that happened, you know, years earlier. And there had been many iterations. of that story, but there were all sorts of legal things in the way for this film to be distributed that basically have made it unavailable for legal public viewing until now. It was announced to be appearing at the TCM Film Festival on May 1st, and it was announced that I will be introducing it, which I will be, and I will be doing so with Casey Lalonde, a wonderful gentleman who happens to be the grandson of Joan Crawford. and given that the announcement has been made, I wanted to assure our loyal viewers, listeners,

all the people that support the Warner Archive Collection that, of course, we are preparing the film for Blu-ray, and probably on another episode of the extras in not that long a period of time we'll be able to talk about when it's coming out. Right. And we already talked about Possessed, which is from 1931, that is coming out. in May. So those folks that are so excited about that, now have this to look forward to sometime later in the year. And of course, if they're at the TCM Festival, that will be screening there, you'll be there. And that will be, I think, the premiere of this new restoration.

It is. It is. It is a 4K scan off our best preservation elements. This is one of the hundreds of MGM nitrate negatives that burnt in that fire in 1978. But happily, MGM did make preservation elements, and that's what we're working from. I've seen it, and it looks terrific, and it sounds amazing for a film from 1932, mere 94 years old. People have been wanting this film for a long time.

I have been trying to make it happen. The last memo I found in my files goes back to 1998. But we got very aggressive around 2010. Finally, we're now at the time where it will be viewable legally around the world. But I hope that people who are listening or watching the extras right now and hearing us discuss it will be amongst those at the TCM Film Festival on May 1st when I will be. with Mr. Lowland, introducing the film at the Egyptian theater. So it's going to be very, very exciting. That's terrific.

That's a great place to showcase it. And I'm really looking forward to that. Well, thanks for giving us that update. There, of course, will be a lot more detail when you officially have an announcement of a physical media release here on the extras, and you'll be giving us all the background that we want then. Absolutely. Just a little foretaste of that for.

the fans. Late breaking, exciting news. Yes, for sure. Well, it's always great to talk to George and get these announcements of what are coming from the Warner Archive, and there's a lot of great stuff for May. No pre-orders yet, but as soon as those are made available, we will post those, with one exception, and that is for the animated title, Looney Tunes Cartoons, the HBO Max series, Lurek. So we do have that there. The rest will be available as soon as possible. If you haven't yet subscribed, we do appreciate it. It helps the show, and that way we can get you the information you want right away. Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed about classic films.