The Extras
The Extras
Warner Archive May Release Announcement Part 1: Two Older and Two Modern Classics
Warner Archive announces four exciting Blu-ray releases for May, ranging from 1930s classics to modern masterpieces, all meticulously remastered for optimal presentation.
• Three Comrades (1938): Frank Borzage directs this pacifist film based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel, with screenplay contributions from F. Scott Fitzgerald
• First remaster in 32 years showcases stunning new transfer from second generation elements after original negative was lost
• Mystery Street (1950): Early John Sturges police procedural featuring Ricardo Montalban in a rare leading role that wasn't compromised by his ethnicity
• Includes significant Boston location shooting including scenes at Harvard before commercial filming was banned there
• Lean on Me (1989): Morgan Freeman stars as real-life principal Joe Clark in John G. Avildsen's inspirational drama
• First proper HD release, scanned from original negative at 4K after only being available in pan-and-scan DVD format
• La Vie en Rose (2007): Marion Cotillard's Oscar-winning performance as legendary singer Edith Piaf finally comes to US Blu-ray
• Features beautiful cinematography and 5.1 audio showcasing Piaf's iconic music
Stay tuned for part two of our May release announcements coming in an upcoming episode.
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REVIEW - THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE with Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast.
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Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of the Extras podcast, and today we're going to be talking to George Feldstein of the Warner Archive to go over some of the May Lurie releases, and this is going to be part one of a multi-part release for the May releases, as there was just so much to talk about, including the second 4K release from the Warner Archive, which will be in a later episode. Today we'll talk about four releases, including two classic films and two modern classics.
George Feltenstein:Hello Tim, great to be with you, as always.
Tim Millard:Yes, always a pleasure, George. I love it when we get together for these announcement podcasts. They're so much fun, and I thought we'd start with the oldest of these films that's coming out in May, and that is Three Comrades from 1938. What can you tell us about this release, george?
George Feltenstein:This is a film that I would assume many people haven't seen. It's a terrific film with terrific performances, and it's based on a novel by Eric Maria Remarque, if I'm pronouncing his name correctly, the author of All Quiet at the Western Front, and it is a film with a pacifist message that is not unlike some other films we've released recently, like Gabriel over the White House and other films that are more prescient now, in 2025, than they would have been even a few years ago. It's a film with a very strong message and it's directed by one of my favorite directors, frank Borzeghi, and you've got a really stellar cast three leading men Robert Taylor, franchotone and Robert Young and the leading lady is the remarkable Margaret Sullivan, whose filmography is relatively sparse. She did a lot of work on the stage, but what she did do on screen is quite magical in most cases, and this is a film where the acting, the writing, the directing everything comes together, and it's about a trio of World War I German soldiers and how they deal with life after the war. And, most importantly, the screenplay was, at least partially, written by F Scott Fitzgerald, and he did very sparse work in Hollywood, at least that he got credited for. But my understanding was that he wrote the screenplay for this and then other people came in and made contributions to ultimately create what was a very successful film.
George Feltenstein:There was some anti-Nazi thematics in the original book that the production code made MGM tone down because at that time Hollywood was very afraid of Hitler and they didn't want to upset the German Third Reich. You know it was a very tense time and the film reflects that. But the message of pacifism and the relationship of the three men and Margaret Sullivan being a very frail, wonderful woman who's the object of Robert Taylor's affection but I think all the gentlemen in the movie have deep feelings for her she's kind of like the fourth comrade. It really deserves to be seen. And this is yet another film that when it came out on DVD it came out as a Warner Archive early release from an old master. This is the first remaster of the film in 32 years. I think this is another film where the original negative burnt, so we have a second generation safety element to work from. It's gorgeous, the master is just stunning and I think people who have seen the old DVD or seen the old Master on TCM they'll really be impressed with how great it looks and the performances are terrific.
George Feltenstein:It was produced by Joseph L Menkwitch and then, of course, frank Borzeghi being the director. This is a Class A MGM effort and, despite being socially relevant and being intelligent, it was also profitable for the studio when it was released. So imagine that an intelligent movie that can earn a profit for its release. That wasn't such a rarity actually in 1938. It's much more of a rarity now, actually 1938. It's much more of a rarity now. But I'm very enthused that we're able to bring a film of this kind of importance out in a beautiful Blu-ray and we've got some 1938 MGM shorts to accompany it and the trailer, and it's going to be a great release, one of many for me. Yeah, it sounds terrific.
Tim Millard:I'm looking forward to that one and it's going to be a great release, one of many for me. Yeah, it sounds terrific. I'm looking forward to that one, and it's great to get a 1930s film in here for the month of May, and then we're going to jump ahead on our next one here to 1950. And that is a film from John Sturgis called Mystery Street. What can you tell us about this MGM film?
George Feltenstein:Well, Well, this is an early work of Sturges and he did a lot of really great work at MGM really in the early days of his career before he became known as such an action director. This is one of those films that falls in between. Is it a film noir or is it a police film? This is really like the granddaddy predecessor of the police procedural television series that have mobbed the airwaves for the last 25, 30 years. It's more of that than it is a true noir, but it has noir influences to it. There's murder and there's mystery and, most importantly, ricardo Montalban is the leading man and is one of the few opportunities MGM gave him once he stepped out of the swimming pool with Esther Williams. You know you didn't get too many opportunities to play really great leads. His character was not compromised by his ethnicity. He was a respected lieutenant on the police force as a detective assigned to this murder case assigned to this murder case. And there's a good deal of Boston location shooting on this movie. And they even shot on location at Harvard University, which subsequently became something that was not allowed. Harvard would not allow commercial filmmaking on their campus and I believe that is still true to this day. If I'm wrong about that, you folks can all let me know, but that's my understanding. But they did get permission. I believe it was based on a short story called Murder at Harvard, which just happens to be the name of the archival featurette we have on this disc as an extra. But Ricardo Montalban is terrific.
George Feltenstein:Sally Forrest, who had joined MGM really because of her musical talents. She never really became a big star but she showed her dramatic side in a film, an independent film that I, the Filipino, directed, called Not Wanted, and she actually became more of a noir woman, if you will. She made a few really impressive films like that and she's terrific in this. And then there's Jan Sterling, who gives a terrific performance as a quote-unquote bad girl, and Bruce Bennett, who a lot of people know as the husband of Mildred Pierce, who divorces Mildred and who was Herman Bricks, the Tarzan of the 1930s that weren't made at MGM. He did a few of those other Tarzan films. That makes up the cast and it is fast moving. It's 93 minutes long and this is another beautiful new master. That looks gorgeous. It was a double feature with Active Violence and we did remaster Active Violence, I guess about a year ago. You know, I can't keep track of time because we're doing so much.
Tim Millard:You know it was pretty good. I think it was released a little bit more recently than that. Yeah, yeah, within the last year.
George Feltenstein:You know. But we start where I mean right now. Literally, we have between 50 and 60 movies in some stage of production. So, keeping track of all the dates, you know it's. Oh, did we work on that recently?
George Feltenstein:Oh, no, that was two years ago you know, so I lose track of that, but they're all at front of mind. That, but they're all at front of mind, and the fact that we're able to check off titles that were only available as DVDs and finally bring them to Blu-ray, there's an enormity, considering the size of our library, of what deserves the upgrade, and every time we can check one box off for these really great films, it's a victory. It'll be a beautiful disc. We have two MGM cartoons in HD to add to it, and there's a wonderful feature commentary by Alain Silver I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly, alain, you know French Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward, and that was recorded for the DVD release and is being repurposed here. And then we of course have the trailer, and it should be a terrific disc. I know fans are really looking forward to this.
Tim Millard:I've seen some fans very, very, very excited about this one finally coming to Blu-ray and, just like with Act of Violence, it should look stunning with the restoration work that you guys are doing. So looking forward to that. You know how I love the noir as well, so now we're going to jump a few decades and talk about a couple of modern classics, as we like to say. What can you tell us about the fantastic film Lean on Me from 1989, starring Morgan Freeman?
George Feltenstein:Well, this is I would say this is Morgan Freeman's movie. This is the film. It's ironic too, because I believe it came out the same year as Driving Miss Daisy. It was a great time for Morgan Freeman to really move into that starring status. And it's based on a true story about a high school principal his name was Joe Clark who was dealing with tough students in Patterson, new Jersey, and he brought the principal, joe Clark but ordered, to his school, which was newsworthy and eventually turned into this film.
George Feltenstein:And what is distinguishing about the film, aside from Morgan Freeman's amazing performance as this real life person, is that it was directed by John G Abelson, who's best known for heroic triumph films such as Rocky and the Karate Kid. So it's a feel-good movie. And just to see this movie from 1989 looking brand new, this movie from 1989 looking brand new, the DVD of this film was, you know, 137 pan and scan. It never even had a 16 by 9 DVD release, at least in this country that I'm aware of. So this was like crying out for getting the Warner Archive treatment, scanning the original negative at 4K, creating a beautiful new master, and it just is a tribute to the talent of all the people that worked on it, but especially Mr Freeman, who is one of our great actors, truly an American treasure.
Tim Millard:Yeah, it's surprising, George, that this one has not been out on Blu-ray before, considering that it is a real classic and one of the big, big movies for Morgan Freeman.
George Feltenstein:Well, we were trying to right those wrongs and everybody's got their favorite. But this was a big success, both critically as well as the box office, and I think it's going to hit a home run. It's not a baseball movie, but I think it will be quite successful when it is released looking forward to it.
Tim Millard:It's an all time favorite of mine. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in HD now. So I'm so excited that that's going to be out there for folks, because there's a whole generation now that hasn't grown up with that film who can enjoy it. So now we're going to jump to 2007. And this is a film I really enjoy La Vie en Rose. What can you tell us about this release?
George Feltenstein:Well, this is long overdue to have a US Blu-ray. This is a French film. Obviously. It is the story of the great Edith Piaf the little sparrow. She was one of the greatest musical artists of the 20th century. A life filled with tragedy. Her life story has been portrayed in other films. There was even a Broadway play not a musical, but a play about Piaf in 1981. She had such a legendary career, such a hard life. There have been great documentaries on her. But to make a narrative film about her and really capture the essence of her life story, that is what happened here in 2007. And Marion Cotillard, who portrays Piaf in the film, earned the Best Actress Oscar for her performance and it was very successful at the box office here in the US as well as around the world.
George Feltenstein:A Blu-ray opened up the opportunity for us to jump in and create just that. So when it comes out at the end of May, people can add this to their collection and we've got a little featurette on there and there's about they call this extended version. And the DVD was the same thing and the DVD was the same thing. It only amounts to a difference of a few minutes of extra footage. That wasn't in the at least the? U would sync with this version created a delay, but now we are able to announce it and stick to May 27th being the release date, and there's a behind the scenes piece called Stepping Into Character. That tells you a little bit about the making of the film.
George Feltenstein:I personally am a huge fan of Piaf's recordings and discovered them when, I was in college and she was one of those artists that transcended the genre of the kind of music that she performed and she resonates with the world. She passed away, I believe in 1963, at a very young age. She was in her mid-40s and, not unlike Judy Garland, she looked 20, 30 years older at the time of her death than her actual chronological age. She had been through such a tough life with so many disappointments, but she sang from her soul and that's what Cotillard in her performance, really captures in this film. It's beautifully shot and the audio is beautiful 5.1 track and I think it's going to make a wonderful Blu-ray that people will enjoy.
Tim Millard:I'm so looking forward to this. I mean, this is a fairly recent film, you know, just 2007. And I, you know, I just remember coming out of the theater after watching this, and the music, of course, is so remarkable in and of itself, but the performance that Marianne gives Gerard Depardieu is also in here. They's a wonderful film and so enjoyable. Whenever you watch something like this, it's tough to see somebody go through such hardships, but it's so wonderful to see such beautiful artistry come out of it very difficult to do that and be true to the life story and have it be believable.
George Feltenstein:There have been other attempts at other famous performers and the screen biographies have been, in certain cases, very disappointing. This is the opposite of that. This is a celebration of an amazing person, an amazing artist and someone who still has such international fame and those people who discover her for the first time. I had seen a documentary about her on PBS many, many years ago, many, many years ago, and that's what turned me on to her and I started buying all the recordings and I'm a huge fan of the artist and I'm a huge fan of this film, which really tells her life story with great accuracy and empathy.
Tim Millard:Well, that was part one of our discussion with george of the may blu-ray releases from the archive. We'll talk about the rest of the may releases in an upcoming episode, so you can look for that coming soon. As always, this is timillard. Thanks for listening and stay slightly obsessed, obsessed.