The Extras
The Extras
Warner Archive December Announcement: 5 Classic Films and 2 Hanna-Barbera Shows
We announce the Warner Archive's December lineup with seven new releases plus the Tom and Jerry Golden Era anthology. Get the details about the restoration and included extras you can expect for these new Blu-ray releases.
Purchase links:
THE VALLEY OF DECISION Blu-ray
LIPPY THE LION AND HARDY HAR HAR (1962-63) Blu-ray
Touche Turtle and Dum Dum: The Complete Series Blu-ray
Pre‑order link for Tom & Jerry Golden Era Anthology Collection Blu-ray
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Hello and welcome to The E xtras, I'm Tim Millard your host and joining me is George Feltenstein to announce the December Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive.
George Feltenstein:Hi George, hello too.
Tim Millard:Great to see you, it's always yes, and this is our last month of 2025. Uh it seems to have gone quickly, but each month it feels like there's just been a wealth of uh of releases this year. So this has just been a fantastic year for the Warner Archive.
George Feltenstein:Well, I I would share your sentiment, and uh I'm very excited about all the things we have going in the pipeline for next year, too. So uh things aren't gonna slow down, they're gonna keep a pace.
unknown:Yeah.
George Feltenstein:And that's what's very, very exciting.
Tim Millard:You've mentioned this on previous podcasts, but just in case anybody missed it, you have a bunch of titles being worked on right now that people can look forward to in the coming year. And that's just fantastic to hear. So there's no slowdown for the Warner Archive. And today we're going to be talking about seven December releases, but there's actually eight because of the previously announced Tom and Jerry Golden era anthology. And that releases on December 2nd, I believe. So very early in the month. So uh just a pack December. And there are a couple more animation titles coming in December. We're gonna hold off on diving into those till after we talk about the classic films, but uh uh that will be exciting for animation fans. So, well, first off, why don't we jump right into I Love Melvin from 1953? What can you tell us about this Technicolor musical?
George Feltenstein:Well, you said the magic word technicolor. All of our efforts when we're recombining the Technicolor negatives just have blown me out of the water. I think people have had a similar experience of being really impressed on how great these films look. In this case, this is a very different kind of film. Very different kind of musical. This was an MGM musical, and it was the studio's thought to reunite Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds after they fit together so well in Singing in the Rain. And what's interesting about this film is it doesn't come from the traditional producers of musicals at MGM. It doesn't come from Arthur Freed, it doesn't come from Joe Pasternak, it doesn't come from Jack Cummings, it comes from George Wells, who was also a screenwriter, and produced a handful of films. But the other thing I find really interesting about this film is that they shot it on location in Manhattan, which was a very expensive thing to do. And I've tried to find out in my research what precipitated that to happen, that they said, well, we can't film this on lot two. We need to go to New York City. But there is Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds doing a musical number in a little portion of Central Park, I know very well, as you get towards Columbus Circle. It's a delightful, Sprite musical. He is a photographer from Look magazine. She's a uh would-be actress who's dreaming of stardom, and their chemistry together is really just sizzling. It's a shame that they didn't do more work together because they're just charming. And the film is filled with great dances and lovely songs, and you get an unbilled cameo appearance from Robert Taylor at the beginning. It moves along at a clip, and uh just as we did when this film was released on DVD, we have an outtake musical number, what was supposed to be the finale of the film. It's something that we used a little bit of in That's Entertainment 3, but that deleted finale musical number is on the disc as an extra. So that's wonderful to talk about on the extras. But if you're a fan of Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, this is a delightful 76 minutes of technicolored musical entertainment coming from the Dream Factory.
Tim Millard:Yeah, it's a it's a terrific uh cast here. And you have a few other extras uh we should probably mention as well.
George Feltenstein:Yeah, we've got two MGM cartoons from 1953, neither of which have Tom and Jerry. We have the Impossible Possum with Barney Bear and Tech Savory's TV of tomorrow, which has always been a favorite of mine. So it's a it's a lovely package, and I think people are gonna be knocked out when they see how great the movie looks, and it's gonna be just a fun thing to add to the collection on the shelf.
Tim Millard:Yeah, yeah. Well, that's terrific. And I love it that you have Technicolors almost every month uh this year, it feels like. Uh, so that's been a real treat for everyone. Well, next we have another musical, Interrupted Melody from 1955. What can you tell us about this film?
George Feltenstein:Well, I I classify this as a drama with music in it. Okay. Uh, because it's the true story of an Australian opera singer, opera star, Marjorie Lawrence, who at the height of her career was stricken with polio. And how she overcame the disease physically as well as spiritually, that's really the key to the story of the film. And Glenn Ford is, as in real life, Marjorie Lawrence married a doctor. Glenn Ford plays the doctor, Eleanor Parker plays Miss Lawrence. Miss Lawrence was a big star at the Metropolitan Opera at the time this movie uh was released. She had written an autobiography. The autobiography rights were bought by MGM to make the film, and there were several other actresses considered to play the part, and the studio finally settled on Eleanor Parker, and she got an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her performance. It's a really, really good film, and uh it's very poignant and very well done. So I always like to distinguish that this is a drama that has music in it. People don't just start singing and dancing in the middle of the story to advance the plot.
Tim Millard:Right.
George Feltenstein:Um but it's very well done, directed by Curtis Bernhardt, who's a great director, did fine work at MGM and Warner Brothers. It's a CinemaScope movie, and it's got an awesome soundtrack, and I think people will really enjoy it, especially people who've never seen it before. It'll be a rediscovery.
Tim Millard:And this must be a fairly young Roger Moore.
George Feltenstein:Very young Roger Moore. Yeah. Roger Moore was under contract at MGM before he moved to Warner Brothers to be a contract player and ended up doing TV before everything was before The Saint. The Saint turned it around for him, and then of course, Live and Let Die and being Bond number two, you know. Right, right. So uh, but yes, you get to see Roger Moore and Eleanor Parker and Glenn Ford. Great cast. Yeah. And uh MGM really pulled out all the stops for this. And the Cinema Scope really, between that and the stereophonic sound, it's a wonderful presentation. I think people are gonna be really impressed with it.
Tim Millard:Well, I always uh am happy to see more Eleanor Parker. And then let's see, you have a few extras on here as well.
George Feltenstein:We have one cartoon that's also in Cinema Scope, Tom and Cherie, which of course is in the Tom and Jerry collection that's coming out December 2nd. But the reason I selected that cartoon was that's the cartoon it opened with in Los Angeles.
Tim Millard:Oh, fun. Yeah, that's it.
George Feltenstein:I went to the movie ad and said, okay, what played with this movie? And that was it. And it's a love story for Tom, so uh it fits in well with the feature.
Tim Millard:And you have the original theatrical trailer, of course.
George Feltenstein:Yeah, so yeah, that's great. If it's after 1933 and it's MGM, there is a 99% chance we have the trailer. Okay. So we're glad to be able to include it. Right, right.
Tim Millard:Well, next we have On Borrowed Time. What can you tell us about this 1939 film?
George Feltenstein:It's a film we've had a lot of requests for. It's based on a book which became a very successful Broadway play that in turn was purchased by MGM to make the movie. And it deals with I would say it has a supernatural aspect to it because Sir Cedric Hardwick basically plays death twenty years before the seventh seal. It's very moving. The crux of it basically is Lionel Barrymore, in one of his best performances, and that's saying something, plays a man who's confronting death and trying to put it off in the persona of Sir Cedric Hardwick. And there's this other aspect to it where his grandson, you know, he's trying to condition his grandson to be prepared for the fact that Gramps isn't going to be around very much longer. These are very tough things to deal with in life as well as certainly in cinema. The way this film handles the material is with a very intelligent touch. This was one of the early Warner Archive DVDs, 2009 or 2010, and not looking very good. We've now got the 4K scan off the preservation elements, and uh it looks and sounds remarkable. And this film isn't better known, but then again, it was made in 1939, and with 1939 being the apex of not just MGM or Warner Brothers or RKO, but every studio, every studio was turning out like phenomenal work in 1939. That's why many people, including myself, think it is the greatest year in the history of Hollywood. There are others who dispute that, and I respect them for disputing it, but for me, the amount of 1939 movies that don't even get consideration for top flight is because the year was so stuffed with greatness, coming from every single studio, both the A Studios and the B studios. Remarkable films. So Onborrow Time now gets the Warner Archive Class A treatment with a gorgeous new master, a beautiful Blu-ray. And uh I'm very, very happy that people will get to own this, and we've added not one but two radio shows. We have a Screen Guild theater production from 1946 with Lionel Barrymore, and then a great scenes from great plays treatment of the story with none other than Boris Karloff. So that's pretty impressive. We have an MGM black and white cartoon that's kind of a one-shot called Wanted No Master. Die Hard animation fans will be happy about that. And then we have a Technicolor Fitzpatrick Travel Talks uh day on Treasure Island. It's from 1939. That's the only thing that ties it to the film. And then the trailer. The trailer is very interesting too because you see how MGM was trying to sell this movie without saying to everybody, hey, you want to come see a movie all about death and dying? You know, um, no, they obviously weren't going to do that. But there's a reason why they were considered the Tiffany of Studios. And this is just one example of 52 films a year at Warner Brothers, 52 films a year at MGM, and the other studios as well, because they had to feed the pipeline of their theaters. And the work that was done in 1939 by all the studios really warrants this kind of acclaim. Because it was the last year before World War II began in Europe, September of 1939, and that kind of cut off half the world from financial support for filmmaking. And stories also had to start to reflect what was going on in the time. So I highly recommend this film. Gotten a lot of uh notes today, uh social media and emails and things, uh, people really thrilled about this movie finally coming to Blu-ray and looking and sounding good. It deserves it.
Tim Millard:Yeah, yeah. So many people are excited for these films that are from the 30s, especially, you know, that uh once they get the Warner Archive treatment, I'm always amazed. I always say it over and over again, these films from the 30s, how great they look and how that really helps make them so much more accessible to those who aren't familiar with films of that era. So uh I think it's great. As you mentioned, 1939, we meant we talk about that fact uh frequently uh when it comes up that it's such a great year. So this is uh this is exciting. Well, next we have another Errol Flynn film, George. You promised that to people, and it's been flooding through the release schedule here. And this one's a Western San Antonio from 1945. What can you tell us about this release?
George Feltenstein:Well, not only is it a Western, but it's a Technicolor Western. So once again, we get to use our proprietary technology to make Technicolor look better than it did when the movie opened. And this is one of those films that on DVD was soft and a little bit out of alignment. And now it's crisp as a bell, tight, looks wonderful, and it's just a well-written, enjoyable Western. Now, how a Tasmanian-born performer such as Mr. Flynn could easily fit into roles in Westerns just spoke to his versatility. And uh when this movie was released in 1945, uh Mr. Flynn was 33, I believe. He was still looking great, you know, and at the height of his, you know, movie star peak. But he plays opposite Alexis Smith, who is just stunningly gorgeous. And you've got a great cast of Warner Stock supporting players, a rousing screenplay, music by Max Steiner, who could ask for anything more. I love Flynn's Westerns. There's always one line in there that kind of justifies, you know, where the accent came from and why he doesn't sound like most of the other cowboys. But this is uh a really fun movie, and it's now getting that special treatment with a 4K scan of the Technicolor nitrate. It's gonna make people really, really happy. And uh, we've added a Warner Brothers Technicolor two reels short called Frontier Days, which is from 1945, also, and that was on the DVD release of this, and we also added a 1945 Technicolor Porky Pig cartoon called Trap Happy Porky and the trailer. So it's a nice package, very entertaining. And uh, if you love Warner Brothers Westerns, you're gonna love San Antonio.
Tim Millard:I think Gerald Flynn's great in everything. So uh I do too. And do you really have to do you really have to excuse an accent in the West when America was just really full of immigrants and they all were in the West anyway?
George Feltenstein:So uh, but uh but that's that's and we have several more Flynn's in in the works. So uh given that his work at the studio was so prolific, and he also did some films for MGM, we've got a lot of Errol Flynn still in our quiver in preparation at this time. So we'll be talking about Errol during 2026, as well as his fellow Warner cohorts like Cagney and Robinson and Betty Davis. There'll be a lot to talk about. Very exciting.
Tim Millard:Yeah, more great news for uh for fans of those amazing, amazing stars for Warner Brothers. So well, next we have The Valley of Decision, also from 1945. What can you tell us about this film?
George Feltenstein:Well, this is an adaptation of a book. It's a love story and a story of class versus class. And Greer Garson was really at the height of her movie stardom when she did this picture, and it was a huge hit. It's very different from the book that it's based on, probably because they had to deal with production code issues. But basically, Gregory Peck, who was relatively a newcomer when he made this movie, he had done a few pictures before this, but this cemented his big stardom. And he was borrowed for this movie. I think he was, if I'm correct, I think he was under contract to David O'Celznick. And uh Selznick made a lot of money just lending out the stars that were under contract to him. Garson and Gregory Peck together were really uh sensational. And these stories of upper class versus lower class, you know, set in a steel mining Pittsburgh of the late 1800s. It deals with the Industrial Revolution. It was promoted as MGM's Tempestuous Romance. It was a big hit at the box office, uh, one of their biggest pictures of the year. So, yet again, this is another finally leaving the roots of a 35-year-old, terrible standard definition master made off of print. And we've gone off the preservation materials to create this new 4K scan Blu-ray. It's just going to be wonderful. And we've added a lot of cool stuff on this, too. We have a Lux Radio Theater broadcast with Greer Garson and Gregory Peck. And if my memory serves me correctly, William Keeley, who had taken over the hosting of Lux by that time, makes a really big deal about this is the film you wanted us to bring to the Lux Radio Theater, and here they are. We also have a great Tex Avery cartoon with quote-unquote Red Riding Hood and the quote-unquote wolf, wild and wolfie. All those cartoons are basically kind of around the same thematics, but Tex does amazing things that makes each of them distinctly different. And then we have a short subject, a musical short subject called Spread and the Jam, which is really kind of fun, and it it relates to people trying to raise enough money to pay the. They have like a party to get the rent together. And if my memory is serving me correctly, this was directed by Charles Walters, who was a choreographer at the studio, and it was kind of like the test to see if he could direct a feature, which he did a year and a half later with Good News in 1947. Uh, and then he stayed at MGM as a top director of comedies as well as musicals and even a few dramas. So uh this is a very well-packed release, but the feature is of course the attraction. And as with On Borrowed Time, once again we have Lionel Barrymore in a scene-stealing performance. But uh the really remarkable aspect of the acting in this film is Peck, and seeing how, even at such a young age, he so commanded attention on screen. I think Gregory Peck, I think Atticus Finch, and then there's everything else. But, you know, he was really great in everything he did. And uh this is him at the very early age. But the following year after this, he did what I think is one of his very best films, which we're proud to have in the Warner Archive collection as a Technicolor Restoration, The Yearlink. He was just unbelievably wonderful in that. The whole relationship he had with Claude Jarman Jr. as his son and Jane Wyman and his wife, I find that film remarkable. And we may have released it a few years ago, but I really want people to look back at the hundreds and hundreds of Blu-rays we've put out in the last 13 years because there's a lot of gold in them Dar Hills, and that's part of why we've been doing these multi-features, so that for things that we did put out in the past, we find ways of making them economically more attractive for people who've yet to dip their toe in the water for a particular genre or actor. So there will be more multi-features coming in 2026 as well.
Tim Millard:Well, I'm looking forward to this one. I I was glad you mentioned Lionel Barrymore. I saw his name. I'm like, wow, we've got several of uh his films in December, but he's also been in a lot of films you've released this year. And this comes in at almost two hours. It's quite a long, powerful film. And and I think uh it you you said here also, maybe in the release, that this was quite a successful film at the box office.
George Feltenstein:Very, very successful.
Tim Millard:Yeah.
George Feltenstein:And it earned some Oscar nominations. It didn't win any Oscars, but it was nominated, I believe, Greer Garson for Best Actress and Herbert Stothert, who did the instrumental underscoring. They were both nominated. And I think it did win like the Picture of the Year Award from Photoplay magazine, because that's representative of like the People's Choice Awards today. That was what the people said was the best picture of 1945. So people may not have been thrilled to deal with like the best picture the Oscars gave in 1945, which was The Lost Weekend, all about alcoholism. This is a little more populist, shall we say? Yeah. And it's a it was a film that appealed to both men and women and was very, very successful. It just represents the kind of films that MGM made so very well. Yeah.
Tim Millard:Well, now we're gonna turn to animation, George, for the last uh couple of releases you're gonna talk about. And and we'll we'll kind of group them together because I think they obviously go together. Um, but what can you tell us about these two Hanna-Barbera series?
George Feltenstein:Well, uh two months ago, we gave the world Touche Turtle and Dum Dum, and part of the series of three new animated adventures with three new sets of characters. There was Touche Turtle and Dum Dum. And then Wally Gator, which we're putting out all 52 episodes of on two discs for the price of one, and then Lippy the Lion and Hardy Harhar. Also 52 episodes on two discs for the price of one. Um, these cartoons, I always try to underscore this because people need to understand, they were produced on a much lower budget. They were produced on 16 millimeter film. The original camera elements are actually positives. From that came Internegatives and Prince and so forth and so on. These were not half-hour shows of each character, but they could have been if the individual state television station decided to run them that way. Hannah Barbera prepared these 52 cartoons for each of the characters, and the cartoons run about five minutes each, and they could be split with other characters that are from other owners. If the station had Popeye cartoons or Rocky and his friends' cartoons, they could mix them all together. But they all hit the market in September of 1962. And as Hanna-Barbera characters, they hold their own alongside with a lot of our favorites, like Huck and Yogi and Quick Dormagras and so forth and so on. So people really love these characters. And to put them all together nicely in the order that they were originally offered to the stations is uh it's a delight. And they look much better than they ever have before. They don't look as good as the Huckleberry Hound cartoons that came off 35mm camera negatives because this is a 16 millimeter production done on a lower budget. But we've done our very best to make the pictures as clean and sharp as possible, and uh the animation comes across very, very well. And the writing is excellent too. So there's a lot of laughs in there. It's not condescending kitty fair, it's entertainment. Right, right.
Tim Millard:And there aren't any extras included in these, uh, George. No, yeah. And part of that is because I know you're really trying to keep the cost, which you already mentioned, two discs for the price of one. You're trying to keep these costs, I'm assuming, very you know, affordable. Because otherwise, you know, it it could really add up if it was $40 or whatever per release.
George Feltenstein:I mean, in today's market, we're trying to find that sweet spot where we can everything has to be profitable or else we can't go on.
Tim Millard:Yeah.
George Feltenstein:So thankfully, uh we are having a more profitable year than we've ever had before. But it is something that we're very, very focused on. That's why I also want to make it very clear, as I've said before, the suggested retail price for our releases had to go up because you know, after 12, 13 years, we had to raise our SRP a little bit to $24.98. But if you see somebody selling it for two or three dollars over the SRP, we have no control over that. And some parties are taking advantage of that. We're trying to put together a good package for a fair price and put a lot of heart and soul and work into it. With the whole group of many individuals here at the studio who are all dedicated to making everything look and sound wonderful. Right, right.
Tim Millard:Well, I I'm I'm really just happy that these are coming out so soon after Touche Turtle just because they they are, you know, grouped together in in historically, even though later on they were dispersed and shown in various different forms or whatever. And I think that having them as individual sets, you know, allows people not only to to choose which ones might be their favorite, but also to kind of break up the the cost, you know, uh to keep them at a cheaper, lower price point, more affordable for everyone, for the collectors, and uh to get them in this, you know, with the 4K scan so that they look as good as possible now. So I think that's a win-win for uh for animation fans.
George Feltenstein:I think so too.
Tim Millard:Well, another great month, uh, seven titles releasing, plus we mentioned the eighth with the Tom and Jerry. Can't forget that. Six discs. Six discs, yeah. That's a that's a huge collection there. Um, but so much for animation you know fans to enjoy. And then also all of these classic films for the classic film fans. So another great month and just in time for the Christmas holiday.
George Feltenstein:Absolutely.
Tim Millard:It's always great when George comes on to tell us what's coming. Next month from the Warner Archive. As a fan, just like you, it fills me with joy as I hear what these films and TV series and animation are that are being released for the very first time in HD. So it's an exciting time to hear that. And this has just been a fantastic year with so many announcements, just of so many titles, and such a great resurgence of animation and so much more. We will be posting the pre-order links when they become available. Usually that's uh in a few weeks uh before those do become available, but we'll have those there for you. The Tom and Jerry Golden Era anthology is available for pre-order. So if you haven't yet picked that up, be sure and check out the pre-order link in the show notes as well. I recommend getting that pre-order in so that you're in the list to have those shipped out right away. Because I do imagine that there's a possibility that if you wait too long, you could not get it before the holiday. So wait for that for the serious collectors. So get your pre-order in for that. And if you haven't yet subscribed, you may want to do that because there is a lot of exciting podcasts coming in the future. Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed.