The Extras
The Extras
Warner Archive September 29th Announcement: A David Lean 4K, a Highly Requested Hanna-Barbera PLUS 3 Classic Films
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We walk through Warner Archive’s September 29 releases with George Feltenstein, digging into what makes each title special and what the new transfers reveal. We also explain the real-world hurdles behind restorations, from missing footage and lost elements to music rights that kept a beloved cartoon off shelves for decades.
Amazon Pre-order links:
THE QUICK DRAW McGRAW SHOW (1959-60) Blu-ray
SKYSCRAPER SOULS (1932) Blu-ray
PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES (1960) Blu-ray
Not yet available for pre-order: RYAN’S DAUGHTER (1970) 4K + Blu-ray & RYAN’S DAUGHTER (1970) Blu-ray
If you haven't yet had a chance to listen to the podcast for the September 22nd releases, be sure and look for that, both on audio podcast and on YouTube.
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Welcome And Release Lineup
Tim MillardHello and welcome to the Extras 'm Tim Millard your Host. And joining me is George Feltenstein of the Warner Archive to announce three classic films and one animated TV series releasing on September 29th. Plus, a highly requested David Lean Film releasing on 4K in early October. Hi, George. Hello, Tim. Great to be with you again as always. Well, we have so many titles releasing in September. We recorded a podcast for some of the earlier ones coming out on September 22nd. Today we're going to talk about more titles coming out September 29th, plus this 4K, which I mentioned. We'll talk about that a little later, just to let everybody know and to stick around for that. But let's dive in to these terrific classic films coming out on Blu-ray.
Marked Woman And Its Restoration
Tim MillardAnd first up, we have the 1937 film Marked Woman, starring two very big Warner Brothers stars. What can you tell us about this film?
George FeltensteinWell, it's kind of strange to think this movie is 89 years old, and in my opinion, is not as well known and not as respected as it should be. I think it's kind of common knowledge among Cinephiles and people who love the history of Hollywood that uh Betty Davis was not happy under her contract with Warner Brothers. She actually flew to Europe and to England and was trying to break her contract and was going to make films there because she was really angry about the kind of scripts that Jack Warner was submitting to her. And she had already won the Oscar for Dangerous 1935 film. 1936, she actually got the statuette. I think that's about the time that she skedaddled across the pond. Before that, on Loan Out, she did of Human Bondage in 1934, where she was not the Oscar winner, but it was Archeo that gave her that part that kind of underscored her abilities as an actress. And everybody has assumed that her winning the best actress Oscar for Dangerous was like a token makeup because she had been so good enough human bondage. Nonetheless, she left to go to England, tried to break her contract. The studio prevailed and forced her to come back to the studio and work under contract. However, when she came back, the quality of the scripts that she was provided was far improved. And so she said, I may have lost the battle, but I won the war. I may be transposing the words she said, but she basically considered her activity triumphant because the scripts that were sent her way upon her return and thereafter were of a much higher caliber. And I'd say one of the earliest of those, if not the earliest, I believe. I don't know the time frames, but I'm I'm pretty sure that Marked Woman was the first film that she did upon her return from the trip to London. And in Marked Woman, she plays a very strong-willed, attractive, intelligent woman named Mary Dwight. And Mary Dwight is among a group of hostesses at a nightclub. Hostesses.
Tim MillardRight.
George FeltensteinThe nightclub got taken over by a ruthless villain and a member of the underworld, shall we say, played by Eduardo Cianelli. And the girls were all taught they had to, you know, basically rip off the gentlemen that came to the club, find ways to steal their money. This is a film that takes no prisoners. It's very much in your face. And it's it's brutal and it's somewhat terrifying to see what these women are subjected to. Great group of actresses cast in this. And Humphrey Bogart, post-Petrified Forest, is given a really good role here as a crusading district attorney. And uh, I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but Bogart really didn't get a chance to be a leading man until High Sierra really put him in the forefront and not just a supporting player. But here he really is the leading man in a sense. Uh there's no romantic relationship between Bogart and Davis, but his role here is really pivotal and critical, and he's terrific. This is allegedly based on what was going on in the real world with Lucky Luciano and the gangster who was running, you know, all sorts of rackets back in the 30s. And that's why we have a featurette on the disc called Rip from the Headlines, which gives you, I mean, that's what Warner Brothers did. They ripped stories from the headlines. They may have torn the newspaper kind of gently, but they were taken out of the newspaper, whether they were ripped or carefully cut out. But they got the idea for this movie from real life incidents. And the inciting incident, aside from the character of Vanning, the gangster, taking over this nightclub and putting the women under his employee, under his direction, there's a plot complication when Betty Davis' sister comes to town to visit, not knowing what Betty Davis is really up to in her life. This is post-code, right? But there are elements in the dialogue that were a bit kind of like the production code wasn't really paying attention. And so the film was cut either for a theatrical reissue, which I believe was the case. It might have been cut before the sale to television, but I'm I know there was a theatrical reissue in the 40s when Bogart and Davis, you know, get a much more prominent positioning in the advertising and the posters and so forth and so on. They're really pushing the two big stars in this great movie. But they cut about 10, 11 minutes out of the film. The film's relatively short anyway. So for a very long time, the cut version of this film was in circulation. And in the stone age of the video world, when this was being prepared for its reissue on VHS and its issue on Laserdisc, that was the first time that I was involved with trying to find the missing footage and put the whole thing together. And the whole thing's been put together ever since for the last few decades. But now we've gone back to the original camera negative for a 4K scan. Film looks great, it sounds great. The edited parts were edited out of the camera negative. So we had to work with the nitrate fine grain for those missing sections. But it looks wonderful, and the film is surprisingly powerful. So I heartily endorse this film. It's quite terrific.
Tim MillardI was noticing on the cover, Humphrey Bogart, his name's a little small.
George FeltensteinWell, sure, because he was still considered a supporting player. Yeah. You would have thought that after The Petrified Forest, they would have just pushed him to stardom, but they didn't. Yeah. But it's Betty Davis and Mark Dweman with Humphrey Bogart, and then all these uh character actresses, and Eduardo Cianelli is vanning. It's a great cast. It's not a musical by any stretch of the imagination, but because it's set in a nightclub, there's songs by Stalwart Warner Brothers composer and lyricist team, Harry Warren and Al Dubin. Uh so there's some good songs in it. And it's just a great Warner Brothers movie. Yeah. And uh I can't say enough good things about it. I think people will really, really enjoy it.
Tim MillardAnd then you also have a couple classic uh cartoons in HD.
George FeltensteinYes. And what we did was we took the same two cartoons that accompanied the DVD, but now we have HD remastered versions of those cartoons. And then we have our featurette rib from the headlines, which gets into the background of the making of the film and how, even past the production code, it was still the ethos of this great studio of ours to be amongst the topical subjects of the day and make movies of it.
Tim MillardWell, whenever you go back to the nitrate, these films from the 30s, they just look fantastic.
George FeltensteinIt's going to look magnificent.
Tim MillardSo I'm looking forward to that, and it's got a great uh amount of uh extras as well.
Skyscraper Souls Pre-Code Power Plays
Tim MillardWell, next we have another film from the 30s, very, very exciting, all these 30s films, but this one's a pre-code called Sky Scraper Souls.
George FeltensteinVery much a pre-code.
Tim MillardI love the name, by the way, Skyscraper Souls. It's fantastic. What can you tell us about this release?
George FeltensteinWell, going back uh to uh my youthful days in the home video business, and when we started doing Forbidden Hollywood as a VHS release series, and then Laserdisc and then DVD, Skyscraper Souls was essential because it's a hundred and ten percent pre-code. And it has this unique quality of being very much like a Warner Brothers movie of the pre-code era in terms of Warren William being the star and uh, you know, a salacious uh behavior amongst the uh main characters, but you also have the fact that this is an MGM movie. So you have the MGM house style colliding with Warner Brothers' sensibility of storytelling. I love this movie. I love Warren William as a pre-code leading man. I think he's probably one of my very favorites. And we have many films of his that I'd like to give the HD upgrade to. And a film that a lot of people get confused about Skyscraper Souls, they confuse sometimes with a film that was made a year later at Warner Brothers called Employees Entrance, which is with uh Warren William and Loretta Young. And in both films, Warren William is so, he's just so ruthless. That's a good word for it. That's why the films kind of have a similarity. So I'll let it slip here that employees' entrance is being restored and will be coming soon. We're very much digging back into the pre-codes that need that HD upgrade for Blu-ray and going back to original negative in the case of the Warner films. In the case of Skyscraper Souls, it's one of the many MGM films where the original negative unfortunately no longer exists. We've talked about that a million times, but the preservation elements are excellent, and we have a beautiful new master. And I'm so excited that this film is coming out. So, you know, it was probably in the late 80s, early 90s that this came out on VHS. So you're talking about over 30 years, if not like close to 35 years, where we've put a spotlight on this film as an integral pre-code potboiler. Yeah. And uh it deals with big business. You know, basically Warren Williams uh character, he's built a hundred-story art deco skyscraper, and he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. You know, he's just like power-driven as he is in employees' entrance. There are other Warren Williams films that I'm hoping we can get into the Conga line, like The Match King, The Mind Reader, Three on a Match. So many that I just love. He's just phenomenal. And a lot of people like they get it. They get Warren William. Yeah. But also in this film is Maureen O'Sullivan as the innocent young girl who is going to be caught in the spider web of Warren William. It's just a heck of a lot of fun. You know, even watching him do his dirty deeds. Also, the whole Art Deco skyscraper aspect of it takes advantage of Cedric Gibbons and the art direction of MGM. So, you know, it's kind of like Funny Face being the MGM musical that was made at Paramount. This is kind of like the Warner Brothers movie that was made at MGM. If it was a Warner Brothers movie, it'd probably be running 72 minutes instead of 99. But um, I love it. I think people will love it. They don't know about it likely because it still isn't well known. I'm hoping our making it available will change that.
Tim MillardYeah. And it's uh you've got some nice extras on here as well. We should probably mention you've got the MGM short Snowbirds.
George FeltensteinRight. Right. We have Snowbirds. We also have another Bosco cartoon. Bosco and Bruno.
Tim MillardBruno.
George FeltensteinAnd then um there are a whole series of Warner Brothers shorts from around 1932 called Rambling Round Radio Row. And in our Warner Brothers shorts collections, we've made them all available. So, number seven, we've included in here. You know, theoretically, I would like to populate an MGM film with MGM shorts and cartoons, but MGM wasn't making that many shorts in 1932 because they were distributing the shorts made by Hal Roach, Laurel Hardy, Our Gang, Charlie Chase. So because their release schedule was so full of these productions that they distributed, their short subjects department really didn't kick into higher gear until a few years later. So it doesn't leave us a lot to work with. That's why we used some Warner shorts. And accordingly, with the cartoons, MGM did not make any cartoons at this time. They were distributing independently produced cartoons, which they did not retain rights to. So if we're filling in a night at the movies in 1932, I think this does the job admirably. And we do not have a trailer because that's kind of commonplace. We don't really start to see the MGM films have retained trailers until around 1933-34, where they become very commonplace. But took them a little while to realize how important it was to keep their trailers. We looked everywhere, but we don't have it. No one seems to have it. But we've got the film and it looks great, and it's going to be a great disc.
Tim MillardYep. I'm really, really looking forward to it. Well, there's always a lot of attention every time you have a classic Hanna-Barbera TV release, George, but this one is generating
Quick Draw McGraw Finally On Blu-ray
Tim Millarda lot, a lot of excitement. What can you tell us about the Blu-ray release of the Quick Draw McGraw show that aired from 1959 to 1960?
George FeltensteinThis is a big deal. It's really a big deal because, with the exception of four out of the 45 half-hour episodes, they've never been on home video before in any format. There were four episodes put on VHS by Hanna Barbera's home video company, I believe in the late 80s or the early 90s. And the music that was used for these cartoons was from a different library scoring house where they had to license these needle drop library cues for music, and then they also had to license the publishing. I don't know the whole story here with 100% accuracy, but I believe the publisher involved was different than the publisher that we had to go through for Huckleberry Hound. You know, Huckleberry Hound premiered in Syndication in September of 1958. A year later, in September of 1959, riding on the heels of Huckleberry Hound's huge success, Anna Barbera brought the Quick Drama Grashow with sidekick Baba Louie, his alter ego El Cabang, The Dog Sniffles, uh Snooper and Blabber, and of course, you just can't forget Auggy Doggy and Doggy Daddy. That's my boy who said that. Three lovable segments made up each Quick Draw McGraw cartoon. And the series was sponsored in syndication by Kellogg's serials, the best to you each morning. Quick Draw was hugely popular. And unlike Huckleberry Hound or Yogi Bear, when Quick Draw finished its syndication run, it moved to CBS Saturday mornings. That was not usually the path. It did happen with McGillagorilla and Peter Potomas later, but Quick Draw was so popular, and Joe Barbera was the salesman. So he decided, okay, we're gonna get this on the network, and they got a network sale, which was really a big deal. And these cartoons were made in color, but only broadcast in black and white for their earlier years. Once the series left CBS and went into base syndication without any sponsorship, that's when things started to get chopped up. And going back to the music licensing, the music was only licensed for free television. So when Hanna Barbera put out those four episodes on a VHS tape, there were legal consequences. And the whole thing was such a mess that nobody really did anything to free up and unleash. So what we had to do here was we had to clear all the music and remaster all of the episodes and segments, I should say, from the camera negatives. We have, happily, we have reinstated the Kellogg's main and end titles. And the cartoons look superb. It's great to have Quick Draw back. Quick Draw Magore cartoons weren't even in television once it was everything was on cable. I think the last time it was on one of the Turner networks was uh probably over 10, 12 years ago because there was just a lot of discomfort around the loose language of the licenses and the music. So our company has done the right thing, gone back and gotten everything legally cleared and legally licensed. You know, unfortunately, the Quick Joe McGraw show as a show, not unlike when I spoke about Huckleberry Hounds, these were not saved as half-hour shows. The segments were saved, and that was really all people paid attention to. They didn't pay attention to the main titles, they didn't pay attention to the end titles. So fortunately, we were able to gather everything together and build the episodes as they were originally aired in syndication. And of course, you've got the marvelous talents of uh Hannah Barbera's loyal voice characterizations: Dawes Butler, Don Mesek, Gene Vanderpeel, and Doug Young, and many, many other people as well. The show was just so beloved, it's so popular, and there were quick drama dolls and toys and merchandise everywhere. He was as big as Yogi Bear Huckleberry Hound and has been absent from view for decades, and now we finally remedy. Yeah.
Tim MillardI mean, it's huge. It's huge that it's just never been out before, and now you have it and got all those music issues and other things taken care of. So I know that's why.
George FeltensteinIt took a really long time. Yeah, it did.
Tim MillardPeople have been asking. So uh, and I know you've been working in the team so hard on this uh over the years, and you have uh some extras on here.
George FeltensteinWe have a feature called The Good, the Bad, and the El Kabong. And uh, you know, El Kabang was quick draws alter ego. Uh kind of a little brilliant in the writing for them to come up with like a secondary character for him, and it gave them many, many story ideas. I just love all the cartoon segments. The whole Augie Doggy Doggy Daddy, um, I thought was really kind of sophisticated, you know. Oh, dear old dad, you know, the whole, you know. Uh it's just they're very, very funny, and Snooper and Blabber really funny. And to put this back in distribution, widely available, remastering all the segments from the 4K camera negatives, tremendously exciting. Yeah. We're really fortunate that we can do this.
Tim MillardAnd this is a six-disc set.
George FeltensteinThat's correct.
Tim MillardAnd what do you have it priced at?
George FeltensteinIt's $39.98, which is a really good value for six discs.
Tim MillardYeah, exactly.
George FeltensteinAnd 45 episodes. So it's the 45 episodes that originally aired through syndication between 1959 and 1961, I guess. Yeah. And uh this is the the complete iteration of all those segments. Yeah. And uh really puts the character back up where he belongs. So I'm very, very happy about that. And uh I think people are gonna be very happy with it.
Tim MillardFor sure, for sure. Looking forward to it. Well, we have another classic film we wanted to announce today, and that's from 1960, Please Don't Eat the Daisies.
Please Don’t Eat The Daisies Returns
Tim MillardWhat can you tell us about this film, George?
George FeltensteinWell, this film was based on a very best-selling book written by a woman named Gene Kerr. I hope I'm pronouncing her last name correctly, K-E-R-R. She was married to a very famous New York Broadway theater critic, Walter Kerr. And the book that Gene Kerr wrote was about how Walter and Gene and their brood of children moved up to Westchester County into this crazy indescribable house. It was like a total whacked-out-looking house. And she wrote a book about her experiences with her four boys and her theater critic husband, and it was a bestseller. So, producer Joe Pasternak and MGM bought the rights to the book, and they cast Doris Day to play the mother in the book. The book was fictionalized based on Gene Kerr's experience, and as her leading man husband, none other than the Erudite David Niven, who is always wonderful at everything. Yep. And their chemistry is terrific. This film was a huge hit when it came out. Now, I believe they referred to the place where the house was located, a town called Ridgemont. I know in the TV series that came later, they definitely did that. The real Walter and Gene Kerr house was in Larchmont, New York, which is where I spent the second half of my childhood. So if we would drive down to the local beach on Long Island Sound, you couldn't miss the Kerr's house. It was not quite as whacked out as it is in the movie or in the subsequent TV sitcom, but it was pretty unusual looking, I will say that. I would assume the house is still there. You know, it was kind of like when I was a little kid, the TV series was much more familiar to me because it was in reruns and you could see it on TV all the time. I didn't see the film till later, but I just thought it was kind of cool that there is this actual real-life house in our area that was part of the story of both the book and the TV series. Doris Day is at her most effusive, adorable, wonderful, beautiful self. Film is a comedy, it's not a musical, but they still found a way for her to uh have a little musical performance within the film, anyway the wind blows. I know there's a theme song, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, which I think she sings in the movie. I know she made a record of it, but it's been a while since I've seen the film. Our new master is just on the verge of completion. So I'll be chaptering it soon. So then I'll find out the answer to the question. This is a perennial bestseller on home video. It's very popular on television. And we had a master that was about 22, 23 years old from an IP. This is a 4K scan off the camera negative and looks magnificent. And also, this is the time where the anamorphic lenses were improved upon so you don't have the issue of people being slightly out of focus on the edges of the screen. It was directed by Charles Walters, who, not unlike producer Joe Pasternak, was making a segue from being a musical director to directing comedies. And uh he was very, very good at it. And he kept his career vibrant as musicals had fallen out of fashion. He's a very dependable director, very likable. And then, you know, it's MGM. So there's that extra level of class uh to the whole proceedings. Uh screenplay was written by Isabel Leonard, who is responsible for writing both the Broadway libretto as well as a screenplay of Funny Girl. I think Isabel Leonard goes back with MGM long enough that I think she wrote the screenplay for Anchors Away with Gene Kelly and Frank Snopshire. If I'm wrong, people can chastise me for it. But she's a very, very talented writer, and she adapted the book well. And I think this is going to be a very, very popular release. It certainly has been popular in every format we've ever released it on. So I think a beautiful Blu-ray will go very, very well in terms of pleasing the public.
Tim MillardAnd you have an interesting extra on here.
George FeltensteinYes, I decided to put the pilot of the TV series as an extra on this disc. The TV series starred uh Patricia Crowley, Mark Miller. It ran on NBC for two seasons. The show was in color, NBC was the full color network. But the pilot was shot in black and white. I've run into this a couple of times where the pilot's in black and white in order for them to get the go-ahead from the network, and then the rest of the episodes were all in color. You know, I haven't done a lot of digging on research, but that's my memory of it. The series was very different from the book. I believe in the series, the husband is not a theater critic. You know, they made a lot of changes, but it was basically about living in the crazy house in the suburbs with a big dog and four mischievous little urchins who are adorable. And that's what they have in common. That's a series that nobody gets to see anymore. So I thought people would enjoy the pilot. And then, of course, we have the trailer.
Tim MillardYeah. I think it's terrific when you know, when there's a spin-off, when you can put the pilot on. So I thought that was worth mentioning for sure. Uh absolutely fun. Yeah. Well, George, we saved for last year a very highly anticipated film. You're releasing it on 4K with that Blu-ray
Ryan’s Daughter In 4K HDR
Tim Millardcombo pack, and you're also releasing it as a standalone Blu-ray. So the conversation will cover all of that. And this is the 1970 film Ryan's Daughter. What can you tell us about this David Lean film?
George FeltensteinWell, this is a film that was very, very expensive and difficult to make. They were shooting it in Ireland on location. It's one of the most beautiful films you could ever see. And it has some amazing performances. Robert Mitchum plays a character so unlike any other character he ever played before. He's wonderful in it. The leading lady was at that time not very well known, Sarah Miles. And this certainly brought her to the forefront of cinema after the movie was released. And there are remarkable performances by supporting players. Trevor Howard is in this movie, Leo McKern is in this movie, and the great John Mills, who earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The film also earned an Oscar for the great cinematographer Freddie Young, the British cinematographer who is so revered. And this film was shot with a 65 millimeter negative for 70 millimeter presentation. MGM got involved with David Lean five years earlier on Dr. Chivago. And Dr. Chivago was made just a few years after Lean's triumph of Lawrence of Arabia. And Lawrence of Arabia was shot 65 millimeter. And when you're shooting at 65 millimeter, it is twice the cost. And so when MGM hired David Lean to direct Dr. Shivago, they were on tenuous financial ground. They were very frightened of heavy cost. So they told David Lean on Dr. Shivago, you have to shoot 35mm scope, and we'll blow up the release prints to 70 millimeter. Dr. Chivago turned out to be a monstrous hit, the ninth highest grossing film of all time when adjusting for inflation. Massive, massive hit. It also happened to come out the same year as The Sound of Music. So Dr. Chivago, I think, earned six Oscars, but it had to play second fiddle to the popularity of the Sound of Music. In any event, the huge financial and critical success of Dr. Chivago opened the door for MGM to re-engage with screenwriter Robert Bolt, who had worked with Lean before on the other pictures, and David Lean, to, through the infrastructure of the MGM British Studios, produce Ryan's Daughter, which was released at the end of December in 1970. And they did allow him to shoot in 65mm. And he was contending with terrible weather. And there were all sorts of complications involved in the making of the film. It was very, very difficult to get it done due to weather and various other problems, all of which is dealt with in depth in the remarkable special features that accompany this disc and the commentary, which I will talk about in a minute. But when the film opened, there were certain New York critics that went at it with to the jugular. And uh the experience so rattled David Lean that he didn't make another movie for 14 years. He made a passage to India in 1984, 14 years later. Ryan's Daughter has always been kind of a controversial film in terms of how David Lean was treated by the critics, how it was received. I think it was a little ahead of its time, also. But MGM spared no expense at making sure the film was given a grand roadshow release. And then they ended up chopping it up a little bit for general release. So what we have here is indeed what we had 20 years ago when the DVD came out. It's the full roadshow version. And I know from going through the files that Lean was finishing up his edits literally like a week before the opening in New York and Los Angeles. It was a very prestigious film. The studio had very high hopes for it, and it it did not perform to their expectations. But in subsequent years, the film's reputation has grown and grown and grown. So we came out with a DVD in 2006. The new formats were just on the horizon. I think uh HD DVD was already out by that time and just starting to make an impact. And Blu-ray was around the corner. I think Blu-ray actually started to appear at the end of 2006. I can't remember exactly the chronology, but this was never given a high-definition release. This is something theoretically that should have been on Blu-ray many, many years ago. And uh there is a pirated version that came out of Spain. Spain, unfortunately, is a uh hotbed for piracy that ends up in the general market. So our not having a legitimate Blu-ray out there was causing a great deal of confusion. In order to do this right, we needed to go back to the 65 millimeter negative. Um I would say, you know, up until a few years ago, if we wanted to work directly from the 65 millimeter negative, we would have had to go out of house. We finally obtained 65 millimeter scanners here at Warner Brothers that allowed us to scan the negative. And because it is a 65 millimeter negative, we scanned it at 8K. The final results are a new 4K HDR master, and we also have an SDR master that was down converted for Blu-ray. So the 4K Blu-ray combo is part of what I feel Warner Archive wants to provide to the market, which is you should have a choice of the 4K as well as the Blu-ray, because what if you want to play it in a room where you don't have a 4K setup? You should have that option. At the same time, for people who have Blu-ray and aren't really interested in upgrading to 4K, which is a personal choice, we have made a standalone Blu-ray available. And we're able to achieve, working directly with the negative, results we couldn't have dreamed of 20 years ago, because 20 years ago we were working from a reduction 35 millimeter element that was made from the 65 millimeter. So you're a generation away from the original, and this film is so known for its phenomenal Oscar winning photography. The way it looks is remarkable. Equally, the six-track stereophonic sound that was with the 70 millimeter presentations, our archival sound department has done two things. They've gone back to the original 70mm, six-track printmaster, and we have that 1970 track on the disc. It's 5.0 translated into our playback systems of today, but it captures everything. And then we also have a 2026 5.1 remix that takes more advantage of the Moris Jar score and all of the elements, but it is now the company policy that if we create a different track, that we have to keep the original track there as well for people who want that choice. So an enormous financial uh investment we have made into this film because we believe in it. It took a very long time to get it done, and the net result is what people have now seen. On the 4K, we have a nice O card with the main campaign that people are familiar with, and then the wrap inside that holds the two discs, the four discs, I should say. We're on two BD100s, four UHD 100s, I should say, for the 4K. Because this film is so long and we want to have an awesome bitrate, we're on two discs for the 4K, two discs for the Blu-ray. And I should mention, because it is so critical for people to understand this, as we're trying to do for all our 4K releases, the authoring and encode is done by the magnificent David McKenzie at Fidelity in Motion. David is an amazing talent, and I don't think there's anyone that is more talented than David McKenzie in terms of working with compression and authoring so that the encode of the disk is something we can be really proud of. And people saw that in uh the searchers, they saw that in In High Society, they will certainly see it here. And we're very, very proud. It's taken us a while to get another full-fledged big title 4K release in the market, but we already had been working on Out of the Past. Now we have Ryan's daughter. And I think people are going to really love what we have coming thereafter. So again, 4K is going to be the exception for us rather than the rule. But I stand behind the quality of everything we're releasing. And I think people are going to be very happy with both formats, depending on what the title is. And when something is worthy of 4K HDR and Dolby Vision, we will rise to the occasion. So the release of Ryan's daughter is a big deal. Yeah. And it's just in time for the holidays. Because by the time the discs come out of the factory, people will start to be doing their holiday shopping already.
Tim MillardAnd it looks like it's loaded with extra discs.
George FeltensteinOh my goodness, is it loaded ever? Now, what we've done is we've repurposed all of the many, many special features that were prepared for the DVD. And we've used a tool that we have that can take standard definition, enhanced content, and make it look like it was HD. And I never believed such a thing was possible, but Watertower Color, which by the way, is going to be the new name of Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging. Water Tower Color was a small unit here on the lot, and now that's going to be the name for all the wizards of ours that do this work. So if people saw the searchers and high society, they saw the standard definition pieces that we put through this program that really made them look like HD without compromising. And so there's a remarkable three-part documentary on the making of the film that goes into tremendous detail. And I personally believe you shouldn't reinvent the wheel. If you have magnificent special features, they should be carried over and made to look as good as they can. That's what we've done here. We also have a gigantic commentary with so many participants. A lot of people who worked on the film. There are also certain people that contributed to it who have passed away, like uh Stephen M. Silverman, the biographer. He just passed away this year. Wonderful guy, very, very knowledgeable. But the crew members, David Lean's widow, Robert Mitchum's daughter, everybody has something to say. We even have directors like John Borman and Hugh Hudson who weren't a part of the production, but they're bringing their own perspective. So the commentary is exceptional. This is the byproduct of the team, Tim, that you were a part of uh under the uh leadership of our friend Paul Hempstreet, the special features department here at Warner Home Video was, I think, the best in the business and generated these magnificent pieces for magnificent films. So we're carrying all that over, but it is in HD now, and I think the high quality of the presentation is gonna knock your socks off. So um just so grateful this is finally happening because many, many people felt uh there were two film critics in particular that really went vicious against David Lean uh when this film came out and really hurt it at the box office. You'll see some of the most beautiful cinematography ever put on film in this movie. And I think we've done right by it with scanning the negative at 8K, which also serves for preservation, and then the 4K HDR. HDR has been very carefully used here to maximize the beauty of the image without changing the creative intent of the filmmakers. And I think when people see this disc and hear it, I think they'll be very impressed. And most importantly, they'll enjoy the film.
unknownYep.
Tim MillardYep. Before we wrap up on that, I did want to mention that the price you put on these is a terrific price, I thought as well. You've got the 4K
Pricing Choices And Why It Matters
Tim MillardBlu-ray combo pack at $34.98. Correct. And then you've got the two-disc Blu-ray at your normal price for uh for a one-disc Blu-ray at $24.98.
George FeltensteinIt's so important that these things not be out of the price range. We're not coming up with lots of swag and things, which in certain cases I'm not denigrating the work of other people. Sometimes that kind of thing is really, really great. I don't think if we were to create a $100 collector's edition of Brian's daughter, it would be a financially wise decision. I think to have it attractively priced, you know, the manufacture of 4K discs using UHT 100s is very expensive. Not to mention the fact that this is a heavy six-figure master expense. So we want to deliver a profit, and I thought the best way to do that was to not price it out of the reach of consumers. So I hope people will really support the release because the more they support the release, it will lead to other things. I also think this is a good opportunity for me to say that we made the announcement that these films were coming, and it's always very gratifying, and we're very thankful when people express that they're grateful and they're excited. And then there are always people who say, that's great. Now can I have and then there's a laundry list that just spills out of everything. What's interesting about that is take maybe a year and a half to years ago, I would see that and be dejected because all the things they were asking for, which in most cases were very, very justified, weren't in the offense. Now we have so much in the works that most of the things people are asking for are in the midst of happening. I don't want to be specific, but I just want to say that there's a lot of great stuff to look forward to. Film fans can continue to depend on the Warner Archive collection for a great deal of cinematic excitement in the coming months.
Tim MillardYeah. Well, September is an amazing month, building upon the great month of August, which built upon the great month of July, which built upon June. So you've had a terrific run now here in the latter half of this year. So many great titles coming out. You've stated again and again. There's lots more, but wow, what a wonderful time it is for classic film fans, for animation fans, for fans who are building out their 4K library. Just so much good stuff. And it's always great to have you on the podcast, George, to take us through it. Give us the backstory, tell us about the restoration, what we can expect with the extras. And it gets me excited. And I know all the listeners and viewers very excited. And we're just loving what the Warner Archive is doing. And thank you, as always.
George FeltensteinWell, thank you, Tim. And most importantly, we thank the consumers who've been supporting our efforts. They've shown up for us in a big way. We're having a great year. And contrary to popular opinion, or I've seen a little snippet credits, we've never had an unprofitable year in the 17 years we have been around. The degree to which we're delivering revenue to the overall company has just continued to grow and grow and grow. And that's why people are seeing a little bit more of a stepping up to a lot of the things people have been waiting for for a long time. So, yes, you'll be seeing more Betty Davis, and yes, you'll be seeing more Joan Crawford, and yes, you'll be seeing more Bogart and Cagney and Robinson and all the people who are asking for their favorites, if they're realistic, they're going to have their wishes fulfilled. So a lot of great stuff coming, and thank you to everybody for their support. It means a lot to all of us at the Warner Archive Collection.
Tim MillardWell, that was fantastic. Lots of great stuff coming in September. If you haven't yet had a chance to listen to the podcast for the September 22nd releases,
Wrap Up And More To Come
Tim Millardbe sure and look for that, both on audio podcast and on YouTube. And if you're like me, boy, September has a lot of great titles that you're looking forward to. And I love it. When we finally get something like the drop McGraw on Fitzcomedia for the very first time, such a thrill. Such a big deal. Four fans of Fitzcomedia. Defensive anime. And then to have another 4K. It's perfect to have a David Lean as to feed on 4K. That's a big big deal. Hey, about the pre-code test. I'd love to hear it. Lots of great stuff. Thanks everybody for listening, for watching. And until next time. About the water architect.