The Extras - Warner Archive January 2024 Release Announcement

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

George Feltenstein announces the Warner Archive's six upcoming January 2024 Blu-ray releases.  George provides background on each film, the remaster, and all of the extras that are included.  There is no better way to learn about what is on the Warner Archive schedule than to hear directly from George. MovieZyng Affiliate The BEST place to buy all of your Warner Archive and Boutique DVDs and Blu-raysDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm film historian and author John Fricke. I've written books about Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz movie, and you're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies, and animation, and their release on digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Lard, your host, and joining me is George Feltenstein to announce the January Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive. Hi, George.

Hey, Tim. How are you today? I'm good, and we're recording this right before Thanksgiving, so this is a terrific Thanksgiving treat for the listeners and fans of the Warner Archive to have these January titles released this early. Well, we're trying to make our announcements earlier so that there's plenty of time for everybody to get their planning done and know what's coming. And we're already working on titles for February and March and April and so forth and so on. So I hope we can keep this cadence going of being out in front a little more. And we're delighted to announce this lineup because there is a very dedicated fan base for each and every one of these films.

Well, I'm excited to dive into this. So let's do so. And we'll kind of mix it up today instead of going chronological or alphabetical. We'll just kind of go randomly here. Let's see. And how many are we going to be talking about today, George? Six. Six. OK, that's a robust amount. Well, first up, I thought we could just go with an all time favorite actor that is in The Prince and the Pauper from 1937.

What can you tell us about that title? Well, this is a really delightful film and is sorely in need of being on Blu-ray because this isn't even one of those films where there was an old HD master floating around in digital from the DVD days. This is really the first HD master the company will have ever had, but it comes from a 4K scan of the camera negative. It's gone through a full restoration and it's really gorgeous. This film has such a wonderful spirit. And Flynn is terrific.

And this was only made two years after his smashing debut as a star in Captain Blood. And by this time, he had already established himself as a, you know, totally magnificent, magnetic movie star. And he really carries the film. And it's a story that's been told many times because it's based on Mark Twain's novel. And there have been several film versions and television versions. I don't think any of them can hold a candle to what Warner Brothers did with the material. And one of the studio's best directors, William Keeley, was the director. And you've got a phenomenal score by Eric Wolfgang Korngold and a great cast with Flynn playing opposite the great Claude Rains, who was his nemesis in Robin Hood a year later,

and who we all love from so many great performances. And then the prince and the papa are played by real-life twin brothers, Billy and Bobby Mouch, and they were terrific in this film. Bobby Mouch, and they were terrific in this film. And I know that the studio tried very hard to find other vehicles for them, and they really didn't find anything else. They tried a couple of things, but nothing really matched what they were able to achieve in this movie, The Prince and the Pauper. And it looks stunning.

It's a wonderful presentation. And we've added some classic 1937 Warner Brothers cartoons, all in HD, so we can recreate the experience of going to the movies in 1937. It's just a beautiful presentation of a wonderful film. Well, I've seen already online that it's getting a tremendous amount of excitement. Everybody loves when another Errol Flynn movie comes out and they anxiously wait for the next one. So this is a terrific release. And then next we have from 1943, Cabin in the Sky. What can you tell us about that one, George? This is a landmark motion picture for several reasons. Most notably, I think this was Vincent

Minnelli's feature film directorial debut. And I specify feature film because he had done supervision of various sequences at MGM before they gave him his first chance to be a director. doing certain sequences for other films. And then finally for Cabin in the Sky, he was given the opportunity to show that he could direct a feature film. And this was a very successful one, an adaptation of a 1940 Broadway musical. And it's also notable, of course, for having a cast that is completely made up of African-American actors and actresses. They are also, for the most part,

legends of 20th century entertainment of the highest order. And we're talking about the great Ethel Waters, who recreates her stage role as Petunia, who's married to Joe, who is a well-meaning guy who gets tempted by the forces of evil and ultimately good triumphs over evil in this story. It's really kind of a musical fable. good triumphs over evil in this story. It's really kind of a musical fable. But Eddie Rochester Anderson, who is one of the most beloved character actors in the entertainment industry, he plays Little Joe. And then you've got Lena Horne as the temptress Georgia Brown. And Lena Horne's big complaint about her time at MGM was that all she ever got to do was to come out sing a song and then make a quick exit I'm paraphrasing her own words and that's entertainment three about what the studio did with her in this this case, she got to play a role,

as did all of the actors and actresses. And this isn't where they're playing maids and butlers and anything that is insulting. It's a wonderful story with phenomenal music. The Broadway score was aided and abetted by a few additional songs that were written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, the team best known for writing the score for The Wizard of Oz. So MGM spared no expense in making this film a Class A production.

It got phenomenal reviews. You also have in the cast Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and his orchestra, the Hall-Johnson Choir, and Rex Ingram, who played opposite Ethel Waters in the stage version. Butterfly McQueen is in this movie. Mantan Moreland is in this movie. It is really a testament to the talent of all the people involved. And the producer of the film was Arthur Freed, who would collaborate with Minnelli again and again years in the future. And there were a lot of Oscars involved when it came to An American Paris and Gigi winning Best Picture for Mr. Freed. But it all started the Minnelli-Freed connection with Cabin in the Sky.

And one of the things I always bring up about this film that some people don't know, but a lot of people do, is there's a scene in the film where they reuse the cyclone from The Wizard of Oz. They reuse that special effects footage in this movie. And there are a lot of extras on this disc. We have a wonderful commentary from Eddie Anderson's wife and daughter and Todd Boyd,

who's a phenomenal cinematic scholar and also a black culture scholar. Dr. Duke Casper. Fayeard Nicholas was still with us when this commentary was recorded for the DVD release, probably a little less than 20 years ago. Key of the Nicholas Brothers, of course. It's really a very comprehensive look at the film and very entertaining commentary. Then we have a short subject, Studio Visit. It's a Pete Smith short that has an outtake musical number in it that was cut out of Cabin in the Sky, where Lena Horne sings Ain't It the Truth.

It was cut out of the film because she was in a bubble bath. The censors didn't like that. But putting it in a short subject, nobody really paid attention, and there it was, and that's how that number got saved. And then there's an audio version of that song with a different performance by Louis Armstrong, and that's on the disc. So it's nicely packed with special features.

And most importantly, the film looks amazingly gorgeous. Just a huge step forward from what we were dealing with in standard definition. And I think people are going to be very, very happy with this release as well. I was amazed to see this list of all of these extras. What a great badge to go with this movie. I'm really looking forward to seeing this when it comes out. Well, next up, we're going to jump to something a little bit closer to us from 1991. And you've been releasing animation, it seems like on a pretty regular schedule here in the last three, four or five, six months. And this is called

Rover Dangerfield. What can you tell us about this film? Well, this is one of those films that didn't really, it didn't really make much of an impact on its theatrical release. But a huge amount of audience learned about this film through video cassette in the early 90s and, of course, cable television. And a lot of people that grew up as little kids watching this movie, they've never lost their enthusiasm for this movie. And it's a childhood memory that holds up in adulthood because, of course, it's all about Rodney Dangerfield. This was Rodney Dangerfield's concept, and he was very involved in the creation of this. So this film has a really built-in fan base that represents, you know, three decades worth of diehard admiration. And a Blu-ray release just seemed like a perfect thing to do because we have been trying to address these animated features in the library

that people really have a fondness for. Rover Dangerfield made its DVD debut through Warner Archive years ago using an old master. This new master is just beautiful, and it really does justice to the humor and the excellent animation. The guys behind the creation of this feature had done a film, I believe in the late 80s, called The Brave Little Toaster. And it was an independent animated feature that was just beloved by everybody who saw it. And that's why they were selected to be the gatekeepers of bringing this motion picture

to the screen. And it holds up wonderfully, especially if you're a Rodney Dangerfield fan, or if you're a dog lover, or both, or you just love seeing exceptional animation. or both, or you just love seeing exceptional animation, this film is beautifully, beautifully done. Of course, it's the hand-drawn animation before the days of computer-generated imagery. And I think it's just a lot of fun, and we're delighted to be releasing it. And it looked like, George, that you have some nice HD extras on here as well. Well, we do. We have a whole bunch of classic Warner cartoons, but they have a thematic tie. They're all about dogs. And some of them have never been released on any form of disc that I'm aware of. So that makes it a little bit, some of them.

I think that makes it a little more special. And I think people are going to be very, very happy with this release as a great evening of entertainment the whole family can enjoy. Yeah, I think it was just last month or two that you had the Cats Don't Dance, and now we have a nice one for the dog lovers out there. I jest, of course, because it's really about animation lovers, and it's great to see some of these smaller films. As you said, part of the task of the Warner Archive is to release these smaller titles that probably, I don't know if they'll ever show up on

a streaming service. So it allows fans to get it and own it and build their animation library. Well, I sound like a broken record, but I'll just keep reinforcing the importance of supporting physical media is really, really critical right now. And the support that our fans have shown our releases has made an impact and is noted by our senior leaders. And that's how we communicate to them that physical media needs to continue. And the fact that we have even more exciting plans for 2024 than the 62 films we had for 2023, that's very, very exciting for me. And January is just a taste of what's to come. Well, speaking of another movie that's not as well known, but beloved by a small group of people, and I think they'll be very excited about this release. This is from 1996, and this

is called Joe's Apartment. What can you tell us about this film? Well, actually, a lot of people do know about this movie, not from theaters, but again, television exhibition and home video rental. I think this was still the days of blockbuster. This film is a cult favorite and we get a lot of requests for this movie. And when we were releasing primarily, you know, earlier in the year, there was a very distinct bend towards 30s and 40s movies. And people were, as they are apt to do on the Internet, I'll just say it nicely, making their voice heard that they wanted to see more of their favorites of more recent vintage. Of course, this movie is 27 years old, but for us, when we're dealing with 100 and some odd years worth of film, this is a relatively recent release. But it is indeed a product of the late 90s and very much notable as the first feature film that was done

under the auspices of MTV Films. And there was a tie between Warner Brothers and MTV in the very early years. And I assume that that's how it ended up being. It was a Geffen Films production. David Geffen had a production deal with the studio, so he got together with the folks at MTV, and the result was this film, which is based on a short film that the director and writer, John Payson, had created. And I believe it was shown on MTV.

I know that we have no rights to it. We wanted to be able to include it here. But the studio had a deal for this one picture, and that's what we have. And it's really about a guy who really wants to start his new life, a young guy in New York, and it's all about the cockroaches. That's really what it's about. And the fans of this film know what I'm talking about. Jerry O'Connell is the star.

He's terrific. It's a lot of fun. And it's just insane. It's insane comedy. It's really a lot of fun. And here again, we've added cartoons, but with a different bend as the extras. We have one cartoon called The Lady in Red. I believe it's from 1935. And it, of course, uses that famous song that was written for the Warner Brothers movie in Caliente, but it's a cartoon that has got a virtually all-cockroach cast, so I thought it would be perfect to be put on here. When the other two cartoons, From Hair to Eternity with Bugs Bunny and Superior Duck

with Daffy Duck, they were both released in 1997 and 1996, respectively, done by Chuck Jones when he returned to the studio to make new Warner Brothers cartoons in the late 90s and the early aughts. These films don't get seen enough. They're all in HD. And I think this is going to be a terrifically enjoyable disc for a lot of people. Well, next, we're going to jump back in time a bit to 1932. And that's the film Faithless. What can you tell us about this film? Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast. And I wanted to let you know that

we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers catalog physical media releases. So if that interests you, you can find the link on our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. Well, this is a real, it's a real obscurity, to be frank. This is a film that's very, very good, but not very well known. But it has a lot going for it. It's a very beautiful cinematic showcase for the talents of Tallulah Bankhead. And those of you who only know Tallulah Bankhead as a guest villainous on Batman TV show when she played

the Black Widow 34 years later or 35 years after this movie was made, Tallulah Bankhead was a larger than life character in life and primarily did her work on the stage, but she did make occasional film appearances. And Faithless is one of her best. She's cast opposite Robert Montgomery, who's a tremendously underrated performer. He's a big star at MGM all through the 30s and into the 40s. And he's been virtually forgotten. And I'm so glad that we're able to bring this film in a brand new Blu-ray that looks remarkable because it really is also a dandy pre-code romance sizzler. And it's based on a book called Tinfoil by Mildred Cram. And Tallulah and Robert Montgomery are terrific in this movie. It was directed by Harry Beaumont, who was the director for the Broadway Melody and many MGM movies of that time. And I'm just happy. We want to get more pre-code out. There are so many

to choose from, but I'm glad we have these coming on this release. And then what can you tell us about the extras and the 4K scan? Well, the 4K scan is from our best preservation elements. And this is not unusual. I've talked about this before, that many MGM nitrate films, the original negative no longer exists, mostly due to a tragic fire that happened in 1978 at the film archive where the nitrate was kept. Therefore, although we don't have the original negative to work with, MGM did start converting its nitrate films to safety film in the early 1960s. At the time, the only other studio that was that forward thinking was Disney. And because of MGM having made protection elements so early, this enables us to get as close to what the original negative would have been able to yield as possible in the very frequent events when we find there isn't original negative available. So this is a second generation safety fine grain that was made in the 1960s that we used as a source. And the results are really remarkable. It's quite beautiful.

And then in addition to the feature film, we added three high-definition short subjects. We have Rambling Down Radio Row, and there were several of those made by Warner Brothers. This is filled with stage and vaudeville entertainers, comedians, and singers, and it's just a lot of fun in 10 minutes. And then we have the transatlantic mystery and the symphonic murder mystery. And they're both two reelers, 20-minute shorts each that were part of a mystery series of shorts that Warner Brothers was doing around the time. They were all in HD, and we don't have a trailer.

It's not unusual not to have trailers on the early MGM films. They didn't really start to save them until a few years later. I'd say probably around 1933, 34, they start to be very abundant and available. But from like 1932 back, we have very little. So unfortunately, there's no known trailer of this, but we have the film itself and some great shorts, and it's going to be a terrific disc. Well, that's five of the six for January. And I know there's a lot of excitement for this last one that we're going to talk about. And that's because it's a Marx Brothers film, A Day at the Races from 1937. This is something I had been waiting for, for a very, very long time. This is actually my favorite Marx Brothers movie. And I wanted to release A Night at the Opera and A Day at the

Races together. They're usually always together. But A Night at the Opera and A Date the Race is together. They're usually always together. But A Night at the Opera came out two years ago, and we ran into some difficulties with this that delayed it, but we finally got everything straightened out, and it looks gorgeous. It's beautiful. This is the second film the Marx Brothers made at MGM. Their first film at MGM, A Night Opera was a huge success. And it was Irving Thalberg, who is the famed studio chief, who believed in the Marx Brothers after their film career kind of took a nosedive at Paramount and they couldn't make movies there anymore because their movies weren't making

money. And accordingly, what they did was Irving Thalberg signed them to a very lucrative contract at MGM. And it was because of Thalberg that the Marx Brothers felt comfortable at MGM. And for A Day at the Races, they did what they did for A Night at the Opera. They went out on the road and did stage versions of the screenplay to test out what material did and didn't work with an audience. And Thalberg gave them that freedom. Heartbreakingly, Thalberg died before the production was actually beginning to shoot. But his oversight was very much still present in the final result. This film is very highly beloved. It's very funny. It has Groucho playing his favorite role as Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a horse doctor,

who is brought to a sanitarium run by Maureen O'Sullivan. It's going to lose their, basically, they're losing money and predators are ready to step in. And Margaret Dumont plays this wealthy lady, Mrs. Upjohn, who's a hypochondriac patient there who has enough money to save the sanitarium. And stepping into the Zeppo-like role is Alan Jones, as he did in The Night at the Opera, to provide balance for Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. And there's really terrific music in this film. And most importantly, there are some of the funniest bits the Marx Brothers ever did. The Tootsie Fruitsie Ice Cream routine between Chico and Groucho. There's the wallpaper sketch. There's the doctor's examination sketch. And then there's a wonderful production number

towards the end of the film, right before the climactic horse race, where Ivy Anderson, who is the lead vocalist for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, leads a whole group of people down in the barnyard near the racetrack, doing all God's children got rhythm. And it's a wonderful, wonderful song with some

spectacular swing dancing. And what isn't known publicly that well, but it was something I confirmed and discovered several years ago when I was releasing the song on a soundtrack CD compilation, is Ivy Anderson was the lead singer for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. And in fact, the orchestral backup on that song is the Duke Ellington Orchestra. But they didn't get any billing because they did the work and it was the contract that if the studio wanted to use Duke Ellington's name, they would have had to pay a sizable amount of money to Mr. Ellington. So he was just paid for his work, recording the song with his vocalist. But you're seeing his vocalist, Ivy Anderson, sing the song, but backing her up is the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

So there's a little trivia for you. But this is really a celebration of the Marx Brothers. This is probably the last great film that they made. They made several after this, some of which are better than others. But A Day at the Races is superb. And you've got great support, of course, from Groucho's inimitable foil, Margaret Dumont. What's a Marx Brothers movie without Margaret Dumont? You know, there are a few where she wasn't there and the film suffered for it. So I couldn't be more excited about this,

especially because when we released The Night at the Opera, people were so happy about it and it was such a big seller. They were like, where is A Date to Races? Well, here it is now. It also comes with a commentary, really terrific commentary by a Marx Brothers expert. He wrote the Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. His name is Glenn Mitchell. And then we did a featurette for the DVD release that's carried over here called On Your Marks, Get, Set, Go. And that is a behind the scenes kind of retrospective on the making of the film. Then we have an MGM short with Robert Benchley, Unite the Movies, and some MGM cartoons from the era, Gallop and Gals, Mama's New Hat,

Old Smokey. And then on the audio side, we have three things that are very cool. We have Groucho Marx from a radio show singing a song called Dr. Hackenbush, which was written for this movie, but never filmed. It was discarded early on. And the rumor is that Groucho is perfectly content that it wasn't part of the movie because a big production number would have been a lot of work for him. And he just assumed not have to deal with that kind of detail. But he did record the song commercially in the early 50s. And he did perform it on radio. So one of the radio performances we've carried over and that wasn't something we've ever been able to provide before. We also have Alan Jones doing a musical outtake that was filmed, but the film no longer exists, a song called The Message from the

Man on the Moon. That is a song that was originally supposed to be at the opening of the movie, but people decided that it would slow the film down. So it was cut before the final release. But we have the audio here. And last but not least, we have the Leo is on the Air radio promotion, really something we would call a radio trailer. And then, of course, we have the original theatrical trailer as well, which is not audio only. So it's a packed disc. It looks amazing. Fans of the film are going to be very excited about it. And we're thinking that we've got quite a good way to start the year off right with a diverse group of all sorts of different films for different audiences. But they share one thing in common. They're all really, really entertaining.

And just as a follow-up kind of to this Marx Brothers film, there are more in the library. Is the sales of this one kind of going to impact the ability to release others in the library? To answer your question, yes. We would love to be able to release those other Marx Brothers movies, but whether or not that will happen is really contingent upon how much support we get from the fans and how well this sells. And if it does as well as A Night at the Opera, then I think it will pave the way for the other films. I know the Marx Brothers fans are out there and we always appreciate it when people order early because then that triggers to the retailers that they should stock up on these titles

and make them available. So the support from the fans is really critical and we hope we've provided six releases for January that will please many, many, many of our fans. Well, it's a terrific lineup, as you said. So I'm excited for how it's kicking off the new year and the things that you've said and intimated on this podcast and other places about how you look forward to a great year in 24. And of course, we're not at the end of 23 yet. We still have some great titles that you and I will be talking about and reviewing coming up,

including the eight titles that are all coming out in December. But people can start to put these six on the calendar for January. And when the pre-orders are available, purchase those as well. So as always, thanks for coming on the podcast, George, and explaining and tell us about these great movies. It's my pleasure, Tim. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to get the word out to the fans of the Warner Archive collection. Well, the six Warner Archive Blu-rays releasing in January are a great start to 2024. There's more information about these films on our Facebook page and in our Facebook group, so you can find the links in the podcast show notes.

Facebook is also the best place to get the pre-order links for these titles when they become available. For those in the U.S., I wish you a great Thanksgiving holiday. Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed. The Extras is a production of Otaku Media, producers of podcasts, behind the scenes extras,

and media that connects creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals at www.otakumedia.tv or look for the link in the show notes.